Leviticus, 16:1-18:30—19:1-20:27

This Week’s Torah Portion | May 1 – May 7, 2016 – 23 Nissan – 29 Nissan, 5776 |

May 8 – May 14, 2016 – 30 Nissan – 6 Lyar, 5776

In A Nutshell

The portions, Aharei Mot (After the Death) and Kedoshim (Holy), are connected. In the portion, Aharei Mot, following the death of Aaron’s two sons—Nadav and Avihu—the Creator details before Moses various rules concerning the way Aaron may approach the Holy in the tabernacle: it requires offering several sacrifices. Aaron must choose between two male goats, one to be sacrificed as a sin offering, and the other to be sent to the desert as a “goat to Azazel.”

The portion also details the prohibition to slaughter for food without bringing an offering to the tent of meeting. The Creator instructs Moses to command the people not to follow the ways of the Egyptians and the Canaanites, and not to obey their rules. At the end of the portion the Creator tells the people of Israel not to be defiled by all the impurities that the nations that dwelled in the land of Canaan before them did because if they did, the land would repel them.

In the portion, Kedoshim (holy), the Creator says to the children of Israel through Moses: “You shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus, 19:2).

The portion details many different commandments between man and God, between man and man, and some that concern offering sacrifices. The portion also deals with fearing Mother and Father, observing the Sabbath, and the prohibition on idol worship. Some of the Mitzvot (commandments) relate to the land of Israel, the land of Canaan, the tithing, fruits of the tree, idol worship, and other laws.

The portion ends with a complete prohibition on incest and adultery, which are punishable by death. The Creator commands the children of Israel to keep the laws when they arrive at the land of Israel, and refrain from what they did while in Egypt. They must separate between pure and impure beasts, and, likewise, the Creator will separate between Israel and the rest of the nations. This is how they will be Holy to Him.

 Commentary by Dr. Michael Laitman

Most people believe that the Torah speaks of this world, that it is full of physical actions and descriptions of animals, people, and objects, rules of social conduct, what is permitted, and what is forbidden. We either forget, or have never known that this world is but a replication of the spiritual world.

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If you equalize your inner attributes with the attributes of the Upper Light, you will reach perfection & eternity, “the world of infinity”—endless life and absolute fulfillment.

All this depends exclusively on changing our inner qualities. This is why the science of Kabbalah aims at showing us that by changing ourselves (and doing it quickly, within one lifetime) we begin to transcend this earthly existence. Our bodies remain in it and we go on living our usual lives with families, children, the world and society. But we receive an addition to all this—the Upper Reality—where we live in our supernal sense organ.

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Social desires + global aim = personal fulfillment, global balance and harmony.

We have natural—and purposeful—physical and social desires.

Physical desires, essential for survival, can be fulfilled by ourselves while social desires can only be fulfilled through others.

Social desires are necessary for the survival of the society; however, when we use our social desires selfishly, it leads to a never-ending pursuit of more. On the global level, this creates social, economic and political imbalance.

We can choose to fulfill our social desires for ourselves or for the whole of our society.

Obviously, choosing society’s benefit over our own creates positive results at all levels.

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When we enter the spiritual world, we will find ourselves in a never-ending, wonderful adventure that will leave us agape with awe.

We cannot take a train or a plane to the spiritual world because it is within us. To enter spirituality, we need only evoke the spiritual sensation within us, sharpen our senses, and open our perception to what is right here.

We will then find ourselves in a never-ending, wonderful adventure that will astonish and fill us with awe; from then on our sense of awe will be never-ending.

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Kabbalah lets us ask life’s deepest questions & feel the intimate, profound fulfillment from fully answering them.

Why are we here? What does the future hold? How can we avoid suffering?

These are questions we all want answered. The wisdom of Kabbalah provides answers to these questions and many more. It allows us to ask and experience the intimate, profound fulfillment that comes with answering the deepest questions to the fullest. This is why it is called “the wisdom of the hidden.”

Kabbalah teaches that we all want to enjoy. Kabbalists call this “the will to receive delight and pleasure,” or simply, “the will to receive.” This propels all of our actions, thoughts, and feelings, and Kabbalah depicts how we can realize our desires and fulfill our wishes.

Although the wisdom of Kabbalah often tends to sound technical or obscure, it is important to remember that this is a very practical science. The people who mastered it and wrote about it were just like you and me. They asked the same questions: “Why are we born?” “What happens after we die?” “Why is there suffering?” and “Can I experience lasting pleasure, and if so, how?” They discovered the answers to these questions, implemented them in their own lives and wrote texts so we may know these answers, also.

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