Day 4 (Part 2): Leviticus 19:1-14 (Study Notes)
Day 4 (Part 2): Leviticus 19:1-14
(Leviticus 19:1-3)
Hashem begins this portion by telling Moshe Rabbeinu to tell the Jewish people again to “be holy, because I, the LORD your God, am holy.”
Kedoshim means “holy ones.” The ones who keep Torah, abide by the laws, rules, and regulations set forth by Hashem. Kedoshim does not assume that Hashem’s holy people are perfect—we can never be perfectly holy, as only Hashem is perfect. But, there is the understanding that the Kedoshim are those who strive for holiness; who accept the yoke of heaven, and who are humble enough to perform teshuvah when we realize we have strayed.
The Kedoshim are Hashem’s holy ones, to whom He has given the Torah—His book of covenants, which are vows for the loving relationship He seeks with all humanity, but starts with the Jews. The Jews are the Kedoshim to whom Hashem gave His Torah.
It is therefore the Jews who have also been equipped with the heart, soul, and spirit capable of understanding and doing Torah—Ezekiel 36. From the Jews, Hashem’s Torah goes forth. The light of which draws other nations, peoples, and tongues to Hashem. To those who bask in the light of wisdom and chose to take the yoke, Hashem accepts them as His children with open and loving arms. The benefits and blessings of mitzvot keeping are extended to all who willingly keep Torah.
(Leviticus 19:3)
After calling His people to be holy, the second command given in this section is a repetition of the command to keep Shabbat. The reason given for the command to keep Shabbat: “I am the LORD your God.”—Shabbat, like the Torah was given specifically to the Jewish people. Other religions attempt to say they keep Shabbat, but it is not that of Hashem. Their Shabbat is Sunday. It calls for the worship of false gods, pagan practices, can include football, frivolity, and financial gain. This substitute is far from the reality of the Holy Day of Jewish Shabbat.
True Shabbat is celebrated on Saturday, the seventh day of every week. It commemorates the seventh day of creation when Hashem rested from all that He had created to do. But, beyond creation, Shabbat also celebrates our eternal release from Egyptian slavery.
Too, Shabbat symbolizes eternal rest that is promised to come for all who keep Torah. The eternal Shabbat will be the result of the end of all sin through the willing choice to kept mitzvot. This level of righteousness is promised to come in the days of moshiach—or the days of the reinstatement of the Jewish kingdom under the rule of one from the line of King David. When enough teshuvah comes from Hashem’s kedoshim, He (Hashem) is promised to come as Redeemer. This redemption will entail the full forgiveness of His Jewish people’s sins in honor of our teshuvah.
With moshiach—the earthly Davidic King—will come Hashem’s return to dwell as the universal King over all. At that time Hashem promises to teach us all of His wisdom and provide the heart and ruach necessary to understand and willing do all that He requires. Such levels of righteousness will extend to all humanity because Hashem will work in such a way that everyone on earth will recognize Him alone as G-d, King, and LORD.
With righteousness reigning, sin and strife will cease. Toil and suffering will end. All that will be left is eternal Shabbat, lived in eternal shalom. This holds true for “children of the nations” who chose to willingly keep the Jewish Shabbat while moshiach terries. (Isaiah 56:3-12). These strangers not only keep Shabbat, but also keep Torah and willingly serve Hashem.
When goy accept the Laws of Heaven as a Jew does, then Hashem accepts the goy as if he or she is a native born Jewish Israelite—Hashem sees them as if they were one born in the land and extends all marriage vow blessings to the goy turned ger. This promise began to Egyptians who wished to join the Jews during the exodus (Exodus 12:48-49) and extends all the way to the eternal promises of the eternal kingdom (Ezekiel 47:22-23).
(Leviticus 19:3)
Along with keeping Shabbat, Hashem commands Jews to revere our mother and father.
Our mother is to represent Hashem’s wisdom.
Our father is to represent Hashem’s leadership.
We are to respect our parents since they are the one’s whose seed gave us birth. We are also to respect our parents so long as they respect and revere Hashem. But, if our parents turn away from Hashem, Torah, and Heaven, then we are to respect and revere our Father in Heaven before we do so with our earthly parents. In this case we respect our earthly parents for the life they provided us, but we take the yoke of heaven so as to sustain the life with the wisdom from the Tree of Life: Torah.
(Leviticus 19:4)
Hashem then commands His kedoshim not to turn to idols nor to make molten gods. This command is given right after the command to respect our mother and father. The order of commands harken Abraham.
Abraham grew up in a very idolatrous home and nation. Abraham’s father was an idol maker and perpetuated pagan teachings in the home. Commentary has it that one day Abraham destroyed all of the idols in his father’s shop. Abraham refused to follow the pagan practices of his father, whom he was to respect. Upon proving loyal to Hashem, Hashem called Abraham to leave his country and his father’s home and his father’s idols.
This teaches us that in revering our parents, we are not called to respect nor revere their teachings, wisdom, nor demands if they are calling us to stray from Hashem. Instead, we can learn to respect our parents as the people whose seed gave us life. Then we can honor that life by living according to Torah—the Tree and Wisdom of Life. If it be Hashem’s will, your righteous life may be used to turn the heart of the parents back to Hashem, so they may live as well.
(Leviticus 19:5-8)
The next command given by Hashem is that His Kedoshim are to offer well-being offerings to Hashem in a manner that will make them accessible. This means, our well-being offerings must be offered in a manner prescribed in Leviticus 3:6-17 and Leviticus 7:11-21. Namely, Hashem commands that our offerings:
Be brought to the Tent of Meeting/ Temple.
