Below is a collection of Parashat Aharei Mot resources created by The Lookstein Center staff or contributed to the site by Jewish educators.

This is a growing collection. Check back soon or write to us at content@lookstein.org if you didn’t find what you’re looking for. 

DISCUSSION AND REFLECTION QUESTIONS

Question #1: In Parashat Aharei Mot we read about the unique service in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and later in the Temple, and laws of Yom Kippur. During the year, the Kohen Gadol (High Priest) would wear a magnificent uniform with a blue and gold. Yom Kippur was the only time he was permitted to enter the Kodesh Kedoshim (Holy of Holies), the holy place where the Aron Kodesh (Ark of the Covenant) was kept. Before entering he had to go to purify himself and change his clothes to plain white garments (This was done five times!). Although the Temple was destroyed, we have many customs on Yom Kippur to remind us of the service then. We read about it in the Torah reading and also in the prayers of Yom Kippur and it’s a custom to wear white on Yom Kippur. How do these customs help us get into the spirit of Yom Kippur? How do you feel when you look around the synagogue on Yom Kippur?

Question #2: Does being in a bad environment -class, group – influence you in a bad way? For example, if you are in a class with a substitute teacher and many of the students are shouting and throwing things and it’s chaotic -are you tempted to join? When the Jewish people lived in Egypt they lived in a society where slavery was a way of life. When they came to the land of Canaan, idol worship and violence were a way of life. There was a danger that this would influence the type of society they would build. In this parasha, we are commanded not to learn from their behavior, and be loyal to the Torah.

Look inside the text: (Vayikra 18: 3-4),

 כְּמַעֲשֵׂה אֶרֶץ מִצְרַיִם אֲשֶׁר יְשַׁבְתֶּם בָּהּ לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ וּכְמַעֲשֵׂה אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי מֵבִיא אֶתְכֶם שָׁמָּה לֹא תַעֲשׂוּ וּבְחֻקֹּתֵיהֶם לֹא תֵלֵכוּ: – You should not copy the practices of the land of Egypt where you dwelt, or of the land of Canaan to which I am taking you; nor should you follow their laws.

אֶת מִשְׁפָּטַי תַּעֲשׂוּ וְאֶת חֻקֹּתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ לָלֶכֶת בָּהֶם אֲנִי ה’ אֱלֹהֵיכֶם- My rules alone shall you observe, and faithfully follow My laws: I am your God.

Question #3: The Torah details a series of forbidden sexual or marital relationships. Some of those are currently accepted as alternatives in contemporary society. How do we navigate the tension between the Torah’s instructions forbidding certain things and a contemporary culture which protects the right to do those very things? Are there limits to the kinds of things we tolerate and protect and those which we declare to be completely unacceptable? If yes, what criteria do we use to draw those limits?

Question #4: The Torah hints that there are things that are more forbidden in the Promised Land than in other places and that the consequences for violating them in the Promised Land are more serious than the consequences for violating them in other places. What makes a place sacred? Why is it that there are behaviors (like walking around in a bathing suit or speaking loudly) which are considered acceptable in certain places and not in others? How do we deal with situations in which different people have varying understandings about what it means for a place to be sacred (like a Holocaust museum, a concert theater, the president’s house, or a synagogue), and what kinds of behaviors are acceptable in each?