אשר יתן מזרעו למולך, after the Torah had explained G’d’s plan to sanctify the Israelites in order for them to become as much like Him as is possible for any creature, and He taught them the path to take to achieve such an aim, it now warns of a lifestyle which could produce the opposite result. The Torah now discusses the penalties that would befall three specific categories of people who defy the Torah and take a different path toward what they perceive to be their success in life on this planet. People guilty of these practices would contaminate their souls beyond redemption. Category one are people who follow mistaken philosophies, a prime example being people who follow the cult of the Moloch. In verse 3 the Torah spelled out the spiritually negative consequences of following this cult with the words למען טמא את מקדשי, “this would counteract My declared purpose of sanctifying (you)”. Category two, the relying on such oracles as ov and yidoni have already been described as spiritually contaminating in 19,31 with the words אל תבקשו לטמאה בהם, “do not attempt to become spiritually contaminated by them.” In 18,24-25 the Torah had already drawn attention to the fate which befalls the [previous inhabitants of the land of Canaan being due to their relying on such oracles. The third category of spiritually counterproductive practices is the ingesting of the kind of food that the Torah outlawed in Leviticus chapter 11 and the negative results of violating these laws are repeated again in verse 25 of our chapter והבדלתם...ולא תשקצו את נפשותיכם לטמא וגו', “separate yourselves…do not become detestable…to spiritually contaminate yourselves.” In Parshat Emor the Torah speaks of a different kind of spiritual (ritual) contamination which is caused mostly passively through contact directly or indirectly with dead human bodies. It also discusses physical blemishes, especially of priests, which disqualify such people from carrying out their duties in the holy precincts of the Temple. However, the legislation in that portion concentrates on the impediment such kind of ritual (spiritual) contamination represents when the afflicted party handles sacred matters, sacrificial flesh, etc., in any shape or form. Other aspects are the abuse of such sacred objects which as well as incestuous marriages, i.e. contaminating the pure semen a person has been born with by incestuous sexual relations with forbidden partners. Here the Torah begins with the desecrating of one’s semen by sacrificing it to the abominable Moloch cult. The penalty to be applied to people guilty of this sin, which is perpetrated in public, is עם הארץ ירגמוהו באבן, the people at large are to stone the father to death. Only by the expression of jealousy on behalf of G’d can such a sin be wiped out, seeing it had a potentially spiritually negative effect on the entire nation. Naturally, the penalty by the hand of man is applied only if there was testimony by valid witnesses to the deed and the perpetrator had first been cautioned of the penalty to expect if he would go through with his intention.

ואני אתן את פני באיש ההוא, if he does not refrain from carrying out his evil intention and does not become a בעל תשובה, a repentant sinner. Otherwise, even his judicial execution will not expiate for his sin.

והכרתי אותו, seeing he has already been executed, these words refer to G’d excising this man’s soul’s share in the hereafter.

למען טמא את מקדשי, by removing My presence from Israel, resulting in the people deserving to be stoned. ולחלל את שם קדשי, therefore I will turn My face against him even though he did not actually engage in idolatry.

ובמשפחתו, seeing that the people at large ignored his evil deed due to the sinner’s family covering up for him in the first place, thereby strengthening the hand of the perpetrator.

והתקדשתם, by staying clear of all incestuous relationships.

והייתם קדושים, so that your seed will merit that the Divine Presence will dwell among the likes of him. Our sages are on record that “the Divine presence will rest only on those Jewish families that are genealogically pure.” (Kidushin 70)

כי אני ה' אלוקיכם, the One Who said to Avraham “to be your G’d and that of your seed after you.” (Genesis 17,7) What was meant by the word לזרעך was the seed which is genealogically yours in an uncontaminated state. (as explained by Bamidbar Rabbah 12,4)

ושמרתם את חקותי ועשיתם אותם, the only way you can ensure that this degree of your sanctity continues throughout the generations is by ensuring your meticulous observance of the עריות legislation. If you were to fail to do this, your children, or some of them being born from a sinful, spiritually contaminated union, would already have these strikes against them from birth, making it so much harder for them to attain their G’d-set goal to achieve the level of sanctity expected of them. Compare David’s reference to the subject in Psalms 51,7 where he considers the fact that one’s mother may have not have had the purest thoughts when cohabiting with her husband as already resulting in her child being born in sin, בעון חוללתי.

אני ה' מקדשכם, by forbidding you incestuous relationships I G’d have actively helped you in your attaining this sanctity, holiness.

כי איש איש אשר יקלל, proof that I, G’d, am so insistent that your sanctity be manifest by your seed being genealogically pure is that the penalty for non observance is the execution of the person who curses his parents. The normal scenario which leads to a son or daughter cursing their parents has to do with legitimacy or otherwise of their offspring. When a son or daughter are the product of unions forbidden under the laws of incest, children of such unions have little reason to practice the commandment to honour their parents as it was from their parents that they learned to ignore Torah legislation. Solomon’s well known instruction שמע בני מוסר אביך ואל תטוש תורת אמך, “heed the moral instruction of your father, and do not ignore the teachings of your mother” (Proverbs 1,8) are most difficult to honour when they know they have seen the light of day only because their parents chose to ignore this very instruction.

ולא תשקצו את נפשותיכם בבהמה ובעוף ובכל אשר תרמוש האדמה, from all kinds of “impure” living creatures אשר הבדלתי לכם, from the ritually “pure.”

לטמא, in the sense that physically revolting creatures and especially ingesting them, will eventually contaminate the soul, the spiritual basis of the human being who has consumed them. This negative fallout is the result only of eating such creatures, not of carrying on trade involving them.

ואיש או אשה כי יהיה בהם אוב או ידעוני, seeing that the thrust of all the preceding legislation had been to sanctify the Jewish people through their observance of these laws, anyone deviating from these commandments, turning instead to these oracles, is doing precisely the opposite of what the Torah wanted him to do. No wonder that his penalty is judicial execution by the harshest death penalty, i.e. being stoned to death.