LeviticusCycle Four Acharei Moth 16:1 to 18:30

Acharei Moth

Acharei Moth leads us step by step through the Yom Kippur rituals. Enter two goats. One is sacrificed for Hashem (raised to the heightened world) and the other (carrying our sins) is taken to Azazel, relegated to the earthly. Two goats. Two worlds. We connect them through our human action. We are the link.

This year the parasha falls on Shabbat Hagadol before Pesach. This can seem to complicate things. On Pesach we eat, on Yom Kippur we fast…on one we celebrate our freedom, on the other we atone for our sins. Let’s look at the dates. On the 10^th of Tishrei we observe Yom Kippur. On the 15^th we celebrate Sukkoth. Likewise, on the 10^th of Nissan, we begin a period to prepare for Pesach (Exodus 12:3-6) and on the 15^th we celebrate. We connect the holidays (therefore) through our observance of the lunar cycle. We are the link.

Let’s look in the realm of metaphor. To the kabbalists, much of Torah revolves around levels, worlds, places. There always seems to be steps or thresholds, transitions to help us to attain that new state of purification, the next place on the journey, that raw state of being as we move closer to Hashem. Think of Jacob’s ladder, Jacob’s blessings, the binding of Isaac, the hierarchy of Yitro, our liberation from Mitzrayim. From world to world we travel, from place to place, from one state of purification to the next….all to stand at the mountain-core within us and to hear and know in our bones the power and beauty of God. Revelation. We move through the emanations to arrive. We are the link.

There are transitional moments on this journey, the thresholds, the steps and roots. The Sfas Emet says the true root of Torah is above and it contains all worlds. This root is thick though with veins within. We use these veins or strands. For example, we tie a crimson strand to one goat, to the red heifer in Numbers. We use crimson strands for healing rituals. Crimson is the color of blood. There is blood on the doorway of our homes. The blood of sacrifice that we sprinkle on the altar. The blood that we don’t eat, that we don’t mix with like blood. We have the courage to walk through the blood. We have the discernment to recoil when necessary. We are the link to knowing when to do what.

There are transitional words on this journey like achar. In Metzorah this root-word starts showing up with a passion…and then (in this parasha) we read After the death. After (achar) is the transition. Death is the world. And if we watch carefully we can rise beyond (Sfas Emet). Death, after all, is one more level of purification beyond which…and before which there are many more. We recognize the power of achar. We are the link.

The holiest of the steps are the mitzvoth. As R Ishmael says…he shall live by them (Lev 18:5) means that a person should live by the laws, not die by them. And the Sefas Emet says that it means that Torah (and the mitzvoth) sustain us. By being the mitzvoth we are the link.

The good news though is that while there are many thresholds, miles of veins, of root stretching deep in our hearts…each is a reflection of the last with some slight aberration. Look at the slight changes of achar (in Metzorah) before we get to acharei moth. So once we discover how to walk through one, with work we can walk through all. And they ultimately lead us to that moment of revelation, astonishing love. We find the courage to do the walking. We are the link.

How to bring this into today’s world? Watch transitions, conversations, each word, each pause, the stuff in between, the way we move from one person to the next, from one job to the next, from one traffic lane to the next, watch respect and compassion. Watch the small moments. See them as steps to enlightenment.

How to bring this into meditation? Become Torah. Once in a deep state of mind, raise up not only our own sparks, but those of every animate and inanimate thing around us. Let the darker stuff bury itself in the earth. Pull the sparks out from the heart of our setting, from the earth, the trees, from us. See and watch as they rise through us. Do it quietly and concealed on Yom Kippur. Do it with open and active joy on Pesach. Attach upper to lower world. Attach the pulse…the holidays…. in the lunar calendar. Be the link.