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LEVITICUS — 18:22 abomination

LEV248 Unlike general society, which may change its value system from generation to generation (fifty years ago, for example, nearly 100% of surveyed Americans thought homosexuality was immoral, while today the percentage is far less), Jewish values do not change from generation to generation, since they are divinely established and human nature remains the same, even as human values are ephemeral. The Torah clearly states that homosexual activity is morally wrong, calling it an abomination [this verse]. In addition, this sin is so severe that the penalty is death (Leviticus 20:13). It should be noted that one may not confuse the Jewish attitude toward homosexual behavior with a Jewish attitude to the homosexual. In Judaism, one can hate the sin but not the sinner (See chapter "Hate and Revenge"). As the Talmud notes according to one interpretation (Berachot 10a), based on the verse in Psalms (Psalms 104:35), one should pray for the end of sin, not for the end of perennial sinners. Sinners are still considered part of the Jewish community (Sanhedrin 44a)... In fact, if it can be proven in the future that specific homosexual behavior is due to a sickness and is uncontrollable, rather than is a tendency, urge, and a lifestyle made by choice, then those who engage in this type of homosexual behavior would be in the Jewish category of ones and would not be morally responsible. Similarly, a shoplifter who was a kleptomaniac and psychologically deemed not in control is not looked upon as a sinner unless the immoral act is made out of free choice. However, homosexuality has not yet been proven to be an illness.

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LEVITICUS — 18:25 vomit

LEV261 Many of the nonobservant Jews in Israel believe that the land is special in that it provides a homeland for the Jewish people, but [that] there is nothing intrinsic about the land that makes it special. This is not the Jewish approach. There is something unique about this land that makes it respond differently from any other soil in the world. It is the only land that responds physically to moral behavior. Each day, the Jews twice say the second paragraph of the Shema (Deut. 13:18) that if the Jewish people observe the Commandments and behave morally, the land will respond by having enough rain and producing enough crops. If the Jews stray from God, they will be forced to leave the land. This same idea is repeated many times in The Torah, including the beginning of the portion of Bechukotai (Leviticus 26:3-5) where it says that the reward for keeping the Torah's statutes will be proper rain and enough crops to eat until one is satiated. Therefore, the quantity and quality of crops the land of Israel will produce depends on the behavior of its inhabitants. This idea is echoed in a different context when it says [this verse] that the land will "vomit" out its inhabitants if they act in an abominable manner (referring to improper sexual behavior). Although people normally associate that Divine Providence of God is in relation to people, when it comes to the land of Israel, God declares (Deut. 11:12) that there is Divine Providence. He watches the land constantly from the beginning until the end of the year, seeking the land out. It is then apparent that the land of Israel, from a Jewish perspective, is unique and cannot be looked upon as "just another piece of earth." The land of Israel is linked to the Jewish people only through Judaism and the mitzvot.

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV271 … there is a special kind of holiness that Jews are commanded to fulfill: making God's name holy. God equates Jews becoming holy with His holiness, and the commandment to be holy stems from God's Holiness. Thus, part of a Jew's holiness is attained by making God's name holy [this verse and Leviticus 20:26]. In addition, there is both a positive commandment to make God's name holy and a negative commandment not to desecrate God's name (Leviticus 22:32). This is achieved in the way in which a Jew behaves on an individual basis in daily life. If, by a Jew's action, people will think better of the Jewish God, that is a sanctification of God's name, making it holy. If, however, people will think worse of the Jewish God because of the action of a particular individual, that person has desecrated the name and holiness of God. (For further development of this mitzvah, see the chapter "Purpose of Life.") Thus, holiness of a person is also reflected in how people perceive God because of that person.

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV274 Another approach to holiness is the one most people think of when asked to describe the concept. This is the view of Rashi, who describes holiness in his commentary to [this verse]. Rashi says abstain from illicit sexual activity. It seems from Rashi that one achieves holiness by abstaining from those things forbidden to the Jew. This is classic Christian definition of holiness as well. The more one denies the bodily pleasures, the more one becomes holy. Long before Christianity existed, this concept existed in Judaism. As noted earlier, the illicit sexual activity with a prostitute is associated philologically with the Hebrew term for holiness. Similarly, the Torah states that the purpose of the laws of kashrut are to attain holiness (See chapter "Food" for a further examination of this idea). Thus, abstention from the two basic physical drives of man, sex and food, leads a person to holiness, according to this idea of holiness.

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV289 Yet another approach is offered by Nachmanides in defining precisely what is meant in the commandment to "be holy" [this verse]. Rather than a specific action, Nachmanides says this commandment teaches the Jew an overall approach to life. There are numerous laws that a Jew might be able to observe meticulously within the letter of the law and yet still act in a disgusting manner. This Nachmanides calls "a disgusting person with the permission of the Torah." The general commandment of "Be Holy" commands the Jew that even when other Torah laws do not specifically prohibit behavior, it is forbidden under this commandment. An example given is the Jew who follows all the kosher laws strictly and pronounces a blessing over each food, but then proceeds to gorge himself in a disgusting, animalistic manner. Holiness, according to Nachmanides, forbids this practice, even though no specific law has been violated. Thus, a person is admonished not to go just by the letter of Jewish law, but to be cognizant of the spirit of the law as well. That is Jewish holiness. The analogy has been made to the physical Torah itself, which is made up of the letters of the Torah in black ink surrounded by the white parchment. The specific laws are delineated by the black ink in the words of the Torah, but the white surround is also part of the Torah. This symbolizes the spirit of the Torah, the context in which the black letters delineate the mitzvot. Thus, both a violation of the letter and the spirit of the law is a violation of the Torah and the commandment to be holy.

