LEV752 Do not shave off the corners of your beard. [See [[LEV754]] Leviticus 19:27 sideburns CHINUCH 160]. Priests of idol worship shave their beards this way, and since Hashem disdains idol worship He wants us to have no part of it and certainly does not want us to resemble its practitioners.

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LEV754 Do not shave off your sideburns. Idol worshippers shave their hair this way and Hashem wants to distance us from idol worship and make us forget their practices--especially things that they did to their bodies.

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LEV759 Do not tattoo your skin. As part of the practice of idol worship, the gentiles tattooed themselves. That is, they would mark themselves as having been sold to the idol. As noted above, [See [[LEV754]] Leviticus 19:27 sideburns CHINUCH 160] Hashem wanted to distance us from idol worship and make us forget their practices, especially things that they did to their bodies.

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LEV767 Do not do as the soothsayers of Ob. “Oboth” burn a certain incense and perform certain acts that make one imagine that one hears a voice emitting from one's armpit, and it seems that the voice answers questions that are posed to it. The Torah forbids to do such acts or consult these “Oboth.” As explained earlier [See [[LEV751]] Leviticus 19:26 superstition CHINUCH 158-9] practices such as these can undermine a person's belief in Hashem and make him forget basic principles of the true faith. One can come to believe that the things that happened to him are all just by chance, and one can profit and be saved from harm by means of these questions and divination. Really, practices of the sort are of no use at all, for everything that happens to us is from the Holy One, according to our deeds. Such is the Jewish way of thinking. It guides us at all times, and all believing Jews think this way. In addition, “Oboth” and “Yidoni” are very reminiscent of idol-worship.

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LEV785 Honor Torah scholars. A man is sent to this world mainly to acquire wisdom so that he recognizes his Maker. Therefore, it is fitting for a man to honor those who have acquired wisdom. By showing them honor, one inspires others to seek wisdom as well. Included is the obligation to honor elders who are not Torah scholars, for during an elder’s many years on earth he saw and recognized some of Hashem's wondrous deeds. Accordingly, he deserves honor, provided that he is not a sinner. Someone who ignores this command is subject to great punishment, for it is a pillar of our Torah.

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LEV804 Do not cheat people by using inaccurate weights and measures. Whether the item you sell is a liquid or a solid, movable property or land, do not deceive buyers even slightly by means of dishonest weights or measures. The Torah uses the term “judgment” regarding this matter because when someone counts, measures or weighs an item for sale, and on that basis declares its price, he is pronouncing judgment as to what is fair and right. If he deceives his customer through dishonest weights and measures, he is no different from a court judge who intentionally perverted justice. He shows himself to be corrupt, abominable, disgusting and deserving to be ostracized from society. Like a judge who corrupts justice, he causes five woes: he brings spiritual impurity upon the land; profanes the Name of Hashem; causes the Shechinah to withdraw; Israel falls to the sword and is exiled from its homeland. Also to emphasize the seriousness of transgression of this mitzvah, our Sages said: “The punishment for false weights and measures is worse than the punishment for forbidden relations, for the latter is between man and his Maker, while the former is between man and his fellow.”

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LEV819 Use only precise weights and measures. Be very careful that your weights and measures are very precise, for it is known that inaccuracy regarding this matter, such as imprecise balances, can lead to various types of deceit. The weights that are placed on the balance to equal the weight of the items being sold must be exact. So, too, all vessels used for measuring any solid or liquid. Because of the seriousness of the matter, the Torah names the different methods of measuring and demands accuracy regarding each one, despite the fact that the entire matter is included in the prohibition, “A man shall not cheat his brother” (Leviticus 25:14). In the words of the Sifra, “On this condition I brought you out of Egypt--that you keep the mitzvah of accurate weights and measures.” Also, according to our sages (Baba Metzia 61b), Hashem says, “In Egypt I distinguished between those who were a firstborn and not a firstborn; so, too, I will exact judgment from anyone who puts his weights in salt in order to cheat others.” Sages also teach that courts everywhere are duty bound to appoint inspectors to check the accuracy of weights and balances. When a person is found to be remiss in this regard, the courts have the power to punish him physically and/or with a monetary fine. Worst of all, say our Sages, he who steals from the public by means of dishonest measures cannot recall all of the people that he cheated, so he is unable to make amends if later he wants to repent and return what he stole. This is the meaning when our Sages say, “The punishment for dishonest measures is very harsh.”

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LEV831 See [[EXOD553]] Exodus 21:15 strikes CHINUCH 35

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LEV851 Do not follow the customs of non-Jews. For example, do not behave like them in their way of dress or follow their styles. Do not seek out their forms of entertainment, such as circuses, theater performances and any type of frivolous gatherings where idols are worshipped or men and women immodestly mix. Similarly, do not cut your hair bloris--to shave the sides of your head and leave the hair in the middle.

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LEV867 A regular Kohen shall not bring spiritual impurity upon himself except in limited circumstances. Owing to the fact that He has chosen the Kohanim to serve in the Beis HaMikdash, Hashem distances them from corpses. ... spiritual impurity is a damaging force, and when a Jew dies the spiritual impurity that rests on the corpse is very strong. Much more potent than any other type of spiritual impurity, it is called “the father of the fathers of spiritual impurity.” When a Jew dies, his intelligent and Divine soul departs from his body, leaving behind only his physical body, whose only desire was the lowly, evil and mundane. Even during the person's lifetime his body constantly strove to lead him to sin and sully his precious soul. Accordingly, when the soul--the sublime glory of the body--departs and all that remains is the base and material flesh, it stands to reason that the corpse defiles everything around it. For this reason, it is fitting that Kohanim--Hashem's servants in the Beis HaMikdash--be kept at a distance from this strong spiritual impurity. When certain close relatives of the Kohen die, however, the Torah--for the Kohen’s benefit--allows the Kohen to render himself impure, “for the ways of the Torah are pleasant, and all of Its paths are peace.” The Torah does not want to cause any Kohen excessive suffering. When the heart of a Kohen is aggrieved over the loss of a loved one--someone of his own flesh--the Torah does not forbid him to enter the tent of the deceased to give vent to his grief and weep bitterly over his loss.

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