This sheet on Leviticus 18 was written by Yitz Greenberg for 929 and can also be found here
Chapter 18 of Leviticus is the peak moment and interpretive key to Leviticus - and to all of the Torah. God speaks directly to the people of Israel: “You shall not copy the practices of the land of Egypt… or of the land of Canaan…. You shall keep my laws and walk in the way of my rules... for when a person does this, he shall live by them (Lev. 18:3-5).”
The Egyptian and Canaanite behaviors are a way of death, whereas following the laws of the Torah constitutes walking on a way of life. Upholding life is the key to all the Torah’s instructions - even its arcane ritual codes found in Leviticus. They instruct us how to choose life in every act that we do.
Leviticus makes clear that the House of God (Mishkan/Beit Mikdash) - where one is constantly close to God - is exclusively a zone of life. It may not be entered into by dead people or impure humans (i.e. people who have had contact with death and have not yet been ritually reborn to life). Similarly, priests (who work full time in the House of God) must be constantly in a state of ritual purity. They are to have no contact with dead humans or cemeteries or other impurities. They are granted only temporary exemptions to bury their nearest and dearest ones (Lev., ch. 21-22).
The laws of purity and impurity in Leviticus designate life as purity and death as impurity. While a human corpse is the ultimate impurity (Numbers, ch. 19) people with deathly sicknesses (such as metzorah/leper) are also impure. Contact with dead animals, especially non-kosher animals, also brings impurity.
Similarly, the laws of Kosher teach that human eating should be on the side of life. Ideally, one should eat only vegetables and minerals (all are kosher) and not kill animals (Genesis 1: 29-30). Kosher laws permit meat eating but only with great restrictions. Only a few species are permitted. These species are vegetarians. Predatory animals and birds are not kosher. The higher species must be killed swiftly and painlessly (shechitah). Blood - the symbol
of life - is not to be eaten. There are more restrictions on eating the higher animals. They may not be prepared, cooked or eaten together with milk. (Mother’s milk is the source of life and may not be served with meat, i.e. a killed animal).
The Talmud confirms that the primary goal of the laws of the Torah is to uphold life. The question came up in Maccabean times when the Hellenistic army attacked a group of Hasidim on Shabbat. The Hasidim refused to wage war on Shabbat and were killed. The Maccabees - and after them, the Talmud - ruled to the contrary.
Since every law in the Torah is intended to uphold life, then one should not observe a law when it leads to death. Every law in the Torah (except three) is overridden in order to save a life (pikuach nefesh). The Talmud proves this with the great principle of chapter 18: when a person does God’s commandments “he (she) shall live by them and not die by them” (Leviticus 18:5; Yoma 85B).
Tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 19: Yitz continues his explication of Judaism’s moral vision, and connects it to the command “to be holy.” Stay tuned!
The Egyptian and Canaanite behaviors are a way of death, whereas following the laws of the Torah constitutes walking on a way of life. Upholding life is the key to all the Torah’s instructions - even its arcane ritual codes found in Leviticus. They instruct us how to choose life in every act that we do.
Leviticus makes clear that the House of God (Mishkan/Beit Mikdash) - where one is constantly close to God - is exclusively a zone of life. It may not be entered into by dead people or impure humans (i.e. people who have had contact with death and have not yet been ritually reborn to life). Similarly, priests (who work full time in the House of God) must be constantly in a state of ritual purity. They are to have no contact with dead humans or cemeteries or other impurities. They are granted only temporary exemptions to bury their nearest and dearest ones (Lev., ch. 21-22).
The laws of purity and impurity in Leviticus designate life as purity and death as impurity. While a human corpse is the ultimate impurity (Numbers, ch. 19) people with deathly sicknesses (such as metzorah/leper) are also impure. Contact with dead animals, especially non-kosher animals, also brings impurity.
Similarly, the laws of Kosher teach that human eating should be on the side of life. Ideally, one should eat only vegetables and minerals (all are kosher) and not kill animals (Genesis 1: 29-30). Kosher laws permit meat eating but only with great restrictions. Only a few species are permitted. These species are vegetarians. Predatory animals and birds are not kosher. The higher species must be killed swiftly and painlessly (shechitah). Blood - the symbol
of life - is not to be eaten. There are more restrictions on eating the higher animals. They may not be prepared, cooked or eaten together with milk. (Mother’s milk is the source of life and may not be served with meat, i.e. a killed animal).
The Talmud confirms that the primary goal of the laws of the Torah is to uphold life. The question came up in Maccabean times when the Hellenistic army attacked a group of Hasidim on Shabbat. The Hasidim refused to wage war on Shabbat and were killed. The Maccabees - and after them, the Talmud - ruled to the contrary.
Since every law in the Torah is intended to uphold life, then one should not observe a law when it leads to death. Every law in the Torah (except three) is overridden in order to save a life (pikuach nefesh). The Talmud proves this with the great principle of chapter 18: when a person does God’s commandments “he (she) shall live by them and not die by them” (Leviticus 18:5; Yoma 85B).
Tomorrow: Leviticus chapter 19: Yitz continues his explication of Judaism’s moral vision, and connects it to the command “to be holy.” Stay tuned!
Rabbi Yitz Greenberg is the President of the J.J. Greenberg Institute for the Advancement of Jewish Life, a division of the Hadar Institute.
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