A Short Shabbat Reflection from the Weekly Parsha by Rabbi Mark Melamut
*Bissel: (bis-sel) Yiddish. Meaning: “a little.” “Give me a bissel lox on my bagel, would you, darling?” A biselleh is even less. (www.bubbygram.com)
Served each Friday afternoon, noonish.
Parshat Acharei Mot – Kedoshim (Leviticus 16-20:27)
“You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” This is the tall order served up this week by our weekly torah reading. Following the details of Yom Kippur and the laws of biblical sexual prohibitions in our double portion, the entire community is given this task, as well as a list for how to achieve holiness. Covering essentially all areas of life from ritual to ethical to human relations, we learn that holiness extends much beyond religious life. We are to revere our parents, to leave the edges of our fields for the poor, to honor and include the stranger, to act with justice and balance in all that we do, and much more.
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
- What does holiness mean to you?
- Can you think of something that is ordinary in your life, which has the potential to become holy?
- What are some ways in which you can allow this shift to occur?
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Mark Melamut
