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Acharei Mot II – אַחֲרֵי מוֹת (Leviticus 16:1–18:30)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Acharei Mot II – אַחֲרֵי מוֹת (Leviticus 16:1–18:30)

This week, on the Reform calendar of Torah Readings, we revisit ParashatAcharei Mot where we read:

And it shall be a law for you forever: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the citizen, and the stranger that lives among you. For on this day Atonement shall be made for you, to cleanse you from all your sins… (Leviticus 16:29-30)

Wait a minute, Yom Kippur? We are just days past our Passover Seders. Why are we talking about Yom Kippur? But if you think about it, there is a tie that binds these two greatest holiday of the Jewish year – and that is Hunger. 

On Yom Kippur we fast all day to remind ourselves of our pressing duty to redeem the world.We read from the great Haftarah of Isaiah: 

Is it such a fast I asked for? A day to afflict your soul? To bow your head like a bulrush, to wear sackcloth and ashes? Do you call this a fast, a day acceptable unto God? … Rather, you shall give bread to the hungry and bring the poor into your house. (Isaiah 58:5-7)

This is why, on Yom Kippur, we collect food for the Hungry, so that those who fast every day simply because they haven’t enough food to eat might find sustenance.

On Passover, for one week, we eat Matzah – the poor bread, the bread of affliction, to remind ourselves that we are the descendants of slaves, that we were strangers in the land of Egypt, and so we say:“Let all who are hungry come and eat,” and we open our doors for Elijah, and we make contributions to Hunger organizations, so that through our remembrance we might become builders of a better world.

Parashat Acharei Mot is all about the Yom Kippur fast. Now, isn’t that the perfect Torah Portion to follow after Passover this year. Make a contribution to feed the hungry, so by our hands and our hearts we may be builders of a better world.

Parsha Acharei Mot II – אַחֲרֵי מוֹת Torah Summary:

Moses condemns the sexual practices of some neighboring peoples. Certain forms of sexual relations are prohibited. (18:1-30) Acharei Mot II – אַחֲרֵי מוֹת

Passover 2022 at The Temple

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Thank you for being a part of Passover 2022 at The Temple. Please share your feedback to help us improve the experience by completing this short survey. Your responses will be received anonymously unless you request follow-up by providing contact information.

Event Descriptions:

Passover 2022

Dear Temple Family,

This year for Passover, The Temple is excited to announce a hybrid celebration! We will host four different Seders to attend either in person or virtually AND the option to pick up a Passover meal by Chef Z, with a new Haggadah featuring artwork from our members.

  1. Four Seder options:
  • Annual First Night Seder – Friday, April 15 at 6:00 pm
  • Congregational Passover Seder led by our Confirmation Class – Saturday, April 16 at 6:00 pm
  • Young Adult Seder – Monday, April 18 at 6:00 pm
  • Annual Gaylia R. Rooks Women’s Seder led by the WRJ/Sisterhood- Thursday, April 21 at 6:00 pm

In-person attendance will require vaccination (unless under 5) and be limited to one family per table (unless two or more households mutually want to sit together).

Please sign up below!

2. Whether celebrating at home or at The Temple, you can order a Passover meal made by the amazing Chef Z. This year’s Passover menu offers the following options:

  • Tender beef brisket topped with a savory gravy
  • Marinated grilled chicken breast piccata
  • Chef Z’s famous vegetable frittata

All meals include matzo ball soup, a mixed green salad, roasted root vegetables, and chocolate mousse for dessert.

The regular price per meal for Temple members is $20 and $25 for non-Temple members. HALF PRICE member meals for $10 will be available for the first 200 meal orders and all members attending an in-person Seder. If you are picking up a meal, you can also order a Seder Plate for $10. Order today and for information and dates about meal pickup.

3. The Temple will also provide a beautiful Haggadah featuring artwork from our members for those attending our First Night Seder. Starting in March, the Haggadah will be available (1) online (put link here) or (2) by request at the Front Desk for you to pick up, and (3) for out-of-town members by mail.

We are thrilled to offer so many different Passover options this year. If you have questions, please contact Santa at (502) 212-2028.

