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Parshat Acharei Mot
2005
There Shall be No Running on the Pool Deck
It's almost pool season. Soon, in every development in the country, small children in polka-dot bathing suits will run ahead of mothers and babysitters toward their neighborhood swimming pool for afternoons and weekends of splashing in the cool water, eating ice cream and enjoying the early summer sunshine.
At most pools, there is a large wooden sign listing the numerous rules that one must obey while at the pool. These specific rules include running (don't), eating (only in the designated eating areas), pushing (don't), diving (only in the deep end) and lightning (as soon as you see it, get out of the pool). Teenage lifeguards sit on high, adorned with red whistles waiting for the moment when they can blow their whistle and point to the large sign of rules.
Like the swimming pool, the Jewish people have rules too. In fact, we thrive on them. They help us structure our daily life. They tell us what is permitted and what is forbidden. They try and help make sense out of an often-senseless world. This week's parsha, Acharei Mot, is full of rules: rules concerning offerings in the temple, rules addressing Yom Kippur and its observances and, at the end of the parsha, rules regarding appropriate sexual behavior.
And like the pool rules, Acharei Mot goes into great detail: "Do not uncover the nakedness of your father's wife - it is the nakedness of your father. The nakedness of your sister - your father's daughter or your mother's, whether born into the household or outside - do not uncover their nakedness. The nakedness of your son's daughter or your daughter's daughter - do not uncover their nakedness, for their nakedness is yours. Do not uncover the nakedness of your father's sister; she is your father's flesh. Do not uncover the nakedness of your mother's sister; she is your mother's flesh. Do not uncover the nakedness of your mother's brother: do not approach his wife; she is your aunt. Do not uncover the nakedness of your daughter-in-law: she is your son's wife; you shall not uncover her nakedness." (Lev 18:7-15)
Why are such specific statements made? Isn't enough to say: "Don't uncover the nakedness of 'the following,'" and then list them all? What meaning can we find in the repetition and the detail? Just like the pool rules, sometimes it's important for every detail to be laid out, for everyone to know all the rules and for nothing to be left to interpretation.
Birgit Sacher, a writer for the Union for Reform Judaism's daily "10 Minutes of Torah," writes that these laws were made explicit to distinguish them from other Near Eastern ritual practices, which had no restrictions on appropriate sexual relations or worship. "By contrast, Acharei Mot provides communal discipline, responsibility and structure for the Israelites. Worship must be centralized, animals must be slaughtered in a dignified manner to be fit for consumption, and relationships with other people must be respectful. These distinguishing characteristics served to differentiate the children of Israel from surrounding cultures," Sacher wrote.
At the pool, we can also see how the rules strive to provide communal discipline, responsibility and structure for the Jewish people. These rules create a swimming community that values respecting one another, responsibility for one's actions and provides appropriate discipline when needed. It is only right that the pool rules, like the rules laid out in Acharei Mot, are available for all to see. If we forget, we need only to look at the big sign, or open our chumash, to remind ourselves what is right. Ultimately, the Torah exists as a constant reminder of our responsibilities as Jews and the specificity ensures that we don't forget a single commandment. Don't forget: There is still no running on the pool deck.
Prepared by Karen Perolman, JCSC Fellow, Rutgers University Hillel
Learn More
Additional commentaries and text studies on Acharei Mot at MyJewishLearning.com.
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