Parshas Kedoshim: Harken to Holiness

The Torah portion this week, Parshas Kedoshim, Vayikra (Leviticus) 19:1–20:27, challenges us to be holy in thought, word and deed, for God’s sake and for our own sake. Escape from sin, shame, guilt, and moral failure comes from a life based on holy principles, as declared in Torah, not on ideas emanating from human minds.

Many laws enumerated here strongly repudiate abortion industry practices, all of which are evil and ruinous.

Leviticus 19:3: Every man shall fear his mother and his father and keep my Sabbaths. I am the Lord.

We must accept our parents’ authority unless they ask us to violate God’s moral authority. Parents have tremendous influence over children's moral development or disintegration, along with the power of peer pressure and social media. When parents teach destruction over protections for pre-born children, they may persuade or coerce their daughter into an abortion for an unplanned pregnancy to save her reputation or future plans, and to avoid family embarrassment. It requires uncommon courage, insight, understanding and faith to choose lifesaving alternatives in this situation. Tragically, too many young adults willingly succumb to intimidation and mind control rather than seek financial, practical and moral support outside their family, thus perpetuating a culture of unawareness, unholiness and unhappiness.

Leviticus 19:4: Do not turn to idols, nor make for yourselves molten gods; I am the Lord your God.

We have a tendency to idolize intellectual ability, reputation, financial security, professional status, ourselves and others, all of which can easily convince us that abortion is necessary to promote and protect our selfish interests. We can reclaim our spiritual dignity with renewed allegiance to HaShem and active commitment to the sanctity of human life, made in His image and precious in His sight. 

Leviticus 19:11: You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.

Abortion steals life, money, peace of mind and the future. Abortion profiteers engage in duplicitous practices by routinely failing to report evidence of sexual assault and sex trafficking, and failing to provide informed consent to patients about negative consequences of the procedures or the pain that the baby suffers or the atrocity of selling the baby for research while still alive. Patients receive biased counseling in favor of abortion to meet monthly quotas. Lies abound: abortion is healthcare, it’s a harmless medical procedure, it will solve your problems, it's not human, it;s not alive, etc.

Leviticus 19:12: You shall not swear falsely by My Name, thereby profaning the Name of your God. I am the Lord.

Jewish abortion activists and supporters routinely violate this with each repetition of 'Abortion is a Jewish value and a religious right/rite.' May God have mercy on their souls......

Leviticus 19:13: You shall not oppress your fellow. You shall not rob. The hired worker's wage shall not remain with you overnight until morning.

Abortion homicide oppresses mothers, father, families, and communities, and robs the human family of a future and all the productive years that child would provide. I've often said that child killing is the sacrifice of human capital for profit.

Leviticus 19:14: You shall not curse a deaf person. You shall not place a stumbling block before a blind person, and you shall fear your God. I am the Lord.

Legal abortion homicide and its supportive policies in law and politics set a trap for vulnerable parents. A popular position framed as compassionate fairness, it exploits and destroys others for personal and commercial gain.

Leviticus 19:16: You shall not go around as a gossipmonger amidst your people. You shall not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow's blood. I am the Lord.

Gossip is viewed as deadly, so much so that it is combined in this verse commanding us to take action against any deadly assault on our fellows. Stopping gossip ranks with stopping mortal injury done to our friends and neighbors, including stopping others from shedding the blood of innocent children in the womb.

Leviticus 19:17: You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your fellow, but you shall not bear a sin on his account.

Rather than harbor ill feelings and resentment towards those who abuse God and Torah, we educate and encourage a life affirming view in the Jewish community to speak truth to lies and to offer opportunity for changed attitudes and repentance. We assume their transgression when we remain silent.

Leviticus 19:18: You shall neither take revenge from nor bear a grudge against the members of your people; you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.

Love rejoices in life. We are required to treat our neighbors, which include the unborn children in our midst, with love and and kindliness. We are prohibited from exacting retribution for offenses done by some on others, others including innocent babies in the womb. Born and unborn are all valuable and precious in God’s loving creation.

Leviticus 19:29: You shall not defile your daughter by making her a harlot, lest the Land fall into harlotry and the land be filled with immorality.

Progressive sexual freedom ideology permeates our culture, often corrupting family systems. This presents as normalized provocative behavior that disregards early sexual activity, treats teen pregnancy with baby killing, and has led to the explosion of sex trafficking and gender bending. Parents who object to this trend and promote modesty, abstinence, and self respect risk consequences from school administrators and state authorities.

Leviticus 20:2-5: Whosoever he be of the children of Israel that giveth his children to Molech, he shall surely be put to death: And to the children of Israel, you shall say: Any man of the children of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among Israel, who gives any of his offspring to Molech, shall surely be put to death; the people of the land shall pelt him with stones. And I will set My attention upon that man, and I will cut him off from amidst his people, because he gave of his offspring to Molech in order to defile My holy ones and to profane My holy Name. But if the people of the land ignore that man when he gives of his offspring to Molech, not putting him to death I will set My attention upon that man, and upon his family, and I will cut him off, and all who stray after him to stray after Molech, from amidst their people. 

We mentioned this in last week's essay, but it's worth repeating! Child sacrifice is strictly forbidden to Jews and those who live among us. God makes this a capital crime, and warns that He will make desolate the soul of any person who commits or condones this crime. Our sensibilities have been coarsened to the heinous nature of child killing, so that many of us may consider God’s punishment extreme, but it is clear that abortion has resulted in a growing soulless society, far removed from the holy vision He imagined for us.

This little study of Parshas Kedoshim took a little time to read. Hopefully, it inspires you and strengthens you for the coming challenges ahead.

Cecily

May there be abundant peace from Heaven, and good life upon us and upon all Israel. Amen.