Leviticus can be an intimidating text for many readers. Too many rules, too much blood. And yet, Leviticus is traditionally the starting point for Jewish education of children in Biblical texts. Why? Because, for the most part, the laws in Leviticus are concrete, relatively easy to understand (if not necessarily as easy to obey!) and concerned with creating holyHoly is a term that originally meant set apart for the worship or service of God. While the term may refer to people, objects, time, or places, holiness in Judaism and Christianity primarily denotes the realm of the divine More community.
“Holy” in this context should probably be understood as “other,” strange,” or “unique.” The book begins with God calling out (the Hebrew name for the book, Vayikra, is translated, “and he called”) instructions for priests, leaders and regular folks describing what it will take to live in community with God! This is a strange/holy community, indeed, now that God has taken up residence among the people. Leviticus details strategies for successful intimacy among humans living in close community with each other in the wilderness, and with the God who moved into a tent among them at the close of Exodus.
Unsurprisingly in the book about surviving geographic intimacy, one of the central commands in the text is to “… not take vengeance, nor hold a grudge against the children of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself; I am the LORD” (Leviticus 19:18). In a narrative about hundreds of thousands of humans living perilously in the wilderness, preventing blood feuds and preserving unity is essential. But the command to love your neighbor is not just for wilderness times. Each of the synoptic gospelsThe Synoptic Gospels are Matthew, Mark, and Luke. They are called Synoptics because they view the gospel story from a similar point of view; they also share large blocks of narrative material in common. More witnesses JesusJesus is the Messiah whose life, death, and resurrection are God's saving act for humanity. More quoting this as the second greatest commandment (MatthewA tax collector who became one of Jesus' 12 disciples. More 22:35-40; Mark 12:28-31; LukeThe "beloved physician" and companion of Paul. More 10:25-28).
But then, as now, questions arose about who exactly is a neighbor, and what does it mean to love a neighbor as oneself. The book of Leviticus provides only a couple of narratives, but each provides insights into expectations of neighbor love.
Mourning-as-love
Both Leviticus 10 and 24 are tales of humans, identified primarily as sons, being executed for a crime against God in which foreignness plays a role. In the first instance, Nadav and Avihu, Aaron’s older sons, brought “strange fire” (aish zarah) with their incense. The two men were consumed by fire from the LORD’s face (10:1-2).
Commentators vary in interpretation of what exactly Nadav and Avihu’s crime was. Rashi preserves the words of Rabbi Eliezer who said the strange fire was an impertinent teaching while MosesProphet who led Israel out of Egypt to the Promised Land and received the law at Sinai. More was present to give a more authoritative answer. Rabbi Ishamel, noting the proximate prohibition on priests drinking strong beverages or becoming intoxicated during their service (10:9), understood the strange fire to be alcohol in priestly bellies (Vayikra Rabbah 12:1). Still other commentators focused on the meaning of zarah as “turning aside” or “lodging-away-from-home,” and inferred that Nadav and Avihu were either leaving their own tents to engage in fornication with others or sleeping with non-Israelite foreigners. Again, in this case, engaging in too much strong drink may have been partially responsible for burning passions. In this understanding, the punishment ensued because the priests had not purified themselves from the previous evening’s dalliances before their service (15:16-18).
Where is the neighbor love in this story (aside from the brothers potentially “loving” their neighbors a bit too much … )? In a situation in which Nadav and Avihu’s father, AaronMoses' brother and spokesman, and Israel's first high priest. More, and younger brothers, Eleazar and Itamar, were ritually pure, signs of mourning would potentially be fatal to them (10:6). Aaron knew not to even speak, lest he unwittingly blaspheme (10:3). Aaron and his remaining sons could neither touch nor mourn their dead. Nadav and Avihu died for their own sins, but their family and loved ones still needed to grieve.
