Fresh off the spiritual high that was Pesach, we look forward and continue to beseech G-d for the safety of our soldiers and the return of our captives, and for the destruction of the death cult that is Hamas and all of its sponsors.
This week’s parshah, Parshat Acharei Mot, contains Chapter 18 of the Book of Leviticus (Vayikra), which for the most part deals with the various prohibitions of immorality. Fascinatingly, immediately after the commandment against infidelity (Vayikra 18:20), and just prior to the commandment against homosexuality (verse 22), the Torah admonishes those who would offer their children to pagan deity of “Molech.” This apparently bizarre placement requires great study; why would the Torah interrupt the prohibitions of immoral relationships with the command not to perform the idolatrous practices of Molech?
In order to understand the above, we must first ascertain some basic details of how the worship of Molech was conducted. Rashi [ad. loc.] comments that there was a ceremony where a parent would take their child and pass the child through 2 columns of pyres — the child would either be burned to death or “merely” passed through the flames (likely suffering severe burns). Chinuch in Mitzvah 208 comments, that the incentive to perform this barbaric practice was a promise that the Molech priests gave the parents of the child to be sacrificed–namely, the death or maiming of this sacrificial victim would bring great blessing to the rest of the offspring of those parents.
Seforno [ad. loc.] offers that this pagan service differed from all of the others, because it involved the brutalization of one’s progeny. And therefore, he contends, the Torah’s juxtaposition here of Molech to infidelity immediately before, and homosexuality immediately after, is entirely logical – for G-d promised to rest his presence on the Jews provided they maintained familial purity and lineage – and one who engages in infidelity corrupts that pact! Correspondingly, one who offers his descendant to the pagan deity of Molech, rather than bring G-dliness and blessing on his remaining family, will actually have the opposite effect, and will cause the removal of G-d’s presence. Homosexuality is placed immediately after, for that relationship is built entirely against the idea of fostering a biological family, and directly contradicts the ideal of G-d resting his presence on pure and wholesome Jewish progeny.
To conclude, while the practice of Molech is no longer en vogue in today’s world, the metaphoric pillars of fire that youngsters would pass through in worship of this barbaric deity still burn strong in the halls of “prestigious” universities where Islamic fundamentalism and terrorism are actively promoted; that is without even mentioning the actual death cult of Hamas and the glorious promises Islamic terrorist doctrine contains for those who savagely attack our people while hoping to die. And the other side of the coin is no less comparable to the Molech service – for while the Hamas cultists seek to annihilate the Jews physically, Western culture has begun engaging in other forms of child sacrifice, as the active encouragement of the breakdown of the family unit continues unabated, and all sorts of horrific practices are manifest on children, often causing irrevocable and irreversible harm.
Clearly, the ideals behind the savage and debased Molech service are still raging in our times. May we merit to maintain our principles and identity amongst this turbulent and increasingly immoral world, and speedily see the coming of the Messiah in our days.