Parashat Achrei Mote (Leviticus 16:1-19:30)

A weekly Torah exploration for families by Michael S. Raileanu, M.A.Ed.

A weekly Torah exploration for families by Michael S. Raileanu, M.A.Ed.

Poor Aaron, a couple of parashiot back his sons made a huge mistake and paid with their lives. Now in this week's parasha, Achrei Mote (Leviticus 16:1 - 19:30), God returns to the laws of sacrifice and the duties of being a priest. The Torah never tells us how Aaron reacted to his son's death other than his initial silence. There are parts of this parasha that are pretty PG-13. We're going to focus on the sacrificial stuff. Maybe you can sit with your parent, rabbi or teacher and go over the sexier stuff!

Why do you think the Torah leaves out any details about Aaron's mourning for his sons? Do you think there is a chance he did not mourn for his sons at all? Why might that have been?
The second verse in this parasha says, "And the Lord said to Moses, 'Speak to you brother Aaron, he is not to come to at just any time to the Holy Place beyond the curtain..."' Was God assuming that since his sons did something wrong that Aaron, their dad, was going to do it too? Might God have been protecting Aaron in some way?
Has your brother, sister or good friend ever done something wrong and then your parents or teachers have warned you about doing it, too? Was that fair? How did it make you feel? Why might someone just assume that since your brother, sister or good friend did something wrong that you would do it too?
This parasha also includes the very interesting ritual of the scapegoat. Do you know what a scapegoat is in modern English? Do you know where the word comes from? Is our modern meaning exactly the same as the original in the Torah?
At Yom Kippur the Kohen Gadol (the High Priest) would place all of the sins of the Jewish people on two goats. One would be sacrificed right there. The other would be the "scapegoat" and would be sent to Azazel. What and where is Azazel in the Torah? Why should half of our our sins be sent away to Azazel and not destroyed completely? How is that different from how we think about dealing with our sins today?