The mitzvot of Acharei Mot

That the priests not enter at any time into the Temple, and all the more so, non priests

Negative · Leviticus 16:2

The holy place is not entered at just any time, not even by the kohanim, and all the more so by one who is not a kohen. In this way those who serve there fix in their souls the greatness and loftiness of the place, and its awe is always upon them.

The commandment of the service of Yom Kippur

Positive · Leviticus 16:3

It is among God's kindnesses to His creatures that He set for them one day a year to atone for sins, together with repentance. Were sins to accumulate year after year, their measure would fill up and the world would deserve destruction. So God in His wisdom set one day a year for the atonement of those who return, and since He designated it for this from the creation of the world, the day itself became holy and received the power to help bring atonement.

Not to slaughter consecrated animals outside of the Temple yard

Negative · Leviticus 17:3

God set one place where Israel would bring their offerings and prepare their hearts toward Him. Through the permanence of the place, its greatness and the awe it inspires, people's souls are stirred there toward good, and hearts soften and take upon themselves the yoke of the kingdom of heaven. So He forbade us to perform an offering anywhere else, that our atonement might be complete. And one who slaughters consecrated animals outside is regarded as shedding blood, for God permitted taking an animal's life only for atonement or for a real human need.

The commandment of covering the blood

Positive · Leviticus 17:13

The life of a creature is bound up in its blood, so it is fitting to cover the blood and hide it from sight before eating the meat, lest we acquire a trait of cruelty while the life lies spilled before us. We were not commanded this for domestic animals, because their blood is given on the altar to atone for our souls and cannot be covered, and so the Torah did not distinguish in them between consecrated and ordinary animals.

To not marry one of all the sexual prohibitions

Negative · Leviticus 18:6

The author of the Chinuch explains that affectionate closeness with a woman forbidden to a man is the doorway to the sin itself, so the Torah forbade even the closeness. The prohibition is meant to preserve the settled order of the world as God wills it - that every person know who his father is and who his relatives are, and that the mitzvah of honouring father and mother be upheld. Moreover, violating the sanctity of marriage carries an element of theft, and the jealousy it arouses can lead even to bloodshed.

To not reveal the nakedness of the father

Negative · Leviticus 18:7

The author of the Chinuch writes that the reason for this prohibition is evident and needs no elaboration. It is an utterly repugnant act, which ought to be kept as far as possible from human beings, and so the Torah treated it with great severity.

To not reveal the nakedness of the mother

Negative · Leviticus 18:7

The Rambam explains that the Torah limits relations between man and woman, and so it forbade close relatives, who are constantly present in a person's life and with whom stumbling is more likely. The Ramban rejects this reason and says the matter holds a secret from the foundations of creation, bound up with the soul. And the author of the Chinuch brings another reason from the Rambam, which seems to him the plain one - that a person must not be brazen toward one to whom he owes honour, a reason rooted in the trait of modesty.

To not reveal the nakedness of the wife of the father, even though she is not his mother

Negative · Leviticus 18:8

The root of this mitzvah is that of the prohibition of close relatives, with a further reason of its own - the act would disgrace his father. And honouring one's father is an important foundation, through which a person recognises the good his parents did for him, and from there comes to recognise the goodness of his Creator.

To not reveal the nakedness of his sister, from any angle that she is his sister

Negative · Leviticus 18:9

Maimonides wrote that the Torah keeps a person away from intimacy beyond what is needed to have children, and close relatives such as a sister are always near him, so the risk of stumbling with them is greater. He also wrote that it is not fitting to behave immodestly towards one who should be treated with honour and modesty. Nachmanides wrote that there is a deep secret here, bound up with the foundations of creation and with the soul.

To not reveal the nakedness of the daughter of the son

Negative · Leviticus 18:10

According to Maimonides the Torah set a limit to desire, permitting intimacy only for the sake of having children and for a mitzvah. A son's daughter, like the other close relatives, is always present in the family and the home, so without the prohibition the risk of stumbling would be greater, and she should be treated with honour, not with immodesty. Nachmanides wrote that the reason for the forbidden relations is a secret belonging to the foundations of creation.

To not reveal the nakedness of the daughter of the daughter

Negative · Leviticus 18:10

Here too the reason is that of all the forbidden relations. According to Maimonides the Torah keeps a person away from desire, especially from close relatives who are always near him, and asks him to honour the members of his family and not to act brazenly towards them. According to Nachmanides there is a deep secret here, bound up with the human soul and its creation.

To not reveal the nakedness of the daughter

Negative · Leviticus 18:17

The prohibition of a daughter is not written explicitly in the Torah, for if a son's daughter and a daughter's daughter, who are more distant, are forbidden, all the more so is she. Its reason is that of all the forbidden relations - the Torah limits desire to what is needed for the world to go on, and a father should treat his daughter with honour and modesty. Nachmanides adds that there is a secret here belonging to the foundations of creation.

To not uncover the nakedness of his sister from the father, and she is the daughter of the wife of the father

Negative · Leviticus 18:11

The Torah keeps a person away from close relatives, who are always near him and who should be treated with honour and not with immodesty. For a sister born to his father's lawfully married wife the Torah added a further prohibition, for once it distanced the sister, it is right to be all the stricter with a full sister from a marriage, who is a true sister.

