D'Var Torah Parsha Aharei Mot-Kedoshim

D’Var Torah Parsha Aharei Mot-Kedoshim

Shabbat Iyar 9, 10, 5773 /   April 19, 20 , 2013

Barry Fineman

This Shabbat we have a double Parsha (Two Torah readings/portions). We go from “SIN” to “THE HOLINESS OF MITZVAHS”

16:30 30 Ki-vayom hazeh yechaper aleichem letaher etchem mikol chatoteichem lifnei HASHEM titharu

For on this day He will make atonement for you, to purify you from all your sins, before HASHEM, you will be purified.

The above is in reference to Yom Kippur, The Day of Atonement; the day ALL Jews ask G-D for forgiveness from their sins, rid of their deviations, and ask for purification.

19:1 Vayedaber HASHEM el-Moshe lemor

G-D spoke to Moses, saying,

2 Daber el-kol-adat benei-Yisra'el ve'amarta alehem kedoshim tiheyu ki kadosh ani HASHEM Elokeichem

"Speak to the entire congregation [of] the Children of Israel and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, G-D, your G-d, am holy.

The above is the beginning of Parsha Kedoshim, and is followed by a listing of many Mitzvahs (Divine Commandments) through which The Jew(being us) sanctifies him/herself and relates to the ‘HOLINESS” of G-D!

These include, but are not limited to;

·        One shall observe Shabbat (The Sabbath)

·        One shall have Sexual Morality

·        One shall honor your mother and father

·        One shall obey the principles of equality

·        One shall partake in the Mitzvah of Charity

·        You shall not round off the corners of the hair on your head

We all know, or should know some of the Mitzvahs/Commandments, and how and why they pertain to us, but how many of us know why “19:27, you shall not round off the corners of the hair on your head”? 

The passage clearly forbids the removal of sideburns, the place where one’s hair ends at his temples, and which marks the division corresponding to the cerebrum and the cerebellum respectively.  The hair at the temples is a natural veil which hides the view of the back of the head. The relation of the frontal part of one’s skull containing the cerebrum to the back part of the cerebellum is that of the human element to the animal element with in us. In order for us to maintain a strict code within ourselves, the animal factor which indeed reflects our sensuality with lusts and desires, must be subordinated to the higher dignity of the intellectual and spiritual factors.  By us recognizing this division between the two, and by showing this outwardly and recognizing, man maintains his appearance as “A MAN”. 

This is just one of 613 Mitzvahs!  And I am sure we all have walked on the streets of the Lower East Side of New York, and have seen men dressed in all black, and with beards and long sideburns, and thought, Hmmm, I saw a Rabbi!  May be?....., Or May be just an observant Jewish Person walking…………?

Why am I sharing this one Mitzvah, out of the other 612?  Because so many people ask, “why?”.  It’s pretty obvious why one Honors one’s parents.  Or why one does not pursue his/her neighbor’s spouse.   With this fact, we all learned something; a lesson of value!  

Will all men that are hearing me speak, or reading this, go grow a beard? Probably not, but will this have some-kind of impact and you will remember this ONE Mitzvah and why Observant Jewish men adhere to….?  

My subtle point is there are 613 Mitzvahs/Commandments, and although we as Jewish people most likely do not practice ALL of them (or all of them at once even), and to many, we are aware of a few of them… With this implied and understood, I ask each one of you to find a Commandment/Mitzvah you are NOT AWARE of, not knowing about yet, and learn it, memorize it, practice it, and make it a regular habit, and that is a Mitzvah in itself!

If you need a helping hand to look up one of the 613, just ask, and we can study, learn, memorize and adapt together.  It’s just one step, and as ‘they’ say, “one Mitzvah at a time”

-Amen-