Parasha Acharei-Kedoshim
Leviticus 16:1-20:27

By: Dani'el Rendelman

 

 

There are some things in life that are just hard to understand.  Like how grainy and course sand becomes clear and beautiful glass. Or how people can wait in line for hours to purchase tickets for a rock concert yet the same people get frustrated if the line at Wal-mart is a little too long.  It is hard to grasp just how professional ball players are paid more money than teachers, nurses, and police officers. Some incidents are just a little too peculiar and irrational.  Like how people can go on a diet and eat tons of cheese and meat and no bread and result in actually losing weight.

Just like things in life are sometimes hard to comprehend, so too are many of the mitzvot in the Torah. Let’s face it; there are many commandments in the Bible that just don’t make any sense.  Verses that deal with ritual purity, wearing tzittzit, and eating certain foods just aren’t rational.  Sure, obedience to these commands serve a higher spiritual purpose but that doesn’t mean that they can be reasoned out and understood fully. But what really can? What verses in the Bible can a person understand fully?  What chapters in the Scriptures do you have the fullest comprehension of? 

The Jewish Sages have divided the Torah commands into two basic categories.  The first, called “Mishpatim” are considered to be rulings that are basically rational.  These are often translated as “judgments.”  Statements like “do not murder” and “do not steal” are easy to reason out and therefore fit without difficulty into this area of interpretation. The second category of mitzvot is called “chok.”  These are directions given to man as “decrees” and are usually translated as such. Chok are found in verses that deal with seemingly irrational concepts like inflicting yourself on Yom Kippur or wearing tefillin. 

Mishpat conforms to a sense of just living while chok can only be understood as a decree from Yahweh the King.  There are many chukim and Mishpatim found throughout the double portion Torah reading this week. Acharei-Kedoshim, found in Vayikra (Leviticus) 16-21, begins with instructions on how to properly observe the Day of Atonement and continues with specific thoughts on animal or meal offerings and laws prohibiting sexual relations within certain relationships. The second section stresses the set apartness of the Yisraelite through the mitzvot.  Verses in this area deal with everything from honesty to charity to idolatry.  Some of these concepts are easy to fathom while others are seemingly unfathomable.

Chasidic thought teaches “chok emphasizes the supra-rationality of our commitment to Elohim, while Mishpat stresses the function of the mitzvot as educators and enlighteners of human life.”  Yahshua said in Mattitiyahu 18:3 that we must come to him with the faith of little children.

All of this week’s reading and indeed all of the Torah present the Divine Will of Yahweh. The believer must choose to obey the Divine Will against his own will.  Certainly it is much easier to be a buffet believer and pick and choose what to accept in the Torah as valid for today.  Who eats everything at a buffet anyway?  There is definitely a struggle between the mind, the will, and the soul when it comes to accepting as lifestyle the Torah commands that just don’t make any sense. Yet it is in these mitzvot that our faith is tested.

 

Just do it!

Western or Greek thinking instinctly says that before you do something you should understand the purpose and reason why.  Biblically mandated obedience says to just do it.  Western or Greek thinking teaches to reason and then obey while many of the mitzvot in the Torah can only be understood after they have been experienced. This faith is truly experiential. This means that to grasp the importance and meaning of Torah one must first experience the power and obedience of Torah.  It is difficult to “delight in the Sabbath” until the first time you experience Sabbath rest. It is hard to comprehend why a person should eat kosher until you eat kosher foods.  Surely you don’t have to know exactly how the microscopic electrical parts of your computer work but you still use your computer, right? It is the same with the chok of the Torah.  In fact it is the same with the whole of Torah.  All of Torah is indeed chok.

Yes yes, you just read that the Jewish Rabbis have divided the scope of the Torah into Mishpatim and chukim – two sections of laws that can be reasoned and those that can’t. But, the evidence that a chok is a divine decree and the witness that all of Yahweh’s word is truly unfathomable and greater than human reason will lead to the verdict that all of Torah is chok.