In this heartbreaking situation, the entire community of Israelites stepped in to help. Moses called his—and Aaron’s—cousins to come take the bodies outside the camp (10:4). As Kohathites, these LeviteA Levite was a member of the tribe of Levi. This tribe had priestly and political responsibilities for the Israelites. Levites appear prominently in Old Testament accounts, and they accompany priests to question John the Baptizer's identity early in John's Gospel. More cousins were permitted inside the tabernacleThe tabernacle, a word meaning "tent," was a portable worship place for the Hebrew people after they left Egypt. It was said to contain the ark of the covenant. The plans for the tabernacle are dictated by God in Exodus 26. More, and were not in danger. And while Aaron and his remaining sons were unable to mourn, the entire community of Israel wept in their place. At their position within the tabernacle compound, Aaron, Eleazer and Itamar would have been literally surrounded by the mourning cries of hundreds of thousands of neighbors weeping while they could not. Sometimes loving your neighbor looks like mourning for deaths that are natural consequences of stupid behaviors. Death is always sad, and no family should ever suffer alone.
Empathy for the foreign neighbor
The other narrative that shows a (lack of) neighbor love in Leviticus sets up an intentional comparison with Moses. An unnamed man was the son of an Egyptian father and an Israelite mother, Shelomit. The man got in a fight (natzah) with a full-blooded Israelite that started a dangerous situation. Earlier in Exodus, a then-unnamed boy was born to an Israelite woman named Jocheved. But this boy was raised in the house of the Father of all Egypt: Pharoah. His life became endangered when he got involved in a fight (natzah) with Israelites (Exodus 3:12). We are meant to see the man in Leviticus 24 as a mirror image of Moses.
Leviticus 24:10 begins with an interesting verb: vayatze, “and he went out.” Logically, the rabbis ask, “From where did he go out?” A tradition from Vayikra Rabbah (32:3) states that the man went out from Moses’ presence. He had come to seek help from someone who could identify with being a child of two worlds. The neighbors from the tribe of DanA son of Jacob and tribe of Israel. More mocked this man, and would not let him reside among them, even though his mother was of Dan (24:11). However, Moses showed no empathy and told him to leave Moses’ presence. As he was leaving, members of the tribe of Dan mocked him, for thinking that he could reside among them, or that Moses would help him. According to ancient commentary, this was the cause of the fight in the first place—Moses’ lack of compassion and communal derision.
The man, however, responded to the human cruelty with mis-directed rage (as is so often the case for those denied equal rights and justice). The Egyptian/Israelite gave two offenses against God—he “pierced” the Divine name and held [God] in low esteem (24:11). For this, he was arrested, guarded, sentenced and executed.
We must note a discrepancy in the actions of Moses here. After the golden calf incident, Moses pleaded for God not to smite the Israelites (Exodus 32:9-14). After the people refused to enter the Promised Land, Moses pleaded with God not to smite the Israelites (Numbers 14:11-20). After the people complained in the wilderness, Moses pleaded with God not to smite the Israelites with burning snakes (Numbers 21:5-9). When God commanded Moses to separate himself from the people so that they could be destroyed, Moses disobeyed and sent Aaron into the midst of the smiting to make atonement for the people (Numbers 16:43-48). Moses time and again stood up to God to save Israelites from death sentences that they deserved for insulting or demeaning God. But here, in the case of someone with whom Moses could have identified closely, Moses did not intervene.
We do not want to excuse blasphemyBlasphemy is disrespecting or dishonoring of something held sacred. To use the name of God in swearing or to commit a profane act is to commit blasphemy. More, to be sure. But the pathos of the scene is not to be missed. Here is a man who is introduced by his “halfie” status. His words, born of pain and frustration, pierce God’s name. And the conclusion of his case is God declaring that there should only be one set of laws for native-born Israelites and foreigners alike, because God is the God of both (24:22). Moses missed an opportunity to intervene for a partially-foreign neighbor, like he did so many other times for Israelites who were just as guilty.
Neighbor love takeaways
Leviticus is a book about forming a strange/holy community. One of the ways that community is formed is through neighbor love. Examples of neighbor love from the narratives of Leviticus are mourning the dead simply because they were members of the community. All loss of life is terrible and a tragedy to be mourned, even if we hold God responsible. Another example is where Jesus ultimately takes the commandment to love neighbor: recognize that all neighbors—Samaritans, Jews, Egyptians—deserve exactly the same love and care that we would want for ourselves and our most loved ones. In Leviticus, there is to be only one standard for everyone, foreign or native. Jesus and Leviticus 19:18 agree: that standard is to be neighbor love.