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LEVITICUS — 19:11 steal

LEV344 Stealing is more than merely violating a Torah precept, although it is that as well [this verse]. It is also a statement of non-belief in God as an active force in the world. Although every sin shows a certain disbelief in God (since if we were conscious of a God who is watching and caring about us, how can we do anything wrong--see the chapter "Choices and Freedom"), stealing in particular denies an active God in the world. Belief in an active God implies that there is a certain reason that each person was granted the lot he has been given, even if we cannot understand why. Thus, God gave certain people a lot of talent, others great intelligence, and still others much wealth. By taking that wealth from one person and giving it to himself, a thief is saying, in essence, they he does not believe that there is a structure from God why people have what they do, and this thief will "redistribute the wealth" the way he sees fit and not the way God sees fit. Of course, most thieves do not actively think about this and most steal out of greed, not creed, but the effect is the same. Nevertheless, it was because people stole that the world was destroyed. Rashi, (commentary on Gen. 6:13), quoting the Talmud (Sanhedrin 108b), says that although there were many sins and crimes committed during that generation, the one sin that sealed the world's destruction was stealing. Because people demonstrated absolutely no belief in a higher being (and destroyed the fabric of society in the process), the world could not continue. That is why there is no difference in Judaism between a small theft or large theft, since in both, denial of God and His structure is implied.

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LEVITICUS — 19:14 insult

LEV395 The midrash (Bereishit Rabbah 24:7) says that each time you embarrass another human being you also diminish God Himself, the creator of that human being, who is created in God's image (Gen. 1:27). … the first commandment in [this verse] is "You shall not curse a deaf person." Here, it is difficult to understand what kind of harm can come to a deaf person who is cursed since he or she will not hear, and no one will know or get hurt by this curse. But if the reason is viewed in the context of the midrash referred to earlier, it can be perfectly understood. While the deaf person is not being harmed through the curse, the creator of that deaf person, God, is certainly diminished through the curse. By the same reasoning, Jewish law states that a person may not curse himself or herself (Mishnah, Shevuot 4:13). On the surface one may question why this should be prohibited. It is easily understandable that one may not make others feel bad, but why are you not allowed to harm yourself? Since you, too, are a creation of God, He is still diminished if you curse yourself. Even if you do not personally mind, God, your Creator, minds. For the same reason, a person may not cause harm to his or her body (Maimonides, Hilchot Rotze'ach 1:4). It really belongs to God, not to the person, and even if the person does not mind, God does mind. This reasoning, that embarrassing or hurting an individual is prohibited because it also hurts God as Creator, in no way minimizes the other reason for this prohibition--that it also causes pain to the other person.

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LEVITICUS — 19:14 stumbling

LEV402 Even in today's non-Jewish world, there is a concept of immoral advertising. The classic example of this is "bait and switch," where a product is advertised at a ridiculously low price in order to get people into the store. When they arrive, this salesperson indicates that the sale products have been sold out and then proceeds to sell the customer another similar, more expensive product. The immorality of this practice is patent because the owner never really meant to sell the original product and usually will have just a few, if any, available in the first place. This ruse actually lures many people to the store and some do buy other products at higher prices (which they never would have purchased had they not been lured into the store). From a Jewish perspective, the reason this scheme is immoral and illegal involves the violation of several principles. The verse in Leviticus (19:36) commands a Jew to have just and accurate weights and measures. Playing on the word "hin" in the verse, which is an amount, the Talmud (Bava Metzia 49a) says that your "hen", your "yes," should be just and truthful. This implies that if you promise something, you're not permitted to intentionally violate that promise. Thus, misleading through "bait and switch" is clearly forbidden. In addition, according to some commentaries, this type of action clearly violates the prohibition of "putting a stumbling block in front of a blind person" [this verse], which also forbids misleading a prison intentionally. Hence, any type of advertising that intentionally misleads people seems to be forbidden. This general concept, which most clearly defines whether advertising is legitimate or not, is called geneivat daat. Technically translated as "stealing a person's thought," this idea suggests that intentionally misleading a person or misrepresenting the truth is a clear violation of proper Jewish practice.

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LEVITICUS — 19:16 idly

LEV470 … each and every person created has the same infinite value, just as each and every person is unique. Thus, each developmentally disabled person indeed has infinite value in Judaism and has the same value as any other person. The obligation to violate the Shabbat and save a life applies equally to developmentally disabled people as well as to anyone else (Biur Halachah on Shulchan Aruch, Orach Chaim 329:4). Similarly, the obligation to save the life of someone in danger [this verse] applies equally to developmentally disabled people as to any other person, as the Talmud makes no distinctions (Sanhedrin 73a). This is why developmentally disabled males over the age of bar mitzvah are counted for a minyan. Similarly, the Shulchan Aruch rules (Ramah on Shulchan Aruch, Even Ha'ezer 1:6) that parents of a shoteh have fulfilled their obligation for procreation like any other parents.

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