Parashat Acheri / Kedushim

Parashat Acheri / Kedushim

The Torah states:

“My ordinances you shall do, and my statutes you shall observe, to walk with them, I am the Lord, your God.” (Lev. 18:4).

What does the Torah mean “to walk with them?”

The Ktav Sofer commented that the words “to walk with them” mean that a person needs to walk from one level to the next level. That is, a person should constantly keep on growing and elevating himself.

An impediment to growth and success is sad feelings and depression. We are told that in the month of Iyar, in anticipation of receiving the Torah, the Jewish people were healed from all of their physical ailments. The blind were able to see, the deaf were able to hear, the mute were able to speak, and the crippled were able to walk. I think it is safe to assume that there was not only a physical healing but an emotional one as well. All feelings of sadness, hopelessness and distress (although I don’t know why that generation would be sad, after all, they didn’t have to pay the mortgage and their livelihood dropped from the skies, literally!!) were transformed to cheerfulness, happiness and joyfulness. Iyar is the time of emotional healing. It is the time that we prepare for the giving of the Torah by looking into our lives and asking ourselves: “are we happy? What is holding us back from true happiness?” Iyar was the time that the Almighty healed our ancestors and Iyar is the time that the Almighty heals all those in need.

Shabbat Shalom

By Rabbi Eliezer Rafaelmehr

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