Charting A New Path to Holiness: Acharei Mot
By Rabbi Boaz D. Heilman
April 28, 2022
The ancient past was a desolate place. Deserts, dusty plains, mountains and a harsh climate competed with warring invaders coming from all corners of the world, each in turn seeking adventure and treasures. Overall, people worked hard at farming and herding, and generally could do whatever they wanted—as long as they also remembered to pay their taxes to the king, temple and local magistrates.
Even in a small country like ancient Israel, distances between villages made travel difficult, and the differences between city dwellers and those who worked the land were wide and deep.
Science was unheard of. Superstition provided enough explanation to answer most questions, to shed light on that which otherwise could not be understood. Rituals were a way of appeasing gods and demons, for whom humanity was no more than a plaything. From rampant disease to devastating famines, the gods were in charge, and their willful and even cruel nature needed to be soothed by sacrifice.
If the Torah’s weekly portion, Acharei Mot (“After the death,” Leviticus 16:1—18:30) seems to portray a primitive society, it’s because that is its primary intention. Through several examples, it paints an unflattering, but realistic, picture of a time and culture that needed to move forward. The narrative picks up where the previous portion left off—the death of Nadav and Avihu. Nadav and Avihu, two of Aaron’s four sons, were born to power. What they did to cause God’s wrath isn’t explained clearly, except for one verse that suggests that they might have overreached for supremacy, that they rebelled against Moses and Aaron, their uncle and father. Power can be intoxicating.
In the ancient world, power was a means of survival, requiring harsh rules to set bounds to its misuse. By itself, morality was a weak fence, and those who were blessed with physical strength and/or beauty didn’t shy from using their gifts. In this kind of society, sex was more than about reproduction. It was often a path to power and control.
Evil was as real and palpable as any of the elements of life. Ridding society of evil also required physical form, such as the annual ritual of the scapegoat. As described in this portion, this involved releasing a goat into the wilderness (or perhaps hurling it over a steep precipice). This was thought to unburden the world of the evil that had accumulated in it like so much dirt and dust. It didn’t take much back then to make people feel better.
To our own more modern sensibilities, the commandments that are listed in Acharei Mot may be obvious. We’ve come a long way since that time when people could get away with the kind of immorality that the portion describes: The wanton seizure of anyone or anything that could be used for pleasure or profit; the tyrannical overreach for power; the misuse of religion to control people and what they may think and believe.
And yet we haven’t. Our basic impulses, even today, remain identical with those of our ancestors.
The grandeur of Moses isn’t only in that he formed us into a people and gave us the Torah. It’s also that he understood that tossing a goat over a cliff represented primitive thinking, a superstition that only limited our ability to learn, understand and develop. In this Torah portion he instructs us not only to understand better the world around us, but also ourselves—both as we are and also as we can be. We can live like simple animals, subject to basic desires and impulses, or we can treat one another with respect, dignity and consideration. In a harsh and cruel world, we can be better.
To simply view Acharei Mot as a mirror reflecting the primitive conditions that existed three thousand years ago is to completely miss the mark. Its purpose is to shed light on a path forward, toward a better future. Its timeless teaching is that through our choices, through our everyday deeds and actions, we have the power to make God’s holiness appear even in the darkest times.
It’s powerful teaching.
© 2022 by Boaz D. Heilman
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