Weekly Parsha

Birthday Mazal Tov to: Leandro Marinho

Ore por Refuah Sheimah: Stephen Waczkiewicz (Shimon ben Sarah), Yossefa (Josie) "bat Sharon", Rafael ben Gladis e Esther Bracha "bat Sarah".

Continue orando por: Teddy Welz, Miriam (Mariana) "bat Zulay", Adina (Heidi) "bat Sarah" e Yosefa (Josie) "bat Sharon".

Kedoshim

Leviticus 19:1 - 20:27

This is the portion that invokes the Jewish people to be holy! It then proceeds with the spiritual directions on how to achieve holiness, closeness to the Almighty. Within it lie the secrets and the prescription for Jewish continuity. If any group of people is to survive as an entity, it must have common values and goals -- a direction and a meaning. By analyzing this portion we can learn much about our personal and national destiny. It is truly a "must read!"

Some of the mitzvot (commandments): Revere your parents, observe Shabbat, no idol worship, gifts to the poor, deal honestly, love your fellow Jew, refrain from immoral sexual relationships, honor old people, love the proselyte, don't engage in sorcery or superstition, do not pervert justice, observe kashruth and more. The portion ends, "You shall observe all My decrees and ordinances ... you shall be holy ... I have separated you from the peoples to be Mine."

* * *

"Love your fellow man as yourself, I am the Almighty" (Leviticus 19:18).

Why is the commandment to love our fellow human being followed by the words "I am the Almighty"?

While the commandment to love our fellow man is a concept that anyone can relate to with his own intellect, the Torah tells us to love our fellow man because it is the Almighty's will.

If your love of other people is based only on your own feelings, there could easily be a lack of consistency. One day you might feel positive towards someone and on the next day your feelings can change. However, the Torah states that the Almighty commands us to love others. We need to develop positive attitudes towards others by focusing on their virtues whether it comes easily to us or whether it is difficult.

Everyone thinks that it is a good idea to love your neighbor, but how can the Almighty command us to love our neighbor? Some of us have neighbors who are awfully hard to appreciate! However, if the Almighty commands it, it must be possible. If you ask a pregnant woman if she will love her baby, she'll look at you like you're nuts and say "Of course!" Then you can ask her, "How do you know? Maybe he'll be like your neighbor!"

A pregnant mother knows she will love her baby because she will make it her business to love that baby. And what if the baby grows up to be an irresponsible teenager flunking out of school who doesn't make his bed? She'll still love him! How? She focuses on his good points! "He has a good heart! He's got a sweet personality! He helps when I ask him to." If we make a list of someone's positive traits and focus on them, we can generate a good feeling towards them.

On the verse, "G-d is your shade at your right hand" (Psalms 121:5), just as a person's shadow mimics his every move, so G-d acts toward a person the way that person acts toward others. Therefore, the verse can also be read as, "You shall love your fellow, because I, G-d, will be like you." If you will be forgiving to others, I will be forgiving to you. If you will insist on exacting unrelenting justice, I will do likewise to you.

If another person is in the same business as you, you may feel that he is a competitor, and that may cause you to dislike him. Therefore, the Torah emphasizes, "You shall love your fellow who is as yourself."

Life is not about finding yourself, it is about creating yourself. 

A pure and true love elevates the human being to a level of attaining holiness (attunement with G‑d)

Shabbat Shalom,

Rav Tank

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Rabbi Tank is a professor at the American Jewish College, where he teaches classes on Talmud, Jewish History, and Contemporary Jewish Law. Rabbi Tank is dedicated to finding modern utility and meaning in ancient wisdom texts and is happy to provide spiritual, cultural, social and educational programming to communities around the world. 

Rabbi Tank was educated at Chabad Yeshivas in New York and Miami. He majored in Biblical Archeology from Bar Ilan University and from Harvard in Jewish Studies. He graduated in Business Administration and also graduated in International Economic Development from the University of Oxford. 

Rabbi Tank is actively involved in peace negotiations and relief operations and is a Member of the White House National Religious Leaders, an Executive Office of the President of the United States.

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