"That He May Live By Them"
STUDENT
SUMMARIES OF SICHOT OF THE ROSHEI YESHIVA
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With gratitude and
in honor of the bar mitzva,
this year b'ezrat Hashem, of our twin sons,
Michael and Joshua - Steven Weiner and Lisa Wise
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PARASHAT
ACHAREI-MOT KEDOSHIM
SICHA
OF HARAV RAV BARUCH GIGI SHLIT”A
“That He May
Live by Them”
Translated
by
I.
The
Torah discusses the list of forbidden sexual relations (“arayot”) in two
chapters of Sefer Vayikra.
Chapter 18 presents warnings against such relations, while chapter 20
sets down the punishments for violating these
prohibitions.
The
question immediately arises: why does the Torah interrupt the subject with
chapter 19? Wouldn’t it make more sense for the discussion of the punishment to
follow immediately after the warning?
We
may start by pointing out that in both chapters the list of forbidden relations
appears in the body of the chapter, surrounded by a “framework.” The respective “frameworks” contain some
details which are identical, but also some which differ – and, as we shall see,
these differences are of critical significance for our understanding of the
essence of these prohibitions and of our parasha within the context of
Sefer Vayikra.
II.
It
is well known that Sefer Vayikra is divided into two parts: from the
beginning until chapter 17 it deals with the laws pertaining to the
kohanim, while from chapter 18 onwards it is mainly focused on the
concept of sanctity (kedusha): the sanctity of man, the sanctity of time,
and the sanctity of the Land of Israel.
In
the context of chapter 18 the emphasis is on the fact that Bnei
Yisrael are destined to enter the promised land, and that the privilege
of living in the land is dependent on them distancing themselves from the ways
of both the Egyptians and the Canaanites, whose cultures are steeped in
licentiousness and abominations.
Bnei Yisrael are warned to keep far from their practices in order
that the land will not expel them.
Chapter
18 also contains other commands:
“You
shall perform My judgments and observe My statutes, to follow them; I am the
Lord your God. And you shall
observe My statutes and My judgments, which a person should perform,
that he may
live by them;
I am the Lord.” (4-5)
“And
you shall observe My statutes and My judgments, and you shall not perform any of
these abominations…” (26)
The
significant addition in these verses is the remark, “that he may live by
them.” What it means is that a
person who wishes to live before God is obligated to perform His statutes and
judgments. The obvious corollary is
that if the judgments and statutes do not allow a person to live, if they entail
the ending of his life, then he is not obligated to follow them. As the Gemara teaches (Yoma 85b),
“‘That he may live by them’ – and not that he should die by them.” If their
observance requires that a person give up his life, then his life takes
preference. This is the sanctity of
life.
III.
Moving
on to chapter 20, we first encounter the punishment meted out to a person who
offers his child to Molekh, and to one who consults soothsayers and
diviners. Thereafter we find two
introductory verses:
“You
shall sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy, for I am the Lord your
God. And you shall observe My
statutes and perform them; I am the Lord who sanctifies you.”
(7-8)
The
closing verses of the chapter would seem to be a repetition of the closing
verses of chapter 18, except for one important addition – the matter of
sanctity: “And you shall be sanctified unto Me, for I am sanctified”
(26).
Another
matter of emphasis is the absolute demand for performance of God’s judgments:
“all of My statutes and all of My judgments” (22) – an absolute demand in
relation to which the vision of “that he may live by them” falls away. What this means is that we are faced
with a special obligation: it is not sufficient to live life simply and
naturally; we are required to introduce elements of sanctity into our lives, and
to understand that life devoid of sanctity is not a supreme value. In chapter 18 the value presented to us
is, “that he may live by them.” In
chapter 20 we move forward: it is not simply “life” that is being presented, but
“a life of sanctity.” The sanctity
of life is an important value, but only when we are speaking of a sanctified
life. Life without sanctity is not
a value in and of itself; death is preferable to the absence of
sanctity.
What
brings about the profound change that occurs in between these two chapters,
these two world-views? What raises us from the “sanctity of life” to the level
of “a life of sanctity”? The answer would seem to lie in chapter
19.
IV.
Chapter
19 is the reason for the profound differences between chapters 18 and 20. Chapter 19 imbues the life of the Jew
with sanctified content. Sanctity
is made up of certain rules of behavior governing interpersonal relations, and
the Torah views these relations as an integral part of the overall system of
sanctity, alongside the commandments pertaining to the relationship between man
and God.
Chapter
19 is characterized by its long list of commandments, some between man and his
fellow man, others between man and God, and all interwoven in such a way that
they cannot be separated. The
essence of this unit is a reality in which the encounter between man and his
fellow man is actually, at the same time, an encounter between man and
God.
Chapter
19 also addresses another point: the relationship between man and God, where man
stands before God and is sanctified with His sanctity. In parashat Kedoshim, the first
of the ten utterances – “I am God,” does not arrive from an external
source. Rather, it arises from
within our reality, from within each commandment. Life itself, as it were, is lived with
God and before God. The verses
reflect the proper state of consciousness – “I have placed God before me
always.” This is the meaning of a
life of sanctity.
Thus,
chapter 19 is fundamental to the sanctity of man; it is essential for the quest
to live one’s life in sanctity.
When we add the demands of chapter 19 to the demand “that he may live by
them” in chapter 18, we arrive at a new reality: a reality in which, if sanctity
is violated, there is room to demand that a person give up his life rather than
commit the violation.
This
understanding finds expression in the location of the unit discussing
Molekh. In chapter 18, the
prohibition of Molekh appears as part of the larger unit. In chapter 20, in contrast, we find this
prohibition at the very beginning.
The reason for this would seem to be that offering a child to Molekh
involves three elements, representing the three transgressions which violate
sanctity in the most acute way: idolatry (which is also involved in consulting
soothsayers), murder, and sexual immorality.
(Why
sexual immorality? The sanctity of
the union between man and woman finds expression in the birth of children who
are raised to serve God. A person who offers his child to Molekh demonstrates,
retroactively, that the conception and birth of the child were not directed
properly.)
Following
the discussion of sacrifice to Molekh and its punishment, and the introductory
verses about sanctity, the Torah lists the punishments for those who engage in
forbidden sexual relations. This
comes after it has been established that there are values of sanctity that take
preference over life, leading us to understand that there are some requirements
of sanctity which cannot be violated, and if they are then a person pays with
his life, either through execution by the court or by
“karet.”
V.
The
only punishment mentioned in chapter 18 is the land’s expulsion of its sinful
inhabitants. The land is unable to
tolerate the most elementary human form of impurity, namely,
incest.
With
regard to Eretz Yisrael, too, we see a development and progression. In chapter
18, human impurity causes the land to vomit out its inhabitants; in chapter 20,
God comes to loath the nation, as it were, because they are not holy. Only a holy nation merits a land “upon
which God’s eyes rest”, a land that is connected to holiness, a land in which
life is lived – by definition – before God, a land flowing with milk and
honey.