Devar/5769/Emor
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< Devar | 5769
עברית
English
None of you shall approach to any that is near of kin to him, to uncover their nakedness. I am the LORD. (Lev 18:6)
Here the Torah begins a list of the `arayot -- the illicit sexual relations which we are commanded to avoid. This is the Torah reading for Yom Kippur. And not by chance -- as the Rambam says: There is nothing in the Torah so difficult for most people as staying away from illicit relations and forbidden sexual acts. (Laws of Forbidden Relations 22:17)
There is a hint in the name `arayot -- that those who are not careful to enunciate properly (to distinguish between an `ayin and an 'alef), pronounce the word as 'arayot (e.g. "lions"). That is to say, one who is not very careful with himself, is liable to fall to ruin before the destroying `arayot as if he had fallen ruined before a predatory lion.
And just as the proper enunciation is a requirement (since we may not appoint a prayer leader who cannot pronounce the letters properly (Laws of Prayer 8:12)), so too is proper behavior according to the Torah, that a person must be extremely careful of his own behavior and stay away from any unseemly thing (devar `erva) -- and not only to stay away from the `arayot.
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