Sheltering in place in response to the coronavirus gives us the opportunity to reflect on our mortality, our reliance on one another, and the necessity of sacrifice for the public good.
These are all the themes of this week’s double Torah portion, Acharei Mot-Kedoshim. Acharei Mot begins with the words, “ADONAI spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron… (Leviticus 16:1) setting a tone of the fragility of life and the certainty of death and then describes the Yom Kippur ritual of atonement.
Yom Kippur is our annual opportunity to reevaluate our lives, consider our actions, and to leave bad habits and destructive behaviors behind… if we choose to. Kedoshim contains the holiness code, perhaps the purest distillation of Jewish values, and begins with these words, “You shall be holy, for I, ADONAI your God is holy.”
Martin Buber taught that holiness can only be found in human relationships. We are now engaged in a massive, national experiment in social responsibility, sacrificing our time, our freedom of movement, and for many our livelihoods and ability to support ourselves and our families, to slow the spread of a dangerous disease.
What type of society do we want to create when we emerge from our homes and our social separation? Do we want to continue to choose greed and selfishness, as we have for so many decades and years? Or do we want to try to create a society with a stronger sense of social solidarity, like the one expressed in Leviticus 19:15-16, “You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich; judge your kinsman fairly. Do not deal basely with your countrymen. Do not profit by the blood of your fellow: I am ADONAI.”
Like Yom Kippur, our sheltering-in-place is an opportunity for a reset, for reflection on who we are, as individuals and a society, and who we want to be… if we choose to.
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, Leviticus 16:1 – 20:27 – Parshat Ha Shavua for Shabbat, May 2, 2020
May 1, 2020 by Dean Kertesz •
Sheltering in place in response to the coronavirus gives us the opportunity to reflect on our mortality, our reliance on one another, and the necessity of sacrifice for the public good.
These are all the themes of this week’s double Torah portion, Acharei Mot-Kedoshim. Acharei Mot begins with the words, “ADONAI spoke to Moses, after the death of the two sons of Aaron… (Leviticus 16:1) setting a tone of the fragility of life and the certainty of death and then describes the Yom Kippur ritual of atonement.
Yom Kippur is our annual opportunity to reevaluate our lives, consider our actions, and to leave bad habits and destructive behaviors behind… if we choose to. Kedoshim contains the holiness code, perhaps the purest distillation of Jewish values, and begins with these words, “You shall be holy, for I, ADONAI your God is holy.”
Martin Buber taught that holiness can only be found in human relationships. We are now engaged in a massive, national experiment in social responsibility, sacrificing our time, our freedom of movement, and for many our livelihoods and ability to support ourselves and our families, to slow the spread of a dangerous disease.
What type of society do we want to create when we emerge from our homes and our social separation? Do we want to continue to choose greed and selfishness, as we have for so many decades and years? Or do we want to try to create a society with a stronger sense of social solidarity, like the one expressed in Leviticus 19:15-16, “You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich; judge your kinsman fairly. Do not deal basely with your countrymen. Do not profit by the blood of your fellow: I am ADONAI.”
Like Yom Kippur, our sheltering-in-place is an opportunity for a reset, for reflection on who we are, as individuals and a society, and who we want to be… if we choose to.