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Parshah Summary – P’shat
Parshat Akharei Mot opens in the aftermath of the deaths of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, and God warns that one must only enter the innermost chamber of the Sanctuary in a particular way in order for it to be safe. Only the Kohen Gadol, the High Priest, may enter to offer the sacred ketoret (incense) once a year, on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. Another feature of Yom Kippur is the casting of lots over two goats, to determine which one should be offered to God, and which should be sent off to “Azazel” in order to “carry away” the sins of the Children of Israel.
The parshah then warns against bringing korbanot (animal or meal offerings) anywhere but in the Sanctuary (or later the Temple), forbids the consumption of blood, and details the laws of incest and other types of prohibited sexual relations. Parshat Kedoshim consists of the many mitzvot (commandments) through which one leads a sanctified life, including the prohibition against idolatry, the mitzvah of charity, the principle of equality before the law, Shabbat, sexual boundaries, honesty in business, honor of one’s parents, and the sacredness of life in general. Among these mitzvot is the famous principle which the great sage Rabbi Akiva called the essence of Torah, and a paraphrase of which Hillel said, “This is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary” – וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ – You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Torah of Awakening | Jewish Meditation Teaching
Both of this week’s portions, Akharei Mot and Kedoshim, begin with instructions that relate to “holiness” or “sacredness,” which in Hebrew is the 3-letter root, קדש Koof Dalet Shin: וַיֹּ֨אמֶר יְהֹוָ֜ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֗ה דַּבֵּר֮ אֶל־אַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֒יךָ֒ וְאַל־יָבֹ֤א בְכׇל־עֵת֙ אֶל־הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ מִבֵּ֖ית לַפָּרֹ֑כֶת אֶל־פְּנֵ֨י הַכַּפֹּ֜רֶת אֲשֶׁ֤ר עַל־הָאָרֹן֙ וְלֹ֣א יָמ֔וּת כִּ֚י בֶּֽעָנָ֔ן אֵרָאֶ֖ה עַל־הַכַּפֹּֽרֶת׃ Hashem said to Moses: Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come at any time into the Holy (space) behind the curtain, in front of the cover that is upon the ark, so that he not die; for I appear in the cloud over the cover… - Vayikra (Leviticus) 16:2; Parshat Akharei Mot
In the first passage, the קֹּדֶשׁ Kodesh is a particular sacred space; it is the innermost sanctum of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) in the wilderness, and later the Temple in Jerusalem. This verse is a warning that the act of entering into this most holy space must be done by a particular person, at a particular time, in a particular way, in order to avoid accidental death. The second passage is more of a general instruction – not to merely enter a holy place (קֹּדֶשׁ Kodesh), but to actually be holy (קָדוֹשׁ kadosh). The first verse is talking about something external; the second is talking about an inner reality:
קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י... Holies you shall be, for holy am I… In other words, the Ani – the “I,” is kadosh – holy; this verse reveals the deepest Mystery hidden in plain sight: That which we seek: Sacredness, Wholeness, Peace – That is what we are – the underlying Ani beneath our thoughts, our feelings, and all experience. And to make this even more clear אֲנִי יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ “I” am Existence, Your (own inner) Divinity. This deepest level of our being is not something other than what we call the Divine; the sacred is already our own deepest nature… קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ... Holies you shall be… And so, the verse is reminding us – be what you already are! But why do we need to be told to be what we already are? Because our tendency is to become lost in our experiences – personal dramas, the sufferings of the world – they can be all consuming, until we remember again – which brings us back to the pasuk opening the first parshah… וְאַל־יָבֹ֤א בְכׇל־עֵת֙ אֶל־הַקֹּ֔דֶשׁ... Don’t come into the Holy (space) at any time… This קֹּדֶשׁ Kodesh is not just the ancient Tabernacle; it is the sacred space we set aside for meditation. Meditation doesn’t happen בְכׇל־עֵת – at any time; it happens only at particular times. Like Aaron’s sons, we too would be in danger if we closed our eyes in mystical fervor at any old time; meditation must be a consistent but limited activity, done within certain safe boundaries. And yet, through meditating at particular times, we forge a perpetual connection with our own being at the deepest level, so that we can be holy all of the time, not just while we’re meditating; that’s the point. But to do this, we need to be consistent and persistent; meditation must become as natural in daily life as eating and sleeping. This power of consistent practice is represented by the s’firah of Netzakh. And so this phrase, וְאַל־יָבֹא בְכׇל־עֵת – don’t come in at any time, is a guide for embodying this quality of Netzakh: the key is to have a special time you set aside for your avodah, your meditation and prayer, so that your immersions into the Eternal permeate your whole life, bringing the holy into every moment. Which brings us to a deeper meaning of the phrase: וְאַל־יָבֹא בְכׇל־עֵת – Don’t come in at any time… This means: there is truly only One Time that you can realize the Eternal, and that is Now. This is also the literal meaning of Netzakh as “Eternity” – pointing not to the dimension of practice we do at a particular time, but rather, to the recognition that takes us beyond time, into the Eternal Present. This is the trickiest and yet the most simple part: on a practical level, if we wish to live an awakened life, if we want to transcend the seductive power of experience and recognize the Brightness of Being that we are, we need to practice consistently, at certain times; this is Netzakh as persistence. But, we must not “buy into” the idea of the Sacred as dualistic, as a mere state or experience that we access only during meditation, at certain times. Rather, the aim of our meditation is to awaken the recognition that the Sacred is a dimension of the Now, whenever we reestablish the Now as our aim; as we can do, right Now; this is Netzakh as Eternity.
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