Parsha Inspired Menus - Achrei Mot- Kedoshim

"Inconceivable!" If you're around my age, this word probably brings to mind the movie, The Princess Bride. While not a direct quote of the commentators on a pasuk in this week's Torah portion, it's pretty close. Here's what happens:

וּבָ֤א אַהֲרֹן֙ אֶל־אֹ֣הֶל מוֹעֵ֔ד וּפָשַׁט֙ אֶת־בִּגְדֵ֣י הַבָּ֔ד אֲשֶׁ֥ר לָבַ֖שׁ בְּבֹא֣וֹ אֶל־הַקֹּ֑דֶשׁ וְהִנִּיחָ֖ם שָֽׁם׃

And Aaron shall go into the Tent of Meeting, take off the linen vestments that he put on when he entered the Shrine, and leave them there.

From the pshat reading of this line, it seems that after doing the elements of the Yom Kippur offering, Aaron is supposed to go into the Tent of Meeting and take off his clothes and leave them there. This made me stop to wonder and it got the rabbis too. Here's Ramban:

Now this is truly a case where the verse calls aloud for elucidation. For it is not at all conceivable that [the verse] should command that Aaron come into the Tent of Meeting for no purpose whatsoever other than that of taking off his garments and being naked in G-d’s temple, and that he should leave the garments there to decay! Rather, we must perforce interpret the verse thus: And Aaron shall come into the Tent of Meeting to do some act of the Service which Scripture found it unnecessary to mention...

So, what was Aaron doing? Well, the Talmud goes into great detail to describe these Yom Kippur sacrifices. Right before this pasuk, there's a description of Aaron laying incense on the fire and so,

the inference is that Aaron went into the tent to collecct these and then went out of the tent to somewhere else to take off the garments. To the Rabbis, this must fill in the telling, so it would be something like this: "And Aaron shall go into the Tent of Meeting, retrieve the ladle and censor from the incense, then leave and go to another location to take off the linen vestments that he put on when he entered the Shrine, and leave them there."

And why describe Aaron removing his linen vestments at all? According to Ramban, it is to complete the telling of the actions Aaron should take in these special white linen vestments and to teach that these were not to be worn again. The pasuk puts the closing bookend on the day of activity "Therefore Scripture completed in one sequence everything that was to be done during the whole day in the white garments." There is a certain "wholeness" to the description when looked at this way, which feels fitting for the ritual of Yom Kippur. To give a nod to the white linen materials, I wanted something white and found this White Texas Sheet Cake (sub plant-based butter and sour cream for a meat meal, though my next suggestion would lead towards a dairy-meal)

During our mincha learning this week, our Assistant Rabbi shared a teaching with us that took at look at the unique phrase at the end of these two pasukim in Kedoshim:

לֹא־תְקַלֵּ֣ל חֵרֵ֔שׁ וְלִפְנֵ֣י עִוֵּ֔ר לֹ֥א תִתֵּ֖ן מִכְשֹׁ֑ל וְיָרֵ֥אתָ מֵּאֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃

You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the ETERNAL.

מִפְּנֵ֤י שֵׂיבָה֙ תָּק֔וּם וְהָדַרְתָּ֖ פְּנֵ֣י זָקֵ֑ן וְיָרֵ֥אתָ מֵּאֱלֹהֶ֖יךָ אֲנִ֥י יְהֹוָֽה׃ {ס}        

You shall rise before the aged and show deference to the old; you shall fear your God: I am the ETERNAL.

Both end with " you shall fear your God: I am the ETERNAL." It was brought to our attention that each of these describe actions you should take in situations where you could probably get away with not doing it, and even be able to play it off as innocent. The deaf can't hear you when you insult them, the blind can't see that it is YOU who put something in their way or less literally, if you

don't proactively reach out to help any of these categories of vulnerable people, you could pretend that you didn't notice their need. But, the end of the verse reminds us, no matter what another person sees or hears, God will know. Therefore, you need to behave in the corret manner because you fear God. We then discussed the many ways we see in our current world when someone manages appearances, but may not really have the best interest of others in their hearts. I think this could lead to a very interesting Shabbat dinner conversation, so to get the conversation started, I recommend a dish with an ingredient that's aged. Lots of foods fit that category, but I selected this recipe that includes ricotta salata, an aged ricotta cheese - Wilted Greens with Ricotta Salata.

Shabbat Shalom & B'Tayavon!