Leviticus 16:1-20:27 | Amos 9:7-15 (Ashkenazim) | Ezekiel 20:2-20 (Sephardim) | Luke 19:1-10

This week's edition of The Set Table contains:

Questions and Commentary on Shabbat Acharei Mot-Qedoshim
Chayyei Yeshua - A Devotional Commentary on the Besora Reading
Looking Ahead

Questions & Commentary on Parashat Acharei Mot-Qedoshim

1. In this week's Torah portion, we are commanded "you shall keep my laws and my rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am the LORD" (Leviticus 18:5). How do we attain life by the observance of commandments? 

Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

The Torah portion for this week contains the seemingly obvious instruction Ushemartem et chuqqota ve'et mishpata asher ya‘aseh otam ha'adam vachai bahem "And you shall observe my statutes and commandments which each person shall do and live by them" (Leviticus 18:5). The closing clause - vachai bahem - can be translated quite simply, "he shall live by them." It means in its plain sense that each person should live their lives in obedience to God's commandments throughout their lives. 

This statement has, however, engendered much reflection among commentators. The first major trajectory of interpretation has understood them as teaching that obedience to God's commandments leads to life in the world to come. This perspective is seen early-on in Jewish interpretation in Targum Onqelos, an early Aramaic translation of the Torah: 

And you shall guard my edicts and my laws, for if a person performs them, he shall live by them in the life of the world to come. 

Rashi interprets our verse in a similar fashion: 

He shall live by them: that is, in the world to come, for if you say in this world, is not its end death?

Ibn Ezra, likewise, interprets this verse as reflecting eternal reward. He writes: 

And what is the reason for the repetition in the verse And you shall observe my statutes and my commandments? To show that there is life in two worlds for those who perform them. For the one who understands their secret, eternal life we shall live and not die forever. 

A second interpretive approach to this verse has been to see it as upholding the value and sanctity of life. The Tosefta, in Shabbat 15:17, records, 

And one may live by them, and not that one should die because of them. 

Thus, this verse is understood as legislating the pursuit of piquach nefesh "the preservation of human life." This rabbinic value concept, understood as deriving from the Torah, teaches that pursuit of human life trumps the Shabbat and all other commandments. Thus, an observant Jew can drive to the hospital on Shabbat if the purpose is to seek medical care for a life threatening illness. Likewise, one can consume a medication of which part is derived from a non-kosher animal, if its purpose is to preserve life. 

Yeshua echoes this concern for the value of life in the besora of Luke when he teaches, 

On a Sabbath Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues, and a woman was there who had been crippled by a spirit for eighteen years. She was bent over and could not straighten up at all. When Jesus saw her, he called her forward and said to her, "Woman, you are set free from your infirmity." Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God.

Indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the people, "There are six days for work. So come and be healed on those days, not on the Sabbath. The Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each of you on the Sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it out to give it water? Then should not this woman, a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has kept bound for eighteen long years, be set free on the Sabbath day from what bound her?"

    Luke 13:10-16 (NIV) 

2. Parashat Qedoshim begins with the command to the whole Israelite community, "You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy" (Leviticus 19:2). What does the Torah mean when it commands us to be holy like God? 

Rabbi Jonathan Kaplan

Holiness is a major subject in the book of Leviticus. On a literary level, holiness has been defined up until this point in the book in terms of God and the cult. According to the message of Leviticus 1-18, we are to respect the holiness of God by ensuring the ritual holiness of the priests and the whole people through avoiding and stopping ritual impurities. In chapter 19, there is a sharp shift in the narrative. In this chapter holiness is defined not only in cultic or sacrificial terms but also through prohibitions that have an explicitly moral dimension. Rashi, following the midrashic collection on Leviticus, Sifra', understands this holiness in a more narrow sense as avoidance of sexual immorality. He observes that every time one finds mention of holiness, one sees a prohibition against sexual misbehavior.  

Ramban (Nachmanides) disagrees with Rashi here. Instead he finds only the language of holiness in our passage and the command to imitate Divine holiness. He defines holiness not in the limited terms of refraining from sexually immoral acts but in terms of abstention even from those things that are permitted to us. 

