Parashat Aharei Mot – Kedoshim
9th May 2025
Week of May 4-11, 2025
Torah portion : Leviticus 16 :1-20 :2 ; Haftarah : Amos 9:7-15
Theme: “You shall be holy.”
The Parashah for this week combines the 29th and 30th Torah portions: Aharei Mot “after the death of” and Kedoshim “holy ones”. Aharei Mot follows the deaths of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu and warns against unauthorized entry into the Holy of Holies, while specifying that the High Priest (kohen Godot) once a year on Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) may enter the Sanctuary and offer incense (ketoret) to G_d. The full ritual for the most solemn holyday in the Hebrew calendar, Yom Kippur, is set out in Lev:16:1-34 and includes casting lots over two goats. One goat will be ritually sacrificed and the second goat symbolically carries the sins of the people to a desolate place in the wilderness. This scapegoat is then set free and through this rite, the sins from the whole community are removed. It is in the spirit of Yom Kippur observance: the steady rhythm of spiritual stock-taking, expiation for sins and maintaining a right relationship with G_d through both ritual and moral behavior, that we move more deeply into Leviticus, Chapters 17-26, which has come to be known as the Holiness Code and which conveys the central idea that the entire people of Israel are responsible for seeking and achieving holiness.
Parashat Kedoshim opens and closes with a stunning command: “You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your G_d, am holy.” We are challenged to be holy here and now and, in the future, even as we reflect on Hannah’s declaration: “There is none so holy as the Eternal.” (1 Sam 2:2) Between the bookend verses which challenge us to be holy, we find dozens of mitzvot which, if followed faithfully, lead to the ethics of right living. The Decalogue is woven through Kedoshim, although not as a neat listing; even so, we find the essence of the commandments related to: respect for parents (19:3), Sabbath observance (19:3), prohibition of other gods (19:4), stealing (19:11), bearing false witness(19:11), murder (19:16), coveting (19:18), adultery (19:29), love your fellow as yourself (19:18), love the stranger (19:34) and more.
Abraham Joshua Heschel shares: “It troubled the Rabbis that the Decalogue is given in the Pentateuch in two versions (Ex 20:2-17 & Deut 5:6-18) that exhibit variants.
The Rabbis solved this difficulty by assuming that both versions were of identical Divine origin and were uttered miraculously at one and the same time and that to Moses, the meaning of Divine Revelation was essential, rather than the exact words.” Variants should not trouble us.
A clear understanding of Divine Revelation through prayer, reflection and study, and striving for and honoring an authentic moral life through holy acts, sanctifies G_d. We are called to imitate the example of G_d’s holiness – the G_d who cares for the widow and orphan, who is merciful and gracious and who rests on the 7th day.
For Reflection and Discussion: 1. Martin Buber maintained that Judaism does not divide life into the holy and profane, but into the holy and not-yet-holy. Discuss. 2. Consider how holiness requires us to find G_d beyond ourselves.
Bibliography: Heschel, A.J., God in Search of Man (New York: 1976), ETZ Hayim: Torah and Commentary (New York, 2001),
This week’s Parasha Commentary was prepared by
Mary Ann Payne, Australia, Bat Kol Alumna 2007, 2011, 2015
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