In reading this week of the service of the High Priest on Yom Kippur, we discover an interesting detail. The High Priest had to go to the mikvah five times in the course of the day. This was because, as Rashi takes the time to point out, not only did he have to immerse himself when changing from his normal robes to the special Yom Kippur attire; but also the opposite. Even when he took off his white robes and dressed in his normal priestly garments, he was required go to the mikvah. In this fact we can find an important lesson. This detail of the ritual needs to be pointed out because it is counter intuitive. One understands that when going from a lower to a higher level one needs to purify oneself. Indeed we also go to the mikvah before Yom Kippur and other festivals. But when returning to ones normal state, no purification would appear to be necessary. Yet the High Priest is required to do exactly that. How are we to understand this? We find in the second of our two parshiot, Kedoshim, the famous injunction not to place a stumbling block before the blind. Jewish tradition has understood this in its wider sense as a prohibition against leading people astray. Looking at the world today, the greatest practitioners of this dark art are religions and their leaders. The greatest deceivers of the public, leading their blind followers astray, are those who use the power of religion for political and material purposes. They abuse their position as perceived men of spirituality and holiness, to advocate and engage in the basest deeds. For this reason, the Torah commands the most important man on the holiest day of the year, to immerse himself also after he has finished his exalted service. He is to make a distinction between the religious heights he reached and his mundane life. He is not to abuse the respect and awe he achieves this day in the sight of the people, for his own secular ends. He must purify himself of the potential arrogance and temptation that comes from perceived, or even actual, closeness to G-d. The Torah, therefore, teaches us an important lesson in religious leadership. Religion must never be used in pursuit of material or political ends. Religious power must be used for spiritual not personal improvement. It’s a lesson too many religious leaders today still need to learn..

Rishon	The High Priest‘s service on Yom Kippur.
Sheni	Proper slaughter of meat.
Shelishi	The prohibition of blood and forbidden sexual liaisons.
Revi’i	The duty to be holy.
Chamishi	Defending the weak and laws of ritual holiness.
Shishi	Punishment for sexual misdemeanours.
Shevi’i	A holy people for a holy land.
Haftorah	Amos: 9;7-15:  G-d will save a righteous remnant

Sidra Statistics: Parshat Aharei / Kedoshim

·                has 80 + 64 = 144 verses;

·                is the  6th + 7th  in Leviticus,  29th + 30th  in the Torah

·                6th + 9th  longest in Leviticus,  44th + 49th  longest  in the Torah  

·                has 15 pos +   64 neg = 79  mitzvot.