1. This is a combined Torah portion. Some portions are attached one
to another, in order to make sure the entire book of the Pentateuch is read
within a prescribed yearly cycle.
2. According to Lev.16, on Yom Kippur, the High Priest brought
forth 2 goats; one he slaughtered on the altar, and the other one he sent off
to “Azazel,” a desert demon. The dispatch was done as a means of getting rid of
all the sins--a primitive concept.
3. Lev. 19:18, mandates that we “love” our neighbor. In biblical
times, “to love,” as seen in various ancient Near Eastern texts, basically
meant, “to be loyal” to someone else. In his book, The Art of Loving,
Erich Fromm, understands this to mean, “to feel responsible for someone else” (p.130).
4. According to Lev. 19:14, we are not to “place a stumbling block
before the blind.” For the rabbis in the Sifra, this meant: “Do not give
self-serving advice to one who is ignorant and inexperienced.” For the Talmudic
Rabbis, this ordinance comes to tell us not “to tempt another person to sin”
(Pes. 22b).
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