Torah Portion

Acharei-Kedoshim

אחרי-קדושים

Leviticus 16:1–20:27
Amos 9:7–15

Molekh: The Sacrifice of Babies

Molekh: The Sacrifice of Babies

Jeremiah excoriates the Judahites for sacrificing babies to Baʿal at the Tophet, in a valley near Jerusalem. Archaeological excavations throughout Carthage uncovered the remains of thousands of babies offered to Baʿal and his consort Tanit, together with dedicatory inscriptions, referring to the offering as a molekh, the very term the Bible uses to prohibit child sacrifice.

Dr.
Daniel Vainstub
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It’s About Masculinity, Not Homosexuality

It’s About Masculinity, Not Homosexuality

Homosexuality is a modern construct, and using it to interpret the very few biblical and ancient Near Eastern texts that speak of male-to-male sexual interaction would be anachronistic. Masculinity and the male role in society provide a better lens to examine male relationships.

Prof.
Martti Nissinen
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Israel, Be Holy! A Command for Religious Conformity

Israel, Be Holy! A Command for Religious Conformity

The sanctification of all Israel in Leviticus 17–26—expanding the obligation to be holy from the priests to a collective requirement for all Israelites—further elevates the priesthood to a hegemonic social position.

Prof.
Julia Rhyder
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Is Logic Enough to Prohibit Father-Daughter Incest?

Is Logic Enough to Prohibit Father-Daughter Incest?

The absence of an explicit prohibition in the Torah against father-daughter incest led to a debate among the talmudic-era rabbis, and eventually among medieval Rabbanites and Karaites, about whether such a prohibition should be derived from a logical a fortiori (קל וחומר) argument or from a hermeneutic (גזרה שוה) one.

Dr.
Marc Herman
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The Astragali of Abel Beth Maacah

The Astragali of Abel Beth Maacah

A hoard of 406 astragali (“knucklebones”), a bone that was used for divination in the ancient world, was discovered at Tel Abel Beth Maacah. Was this city, featured in the rebellion of Sheba against King David, a center for divination?

Dr.
Matthew Susnow
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At 33, You Will Discover Azazel’s Secret

At 33, You Will Discover Azazel’s Secret

On Yom Kippur, one goat is sacrificed to YHWH and another is sent to Azazel in the wilderness. Who is Azazel? The 12th-century commentator Abraham ibn Ezra hints that the answer lies in reaching 33.

Dr. Rabbi
Zev Farber
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Between Holy and Mundane: The Development of the Term Havdalah

Between Holy and Mundane: The Development of the Term Havdalah

In pre-exilic texts, לְהַבְדִּיל lehavdil means “to select, appoint, designate.” In the Priestly text, the term is used to refer to physical separation, while in the Holiness Text, it takes on an abstract meaning, to distinguish between objects and people in a cultic sense. The book of Ezra uses a new form of the term, לְהִבָּדֵל lehibbadel, to urge separating from non-Jews, prompting Trito-Isaiah to argue against separating (lehavdil) any faithful person from YHWH and His Temple.

Dr.
Attila Marossy
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Why Does the Bible Prohibit Marrying a Father’s Wife?

Why Does the Bible Prohibit Marrying a Father’s Wife?

Ancient Near Eastern law collections do not unequivocally prohibit a son from marrying his father's wife, and neither do modern incest laws. And yet, the Bible repeats this prohibition multiple times. Six reasons why.

Dr.
Hilary Lipka
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Does the Bible Believe in the Evil Eye?

Does the Bible Believe in the Evil Eye?

The belief in the power of an angry or jealous person’s eye to damage others was pervasive in the ancient Near East, in Jewish antiquity, and medieval times. But what does the Bible say?

Dr.
Nicole L. Tilford
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Is Azazel a Goat, Place, Demon, or Deity?

Is Azazel a Goat, Place, Demon, or Deity?

Azazel plays the role of a deity in the biblical ritual of Yom Kippur, and in early interpretation, he played a central role as the initiator of sin and even the devil, or alternatively, as a protective figure. Later tradition obscured his identity, presenting Azazel as the name of a demon, as the scapegoat itself, and even as a place name.

