Acharei Mot - אחרי מות : "After the death"
Torah : Leviticus 16:1-18:30
Haftarah : Ezekiel 22:1-19
Gospel : John 7:1-52

Thought for the Week:

In Leviticus 18, the Lord warns the Israelites, "You shall not do what is done in the land of Egypt where you lived, nor are you to do what is done in the land of Canaan where I am bringing you; you shall not walk in their statutes." (Leviticus 18:3) We are not to imitate the ways of the Egyptians. This means that we are not to turn back to the evil ways of our past. He tells them not to do as the Canaanites do. This means that we are not to allow ourselves to be seduced by new temptations.

Commentary:

The Torah this week warns us against the sexual deviancies of the larger culture. We are to be easily distinguishable from the secular/pagan context around us, and one of the most obvious ways in which we are to be different is in the area of sexuality.

The way we express our sexuality should draw a clean line of distinction between us and the rest of the world. As believers, we are still in the midst of the modern equivalent of Egyptians and Canaanites. Modern society is obsessed with sensuality. Fed by the media, advertising images, fashion industry and entertainment industry, the...