Published May 01, 2009
After teaching us about the prohibition to eat blood - that seems to touch us to our very core - parshat Acharei instructs us not to perform the practices of the peoples of Egypt and Canaan or to follow their traditions but, “to carry out My laws and safeguard my decrees..(Vayikra 18:1-4).
Of course, the customs of the Egyptians were among the most morally decadent in the world and the deeds of the Canaanites were the most abominable. As if to illustrate the point, the parsha continues to discuss the laws of immorality and forbidden relationships that were the pernicious hallmark of these indigenous cultures.
From the reference to these extreme societies, one may be led to thinking that the imitation of “lesser evils” could be tolerated. However, our rabbis understood the pervading and corrosive effects of assimilation, the damaging results on the national and spiritual psyche of the Jewish people when they begin to emulate the mores of their gentile neighbors.
For example, Rabbi Hirsch cautions that one should not celebrate the holy days of surrounding nations. He adds, however, that one “must [also] not do anything to mar their festive spirit or to parade non-participation in a manner that might arouse animosity.” Perhaps there is here also an important lesson in tolerance that we could adopt within our own circles.
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