Wishing everyone a joyful and meaningful Passover,

Your Temple Team
Andrea, Benji, Craig, Erin, Gene, Jennifer, Kinnereth, Santa, Sarah, Terry, Rabbi David, and Rabbi Rapport

Acharei Mot – אַחֲרֵי מוֹת (Leviticus 16:1–17:16)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Acharei Mot – אַחֲרֵי מוֹת (Leviticus 16:1–17:16)

Acharei Mot, appears at the exact midpoint of the Torah. Beyond that distinction, there is little here of obvious merit. The topics for discussion are blood rituals, forbidden sexual relations, and the minute details of the sacrificial cult. In a broader sense though, Acharei Mot does stand at the center of the Torah, at the dividing line of Leviticus, marking the last of the ritual sections which have occupied us until now, followed by the Holiness Code and the laws which teach us of our obligations to one another in our everyday life.

Stepping back, there is a unity to what Leviticus comes to teach. At first, it seems rather odd that in this first half of the book, concerned largely with the rituals of sacrifice, God is barely mentioned. And then, as the topics turn toward the laws which affect our relations with other human beings, God’s name is emphasized again and again! And yet, this is precisely the point Leviticus intends to make. 

The first half of Leviticus could easily lead to a mistaken understanding that God’s Presence is limited to the Tabernacle alone. And, that once we leave God’s holy place we can leave God there. The second half of Leviticus is intended to counter just this misconception. The Tabernacle does not limit God to that Holy Place, rather, it channels God’s presence from heaven to earth in order that it can reach forth from the Temple, outward to the entire world. The second half of Leviticus contains commandments which transport God’s Presence from inside God’s Holy Place, directly into our daily lives.

It is a simple but important message. God does not live only in holy sanctuaries, nor should our Judaism. If we would seek God in our lives, then we must carry within us the message of God’s words, everywhere we go and in everything we do. Acharei Mot teaches us that true holiness lives in our deeds and how we can bring God’s presence into the world.

Parsha Acharei Mot – אַחֲרֵי מוֹת Torah Summary:

The duties that the head kohein must perform on Yom Kippur are delineated and the ceremony of the scapegoat is outlined. (16:1-28) Moses instructs Aaron about the Yom Kippur laws for fasting and atonement. (16:29-34) Warnings are issued against the offering of sacrifices outside the Sanctuary and the consumption of blood. (17:1-16) Acharei Mot – אַחֲרֵי מוֹת

The First Day of Passover – יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל פֶּסַח (Exodus 12:37-42, 13:3-10)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: The First Day of Passover – יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל פֶּסַח (Exodus 12:37-42, 13:3-10)

.בְּכָל דּוֹר וָדוֹר חַיָב אָדָם לִרְאוֹת אֶת עַצְמוֹ כְּאִלוּ הוּא יֶָָצֶָא מִמִּצְרַָים
B’chol dor vador chayav adam lirot et atzmo k’ilu hu yatzah mi-mitzrayim.

The Talmud teaches (Pesachim 116b): “In every generation each of us is obligated to view ourselves as if we ourselves came forth out of Egypt,” as it says in the Torah: “And you shall tell your children on that day saying, “This is because of what God did for me when I came forth out of Egypt” (Exodus 13:8). These words from the Mishnah found their way into the Passover Haggadah. These words from the book of Exodus are the highlight of this week’s special Torah portion for the Sabbath which falls on the first day of Passover.

“In every generation each of us is obligated to view ourselves as if we ourselves came forth out of Egypt.” This is the essential message of Passover and in it all the lessons of Passover are intertwined.

If we would truly remember each Passover as if we ourselves came forth out of Egypt…

Then we would remember the pain and shame of slavery and the joy of freedom in our hearts – and we would work urgently for the liberation of all who are still oppressed, just as if we are ourselves were still slaves. 

Then we would remember the taste of matzah in our mouths, the poor bread of our wandering, and we would work urgently to feed the hungry in our own day as if we ourselves were the hungry and our own families were the ones who had not enough to eat.

Then we would remember that we ourselves were once strangers in a strange land and we would open our doors and our hearts to welcome the stranger and the immigrant as if we were the refugees who stand at our gates in need of a home and a promised land. 

Then the lessons of Passover would live in our lives and we could truly welcome the prophet Elijah to each of our Passover Seders, for we would truly live in a messianic age for us all. 

