Parashat Achrei Motפָּרָשַׁת אַחֲרֵי מוֹת

Achrei Mot (“After The Death”) opens by describing the ritual service of Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. It then details the prohibitions of offering sacrifices outside of the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and of eating animal blood, and ends with a list of forbidden sexual relations. Achrei Mot is the sixth portion in the Book of Leviticus (16:1–18:30), and its name, "After the Death," refers to the deaths of Aaron's sons Nadav and Avihu, whose passing frames the opening of the Yom Kippur service. At its heart is the theme of atonement and purification: the High Priest's once-a-year entry into the Holy of Holies, the cloud of incense, the special white linen vestments, and the ritual of the two goats, one offered to God and one (the scapegoat) sent into the wilderness "to Azazel" bearing the people's sins. The blood prohibition is grounded in the principle that "the life of the flesh is in the blood," and the closing catalog of forbidden relations is framed as the defiling practices of Egypt and Canaan. Taken together, the portion explores holiness through separation, the ritual and moral boundaries that set Israel apart and make holy living possible. It bridges Leviticus's priestly laws into the "Holiness Code" that continues in the next portion, Kedoshim.

The Haftarah for Achrei Mot depends on whether the portion is read on its own or paired with Kedoshim, which varies year to year by the calendar. When Achrei Mot is read alone, most Ashkenazi communities read Ezekiel 22:1–19 and many Sephardi communities read Ezekiel 22:1–16, the same prophecy, with the Ashkenazi custom adding the closing verses. This reading is a direct mirror of the portion's conclusion: Ezekiel indicts Jerusalem as a "city of bloodshed" whose people commit precisely the sins Leviticus 18 forbids and shed blood, showing the consequences of abandoning the boundaries the portion lays out. When Achrei Mot is read as a double portion with Kedoshim (common in many years), the Ashkenazi custom is generally Amos 9:7–15 and the Sephardi custom is Ezekiel 20:2–20.

This portion is the source of the English word and concept "scapegoat," from the goat sent "to Azazel" into the wilderness (Leviticus 16:7–10). Much of the portion carries elevated liturgical status: Leviticus 16, describing the High Priest's Yom Kippur Avodah service, is traditionally read on Yom Kippur morning, and Leviticus 18, the forbidden relations, is read on Yom Kippur afternoon (Mincha). Leviticus 16:30, "For on this day atonement shall be made for you to cleanse you; you shall be clean before the Lord from all your sins," is a signature verse of the Day of Atonement, and Leviticus 17:11 ("the life of the flesh is in the blood") is frequently cited on the meaning of the blood prohibition. By many Sephardi accounts, the portion is chanted in Maqam Hijaz, the musical mode associated with mourning, alluding to the deaths of Nadav and Avihu that open it.