Dr.
Anna Angelini
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The Book of Amos: A Retrospect on the Fall of Israel

The Book of Amos: A Retrospect on the Fall of Israel

Written as a commentary on the social injustice in the kingdom of Israel at a high point of its wealth and power, the book of Amos explains to exiled Israelites why they were punished and warns Judahites not to fall into the same trap.

Prof.
Jason Radine
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Tattoos - What Exactly Is Prohibited?

Tattoos - What Exactly Is Prohibited?

It is widely assumed that the Torah prohibits all tattoos. And yet, a look at the verse in context yields alternative understandings.

Dr.
David Bernat
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Speaking Truth to Power, Job Accuses God of Being Unjust

Speaking Truth to Power, Job Accuses God of Being Unjust

Job’s friends piously justify God’s actions and challenge Job to accept that he has done wrong. Yet God sides with Job and rebukes the friends for not “speaking about me in honesty as did my servant Job.”

Prof.
Edward L. Greenstein
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Terms of Taboo: What Is the Moral Basis for the Sexual Prohibitions?

Terms of Taboo: What Is the Moral Basis for the Sexual Prohibitions?

Leviticus 18 and 20 condemn sexual sins using several harsh terms; toevah, zimmah, chesed, tevel. Do these terms have specific meanings and what do they tell us about the Torah’s reason for forbidding incest?

Dr.
Yitzhaq Feder
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The Scapegoat Ritual and Its Ancient Near Eastern Parallels

The Scapegoat Ritual and Its Ancient Near Eastern Parallels

In the scapegoat ritual of Yom Kippur and the bird ritual of the metzora, sin/impurity is transferred onto an animal and it is sent away. These biblical examples have parallels in Eblaite, Hittite, Ugaritic, and Neo-Assyrian apotropaic rituals.

Dr.
Noga Ayali-Darshan
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Love Your Neighbor: How It Became the Golden Rule

Love Your Neighbor: How It Became the Golden Rule

The biblical precept “you shall love your neighbor as yourself” has long been understood in Jewish and Christian circles as universal, a transcendent principle encompassing the whole Torah. However, in Leviticus, it is actually one of many action-oriented commandments focused on Israelite social cohesion.

Prof.
John J. Collins
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Which Relatives Are You Prohibited from Marrying?

Which Relatives Are You Prohibited from Marrying?

Leviticus’ list of conjugally-forbidden relations was extensive for its time. While the Karaites expanded the list greatly, the rabbis did so only slightly, leaving modern-day rabbinic Judaism with more relatives permitted for marriage than most western societies.

Prof. Rabbi
Marty Lockshin
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Does the Torah Prohibit Father–Daughter Incest?

Does the Torah Prohibit Father–Daughter Incest?

Leviticus 18 includes an extensive list of prohibited sexual relations, including incest, but it does not mention relations between a father and daughter. How can this glaring omission be explained?

Dr.
Eve Levavi Feinstein
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Bestiality in Biblical and Hittite Law

Bestiality in Biblical and Hittite Law

Only two law collections in the ancient Near East discuss bestiality: the Torah and the Hittite laws. How do these laws differ, and what motivated them?

Dr.
Ilan Peled
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Poetic Laws

Poetic Laws

A fresh look at the legislation in Parashat Kedoshim: Are we reading the legal details wrong? 

Dr.
Jason Gaines
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The Biblical Prohibition of Polygyny?

The Biblical Prohibition of Polygyny?

Popular legend tells us that Rabbenu Gershom (d. ca 1028) was the first to prohibit polygyny. The Damascus Covenant’s understanding of the law in Leviticus 18:18, however, suggests that polygyny may have been prohibited more than a thousand years earlier by the Priestly authors.

Dr. Hacham
Isaac S. D. Sassoon
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Why the Torah Prohibits Incest

Why the Torah Prohibits Incest

Although incest taboos are found in the majority of cultures, medieval Jewish thinkers found this to be an insufficient explanation for the Torah’s prohibitions. 

