LEVITICUS XVI:1-XVIII:30

DISOBEDIENCE AND REPENTANCE

The first transcendent event recounted in the Torah is the disobedience of the couple: Adam and Chava. They both eat of the only fruit God had forbidden. There are many questions about this episode, which plays a fundamental role in monotheism. What was the nature of this fruit?  The Torah does not mention the name of the tree from which it came. Therefore, the famous apple that Chava offered Adam is probably an incorrect statement. Moreover, if God did not desire that fruit to be eaten, why did He place that tree within the Gan Eden (Garden of Eden)? 

It is argued that the reason for the disobedience was so that Adam could assert his independence and thereby show that obedience to God’s word was the result of a reasoned personal decision. For this reason, he deserved recognition and punishment according to his behavior, which obeyed the capacity of the exercise of free will. Perhaps the episode of primordial disobedience serves to teach the possibility of Teshuva, repentance. The Torah shows that disobedience and sin have absolution through repentance. 

We read in this biblical text about the disobedience of Nadavand Avihu, sons of Aharon, who used Esh zara, a strange fire, in the process of offering sacrifices. Their punishment was death, which according to tradition consisted of Serefat neshamavehaguf kayam, their souls were cremated while their bodies were left intact. In this case there was no room for Teshuvabecause the punishment was the ultimate penalty. 

The sages of the Talmud offer various explanations about the real nature of the sin of Nadav and Avihu. According to some, they dared to answer questions about faith in the presence of their teachers Moshe and Aharon. According to a second opinion, they had begun the sacrifices in a state of drunkenness. A third answer points out that they were prey to excessive pride, because they considered that there was no woman who could be worthy of their attentions. Assuming any of these explanations, the punishment appears to be excessively severe. 

The following expression in the text could shed light: bekorvatam lifne’i HaShem vayamutu, “they passed away when they came close to God.” Closeness to God implies greater responsibility. Whoever assumes a position of leadership simultaneously runs the risk of making mistakes with more detrimental consequences than in the case of an individual. 

The case of Nadav and Avihu is followed by a description of the Day of Atonement, Yom HaKippurim, which will offer the possibility of resuming the path after sin. At the same time, a novel idea emerges. The death of the righteous also has a therapeutic effect, it produces recollection in society. The sons of Aharon who had perished were Tsadikim, people of unblemished record who at a certain point in their exercise of ritual leadership disregarded a Divine order. 

Harav Soloveitchik points out that the death of a Tsadikconvulses society, produces widespread pain and sadness, while at the same time producing reflection and recollection: Teshuva. From that moment, the 10th of Tishrei was set aside as a day in which abstention from pleasure and food rules, to concentrate on a process of recreating the emotional and spiritual ingredient of the person. The entry of the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) that day into the Kodesh HaKodashim, the holiest place in the Mishkan, along with the fast, was a kind of replica of the experience at Mount Sinai. Just as Moshe was in the Presence of God and did not eat and drink, in a similar way this Kohenbehaved because he had an intimate encounter with God on Yom HaKippurim.

MITZVAH: ORDINANCE OF THE TORAH IN THIS PARSHA

CONTAINS 2  POSITIVE MITSVOT AND 26 PROHIBITIONS

184. Leviticus 16:2 The Kohen must not enter the Beit HaMikdash, Temple, at any time (only for the Temple Service) but one who is not a Kohen must not enter.

185. Leviticus 16:3 The Beit HaMikdash Service on Yom Kippur

186. Leviticus 17:3,4 Do not slaughter the offering ritually outside the Temple court.

187. Leviticus 17:13 Mitzvah of covering the blood (after the rite of slaughtering)

188. Leviticus 18:6 Not having pleasure with people who are forbidden to the individual.

189. Leviticus 18:7 Not having relations with one’s father.

190. Leviticus 18:7 Not having relations with one’s mother.

191. Leviticus 18:8 Do not have intercourse with your father’s wife, even if she is not your mother.

192. Leviticus 18:9 Do not have relations with a sister, let her be your sister in any way.

193. Leviticus 18:10 Do not have relations with a son’s daughter.

194. Leviticus 18:10 Not having relations with a daughter’s daughter.

195. Leviticus 18:10 Not having sex with a daughter.

196. Leviticus 18:11 Not having relations with the sister of a son, daughter of the same mother, and a different husband.

197. Leviticus 18:12 Not having relations with one’s father’s sister.

198. Leviticus 18:13 Not having relations with one’s mother’s sister.

199. Leviticus 18:14 Not having relations with one’s father’s brother.

200. Leviticus 18:14 Not having relations with one’s father’s brother’s wife.

201. Leviticus 18:15 Not having relations with a son’s wife.

202. Leviticus 18:16 Not having relations with a brother’s wife.

203. Leviticus 18:17 Not having intercourse with both a woman and her daughter.

204. Leviticus 18:17 Not having intercourse with both a woman and her son’s daughter.

205. Leviticus 18:17 Not having intercourse with both a woman and her daughter’s daughter.

206. Leviticus 18:18 Not having relations with 2 sisters, while they are both alive.

207. Leviticus 18:19 Not having intercourse with a woman during menstruation.

208. Leviticus 18:21 Do not dedicate any son or daughter to the idolatry of Molech.

209. Leviticus 18:22 A man should not have relations with another man.

210. Leviticus 18:23 A man should not have relations with animals.

211. Leviticus 18:23 A woman should not have sex with animals.