Weekly D'rash Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

This week’s Torah portion contains the famous verse that Yeshua quotes as the second most important commandment. ‘You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the sons of your people, but you shall love the one beside you as yourself; I am the LORD (Lev. 19:18). This chapter describes how to be holy. We are holy as he is holy when we honor God and treat those who are vulnerable and in need with dignity and care. There are verses about not showing partiality, serving those who are in need, as well as not bearing grudges. In the New Covenant Scriptures, the Book of James serves a commentary on this portion of Leviticus. It is written to Messianic Jews exhorting them to maintain the Torah way of life in its most important aspects.

In the first chapter of James, we read “Pure and undefiled religion in the sight of our God and Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself unstained by the world” (James 1:27). In the second chapter, we read “If however, you are fulfilling the royal law according to the Scripture, ‘You shall love the one beside you as yourself’ you are doing well. But if you show partiality, you are committing sin and are convicted by the law as transgressors. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all”.

James refers to the Torah as the “royal law”! He means that Torah is the law of the Kingdom of God! Specifically, he is referring to passages about loving your neighbor as yourself! At the end of the second chapter of James, he writes, “So speak and act as those who are to be judged by the law of liberty. For judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment” (James 2:12–13). This is a reminder that the heart of the Torah and the heart of God is to show mercy or chesed to others. We need to speak and act in such a way that the world can see the heart of God. It is a liberating way to live! We have been shown great mercy, so let us accentuate mercy in our relationships with others.

We often think of holiness as keeping ourselves pure and separated from the world. However, the emphasis in the Bible is that holiness is demonstrating the caring heart of God. Back in Exodus 34:5–6, although God will not leave the guilty unpunished, the weight of His attributes is on mercy, loyal love, and faithfulness. As we meditate on Leviticus 19:1–18, and read the book of James, may we demonstrate the heart of God. We may be surprised to see how open people are to knowing about Yeshua!

Shabbat Shalom,

Rabbi Howard