ACHAREI MOT I

LEVITICUS 16:1–17:16


D'var Torah By Rabbi Elyse Goldstein for ReformJudaism.org

He shall be dressed in a sacral linen tunic, with linen breeches next to his flesh, and be girt with a linen sash, and he shall wear a linen turban. They are sacral vestments; he shall bathe his body in water and then put them on. (Leviticus 16:4)

A few years ago, I was in Jerusalem in a Chasidic neighborhood, surrounded by stores carrying tallitot, kippot, and all sorts of Judaica. To my utter shock, prominently displayed in one store's window was a bright pink tallis! I went inside and started talking to the owner, a Chasid in full regalia: black coat, knickers, side curls, and fur-trimmed shtreimel hat. "Who would buy a pink tallit?" I asked. "A bat mitzvah girl of course," this Chasid said, with no hesitation. ". . . no, not the girls in my community," he added, "but in yours, sure, why not?"

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Yom Rishon shel Pesach - 1st Day of Passover

Exodus 12:37-42, 13:3-10

We Ourselves Went Forth from Egypt

D'var Torah By: Richard N. Levy for ReformJudaism.org

Our encounter with the offerings made in the Tabernacle is interrupted on the Shabbat of April 4th by a description of the Exodus that we celebrate on this day, the first day of Pesach. The Reform reading (Exodus 12:37-42; 13:3-10) differs slightly from the traditional reading, which is Exodus 12:21-51.

What we have omitted is the description of slaughtering the lamb and putting its blood on the doorposts (which is included in the Shabbat HaChodesh reading on March 21), the killing of Egyptian first-born sons, and the despoiling of the Egyptians. While a description of the institution of the Festival of Passover is found in the omitted section, verses 24-28, it is reiterated in Exodus 13:3-10, which is included in the Reform reading.

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Shabbat HaGadol/The Great Sabbath: Metzora - Reform

Leviticus 14:1-15:33

D'var Torah By: Rabbi Elyse Goldstein for ReformJudaism.org

Bringing New Meaning to the Status of a Menstruating Woman

Theologian Elizabeth Dodson Gray notes: "Women's bodies may be the hardest place for women to find sacredness" ( Sacred Dimensions of Women's Experience, 1988, p. 197). Our society sends negative messages to women from earliest childhood about the expected perfection of their physiques and the disappointments of any flaws in the female form. Parashat M'tzora, then, with its focus on menstrual impurity (15:19-24), seems to impart the same kind of unfavorable sense. Rejecting our own received biases and patriarchal assumptions about menstruation, however, can help us form a contemporary view of these so-called taboos.

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Shabbat HaChodesh: Tazria-Reform

Leviticus 12:1−13:59

D'var Torah By Rabbi Elyse Goldstein for ReformJudaism.org

In his book The Illness Narratives: Suffering, Healing, and the Human Condition,1 Dr. Arthur Kleinman makes an important distinction between illness and disease. He writes:

    Illness refers to how the sick person and the members of the family or wider social network perceive, live with, and respond to symptoms and disability. . . . Disease, however, is what the practitioner creates in the recasting of illness in terms of theories of disorder.

We see this distinction between illness and disease clearly in Parashat Tazria in the laws concerning tzaraat,2 — a skin ailment sometimes translated as "leprosy," its diagnosis, and the treatment of those afflicted with it.

The priests are practitioners. They want to know exactly what disease this person with a skin rash has, what are its symptoms, and — most important — what the person did to "get" the disease. In Leviticus 13:2-3 we read:

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Sh'mini, Parshat Parah - Reform

Leviticus 9:1-11:47

To Die in the Exercise of Your Passion

To Die in the Exercise of Your Passion

D'var Torah By Rabbi Elyse Goldstein for ReformJudaism.org

On Wednesday, August 7th, 1974, a 24-year-old Frenchman named Philippe Petit stepped out onto a steel wire strung across the 130-foot gap between the tops of the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York — close to 1,350 feet above the ground. After a 45-minute performance he was asked, "Weren't you afraid that you were going to die?" While conceding, he replied, "If I die, what a beautiful death, to die in the exercise of your passion."

Parashat Sh'mini contains the important and troubling story of Nadab and Abihu. It is the eighth day of the ceremony of consecrating the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and the priests. Aaron and his sons have been sacrificing animals all week long. Fire comes down from heaven and consumes the offerings, and all is going according to plan. Suddenly Nadab and Abihu, two of Aaron's sons, bring an additional offering of incense, which had not been commanded. They are immediately consumed by Divine fire; their bodies are dragged out of the Mishkan while Aaron remains silent.

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Tzav - Reform

Leviticus 6:1−8:36

D'var Torah By: Elyse Goldstein for ReformJudaism.org

Heeding the Call to Commandment—and to Obligation

Parashat Tzav continues the Levitical listing of sacrificial rituals begun in last week's parashah and discusses how to present the offerings, what the various kinds of offerings are, and the Prayer shawls in synagogueanointing and ordination of the priests. The parashah also explains the Levitical duty to keep a perpetual fire burning on the altar to kindle what we know today as the ner tamid — the eternal light over synagogue arks that reminds us of this continual fire.

It's the first word that interests me, though: tzav, "command." When God speaks to Moses, the Torah commonly uses two other words, emor, "speak to" and dabeir, "say." Yet this week's parashah opens with one stark word: tzav, "command." It's a much stronger word and one that implies urgency.

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Shabbat Zachor; Vayikra - Reform

Leviticus 1:1−5:26

By Elyse Goldstein for ReformJudaism.org

Vayikra, Leviticus, is my favorite book in the Torah. Its first portion, also called Vayikra, appears to deal mainly with the priestly cult and laws of sacrifice. But our discussion will show, this describes the portion and successive ones only at the most basic, p'shat, or "simple" level. As an introduction to all the upcoming portions of Leviticus, let's look at six crucial lessons I believe are in the third book of our Torah.

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