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Parshat Kedoshim: What is Holiness?
BY GAVRIEL COHN
What does the term kedusha mean? What is holiness? In what way is G-d holy, and how are we meant to copy it? Many of the concepts and mitzvot of Sefer Vayikra seem obscure, their meaning beyond our grasp.
Let’s delve into the opening commandment of our sedra, that we should “be holy because G-d is holy.” Perhaps we can gain some clarity.
Reb Shimon Shkop, a famed Lithuanian Talmud scholar, discusses this commandment in the preface to his book. He proposes that holiness means to give of oneself to others, exactly like G-d does. What we know of G-d is that He created and sustains the world, His actions are entirely focused on an entity outside of Himself. So holiness (literally, being separated or elevated beyond one’s own’s self), means to dedicate oneself to others. Like G-d’s act of sustaining the Universe, we too are instructed to be holy, projecting ourselves outwardly and giving to others.
Reb Shimon goes on to explain that we can only do this by feeling a sense of unity with the world. “A person should expand the natural love they have for themselves and feel that all of creation is included within his sense of self; one should see himself as a small limb in this great body of the Universe” and so naturally give to the wider world to which he is part of – being holy through uniting with others.
Indeed, in commanding the Jewish People to be holy, Moshe gathered “the entire congregation of Israel” and addressed them as a collective, united as one. “Only in unity,” seeing oneself as part of a wider whole, can one truly love and give to those around oneself, thereby achieving holiness (Sefat Emet).
This idea of holiness, of giving to others, being achieved only through uniting with creation, perhaps is the foundation of our entire sedra, and sheds light on the long litany of mitzvot that it contains.
There are a strange links between all the mitzvot of our parsha. Unlike the sharp distinction made within the Ten Commandments, here all the dozens of mitzvot, those between man and G-d and those between man and man, are interwoven and almost blur together. In these passages, it is almost as if the natural world and human society become blended together, ourselves, society, and relationship towards the natural world fuses into a unity:
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not fully reap the corner of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest… You shall not round off the corner of your head, and you shall not destroy the edge of your beard… You shall not steal, you shall not deny falsely or lie to one’s his friend; you shall not swear falsely by My Name, profaning the Name of your G-d… You shall not stand by your fellow’s blood… You shall not eat before a sacrifice’s blood has been sprinkled…”
These Chukkim and Mishpatim, laws geared towards enabling us to respect both nature and human society (the Ramban; R’ Hirsch), all mixed into one. In this list, the corners of our human faces mirror the ends of the earthy fields of the land (pe’ah) and our bodies the fruits of the trees (brit milah and orlah). We are commanded to watch our speech both regarding G-d and regarding our fellow man, and to treat the blood of sacrifices and animals with care, as well as the lives of people. Perhaps these laws enable us to unite us to Creation, to become close to others and to nature. That sense of unity, of being “a part of a wider whole,” can then help us give to those around us, being holy just like G-d.
Kedoshim
RABBI DR RAYMOND APPLE
THE EXTRA PHRASE
The Torah constantly tells us who is speaking (generally G-d) and who is being addressed (often Moses, often the people of Israel). We expect something similar at the beginning of this week’s reading, but lo and behold, the Torah identifies the audience not as Israel but as “all the congregation of the Children of Israel” (Lev. 19:2).
What does the text have in mind when it is so specific that it mentions the whole congregation?
It must have a connection with the message, which is “You shall be holy people”. The extra phrase is there to tell us that every Israelite has two distinguishing marks at the same time – ethnic (everyone is part of the people of Israel) and spiritual (everyone – however secular they seem – is spiritually significant).
Rav Soloveitchik said that there were two covenants in Jewishness, the covenant of fate (ethnic) and the covenant of faith (spiritual). Sometimes a Jew emphasises one aspect, sometimes the other, but the best way to be is a synthesis.
VENGEANCE
What is the difference between being vengeful and bearing a grudge?
The Torah mentions them together: “You shall not take vengeance nor bear a grudge” (Lev. 19:18).
David Hoffmann says vengeance is immediate revenge and bearing a grudge is maintaining the rage.
The Sifra gives examples: 1. A. says to B, “Lend me your sickle,” and B. refuses. The next day, B. says, “Lend me your adze,” and A. replies, “I shall not lend it to you just as you did not lend me your sickle.” This is vengeance. 2. B. says to A., “Lend me your adze,” and A. refuses. The next day, A. says, “Lend me your sickle,” and B. replies, “Here you are; I am not like you who did not lend your adze.” This is what ls meant by bearing a grudge.
But the examples are not exactly parallel, i.e. why is the one who takes vengeance concerned with a sickle and the one who bears a grudge, an adze?
Wolf Heidenheim notes that a sickle is more delicate than an adze; A. is motivated by vengeance when he will not lend his adze, since the wear and tear on an adze is less than that on the sickle. Maybe B. refused to lend his sickle precisely because of the heavy wear and tear on it. Vengeance, says Heidenheim, implies returning evil in greater measure.
In the case of a grudge the situation is reversed. Lending a delicate sickle is a generous thing to do, but spoilt by the words, “I am not like you”. There should be no sense of grievance.
TELL HIM OFF – BUT NOT ALWAYS
If someone is doing the wrong thing, you have to rebuke him (Lev.19:17).
It is like the duty you have to save a person from danger. If you can see that they are stepping into obvious risk, you cannot stand idly by.
The same applies to a person who is breaking a law of the Torah: if you refrain from speaking out, you have a share in the responsibility for the risk they are taking with their eternal life.
It is not only their wellbeing which you are protecting, but your own. If you ignore actual or possible evil around you, you show yourself as a hard-hearted, irresponsible citizen.
What about a situation in which no-one is going to take any notice of your warning or rebuke?
For the sake of your own conscience you cannot remain unmoved, but you might make a laughing stock of yourself. Hence the sages say, “Just as it is a duty to say that which will be heeded, so it is a duty not to say that which will not be heeded” (Talmud Yevamot 65b).
Gav works as an Account Executive in Public Relations. The views expressed here are entirely his own. Questions? gavcohn@gmail.com
Rabbi Raymond Apple was for many years Australia’s highest profile rabbi and the leading spokesman on Judaism. After serving congregations in London, Rabbi Apple was chief minister of the Great Synagogue, Sydney, for 32 years. He also held many public roles, particularly in the fields of chaplaincy, interfaith dialogue and Freemasonry, and is the recipient of several national and civic honours. Now retired, he lives in Jerusalem and blogs at http://www.oztorah.com
