The portion of Acharei Mot picks up following the deaths of Aaron’s older sons, Nadab and Abihu. It contains the instructions for the Yom Kippur — or Day of Atonement — service in the Tabernacle, and forbids slaughtering animal offerings outside the Tabernacle and the consumption of blood. It lists a series of forbidden relationships and other abominations condemned by God, and emphasizes the holiness of the Land of Israel.
Agriculture in Israel is a joint venture in which God partners with the farmers. God promises that if the Jews are faithful to the Torah and keep the commandments, He will ensure that the rain will fall in its proper season and the land...
After designating the descendants of Aaron as the kohanim (priests) in perpetuity, the Torah then delineates specific physical blemishes that disqualified, either temporarily or permanently, individual kohanim. Just as animals brought to...
Until the Exodus from Egypt, the patriarchs had an individual relationship with God, bringing sacrifices wherever and whenever they felt the calling. But when God brought the Children of Israel out of Egypt, what had been a clan, a loose...
The Torah portion of Acharei Mot (Leviticus 16-18) describes the Temple service on Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. The Bible mandates 15 specific sacrifices and many other rituals for Yom Kippur, or Yom HaKippurim, outlined in Leviticus...
After dealing with tzaraat, a spiritual affliction similar in presentation to leprosy, that appears on the body and clothing, the Torah goes on to describe the tzaraat that afflicts houses. If the walls became discolored with streaks of...
Leviticus introduces the affliction of tzaraat. Commonly mistranslated as leprosy, tzaraat can afflict the body, a home, or even clothing. Tzaraat only afflicts clothing made of three materials: wool, linen, or leather. Only sheep's wool...
The Torah describes the death of Nadab and Abihu, the two eldest of Aaron’s four sons, as a punishment for bringing “alien fire, which He had not enjoined upon them” (Leviticus 10:1). The tragedy took place on the eighth day of the...
After the sin of the Golden Calf, the tribe of Levi is chosen to serve in the Temple instead of the firstborn as they did not participate in the sin. Aaron is chosen to be the High Priest, and Moses anoints his brother and his brother's...
When Aaron and his sons were anointed in order to begin serving in the Tabernacle, it transformed their descendants for all time, establishing them as Kohanim (priests) and the only people to perform the Temple service. It should be...
