Acharei
Mot – Kedoshim
Therefore
keep that which has been given by Me to you for
keeping, so that none of the abominable statutes that were practiced before you
will be done, so that you will not become defiled through them: I, God, your God.
This
refers to the Rabbinic safeguards designed to prevent
infringement of Biblical laws. The Torah
promises that the observance of such Rabbinic
ordinances will ensure that not even part of the …regulations are violated…
Moshe Alshich (16th Century)
Observe
the legislation which is in the nature of a protective fence against the major
sin of indulging…Just as this legislation…has been surrounded with what our
sages call a “protective fence,” this legislation too has such a protective
fence which must not be ignored except at your peril. The overriding consideration is “do not
become spiritually contaminated by ignoring these laws.”
Sforno (15th
Century)
God gave
us to keep His law. The Law is a
treasure entrusted to us…We must protect it from being violated by our own
transgressions, intentional or unintentional…This means, do not refrain only
from actual violations of the Law but also from any act that might lead you to
violate the Law…keep away from yourselves anything that might cause you to
neglect your duty to guard the Law against violation…This means that we are
urged to be most punctilious to shun not only any act forbidden by the Law but
also any act that, because of its similarity to, or other association with, a
forbidden act, could bring us to commit the violation itself…
Samson
Raphael Hirsch (19th Century)
The
truth is that goodness, doing what is right and being attached to God is the
source of life…Do you think that your intellect and understanding of the world
and reality are adequate to the requirements of this life?...It’s like a person
giving a party – if you want people to enjoy themselves you have to have music
and refreshments; they’re what help make the party a “good time.” So if you want to make your religiosity
joyful, fulfilling and alive, you have to bring in the spirit not just go
through the motions…
Yehuda Buxbaum (Contemporary)
In the Torah’s system, one doesn’t
choose which of these mitzvot, or commandments, one
will observe; all are considered equally binding. But our situation involves choice, and every
Jew along with every Jewish movement will make choices as to what supports the
uniqueness and continuity of Jewish identity in the modern period…There are
Jews today who find these question irrelevant.
For them, the central concern of Jewish life is survival…But perhaps we
could do more. Perhaps we might set our
sights higher, and reconsider the invitation/imperative of the Torah “to be
holy.” That would mean again looking at
the reasons why we want our children to be educated Jewishly, why the existence of
Richard Hirsch (Contemporary)