To not reveal the nakedness of the sister of the father

Negative · Leviticus 18:12

A father's sister is one of the relatives a person sees constantly and ought to honour. According to Maimonides the Torah forbade close relatives because stumbling with them is more likely, and also so that a person should not act brazenly towards one who deserves honour. According to Nachmanides there is a hidden secret in the forbidden relations, bound up with the soul.

The nakedness of the sister of your mother you shall not reveal

Negative · Leviticus 18:13

A mother's sister is one of the relatives the Torah kept at a distance. Family closeness brings constant meeting, and the Torah wanted this bond to be one of honour and modesty, not of desire, so that a person should not come to stumble. Nachmanides taught that beyond this there is a secret in the forbidden relations belonging to the foundations of creation.

The nakedness of the brother of your father you shall not reveal

Negative · Leviticus 18:14

Besides the general prohibition of relations between men, the Torah added a special prohibition concerning a father's brother, to be stricter with a family member. Such relations are a waste that bears no fruit and does not serve the settling of the world that God desires, and the family closeness adds to it the reason of the forbidden relations - the Torah keeps a person away from relatives who are always near him.

The nakedness of the wife of the brother of your father, you shall not reveal

Negative · Leviticus 18:14

The wife of a father's brother is called his aunt in the Torah, and she is a member of the family in every respect. The Torah forbade close relatives, including those who became relatives through marriage, because they are constantly present in the home and the family and stumbling with them is near at hand. A person should treat them with honour and not act brazenly towards them.

The nakedness of your daughter in law you shall not reveal

Negative · Leviticus 18:15

A daughter-in-law enters the family and becomes like a daughter in her father-in-law's house, and she is always near him. So the Torah, which keeps a person away from desire and from close relatives, forbade her to him, and he should treat her with honour as he would his own daughter. Nachmanides wrote that the forbidden relations also hold a hidden secret belonging to the foundations of creation.

The nakedness of the wife of your brother you shall not reveal

Negative · Leviticus 18:16

A brother's wife is part of the family and constantly present in the home, so the Torah kept her at a distance like the other close relatives. Stumbling is nearer with relatives who are always around, and they should be treated with honour, not with immodesty. Nachmanides wrote that the forbidden relations also hold a hidden secret belonging to the foundations of creation.

The nakedness of a woman and her daughter, you shall not reveal

Negative · Leviticus 18:17

When a man marries a woman, her mother and her daughter become his relatives and are present in his home. The Torah forbade them to him like the other forbidden relations, to limit desire to what is needed for the world to go on, and so that he treats them with honour as members of the family. Nachmanides wrote that the forbidden relations also hold a secret belonging to the foundations of creation.

The nakedness of a woman and the daughter of her son

Negative · Leviticus 18:17

His wife's son's daughter becomes a relative of a man through his marriage, and the Torah forbade her to him like the other close relatives. The Torah keeps a person away from desire where stumbling is common, that is, with family members he sees constantly, and asks him to treat them with honour and not to act brazenly towards them.

To not reveal the nakedness of a woman and the daughter of her daughter

Negative · Leviticus 18:17

His wife's daughter's daughter also becomes his relative through the marriage. The Torah limited intimacy to what is needed to have children and kept a person away precisely from the relatives in his home, for there temptation is common and honour is due. Nachmanides added that there is a secret in the forbidden relations belonging to the foundations of creation.

The nakedness of a woman and her sister

Negative · Leviticus 18:18

Besides the reason of all the forbidden relations, the author of the Chinuch says that the Torah forbade marrying two sisters because God is the Lord of peace and desires peace among all His creatures. All the more so between sisters, whom nature and reason require to live in peace and love, rather than become rival wives to each other in jealousy and strife all their days.

To not have intercourse with a menstruant woman

Negative · Leviticus 18:19

God keeps every impurity, every uncleanness and every harm away from the people He chose. The author of the Chinuch writes that this blood is a kind of ailment in the woman's body, which may harm whoever is close to her, so the Torah set closeness apart during these days, until she becomes pure.

That we should not give from our seed to Molekh

Negative · Leviticus 18:21

Keeping away from idolatry is the foundation of the whole Torah, and the worship of Molech was among the most evil and ugly of its kinds; the people of that time clung to it strongly, so it was given a warning of its own. The lying priests of Molech promised a father that in the merit of the son he handed over to them, his other children would prosper and his house would be blessed, and so they enticed the simple. The Torah came to uproot this lie entirely.

For a man to not have intercourse with males

Negative · Leviticus 18:22

God desires His world to be settled, so He commanded that people not waste their seed in relations between men, which bear no fruit and do not fulfil the marital duty. Besides this, the act is repugnant in the eyes of every person of understanding, and a human being created to serve his Maker should not defile himself with such deeds.

To not lay with a beast

Negative · Leviticus 18:23

God wished every species He created to bear fruit after its kind, as is said at the creation, so blessing does not rest on what is the opposite of this - like the mule, born of two species, which does not reproduce. All the more so man, the choicest of creatures, who should not mingle with the animal kind, which is lower than he.

That women not lay with the beasts

Negative · Leviticus 18:23

This is the root of the previous mitzvah, which was said of a man. God wished every species to bear fruit after its kind and the species not to mingle, and a human being, the choicest of creatures, whether man or woman, should not degrade himself by mingling with the animal kind.