1. Sin of the Golden Calf (n9_1)
2. Speak to them (n9_3)
3. Heavenly Fire
   1. Light the fire (n9_10)
   2. A fire went forth (n9_24)
   3. Sacrifice of the sons (n10_1)
   4. Heavenly Fire
   5. Adding love to love
4. Legal Judgement (n10_11)
5. Holy moment (n10_12-20)
6. Inquire (n10:16)
7. Laws of Kashrut
8. Contamination or Uncleanliness
9. Principle of uncleanliness
10. Basic rules of contamination (n11_39-40)
11. Lest you become contaminated (n11_43)
12. Discernment
13. Personal Reflections
14. The way of heaven

Sin of the Golden Calf (n9_1)

The first sacrifice that Aharon performed was to atone for the sin of the golden calf. This was a human sin. It represented the essential way in which we sin. Not only in losing faith in G-d, blessed be His Name, but also turning towards another, man-made G-d, made, significantly, of gold itself.

Adam, the primordial man, in the fabled Garden of Eden, completely supported by G-d, may He rule in Peace - in fact, in what one could refer to as the womb of humanity, not yet born into the world - sinned by disobeying G-d. This was the sin of humanity, whereas the golden calf was the sin of a people.

Speak to them (n9_3)

תדבר

(*) It is a combination of (b) & (c). And would be fairly normal in a more egalitarian society. First Moshe Rabeinu told the people what the situation was, then he gave specific instructions to certain people.

Heavenly Fire

Light the fire (n9_10)

הקטיר

There was no permanent fire lit (v24) until the heavenly fire came down.

A fire went forth (n9_24)

תצה השׁ מלפני ה’. ו
A fire went forth from before HaShem... It came down like a pillar

The literal explanation of heavenly fire is simply fire from heaven, though that has its questions too. Where did it actually come from? Unless you have a very simplistic view of G-d, and His place in the universe, believing that whatever comes from above, comes from G-d's hand. Generally lumped into the category of whatever does not make sense, or I don't understand, comes from G-d. Someone of a more scientific frame of mind might ask, "What could cause the heavens to "release" fire?

Or perhaps this heavenly fire is different to the fire that we know? We focus on the word fire to interpret the event, because we know that word, so we denigrate the role of the heavenly. In the same manner in which we do not clearly differentiate between the holy shekel and the "regular" shekel. Do they differ in weight? Are they made from different materials? Or is it just the intention behind it that makes it holy?

Focusing on the heavenly aspect of the fire, I ask similar questions.

{NOTE: Perhaps part of the training of the _Kohan Ha'Gadol_ is to teach him how to know when the _heavenly fire_ has descended, for it is not a fire that flames and burns. This is also hinted at in the manner in which Nadav and Abihu died, with their clothes intact. See below [n10:1](#sacrifice-of-the-sons-n101)}

֨### Fell on their faces (n9_24)

ויִפלוּ על־פניהם

The entire nation fitted into the tine 50-cubit square area in of the Mishkan. Upon falling to their hand and knees, everyone had 4 cubits of space around themselves. At that moment the Spirit of Holiness descended upon them, and they sang out in praise.

Sacrifice of the sons (n10_1)

Death of Nadav נדב and Abihu אביהו

The concept of child sacrifice has still not completely died.

One commentary speaks of the sacrifice of son's as sanctification of G-d Name, may He have mercy on us, and that His acceptance of their sacrifice as a testimony to their greatness.

{NOTE: How long did they have to learn all the intricacies of priesthood? And this is the first time they performed the ceremony, ever. We look at their death as a somewhat merciless judgement, and say that they sinned. However, perhaps they were zealous, and wanted to get even closer to the Divine Presence, even though they were not ordered to. On the one hand, there is a punishment – though on the other hand, it was an acceptance of their sacrifice.}

Heavenly Fire

Could it be the same fire heavenly fire that killed them?

It says about (10:5) בכותנותם - by their tunics: The were moved by the sons of Aaron's uncle, Uziel, by grabbing hold of their tunics. So, although they died from the fire, their clothes were still intact. Thus, according to the n10:5, the fire burned their souls.

