The Mitzvos That Lead Us to a Golden Rule

Parshat Acharei-Mot -- Kedoshim

by Rabbi Avi Billet

When looking for a specific mitzvah to address from Parshat Kedoshim, many fall back on the Golden Rule, the one emphasized by Rabbi Akiva as being a most important rule of the Torah: ואהבת לרעך כמוך, that “you are to love your neighbor like yourself.” (19:18)  

Despite the seeming ease of the translation, the reality is that the phrase is subject to many interpretations and many possible meanings, rendering the translation one of the many interpretations, albeit wanting as it doesn’t make clear what the mitzvah truly is.

However, the mitzvah clearly comes at the end of a group of Pesukim that spell out a much larger picture of what the relationship with our fellow man, and specifically our Jewish brothers and sisters, ought to contain.

16 You shall not go around as a gossipmonger amidst your people. You shall not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow's blood. I am the Lord. 17 You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your fellow, but you shall not bear a sin on his account. 18 You shall neither take revenge from nor bear a grudge against the members of your people; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

(טז) לֹא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ לֹ֥א תַעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ אֲנִ֖י יְקֹוָֽק: (יז) לֹֽא־תִשְׂנָ֥א אֶת־אָחִ֖יךָ בִּלְבָבֶ֑ךָ הוֹכֵ֤חַ תּוֹכִ֙יחַ֙ אֶת־עֲמִיתֶ֔ךָ וְלֹא־תִשָּׂ֥א עָלָ֖יו חֵֽטְא: (יח) לֹֽא־תִקֹּ֤ם וְלֹֽא־תִטֹּר֙ אֶת־בְּנֵ֣י עַמֶּ֔ךָ וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמ֑וֹךָ אֲנִ֖י יְקֹוָֽק:

With all the talk last week about the possibility of getting haircuts because of the coincidence of Rosh Chodesh and Shabbos, a quip told over in the name of Gershom Scholem came to mind, not quoted here verbatim, but whose sentiment may be clear. "If only the rules of Loshon Hora were mentioned as a footnote in a commentary on the Shulchan Arukh, then people would follow it.” 

Is God All Good? Always? Depends on Your Perspective…

Parshat Tazria Metzora 

by Rabbi Avi Billet

 I had a conversation this week with someone who is struggling with what I’ll just call “God-issues.” The timing is certainly appropriate as I imagine many of us may have similar questions – though much bigger questions – when we consider the Shoah and when we consider how many people have lost their lives in defense of the State of Israel and at the hands of terrorists – numbers we remember and contemplate on Yom HaShoah and Yom HaZikaron.

It’s the question of theodicy. Why do bad things happen to good people? Why do good people suffer? How could God allow terrorist attacks? 

 And then to bring it home, how could God “choose” us for a mission, when that mission seems to be “to be subject to the hatred of haters?” How can we say “All that God does is for the good” when there is so much pain in the world – especially when we look at the incomprehensible numbers of the items mentioned in the first paragraph? 

Shmini's Haftorah: Putting the Other Person Above Religious Experiences

This Shabbos, which took place two days after the conclusion of the holiday of Pesach, combined the immediate aftermath of the murders of 3 members of the Dee family in Israel, another terrorist attack that had taken place on Shabbos Chol Hamoed in Israel, and a tragedy of a flash flood in Israel. It was also a unique opportunity of hearing the assigned Haftorah for Shmini which is not usually read as Shmini often falls out on Parshat Parah or HaChodesh, for which we read a special Haftorah. The following sermon was delivered at Anshei Chesed Congregation in Boynton Beach, on Shabbos April 15, 2023

Parshat Shmini: Putting the Other Person Above Religious Experiences

Rabbi Avi Billet

Yesterday I received two communiques that felt like a follow up to my speech pre Yizkor. One was asking if on the Shabbos that speaks of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu whether I would be making the parallel to the deaths of the Dee sisters? The other was an article of another pair of siblings who tragically lost their lives in a flash flood in Israel over the holiday as well.

Having touched upon the terrorist tragedy already (at Yizkor on Yom Tov), as well as noting that there are car accidents and floods that take lives, לא עלינו, I have only one thing to add in response to this because the pain is too much, and honestly I wanted to talk about something else today. 

Nadav and Avihu’s father Aharon’s reaction of silence is well known. How did their mother respond to their untimely demise? The Talmud (Zevachim 102a) tells us that on the day of the inauguration of the Mishkan Elisheva had 5 things that she could rejoice over, and 1 thing which was a cause of mourning. Her brother in law was the king, her husband was the High Priest, her son was the assistant to the High Priest, her grandson was a Kohen anointed for war, and her brother, Nachshon ben Aminadav, was the Prince of a tribe. Her mourning was because her two sons died. 

The Holy Nature of the 8th (Day)

Parshat Shmini

by Rabbi Avi Billet

In the context of asking a larger question regarding where the consecration day that we call the “Yom HaShmini” came from, as it is not commanded in the book of Shemos, and is not mentioned in the formal consecration of the Kohanim as described in the previous parsha (Tzav), Rabbi Yonatan Grossman shares the following observations regarding 7 days leading to an 8th (or a similar expression of numbers): 

1. ZAV AND ZAVA (people who experience a discharge flowing from the flesh): The process of the purification of a zav and a zava consists of 2 parts: first - 7 days during which the subject must count his purity (i.e., "7 clean days"). On the day after these 7 days (called by the Torah "the eighth day" -15:14, 15:29), the zav or zava must bring offerings to the mishkan. 

 2. METZORA (one who has tzara’as): The metzora's process of purification - firstly, he must sit outside his dwelling for 7 days (14:8), and then, on the eighth day" (14:10), he must bring sacrifices to the Mishkan for atonement.