Hello! This week, we have two choices of Torah readings. The regular portion is Ha’azinu. The Yom Kippur readings are Leviticus 16:1-16:34 which can be found in Acharei Mot, and Numbers 29:7-29:11 which can be found in Pinchas. Today let’s discover the Yom Kippur sections.
Our first reading, in Acharei Mot, starts off with God telling Aaron how he must redeem himself after the death of his two sons. You see, Aaron’s sons had come too close to God’s presence, and God was not happy. Now Aaron wasn’t allowed to enter God’s shrine unless he arrived with the proper sacrifices and wore the proper clothes. Toward the end of the reading, this relates to Yom Kippur nowadays, “And this shall be to you a law for all time: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month,” (Lev. 16:29). This shows that Yom Kippur originally came from the death of Aaron’s sons!
The second reading of Yom Kippur says much of the same thing, but goes into more detail on the sacrifices. God is very specific about how much of each animal to present.
So when you’re sitting in services hungry on Saturday, just remember that Aaron’s sons are the ones responsible for your empty belly! Yom Tov, have an easy fast, and we’ll see you next week.
-HS and MG