{NOTE: The first firewalk I ever did, the facilitator said, I suppose in order to calm our anxiety, that we must remember that fire can only burn the material. So, would not Divine Fire be that fire that sears our soul?}

### Adding love to love

Studies in Weekly Parasha by Y. Nachshoni (P685).

Nadav and Avihu added love to love and went beyond the proper limits by exceeding what they had been commanded to do (Sifra). HaKesav VeHaKabalah explains "and it consumed them" in the sense of a sacrifice, as if to say that their zeal was accepted by HaShem and, as a result, they died. R' Chaim Vital in his Eitz HaDa'as HaTov and other works compares the death of Nadav and Avihu to the misas neshika ("death by a kiss") mentioned in Idra Rabbah. Such a lofty action as the of Nadav and Avihu draws the soul from the body to its Creator. Chazal too says that when the Torah was given, the souls of all Israel departed from their bodies because of their love of HaShem and that HaShem later revived them all with the dew of resurrection.
The Lubavitcher Rebbe in his discourses on Parashas Acharei-Kedoshim 5724 says that even though the righteous man in his worship of HaShem may leave his physical reality, he must still return after his worship to the lower regions. Nadav and Avihu only knew how to leave their material reality, but did not know how to return. They left their earthly framework and drew so close to HaShem that "they died". Chazal states that they served HaShem "with incomplete clothes", meaning that they did not know that one also needs a physical garb and must remain in this garb and not shed it. This also referred to the fact that Nadav and Avihu did not marry wives and had no children.
Even when the Kohen Gadol ascends to the loftiest spirirual realms, he may not forget his human existence and "his house", which is part of his existence (Vayikra 16:2-3,6).

Legal Judgement (n10_11)

להורות - to teach.

A legal judgement should be a teaching otherwise it just perpetuates human law, which is the law of control. Thus to render a legal judgement requires a clear mind, otherwise it is forbidden to render such a judgement which is tantamount to teaching Torah.

Holy moment (n10_12-20)

From the discussion regarding the offerings, in response to Aaron and his remaining sons, Elazar and Ithamar, not eating the sin-offering, emerges the concept of קִדְשׁי שׁעה וקדשׁי דורות, the concept of offerings that were brought for a specific occasion and were never to be repeated versus offerings that were part of the regular service, and would be brought in future as well.

I suppose one could place sin in the same two categories as well. The sin you sinned once and only once versus the sin that you repeat.

Inquire (n10:16)

דָרושׁ דָרַשׁ - never stop inquiring

These two words are the exact halfway mark of the Torah. This teaches us that "the entire Torah revolves around constant inquiry; one must never stop studying and seeking an ever deeper and broader understanding of the Torah" (Degel Machaneh Ephriam)

Laws of Kashrut

n11: By observing these laws the Jew...

I believe this to be more generally applicable. The stance taken here is that a Jew is an entity. For instance, if your mother is Jewish, then you are a Jew. However, in the present context, a Jew is defined by certain fundamental beliefs, attitudes and actions. Here, for example, is one of the fundamentals of what a Jew is: One who practices the Laws of Kashrut.

If I extract a principle, it is that there are certain foods that are spiritual uplifting and those that are not, amongst which would be some that are actually spiritually damaging. Just as there are regarding ones physical health. In a time when all food came from the earth, it was about which of them are good and which not. Nowadays, the fundamentals have shifted far beyond this point. One of the fundamentals has to food that comes from G-d, not from man. Thus any food that is not grown in the way G-d intended, is obviously not Kosher, in that it cannot be spiritually uplifting, if man's spirit has become more prevalent in the food than G-d's. Thus meat that comes from a cow that never lived as a cow would live naturally, has never had an experience of grazing, or eating grass from the pasture, and needs to be constanly imbibed with chemicals to keep it alive, can never be kosher. Tomatoes that have fish genes in them, or any other of the abominations that the scientists are cooking up for their masters, cannot be kosher. One could say that another dimension, another factor, has entered into the kosher equations.

My point is here, that firstly we have to apply the rules of Kashrut, not like legal regulators from another era, sticking to the letter of the law, but ignoring our present day reality.

Kashrut is part of the preparation of the food. But the food itself has to be untainted, else no matter how "kosher" it is, it is already tumah (tainted).

