Parshat Acharei Mot/Kedoshim: Finding Holiness After Death

Dear Hevre/community,

This week we read in synagogue a double portion/parashah od Acharei Mot/Kedoshim.  Acharei Mot means “after death,” as it takes place following the death of Aaron's two sons Nadav and Avihu. The parashah consists of ethical and ritual laws concerning, sacrifice, Yom Kippur rituals, dietary restrictions and sexual prohibitions. These laws were an integral part of creating a new society/

The second parashah  is Kedoshim, which means holiness.  It includes the Holiness Code of Leviticus/Vayikra Chapter 19. In this code we are given a series of commandments and laws which given to teach that we are all meant to be holy because God is holy, and we are created in God's image. And so the essence of the text is the creation of a society based on holiness which is not only dedicated to God, but who imitate God. Throughout the Torah we are commanded to be a people erable: the orphan, the widow and the stranger in our midst. At the heart of the Holiness Code of this week's parashah, and indeed throughout the entire Torah, we find the central commandment v'ahavta l'reyakha kamokha, “you shall love your fellow human being as yourself.”

Acharei mot kedoshim can also be read as a sentence: after death, there is holiness. I first wrote those words and the poem which follows, in 2013 following the Boston Marathon bombing. I used them again in 2015, following racially-charged violence in Baltimore. Today, they are still powerful, though for a different reason.

At this moment we are surrounded by illness and death. At this very moment, almost a quarter of a million people have died worldwide and more than 65,000 have died in the United States. Those are the official figures. Most likely the current numbers are higher and we can only imagine what the final numbers will be. However, even that phrase "final numbers" is questionable. After all, we don't know if or when the virus will subside or when a vaccine or treatment will be developed. And yet, we must imagine that there will be a time "after death." For if we didn't believe that it would make it even more difficult to face the current tragedy.

Yet, the question remains: what will there be after death? What will the world be like following the epidemic. What can we find that will in some way be an adequate response, or perhaps corrective, to the world of death and sickness in which we are living now?

The answer to these questions can be found in the name of the second part of the parashah: kedoshim/holiness. Actually, a more accurate translation would be "holy ones." In this way the name refers not only to the idea that there will be holiness in the world, but that we must be the ones who bring that holiness to the world and to all those living. It can also refer to the holy ones whom we will have lost due to Covid-19. If their deaths and our lives are to have meaning and purpose we must remember that we all were and are holy. But what is holiness?

In last week's commentary I proposed that holiness was simply another way of saying that we are created b'tzelem elohim/in God's image. Holiness is the godliness within is. It is that which calls us to make the world a better place by bringing peace, love, compassion, and healing to the world. That is what it means to be holy beings.  For those whom we have lost, their holiness is in their memories which call to us to bring those same qualities to the world in their names.

We don't know when the current suffering will end, but eventually it will. However, there will always  be some degree of suffering, illness, and pain in our world. The way that we fight that is by acting in a holy manner and bringing the qualities of holiness mentioned above into our world in order to create a world of wholeness and peace.

This task is not easy. Our goal may never be acheived. However, to paraphrase Pirkei Avot/the ethics of our ancestors, we may never be able to fully acheive that final goal, but we can never give up trying. Perhaps, in the end, that is what being holy truly means.

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Steve

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As I mentioned above, this poem was originally written in 2013. I have made some changes in order to relate it to our current situation in the face of Covid-19.
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After death.....holiness

After death holiness

after sacrifice renewal

after mourning rebirth

after destruction rebuilding

after fear trust

after judgment compassion

after hatred love
after sickness healing

I look around and see so much illness death mourning fear 

I see despair anger frustration 
I even see hatred  resentment  blame
it is often difficult to see anything else

I hear accusations  from some

this is the governments fault    it is a hoax  it's a plot
it's not real    they are taking away our rights
and yet the sickness is real   the deaths are real    the danger is real
but more for some than others
as the inequalities of our society are revealed
                  if they were ever really hidden
wreaking havoc on those most vulnerable 

attacking those already feeling  unseen   forgotten
bringing with it even more frustration and fear

our leaders  who should be uniting us 
continue to divide in order to help their own agenda

refusing to acknowledge the inequity
refusing to see that we are all connected    that we must all help each other
or allow ourselves to be helped
seeking a way to bring healing and compassion
to both the parts and the whole
creating holiness in the face of tragedy
rather than creating a world of blame and fear

the forces of death destruction hatred will always be there
among those who care only about proving themselves right
seeing others wrong    dispensable     inconsequential

but the forces of holiness are also there 
beckoning us to walk down path

of humility   goodness   love   acceptance   peace   mercy   kindness
    the path of healing

          the path of the Divine 
               the path of what it means to be human   to be divine

a path reminding us that we are all connected        we are all one     godly

so many think they know the right way     they know what God wants

but their god cares only for them         not others
 that is not truly God

     that is the ego    saying I am right
separating us from the one of existence
   evil     leading us down the path      to destruction

around us      we see the suffering and pain      the death of so many

but within       we can see the greater truth of existence

we can hear the harmony      feel the compassion      the call of mercy

the cry for justice        the proclamation that we are all one 

we must all love each as ourselves for there is no other 

self and other are words we created but they don't really exist
we all feel the suffering and the pain of the present
we will all feel the healing in the future

at times I feel helpless       hopeless 
not only because the physical healing seems so far away
but because the spiritual struggle against separation    hatred     ego    inequality
seems insurmountable

yet other times I feel hopeful that a cure will soon be found
the struggles will eventually end

all will come to know that which is true     eternal

love    compassion    mercy    God

the holiness     within    connecting all 

we have seen so many senseless deaths   
from illness     from violence

may we work together to find healing for all

bringing mercy    love     holiness 

let us work as one to create a world where differences within unity are embraced

where all human souls are valued      and treated     equally

for we are all within God and God is within us

remembering this we can continue on the path to create holiness

 not only our purpose in life

but the essence of us our existence
    holiness    that is the source of healing
    holiness    that will bless our world
    holiness    that brings life in the face of death
    holiness    that will enable to us to continue on 
    no matter what