The First Day of Passover – יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל פֶּסַח Torah Summary:

We read that a “mixed multitude” of people fled Egypt with the Israelites. With no time to wait, they took the cakes from their oven before they had time to rise. By God’s mighty hand, our ancestors fled the house of bondage and were brought to “a land flowing with milk and honey.” As a reminder of God’s redemption, we are instructed to eat only unleavened bread during Passover. Furthermore, the text tells us to explain to our children, “It is because of what God did for me when I went free from Egypt.” The Hebrew word for explain, v’higgadta, has the same root as Haggadah, the book from which we read on Passover. In doing so, each year we fulfill the sacred obligation to tell this story to our children. It is this story, more than any other that is central to Judaism. God redeemed us from slavery and we therefore know the heart of the stranger. The First Day of Passover – יוֹם רִאשׁוֹן שֶׁל פֶּסַח

M’tzora – מְצֹרָע (Leviticus 14:1-15:33)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: M’tzora – מְצֹרָע (Leviticus 14:1-15:33)

This week’s Torah Portion, M’tzora, is largely concerned with the ritual cleansing of the slime and the ooze of scales, scabs, and other skin afflictions as well as the various discharges of bodily fluids which most people would consider not fit for conversation among polite company. The Torah topics offered here for discussion are, in fact, so legendarily distasteful that the classic rabbinic commentators turn instead to a somewhat stretched word play on the name M’tzora as a beginning of their insights on the parashah.

M’tzora, we are told, means more than the simple translation of “leprosy” might reveal. M’tzora is an acronym for the phrase MoTZi, shemRa. (Read the bold letters alone, add the letter “o” and skip the word in italics.) I did say that this interpretation was a bit of a stretch. But, if you can follow me down this Talmudic rabbit hole, Motzi shem ra means to “bring forth an evil name” which the rabbis take to represent a biblical injunction agains idle gossip. (Babylonian Talmud, Arachin 15b)

It is a long way to go, but having arrived at this abiding Jewish value, there is an important lesson here for us to learn. In an age when “free speech” has come to mean that anyone can say anything even if it is provably false and dangerous, our Jewish values teach us that words matter and we must avoid lashon ha-ra “evil speech”. And, that even true statements about another person which might be hurtful should be avoided unless there is some pressing requirement of law or justice.

M’tzora teaches us to choose our words carefully, for what we say speaks more about ourselves than it does about those about whom we speak.

Parsha M’tzora – מְצֹרָע Torah Summary:

Priestly rituals to cure tzaraat (a skin condition) when it afflicts humans are described. (14:1-32) Rituals to rid dwelling places of tzaraat are presented. (14:33-57) The parashah denotes male impurities resulting from a penile discharge or seminal emission. (15:1-18) The parashah concludes with accounts of female impurities caused by a discharge of blood. (15:19-33) M’tzora – מְצֹרָע

Tazria – תַזְרִיעַ (Leviticus 12:1−13:59)

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This Week’s Torah Portion: Tazria – תַזְרִיעַ (Leviticus 12:1−13:59)

Tazria is mainly about skin diseases that make you unclean, it begins by telling us that also giving birth makes the women unclean (impure) meaning that she can not go close to the sacred.

The all notion of purity and impurity that plays such a huge role in the Torah, is almost irrelevant to our lives and makes little or no sense to us.

Parsha Tazria – תַזְרִיעַ Torah Summary:

God describes the rituals of purification for a woman after childbirth. (12:1-8) God sets forth the methods for diagnosing and treating a variety of skin diseases, including tzara-at (a leprous affection), as well as those for purifying clothing. (13:1-59) Tazria – תַזְרִיעַ Tazria is mainly about skin diseases that make you unclean, it begins by telling us that also giving birth makes the women unclean (impure) meaning that she can not go close to the sacred. The all notion of purity and impurity that plays such a huge role in the Torah, is almost irrelevant to our lives and makes little or no sense to us.

Parsha Tazria – תַזְרִיעַ Torah Summary:

God describes the rituals of purification for a woman after childbirth. (12:1-8) God sets forth the methods for diagnosing and treating a variety of skin diseases, including tzara-at (a leprous affection), as well as those for purifying clothing. (13:1-59) Tazria – תַזְרִיעַ Tazria is mainly about skin diseases that make you unclean, it begins by telling us that also giving birth makes the women unclean (impure) meaning that she can not go close to the sacred. The all notion of purity and impurity that plays such a huge role in the Torah, is almost irrelevant to our lives and makes little or no sense to us.