To us it makes sense not to kill or steal.  It doesn’t make sense to refrain from marring the edges of our beards.  Yet to Yahweh it is the same.  A mitzvot is a mitzvot.  A decree is a decree.  Obedience is obedience. You don’t have to fully understand “why” you are following Torah to follow Torah.  Just understand that you are obeying the will of Almighty Yahweh.

 

Don't choke on the chok!

Much can be learned by studying and researching all of the Torah, including the chok commandments.  Rabbi Rambam has written that “although the chukim of the Torah are supra-rational decrees…it is fitting to contemplate them, and whatever can be explained, should be explained.” Take for example the decree in this week’s Torah portion found in Vayikra 19:19.

“Don’t wear a garment made of two kinds of cloth,” Vayikra says.  To the casual reader this pasuk (verse) doesn’t mean much. But to the believer who wants to walk out their faith in Ruach and Emet a whole new can of worms is now being opened.  What does it mean to not wear a piece of clothing with intertwined fabrics?  Why not?  What fabrics are ok and what material should be avoided?  Is this valid for today?  What was Yahweh thinking?

Friend, some principles in Torah can be “taught” while others have to be “caught.” The Yisraelite must “catch” the Almighty’s call for faith filled obedience instead of reason when it comes to the chok of “sha’atnez.”

“Sha’atnez” is the Hebrew term for counterfeit, false, or unholy mixtures prohibited by Yahweh’s Torah.  The wearing of mixed fabrics is just one of three sha’atnez that are to be avoided.  The context of Vayikra explain this a little further.  “Keep my decrees.  Do not mate different kinds of animals.  Do not plant your field with two kinds of seed.  Do not wear clothing woven of two kinds of material,” Vayikra 19:19. We are not to mix:

      plants with other plants and create a hybrid

      animals with other animals and create a mongrel

      plant based fabrics with animal based fabrics and create a garment

 

“You are not to wear a garment with two kinds of thread, wool and linen together,” says Devarim (Deuteronomy) 22:11.  This command is a definite chok.  There is no apparent reason other than expressing Divine Will with this mitzvot.  Linen is a plant-based material and wool of course is an animal based material and the two should not be mixed for attire.  If linen and wool appear in the same garment then you should not wear that item of clothing teaches the Torah.   

Is this for today?

The Rabbis have concluded that it is wrong to wear anything when these elements are sewn, tied, pasted together, weaved, twisted or carded. The Talmud even prohibits sitting on a fabric with sha’atnez!  How does all of this relate to life today?  Well, if you believe the Bible then not much has changed.

“The grass withers and the flowers fade but the word of Yahweh remains forever,” says Yesha’yahu (Isaiah) 40:8.  Just as it is wrong to lie or steal, it is still wrong to wear sha’atnez.  It doesn’t matter if you understand this command or agree with it.  The Word of Yahweh remains forever. 

A simple look through your closet with a fast examination of clothing tags will reveal if you own any sha’atnez.  Be careful though!  Many suits of wool have linen liners or pockets and many items with padding may mix the two threads.  Also, “lano/lino” is Spanish for wool/linen.  You don’t have to discard of the garment if it is sha’atnez, just don’t wear it. (The Torah only prohibits “wearing” these – not making them or owning them.)  Or you can donate the clothing to a local thrift store or trash the clothes if you so choose.  It is much easier to not wear something if you don’t have it in your closet or dresser.'

 

What does this mean?

What is the meaning behind the mitzvot of sha’atnez? Jewish rabbis and students have pondered this question for literally thousands of years.  Some say not to wear sha’atnez because only the garments of the Cohen Hagadol (high priest) could be made of linen and wool. Many Sages teach that sha’atnez has its origins in pagan cults of old.  Others point out that sha’atnez completes the set of forbidden combinations and man should not change creation to “improve” upon it. For various teachers sha’atnez is a reminder of the story of Kayin and Hevel.  Kayin’s offering was from the produce of the ground and Hevel’s was from his flock.  Keeping wool and linen separate in garments reminds us of this episode and its lessons.

 Sha’atnez is unusual, just like much of Torah. The Mishpatim and the chok of Torah are Yahweh’s Divine Will.  Like them or not – understand them or not – they are all to be obeyed.

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