Rabbi's Derasha

The Torah does not pair Parashiot at random or just out of convenience.  There are thematic connections.  That was obvious last week but not as obvious this week.  These two Parashiot seem like they have little to do with each other.  One is about Yom Kippur and the encounter between the Kohen Gadol and Hashem while the other focuses largely on issues between people.  But they are profoundly connected.  

One of the routes to this connection is that both Parashiot end with a section on forbidden relationships.  At least part of these sections cover what are normally called “Arayot.”  This is a word which means something hidden; it can also mean something vulnerable, or sensitive.  This explains why the euphemism we use for them is “Gilui Arayot,” which means the revelation of that which is hidden.  

The technical reason why the Torah has to have two sections is that one announces the actual prohibition while the other announces the punishment.  But these two requirements could have been fulfilled at the same time.  That is, the Torah could have announced both the prohibition and the punishment side by side.  There are several places where the Torah does in fact do that in announcing a prohibition.  Why are these two separated?  

The answer to this is that if the punishment was announced immediately one could have thought that the prohibition was simply an issue between Hashem and the world.  By separating them, the Torah can show that there is a “humanistic” reason to forbid these relationships.  The Torah announces before this first section something about context.  It says that one cannot perform the actions of the Egyptians from where you came nor those of the people of Kanaan, toward which you are headed.  Meaning that there are societies where these taboos are violated, and one cannot fall into those ways.  

The reason for those taboos is more than just guarding against genetic mutations.  The taboo relationships are about preserving a shred of privacy, of what is indubitably personal.  No one knows anyone as well as one’s relatives.  To be intimate would take what seems like the last sliver of privacy away.  To preserve at least something that is private, that is only between the person and Hashem, is an explanation for the prohibition of Arayot.  

When one recalls that the Parasha begins with the divine service on Yom Kippur, a pattern begins to emerge.  The highlight of the service is the encounter between the Kohen Gadol and Hashem in the holy of holies.  A very private moment in a very private space, between just him and Hashem.  

The same point about preserving a sacred interior space comes up in Kedoshim.  In only one place in a Parasha full of Mitzvot, the Torah recalls the going out of Egypt.  When the Torah says that people have to maintain proper weights and measures, it adds that this is because Hashem took us out of Egypt.  What is the connection?  The Rambam notices this and comments in the Laws of Stealing that one who recognizes the laws of proper measures also recognizes the exodus from Egypt, “for [the exodus] caused all of these commands.”  The Rambam is saying there is a close connection between the freedom we achieved in the exodus and this Mitzva in particular.  

That is because even after escaping from the coercion of the whip in Egypt, there is still a different type of coercion.  Even without a slave master, people often do even good acts because of influence from peers or from society at large.  But in the sphere of weights and measures, there is no way for anyone to know if they are true or tainted.  Only the proprietor knows.  That makes this a private realm in which only the owner and Hashem know what is happening.  

This double Parasha is about preserving -- and sanctifying with proper action -- private realms.  Those places where it’s just us and Hashem afford the possibility for real freedom.  We left Egypt four weeks ago and we are headed for the acceptance of the Torah.  On the way, we are reminded that keeping the weights and measures true is the way to show whether we remain true.