Tag: Parashat Shemini

Torah reading Shemini (“eighth”) covers Leviticus 9–11.

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Discussions Torah

Leviticus 9–11: Confidently entering God’s presence with reverence

Nadab and Abihu killed in front of God's presence. Painting by James Tissot circa 1896 - 1900. Public domain found at https://www.wikiart.org.

Because of God’s grace, we can enter God’s presence “boldly” because the perfection of Yeshua the Mashiakh (Jesus the Christ) has covered our “uncleanness.” The distinction between “clean” and “unclean” is powerfully presented by the tragic events of Leviticus 9-10 and the parable of allowable foods in Leviticus 11.

The Torah reading שּׁמיני Shemini (“eighth,” Leviticus 9–11) illustrates the pervasive problem of being internally “unclean” and approaching God presumptuously while so. Yeshua warned against that in the parable of the wedding garment and the recorded confrontation over paying Roman taxes (Matt. 22:2–21).

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Discussions Torah

Leviticus 11-12 — ‘unclean’ vs. ‘abomination’ in meat; purification of women after childbirth

The phrase “unclean” and “abomination” are different words. The reason that God introduces certain animals clean and fit to eat versus unclean and unfit to eat is a lesson to us to look at the character of the animals. The length of a woman’s purification is twice as long for a female child as a male child. Liberals claim this is about a lack of thankfulness for the female child, but the real issue is the health of the mother after childbirth.