My specific response to this note, is that it needs to generalised. Anyone who understands and applies the principles of Kashrut in their lives, will be able to a higher spiritual plane - perhaps necessary, but not sufficient.

Here is my more general version of n11.

By observing these laws a person can pull himself up the ladder of holiness; by ignoring them, he not only contaminates himself, he gradually builds up a barrier that blocks out his comprehension of holiness.
Just as someone who is constantly exposed to loud music and harsh noise, slowly and imperceptibly, but surely, suffers a loss of his ability to hear fine sounds and detect subtle modulations, so too, a one's consumption of non-kosher food deadens his spiritual capacities and denies him the full opportunity to become holy. And worst of all, it renders him incapable of even perceiving his loss.
It is our spiritual mission to attach ourselves to the Ultimate Source of spiritual life. Consequently, we must refrain from consuming any foods that the Divine Intelligence knows to be an obstacle to the attainment of this lofty. goal. (Rashi, v.2)
A doctor came to visit two patients. To one he said, "You may eat whatever you like." To the other he gave a precise and restrictive diet. Soon the first patient died, while the second recovered. The doctor explained that there was no hope for the first patient, so there was no reason to deny him what he loved to eat, but the second patient was basically healthy so it was important to give him a diet that would return him to his full health.
So it was with all who believe in Israel. For those who have the capacity for spiritual life, G-d prescribed foods that would be conducive to their spiritual growth.
The harm caused by unkosher foods is not physical; rather, they impede the heart from attaining the higher values of the soul. (Chinuch) It contaminates the soul in ways no physical examination can decipher. It creates a barrier between the Jew and his perception of G-d.

Contamination or Uncleanliness

n11:4] טוּמאה - refers to the spiritual contamination that can be conveyed to people or things. In the context of kashrut it refers primarily to forbidden foods.

Thus an "unclean" animal is not contaminated, it is tamei however, in that it is forbidden as food. It is through the eating of "unclean" food that we become contaminated.

Since we cannot identify many of the species, especially of birds, mentioned, the decision is to rule out any species unless specifically described as kosher.

In the case of animals, there is a general rule: it must have split hooves that are completely seperated, and that brings up it's cud.

In the case of water animals, everything that has fins and scales may you eat.

However, as far as birds are concerned, there is no general principles, and they are named in groups:

• the nesher, the peres, the ozniah - נשׁר, פרס, עזניה
• the daah and ayah, according to its kind - דאה, איה
• every orev, according to its kind - עורב
• the bat yaanah, the tachmos, the shachaf, the netz according to its kind - בת היָענה, תחְמס, שׁחף, נץ
• the kos, the shalach, the yanshuf - כוס, שׁלף, יִנְשׁוּף
• the tinshemes, the kaas and the racham - תנשֶׁמת, קָאת, רָחם
• the chasidah, the anafah according to its kind - חסידהמ אנפה
• the ducifas and the atalef - דוּכיפת, אְַטַלף

Principle of uncleanliness

This confusion, and the restrictive decision to only allow those animals that are specifically mentioned and recognisable as kosher. That was acceptable before Jews carried their traditions across the globe.

However, with the advance of "food science" and the resulting commercialisation of food production, as well as the introduction of synthetic chemicals into our food, as well as the modernisation, with the introduction of new methods, for food production, manufacture and storage, there is a huge new problem that needs to be faced.

All the laws pertaining to food and kashrut were propogated before our food was "homogenised", pasteurised, flavoured, and sweetened with chemicals... I do not have to describe to anyone who is interested the tainting of the food, till we have reached the point where we differentiate between "organic" food and .... regular? food. How could we even consider eating food this could not be considered organic? Even more perplexing, how could it be that it could be deemed kosher?

The classic example of this is what is called Orly Whip. It is a completely synthetic product, that substitutes for cream. Because it contains no cream, it can be used as a cream substitute after eating meat. But it is not even a food! So how can it be "kosher" for anything? It is not a medicine, so what is it? Surely one would need another category, or at least a serious debate on this topic.

