vaYikra (Leviticus) 21:1

1st Aliya

HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: "Declare the following to Aharon's descendants (the Kohanim) the priest: Let no priest contaminate himself by making contact with the dead among his people. The only exception is a close blood level relative such as his mother, father, son, daughter or brother. He may also allow himself to become ritually unclean for his deceased, virgin, sister who is close to him as long as she is not married. However, a husband may not contaminate himself for his wife if she is legally unfit for him."

The Torah teaches us that the Cohen-priests had a higher status than the other people because of their commitment in serving HaShem. After all they solely brought the sacrifice before G-d. A Cohen-priest is forbidden to come in contact with anything unclean that is derived from a dead corpse, such as a limb, an olive-sized piece of flesh, or a bit of bone, even as small as barley. A Cohen-priest may not touch such articles or be in the same building with them.

vaYikra (Leviticus) 21:16

2nd Aliya

HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: "Speak to Aharon and tell him that any man of your descendants through out their generations in whom there is a blemish shall not approach to present G-d's bread-offering."

If a blemish is upon a descendant of a Cohen-priest, they are not allowed to bring any offering nor a sacrifice into the presence Elohim-HaShem in the Temple.

vaYikra (Leviticus) 22:17

3rd Aliya

HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: "Speak to Aharon and to his sons and to all the Children of Yisra'el and say to them: Any man of the House of Yisra'el and of the proselytes among Yisra'el who will bring his offering for any of their vows or their free-will offerings that they will bring to HaShem for an elevation-offering; to be favorable for you: (it must be) unblemished, male, from the cattle, the flock, or the goats."

Just as the Kohanim with bodily blemishes are not permitted to perform the Divine service, so blemished animals are invalid as offerings. HaShem desires perfection from his servants in the spiritual and moral sense, and His offerings in the physical sense. Even though a blemished animal may be larger and more valuable than an unblemished one, it is not acceptable, for HaShem does not measure perfection in monetary terms.

vaYikra (Leviticus) 23:1

4th Aliya

HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: "Speak to the Children of Yisra'el and say to them: HaShem's appointed festivals that you are to designate as holy convocations--these are My appointed festivals. For six days labor may be done, and the seventh day is a day of complete rest, a holy convocation, you shall not do any work; it is a Sabbath for HaShem in all your dwelling places."

The מועדים (Moadim), the appointed times, interrupt the ordinary activities of our life and give us the spirit, power, and consecration for the future by revivifying those ideas upon which our whole life is based, or they eradicate such evil consequences of past activity as are deadly to body and spirit and thus restore to us lost purity and the hope of blessing.

vaYikra (Leviticus) 23:23

5th Aliya

HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: "Speak to the Children of Yisra'el and say to them: In the seventh month, on the first of the month, there shall be a rest day for you, a remembrance with shofar blasts, a holy convocation. You shall not not do any laborious work, and you shall offer a fire-offering to HaShem."

The Torah teaches us Rosh Hashanah both here and in Numbers (Bamidbar) as a day of sounding the shofar. The shofar is a call of repentance. The Rambam teaches us the shofar calls out: "Awake, you sleepers, from your sleep! Arise, you slumberous, from your slumber! Repent with contrition! Remember your Creator!...Peer into your souls, improve your ways and your deeds..." (Hil. Teshuvah 3:4)

vaYikra (Leviticus) 23:33

6th Aliya

HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: "Speak to the Children of Yisra'el and say to them: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month is the Festival of Succoth, a seven-day period for HaShem. On the first day is a holy convocation, you shall not do any laborious work. For a seven-day period you shall offer a fire-offering to HaShem; on the eighth day there shall be a holy convocation for you and you shall offer a fie-offering to HaShem, it is an assembly, you shall not do any laborious work."

We are taught by the Sages that Succoth is the only festival that our prayer describes as זמך שמחתנו "the time of joy". This is because Succoth is a time of culmination, a time when the individual and the nation have succeeded in attaining a long-sought goal. In the agricultural sense, this is because it is the time when the summer's produce is gathered. In the spiritual sense, Succoth is the culmination of a process. First comes redemption (Pesach); then the purpose of redemption (receiving the Torah on Shavuot); and, finally, these lessons are brought into everyday lives when we find our joy in observing the advice from Elohim (Succoth).

vaYikra (Leviticus) 24:1

7th Aliya

HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: "Command the Children of Yisra'el that they take to you clear olive oil, pressed for lighting, to kindle the Menorah. Outside the Curtain of the Testimony, in the Tent of Meeting, Aharon shall arrange it, from evening to morning, before HaShem, continually; an eternal decree for your generations."

Rashi (Shabbot 22b) comments that if any of the flames were still burning in the morning, the Kohen would extinguish hem in order to clean the lamps, but he would allow the western one to continue burning. During times when the Jewish people were worthy, a miracle happened and the western lamp burned continually.

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