Must be eaten on the day it is sacrificed.
Be consumed on the second day, if the sacrifice cannot be eaten all in the one day it is sacrificed.
Be consumed by fire if any of the sacrifice remains on the third day after sacrifice.
If any of the sacrifice is eaten on day three or later, then the offering turns from something that is pleasing to Hashem to something that is offensive to Hashem. Thus, Hashem declares that anyone who partakes of the sacrifice on day three or later “must bear his or her guilt” because he or she has profaned what is sacred to Hashem.
The fact that this command is given (again) after the command against idolatry indicates that Hashem knew there would be a day when sacrifices would be offered in an idolatrous way. In some religions, sacrifices are specifically left until the third day to prove they are the means of redemption and salvation. Yet, according to Torah, this specific number of days only provides reason to rule said sacrifice out for acceptable means of redemption. For, partaking in the flesh of such a sacrifice (which is called for regularly), would only add to the sins of offense towards heaven, not add to forgiveness nor righteousness and salvation.
(Leviticus 19:9-10)
After commanding against idolatry and profaning sacrifices, Hashem commands that we Jews NOT reap all the way around our lands when we bring in the harvest. Along with this command, we are also not to pick our vineyards bare. Instead, we are to leave the edges unharvested and to leave gleanings on the vines so that the poor and the stranger have something to eat when they pass through our fields.
Since the Jews are the first fruit of Hashem’s harvest (Jeremiah 2:3), we bear the fruit of Torah, its teachings, Hashem’s wisdom. When Hashem gathered us from the global field into His storehouse, called Zion, He too left some Jews in the edges of His field—think of Gad, Ruben, and the 1/2 tribe of Manasseh left in the lands in the east side of the Jordan. In every ingathering after an exile, Jews remained in the diaspora, even if by choice. These gleanings in the global field allows the light of Torah to shine around the world. Little by little Hashem uses these gleanings to draw lost Jews home and to bring converts into the fold.
Eventually before the final ingathering, Hashem promises there will be 10 gentiles grabbing the hem of a single Jew saying “we want to come with you because we know God is for you.” Hashem will allow the gleaning of the stranger and He will gather the ger as if he or she were one of His original first fruits of harvest.
(Leviticus 19:11-12)
Hashem then commands that His kedoshim shall not steal nor deal deceitfully or falsely with a fellow Jew. We are to be honest in every dealing, even if the truth hurts. Along with dealing with our fellow Jews honestly, we are also to deal with Hashem honestly. We must never swear falsely by His name as doing so profanes Hashem, His name, and Heaven.
Connecting these commands with the commands above, we can understand that honesty and not stealing goes for monetary interactions as well as when we are dealing with the commands of Holy wisdom. We are to tell Hashem’s wisdom with honesty and clarity. We are not to withhold a truth if it hurts nor are we to conceal a truth if it would bring benefits to others, including the poor, the ger, and the stranger.
Further, the fact that the command to deal honestly with a fellow Jew is lumped together with the command not to swear falsely by Hashem’s name indicates that a fellow Jew has within him or her a spark of Hashem and His name. To treat a fellow Jew deceitfully is to treat the name of Hashem deceitfully. Just as harming a Jew harms the apple of Hashem’s eye (see Zechariah 2:12).
(Leviticus 19:13-14)
We learn that part of honest dealings with our fellow Jews is the command to not defraud a fellow Jew, not to commit robbery, and to not leave earned wages left unpaid until morning. This command harkens the portion of the thanksgiving offering that is not to be left until morning.
If an employer keeps the laborer’s wages until morning, he or she is telling the employee or laborer that he or she is not thankful for the work performed in the employer’s behalf. Instead withholding the wages leaves room for fraudulent alterations to the amount due, which can become tantamount to robbery and theft by the employer against the laborer.
Hashem declares that withholding wages, especially from the poor, needy, widow, or orphan mocks there creator, Hashem.
(Leviticus 19:14)
Along the lines of not defrauding the poor or the hired worker, Hashem commands that we are not to insult the deaf nor put a stumbling block before the blind. Such deceptions include deliberately trying to harm someone who cannot fully defend themselves. This includes using deceptive practices to deliberately withhold wages or to withhold due care, including spiritual care. Essentially this command forbids willingly and knowingly practicing deception in order to gain power and control in order to defraud the naive and or the ignorant.
This command also forbids causing harm to the spiritually blind or deaf. Such deceptions include twisting scripture to invent a whole new religion. Jews who may not be well versed in Tanakh may fall for the deception which ultimately leads to spiritual death.
We know this command holds within it a deeper spiritual meaning because of the statement that follows: “You shall fear you God: I am the LORD.”
In Proverbs, we are told that reverential fear of Hashem is the beginning of all wisdom (Proverbs 1:7).
Part of fearing Hashem is believing that He knows all, sees all, and is in control of all always in all ways. This belief leads to respect of Hashem and all of His creation. When one of His creations is harmed, we must believe that He sees, knows, and will act in justice. Such fear should keep Hashem’s Kedoshim from harming others. Such fear of Hashem should also encourage us when we are the one facing the injustice. For even if the wicked think Hashem does not see, we can be certain He does.
Though help and justice may be delayed, Hashem will not leave injustice nor undue harm unpunished. In His way and in His time all deeds will be brought to light. He will provide help to those in need and He will thwart the plans of those who wish harm. These are promises made by Hashem to His beloved people. We must trust Him even when we cannot fully see His hand working His wonders.
Am Yisrael Chai!
Kimberly Davis