Another example is the meat that we are eating. The bull is killed ritually as required; the meat is inspected and prepared as required. It is untainted, and thus kosher. However, the animal has been kept in a small cage all its life, and fed many pharmaceuticals to maintain its health. It has never grazed, or if it has, that has been restricted. It was raised in unhealthy—what one might call not kosher—conditions. Should this not be taken into account.

Actually, I think we missed a wonderful opportunity here to shine, and show the world the real value of the laws of Kashrut. Instead, for years now, there has been a battle to properly identify food that is not organic. But, it is a David and Goliath story—the little guy against mega-corporations. Even Oprah Winfrey was severely reprimanded when she ran a show speaking out against modern meat methods.

Let me tell you a story. There was once a king who was blessed with a son, who he wanted to be his heir to the kingdom that the king had spent many years creating. So to ensure that his son would be given a proper foundation to his future role, He invited all the wise men of his kingdom to his palace, so that he may choose the wisest amongst them to be his son's tutor. This tutor, having been given this immense task, set about teaching the son, beloved by his king. However, in order to make sure that the untrained mind and body of the son would be ready for the task ahead of him, he was exceedingly strict with the prince. He would be punished if he did not obey the laws that were laid down for him. He was allowed little leniency, having to submit to the most conservative interpretation of these laws.

One day the king noticed that his son was looking very glum and unhappy, and upon asking him the reason, the boy answered, complaining of the strictness of his teacher. The king answered the boy, saying, "Your teacher is doing only as I have asked of him. You are still young, and untrained, and thus we need to be restrictive in our teachings, so that you will receive the essence—which is the wisdom—of these teachings, so that when you grow, you will be able to implement these principles in the kingdom you are to inherit."

Thus the boy was assuaged, and applied himself diligently to his practice.

So it is with G-d and Israel, his beloved child. In the beginning, we were young, and needed to have the restrictive laws drummed into our very beings. However, since we have spent 2000 years learning, being tested, and emerging with our essence intact, it is perhaps the time to understand the principles that we need to apply to our present reality.

In this case of Kashrut, I propose that the basic principle is contamination of blood and death. It says (n11:24-31), "the only sort of contamination that is forbidden without exception is for a Kohen to become contaminated through contact with a human corpse."

There are a couple of points here, for "as a practical matter, contamination is only forbidden for sacred foods or objects... and people who may touch them." So it only the Kohen, who has a sacred duty, who becomes contaminated through touching a human corpse.

If I apply the general principle first to animals, it excludes animals that eat the flesh of other animals (including human), for there is no predator that chews its cud.

If I apply this principle to the beings of water, again, it excludes all different types of sea animals that consume the flesh of the dead in the water. Even if there is one, like the catfish, that has scales and fins, it is not kosher, and it consumes the flesh of other animals.

I would suggest applying this to the birds too, and we will get that the eagle, the vulture, the raven, etc are not to be eaten, whereas other species are, as long as they do not consume the flesh.

It seems to be essentially about touching the carcass, the dead animal, and its effect on other aspects of one's environment.

Basic rules of contamination (n11_39-40)

What is interesting here is that no vegetable or fruit, or product from the soil can be tamei, unless it has come into contact with meat. Fish, even milk from the beast, are all not tamei unless meat is involved. Thus, a vegan diet, is kosher. When one includes animal products like milk, or cheese, or eggs, then it is in the processing and production thereof that needs to be kosher.

Can one drink the milk of a non-kosher animal?

• Before a food can become tamei, it must receive הֶכְשֵׁר, preparation. This means it must have been moistened by one of seven liquids: water, dew, wine, oil, blood, milk and bees' honey (Machshirim 6:4).
• Hechsher, or preparation, of food can take place only after the food has been detached from the soil.
• Three degrees of tumah`
  1. A dead animal is an אב הטוּמְאָה, father (or source) of contamination;
  2. a vessel becomes ראשׁון לטומאה, first degree of contamination;
  3. the contents of the vessel become שׁני לטומאה, second degree of contamination.
     Only food and drink can become second degrees of ; neither people not untensils of any sort can accept any contamination below the first degree. Food that is no longer edible cannot become contaminated unless it has been used as a tool.
• If a carcass and food are in the interior of an earthenware vessel, but they do not touch one another, the carcass makes the vessel a first degree, and the vessel in turn makes the food a second degree.
• In order to transmit tumah, a food must be at the volume of an egg (Rashi v. 34). Meat from an animal carcass is an exception to this rule; such meat is not considered food and contaminates even if it has the volume of an olive, which is half the size of an egg.

