B"H

"I offer my prayer to You, Hashem, in an acceptable time" (Tehillim 119, 14). As it says in Acharei Mot, "Let him not come at every time to the Sanctuary" (VaYikra 16:2). So when should he enter? "With this Aharon shall come to the holy." (VaYikra 16:3) And "this" means he should attach himself to Hashem before coming to pray for Klal Yisrael. (from the Zohar 58b)

Even when a person falls spiritually, he should attach himself to the sparks of Hashem's presence that are there and rise up with them in the secret of Teshuvah, returning. And even though this is lower teshuvah of "Malchut" which is called "zot (this)," nevertheless it is the way to innermost holiness. And that is what it means, "With this (zot-malchut) Aharon shall come to the holy." From there (the lowest) he can ascend to the highest, highest. But he has to start from there in order to rise up. (Keter Baal Shem on the parashah, note 2)

The Baal Shem Tov would talk to people on everyday matters and tell stories about this and that, but he would always attach his thoughts to Hashem. Because sometimes speaking about "small things" is the only way to give people something spiritual to grasp onto. (Baal Shem Bereishit 106)

Acharei Mot
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])

Stories Of Beginning
"With this (b'zot) Aharon shall come into the holy" (VaYikra 16:3). To come to the highest levels of the holy one must go down to the lowest places. Only there can he raise the sparks that are covered up, "lost." But how can one really reach there? The Baal Shem Tov told the story of the king's son who had strayed from the palace and was squandering his life in drink and bad company. None of the king's advisors had been able to help until one of the ministers actually took off his courtly robes and took on the dress of a commoner. In this way he was able to reach the wayward son and bring him back.
The parable concerns B'nei Yisrael who are compared to the prince who forgot his true potential. To bring them up spiritually it is necessary for the tzaddik to leave the innermost level of attachment that he has reached and adopt the "clothes" of the people. That is, he needs to make himself simple, concerning himself with externalities.
Clothes represent a person identifying himself with the outermost layer of his life. The clothes of the common people are the soiled trappings of their existence. And the tzaddik must put on these clothes because one who does not feel something himself cannot free his fellow man from his guilt.
According to Tractate Ta'anit (Talmud Yurashalmi) about the prophet Shemuel, "He put on the garment (chalkan, related to chelek, meaning portion as in "their portion in life") of Yisrael and said, "We have sinned."
Because it is only by joining with a person that one can raise him from a low spiritual level. (Keter Baal Shem Tov on the parashah)

Under All Circumstances
"I can rectify this, since I can mimic any sound." (from Rebbe Nachman's story, The Seven Beggars)
The tzaddik must be able to mimic every sound in the world, thus elevating every sound according to its time and place. The tzaddik also clothes his prayers in stories. Because of spiritual barriers he cannot make such prayers directly. But in the place where they are needed, they are heard. (R. Kaplan on the stories of Rebbe Nachman, p. 396)

A prince once became mad and thought that he was a turkey. He felt compelled to sit naked under the table, pecking at bones and pieces of bread. The royal physicians all gave up hope of ever curing him of this madness, and the king suffered tremendous grief.
A sage then came and said, "I will undertake to cure him."
The sage undressed and sat naked under the table next to the prince.
"Who are you?" asked the prince.
"Who are you?" replied the sage.
"I am a turkey," said the prince.
"I am also a turkey," answered the sage.
They sat together like this for some time, until they became good friends. One day the sage signaled the king's servants to throw him shirts. He said to the prince, "What makes you think that a turkey can't wear a shirt? You can wear a shirt and still be a turkey." With that, the two of them put on shirts. And the sage continued in this way until they were both completely dressed.
Finally the sage said, "What makes you think a turkey must sit under the table? Even a turkey can sit at the table."
And the sage continued in this manner until the prince was completely cured.
(Rebbe Nachman's "Turkey Prince," abridged)
Rising Above Paralysis - A Final Story
I recently heard an interview with someone who had Lou Gehrig's disease, a painful illness that progressively incapacitates the nervous system. The man spoke through a microphone inserted in a breathing hole at the base of his neck. All that remained for his use were the muscles from the neck up on one side of his face. He described how, at one point, he had felt so absolutely hopeless and depressed that he decided to commit suicide. His best friend said that if that was how he felt then he too would kill himself. From his friend's words, the suffering man came to feel that his thoughts of suicide were ridiculous and he relented. He now continues to make pictures holding a paintbrush with his mouth. He speaks about his closeness to friends. "The most important thing is to look for the good in every day," he says.
Sometimes we have to really get down there with people because that's where the highest sparks of holiness are. There is nothing that gives Hashem glory like bringing close those that are far away.

P.S. Another man whose condition is even more advanced, only has control of the muscles in one eye. But using a device that fits over the eye, he scans the alphabet projected there on a screen and these movements are "read" and typed out. In this way he is able to "speak" and has written a book on music. He speaks of how his condition has "allowed him to explore (!) his life more fully."

"Love your neighbor as you love yourself, I am Hashem" (VaYikra 19:18). We can read the pasuk from Hashem's point of view, "As you love your neighbor - "k'mochah" - so shall I love you." Because everything that we do in this world makes an impression above. Thus, love your neighbor and I will treat you with love and goodness, because I, Hashem, am "k'mochah," like you. (Baal Shem Tov on the parashah 20)

When a person "gives," has he achieved bitul - self-negation? When a person receives, is he being selfish? In Tractate Kiddushin it says that when an important person takes a gift from someone he actually conveys a great value, a great joy, to the "lesser" person. But to do so he must overcome the embarrassment of receiving a gift. In this way, receiving that is done on the highest level is the essence of self-negation. And, conversely, giving which is done to curry favor or impose our will is really a disguised form of taking - done more for ourselves than with concern for another. That which distinguishes man is his ability to be holy and this is expressed in the highest sense by his real giving. That is what makes him most like Hashem.

Mitzvot
According to Sefer HaChinuch there are twenty eight mitzvot in Acharei Mot.

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