Aharei-Kedoshim

‘Do not steal, do not deceive and do not lie a man to his fellow. Do not swear in My name in vain’. The juxtaposition of these commands in our Parshah is not merely coincidence. The Rabbis saw in their order a progressive moral decline. As Rashi states it.: ‘if you will steal you will come to deceive and lie and in the end swear falsely’. Our Sages are here observing a key facet of human nature. Once we make one mistake we try and cover it up by making more, including lying. Many public figures have in the end been brought down, not by what they actually did but by the fact that they tried to cover it up. Once on the slippery slope of deception, things snowballed out of control, leading to far worse consequences than they original misdemeanour warranted. Yet there is also a deeper psychological basis underlying such self-destructive actions. People’s need to justify what they do. Most people are not consciously wicked and don’t tend to revel in notoriety. Rather, they seek to believe what they do is moral or for the greater good, thus justifying their questionable behaviour. The most common form of doing this, especially in the religious or political world, is through the medium of ideology. This enables people to appear genuinely sincere or kind and nice, while engaging in behaviour that is the opposite of their outward image. This is especially true of religious sects. Many young people have been caught up in cults because the people peddling them were pleasant, seemed sincere and harmless, and were so nice. By the time they found out their true nature and agenda, it was too late. The reason these groups succeed in this, however, is because they are genuinely nice. The believe they are doing the right thing. If you believe that your particular sect is the only right way, then to deceive or lie in furtherance of your interests doesn't seem immoral. You are only seeking to ’save souls’, to ‘help people’, and who can object to that. The trouble of course is, that the whole thing is a deception. Saving souls or helping people means getting them as part of your organisation, and in order to do that, anything is justified. The Torah warns us of such behaviour. If you start out with a wrong ideology, whether stealing or believing only you have the truth, you will do anything to justify your path. The answer, as Rashi hints, is not to start from the wrong position to start with. Respect other peoples property and ideas and don’t believe only you have the truth. Then you won’t need to deceive or lie.

Rishon	The High Priest‘s service on Yom Kippur.
Sheni	Not sacrificing outside the Tabernacle.
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	TA 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;

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

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

·                have 15 pos +   64 neg = 79  mitzvot.

 

PAST PARSHAH PUZZLE

 

Burn green and red.

 

Unclean signs in clothing that must be burnt.

 

PARSHAH PUZZLE

 

Praise for the fourth.

 

WEEKLY HALAKHA

 

On the 14th of Iyar people who were impure on Pesach could bring the Pesach offering.