Lest you become contaminated (n11_43)

וניטמֵתם בּם - Lest you become contaminated through them

If you contaminate yourself by eating forbidden foods in this world, I will render you contaminated in the World to Come and before the Heavenly Court. (Rashi, Sifra, Yoma 39a).

We could even generalise the concept of "food" to nourishment and even "pleasure".

The aleph is missing from ונטמ[א]תם, and can be rendered lest you become dulled.
In the words of the Sages: If a person contaminates himself a little, he becomes contaminated a great deal... Conversely, you shall sanctify yourselves and you shall become holy (v. 44): If a person sanctifies himself a little, he becomes sanctified a great deal.
To become holy, a person must sanctify himself "down below", meaning that the road to holiness does not begin with sublime thoughts or the study of lofty ideas. First a person must sanctfiy himself in the "lowly" things, such as his personal behaviour, morality and appetite.

Discernment

10:10] להבדיל בין הקודשׁ ובין החל ובין טמא ובין טהור
To distingues between the holy and the unholy, between clean and contaminated.

The Torah urges us to make the delicate and difficult distinctions that are essential to carry out G-d's will.

9:23] וירא כבוד־ה’ אל־כל־העם - the glory of Hashem appeared to the entire people.
9:24] תצה אשׁ מלפני ה’, ויָרְא כל העם וֻירָֹנוּ ויפלוּ על־פניהם - A fire went out from before Hashem...; the people saw and sang glad song and fell upon their faces.

10:3] בקרבי אקדשׁ ועל־פני כל־העם אכּבד - I will be sanctified through those who are nearest Me, thus I will be honoured before the entire people.
10:14] הזה התנוּפה ואת שׁוק התדוּמה

Personal Reflections

If we contain a spark of the Divine Energy in us, a spark that vivifies the dust of my body providing me with an experience of life that we call Human being, then this very "spark" will contain with it, the potential to perceive any other living being's behviour/motivation—even perhaps the possiblity of percieving anything in the the universe. This I say, as it has enabled us to percive certain intangibles in our existence. That is the essence of what we have been grappling with throughout our short history. These include all the elements in our environment that are not included in our social constructs. And if they are then it is only representations of these things that become effects within these social contracts. Things like love, hate, greed, passion, avarice, dishonesty, etc; even things like kindness, loyalty, trust, etc are both the motivators and the destructoros of our social dynamics.
Any system that we fashion will have to take these intangibles into account.

Included in these intangibles are two of the greatest mysteries of our existence. The first is our ability to know of our demise, which is the ability to tell the future. No other animal has that ability, as far as we can tell—or has not expressed that in any way we can recognise so far. Is it not interesting that one of the spiritual characteristics we most revere is that of the prophet—which implies one who can know the future.

The second is our ability to conceive of infinity. How can a finite being have any idea of an infinity, which is the very antithesis of its experience. That is why so many people will have difficulty in understanding that concept, the idea that something could be perpetual in the constant cycle of existence and non-existence.

The way of heaven

As long as what you use is dedicated to the Divine
As long as all you do is dedicated to the Divine.

On Shabbat we are prohibited from performing any of the activities related to the building of the mishkan. However, the Torah has many chapters recording the mundance details of its construction. These details are necessary for the mundane mind, and the details of the activities that will take place in the mishkan are descriptions of the sacred ceremonies that will take place.

That the building and the maintanance of the mishkan all take place and exist in the mundane, all the activities and the elements are sacred. Would it not make sense that in the sacred ceremenonies and energy of thet Mishkan we should beging to seek our pathway through the mundane? Not to use the mundane to build the sacred, but the sacred to build the mundane.

Just as the essence of the shabbat is to make it קדושׁ, sacred by seperating it from the mundance. It is the day to break patterns, rest from the demanding aspects of the mundane. It is the day to practice one's dedication to the "way of heaven", not the way of the earth.

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