Voices of WRJ: Acharei Mot-K'doshim

by Trina Novak During this Torah cycle we combine Parashat Archarei Mot and Parashat K'doshim. Parashat Archarei Mot continues to define ritual purity, and includes details regarding how to purify the holy shrine, commandments about animal sacrifice and food, limitations on sexual behavior, and a description on how to ritually observe what will become our holiest day, Yom Kippur. Parashat K'doshim extends the concept of holiness to all aspects of life, including ritual, family, civil, and criminal conduct, and how we are to feel and act toward others. The laws are not limited to the priesthood and to the male heads of households; the laws encompass the entire community. When Moses encountered God at the Burning Bush, he asked God to tell him God's Name. God’s response was, “I will be what I will be.” Our God is one of transformation, and because we are created b’tzelem Elohim, in the image of God, we, too, are capable of transformation. How does a person undergo transformation? How does a community change? Our ancestors believed that it was necessary to set up boundaries and separations, just as God did in the Creation story of Genesis 1, in order to maximize the potential for holiness and to create a sacred future. The community of Israel was not to be like the Egyptian society they just left, nor were they to emulate the Canaanites. The people that comprised the Israelite community needed to shift their thinking so that they would not be like other societies. Individuals and the community had the potential to reach purity and optimal holiness, but as is the nature of change, both could also be in a state of impurity and transgression. The Israelites believed that by adhering strictly to the laws, they could maximize their ability to obtain a state of holiness. Acharei Mot still places emphasis on what the priests could do for the people once obtaining a state of purity and through animal sacrifice. God is holy, God’s sanctuary is holy, and the keeping of sacred times, such as Shabbat, is holy. The people could do their part by maintaining proper sexual boundaries and by following proper food regulations. In K'doshim, Moses is told to speak to the community and to say, “You shall be holy, for I, Adonai, your God, am holy.” The responsibility for obtaining holiness is shifted away from just the priests and the male heads of household. Everyone in the community is responsible, not only for how to act, but also for how to be. Some scholars argue that the Holiness Code, as K'doshim is referred to, was written by a group of priests who were influenced by the Prophet Isaiah in response to the authors of the parashiyot in the beginning of Leviticus. In K'doshim, the people had to be invested in the sacrifices they brought to the priests; they had a duty to protect the poor and disabled; and their intentions, their emotions, and their acts of loving kindness counted toward reaching a state of holiness. The Sifra, a fourth century commentary on Leviticus, interprets the words “You shall be holy” as “You shall be separate.” Jews were to be different, unique, and separate from others. Yet, Martin Buber stated, “Israel must, in imitating God by being a holy nation, similarly not withdraw from the world of nations, but rather radiate a positive influence on them through every aspect of Jewish learning.” As a modern Reform Jew there are many laws presented in these parashiyot that I have difficulty relating to, such those that define what makes a woman pure, those that define women as property and as the extensions of men, and those regarding homosexual behavior. I can relate more to Martin Buber’s belief in breaking down boundaries and separations, in reaching out to others, and in cementing the bonds of relationships as holy actions. Love your neighbor and the stranger, and thereby connect to God. I recently attended the Synagogue Council of Massachusetts Connie Spear Birnbaum Memorial Lecture. The two keynote speakers were Ofir Shaer, father of one of the kidnapped and murdered Israeli teens, and URJ President Rabbi Rick Jacobs. Though they may interpret religious law differently, both men urged us, the Jewish people, to seek connections—to quote Rabbi Jacobs, to seek “Unity within diversity.” WRJ maximizes its connections and resources by assisting women to become accomplished leaders and by speaking out through its advocacy statements and resolutions. YES Fund grants benefit our partner institutions and communities throughout the world, to ensure their future and the future of Progressive Jewish ideals. Our anthem, Limdu Heiteiv, from Isaiah 1:17 ("Learn to do good. Seek justice. Correct the wrongdoers."), exemplifies our values. Our actions “radiate a positive influence”, and we, together as the WRJ community, bring holiness to the world. Trina Novak is a WRJ Board member,  WRJ Northeast District Vice President of Marketing & Communications, and Sisterhood of Temple Beth Shalom, Needham, MA, Past President. She resides in Needham, MA and enjoys the loving connections she has with husband, Jim Mavor, her two adult children, and her extended family of WRJ sisters.