Prof. Rabbi
Marty Lockshin
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Regarding Azazel and Homosexuals in the Same Parasha

Regarding Azazel and Homosexuals in the Same Parasha

Reading the Torah portion Acharei Mot, “After the Death,” as an opportunity for infusing life into the biblical text.

Prof.
Shawna Dolansky
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Gleanings for the Poor – Justice, Not Charity

Gleanings for the Poor – Justice, Not Charity

The agricultural allocations for the poor outlined in Leviticus and Deuteronomy are a series of negative commandments, in which God forbids Israelite householders from gathering some of their produce and requires them to leave it for the poor. The rabbis took these laws a step further, granting the poor property rights over the allocations even before they are gathered.

Dr.
Gregg E. Gardner
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The Priestly Repudiation of Yibbum

The Priestly Repudiation of Yibbum

Deuteronomy commands a man to marry the childless widow of his brother (yibbum). And yet, a close look at the Priestly text of the Torah shows that it did not have the option of yibbum.

Dr. Hacham
Isaac S. D. Sassoon
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How the Prohibition of Male Homosexual Intercourse Altered the Laws of Incest

How the Prohibition of Male Homosexual Intercourse Altered the Laws of Incest

Originally Leviticus 18 prohibited homosexual incest with a man’s father (v. 7) and his uncle (v. 14). When the prohibition of male homosexual intercourse was added, the Torah modified the aforementioned laws and consequently changed the meaning of לגלות ערוה “to uncover nakedness.”

Prof.
Idan Dershowitz
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The Law of Fourth-Year Fruit: Restraining the Ancient Vintage Celebration

The Law of Fourth-Year Fruit: Restraining the Ancient Vintage Celebration

Ancient Israel had two separate customs relating to vineyards and wine that took place during the time of vintage: a fertility rite (חילול) that marked the first use of a vineyard’s produce, and an annual vintage celebration (הילולים) in which the winegrowers praised God for their harvest. As the rites seem to have been wild, the law of ‘orla and the fourth year produce (רבעי) in Lev. 19:23-25 attempts to restrict them.

Prof.
Itamar Kislev
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The Mitzvah of Covering the Blood of Wild Animals

The Mitzvah of Covering the Blood of Wild Animals

Leviticus requires covering the blood of undomesticated animals; Deuteronomy requires pouring out the blood of slaughtered domesticated animals onto the ground. How do these laws jibe with each other? The Essenes have one answer, the rabbis another, the academics a third.

Dr. Rabbi
Zev Farber
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The Inner Workings of a Genizah Midrash on the Symbolic Value of Orlah

The Inner Workings of a Genizah Midrash on the Symbolic Value of Orlah

A set of homilies from the Genizah connects two biblical readings (sidrot) in Leviticus by emphasizing the importance of the mitzvah of orlah as a key to inheriting and remaining on the land.

Dr.
Shana Strauch-Schick
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Tova Sacher
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Sexual Prohibitions in the Bible and the ANE: A Comparison

Sexual Prohibitions in the Bible and the ANE: A Comparison

How do the laws of Leviticus 18 compare to the laws and practices of the Babylonians, Hittites, and Egyptians, and to the rest of the Bible?

Dr.
Eve Levavi Feinstein
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Paying Workers Immediately or Within Twelve Hours?

Paying Workers Immediately or Within Twelve Hours?

Leviticus 19:13 and Deuteronomy 24:14 insist that workers be paid without delay. The Talmud, however, interprets these two verses in a way that actually delays paying the workers. Rashbam and Ramban, reassert the peshat (plain meaning), thereby preserving the intent of the law.

Prof. Rabbi
Marty Lockshin
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Acharei-Kedoshim

אחרי-קדושים

Leviticus 16:1–20:27

כִּי בַיּוֹם הַזֶּה יְכַפֵּר עֲלֵיכֶם לְטַהֵר אֶתְכֶם מִכֹּל חַטֹּאתֵיכֶם לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה תִּטְהָרוּ׃

ויקרא טז:ל

For on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you of all your sins; you shall be clean before YHWH.

Lev 16:30

Leviticus

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