[In contrast to Rashi] I find in the language of Leviticus only ‘you shall be separated.' And thus they repeat there, "you will be sanctified and you will be holy because I am holy (Leviticus 11:44). Just as I am holy, thus you will be holy. Just as I am separated, thus you will be separated. My opinion is that this separation does not mean [only] separation from sexual immorality according to the words of the Rav [Rashi]. . . . . This means that the Torah has admonished us against immorality and forbidden foods, but permitted sexual intercourse between man and his wife, and the eating of meat and wine. If so, a desirous man could consider this as permission to be passionately addicted to sexual intercourse with his wife or many wives, be "among winebibbers and gluttonous eaters of flesh" (Proverbs 23:20), and speak freely in a profane manner since this prohibition has not been explicitly mentioned in the Torah. Thus he will become a horrible person within the realm of that which is permissible in Torah! Therefore, after it lists all those things that God completely prohibited, scripture gives a general command that we practice moderation and abstention from that which is permitted. 

Luke 19:1-10 - Loving the Outcasts

Scott Nassau

Yeshua, while on his way to Jerusalem, decides to pass through Jericho. Suddenly, a man named Zacchaeus arrives on the scene. The name Zacchaeus is likely the Greek form of the Hebrew name Zakkai, which means innocent or righteous. Yet, Zacchaeus is anything, but righteous or innocent.  Luke describes him as both the chief tax collector and rich. The meaning of this term "chief tax collector" is uncertain. It could refer to Zacchaeus' rank in the tax system, making him at the top of the pyramid among the tax collectors. Yet, this term can also refer to his excessive wealth as a tax collector, which indicates he is the sinner supreme. Ancient Judaism despised tax collectors, because they worked for the Roman government and collected money dishonestly. As a Jewish employee of Rome, the Jewish community considered Zacchaeus a turncoat, or traitor. Also, tax collectors acquired their income by collecting more money than necessary and keeping the excess for themselves. Since Zacchaeus is wealthy, he likely gained his riches from excessive taxes and exploiting the community.  This description of Zacchaeus indicates that he was detested and a pariah in the community.  

Zacchaeus hears about Yeshua and decides to discover "who Yeshua is." Yet, the crowd prohibits him from getting close to Yeshua's entourage. Luke says Zacchaeus was "small in stature." This could refer to his height, or it may refer to his diminutive social status, which reinforces him as an outcast. So, he runs ahead of the crowd and climbs a tree to wait for Yeshua to pass through the way. When Yeshua approaches the tree, he recognizes Zacchaeus. Yeshua has not had previous interaction with Zacchaeus, but has "uncanny knowledge" of his identity. Once Yeshua addresses Zacchaeus and invites himself over to Zacchaeus' house, the crowd begins to grumble, because Zacchaeus is an excessive sinner. They are astounded by Yeshua's willingness to enter and dine in the house of a wicked man. Since Zacchaeus gained his wealth dishonestly, it was inappropriate to eat in his house and share in his ill-gotten gains. 

Yeshua does not leave Zacchaeus in his destitute state. Zacchaeus demonstrates repentance when he commits to make recompense for his exploitation by giving half of his possessions to the poor and paying back four-times whatever he had stolen. He agrees to the harshest penalty under Jewish law (see Exodus 21:37 MT; 2 Samuel 12:6). Yeshua affirms this repentance with his promise of salvation and reinstatement into the community of Israel when he says, "he too, is a son of Abraham."  

The reason Yeshua was willing to alter his travel plans and lodge in the house of a sinner was that his purpose was to "seek and save the lost." Yet, do we have the same purpose and passion as Yeshua?  Are we willing to associate with the pariahs and outcasts of our society, in order to demonstrate the love of our Messiah within our community? Like Yeshua, we cannot become influenced by social stigmas. Instead, we must have a passion to share the love of our Messiah with our community, even the outcasts and pariahs.

NEXT WEEK'S READINGS - PARASHAT EMOR

Leviticus 21:1-24:23
Ezekiel 44:15-31
Matthew 21:1-17