Acharei Mot - May 2, 2024

This evening we describe how the Yom Kippur service, detailed in our Parsha (Acharei Mot), is the culmination of the narrative beginning with the Golden Calf, and explain why it is Aharon, not Moshe, who is central to these Yom Kippur rituals. We demonstrate this with a wonderful story from Rabbi Meilech Biderman. Then we locate this description of Yom Kippur within the context of the death of Aharon's sons, and we tell a heartbreaking story from Rabbi Yisroel Meir Lau to commemorate Yom HaShoah this Sunday night and Monday. Finally, we discuss how this year, Yom HaShoah will be unique due to the war in Gaza, and what we can learn about that to apply to our understanding of the Holocaust. Michael Whitman is the senior rabbi of ADATH Congregation in Hampstead, Quebec, and an adjunct professor at McGill University Faculty of Law. ADATH is a modern orthodox synagogue community in suburban Montreal, providing Judaism for the next generation. We take great pleasure in welcoming everyone with a warm smile, while sharing inspiration through prayer, study, and friendship. Rabbi Whitman shares his thoughts and inspirations through online lectures and shiurim, which are available on: YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC5FLcsC6xz5TmkirT1qObkA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adathmichael/ Podcast - Mining the Riches of the Parsha: Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/mining-the-riches-of-the-parsha/id1479615142?fbclid=IwAR1c6YygRR6pvAKFvEmMGCcs0Y6hpmK8tXzPinbum8drqw2zLIo7c9SR-jc Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3hWYhCG5GR8zygw4ZNsSmO Please contact Rabbi Whitman (rabbi@adath.ca) with any questions or feedback, or to receive a daily email, "Study with Rabbi Whitman Today," with current and past insights for that day, video, and audio, all in one short email sent directly to your inbox.