Parasha Acharei Mot
The Yom Kippur service, the scapegoat, and the laws of forbidden sexual relations.
Overview
Parasha Acharei Mot — "After the death" of Nadav and Avihu — describes the Yom Kippur service performed by the High Priest, the only day of the year he enters the Holy of Holies. It also contains the laws of forbidden sexual relations, which form part of the Noahide prohibition.
The Story
God instructs Aaron on the Yom Kippur service: he must enter the Holy of Holies only on this day, dressed in simple white linen rather than his golden garments. He brings incense to create a cloud before the Ark, offers a bull for his own sins, and then performs the lottery of the two goats — one offered to God, one sent to the wilderness as the scapegoat bearing the sins of Israel. The people fast and afflict themselves. The parasha then lists the forbidden sexual relationships — incest, adultery, and other prohibited unions — warning that these are the sins for which the land "vomits out" its inhabitants.
Significance for Noahides
Yom Kippur teaches that atonement is possible — that no sin is beyond forgiveness when accompanied by genuine repentance. The scapegoat ritual dramatizes the removal of sin from the community. The forbidden sexual relations listed here overlap significantly with the Noahide prohibition of sexual immorality, making this parasha directly relevant to Noahide law.