This week the regular annual Torah parsha is “Acharei Mot,” from Leviticus chapters 16 through 18, and it begins “after the death” of Aaron’s two sons.
So MUCH of it is, in fact, literally about life and death.
The Erev Shabbat reading and outline of the parsha describes the three major, but very much related, components, from the procedure followed by the High Priest, Kohen Gadol, at the time of Yom Kippur, and including the “two goats,” to the vital understanding the “the life is in the blood,” to what MIGHT seem ‘out-of-place,’ but ultimately isn’t – the commandments concerning prohibited sexual relationships and practices:
The Sabbath day teaching connects the theme of “after the death…” and the process associated with “atonement” to the truth that “life is in the blood.”
And why would He connect all of that with child sacrifice, and even prohibited sexual practices?
Perhaps the answer comes from the news, every single day.
Still, He says, “I take no pleasure in the death of the unrighteous”. (Ezekiel 18:32 AND 33:11)
“Acharei Mot: Questions of Life and Death”
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