Parashat HaShavua - Kedoshim

Is separateness necessary for holiness? “You shall be holy / קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ” (Lev. 19:2), we are told, which Rashi famously interprets to mean “be separate / הוו פרושים.” While he then specifies sexual improprieties we must separate from, most learn from here that, as a general proposition, holiness requires separation.

In fact, later in Kedoshim, God informs us: “I am the Lord your God, who has separated you from the nations / אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם אֲשֶׁר-הִבְדַּלְתִּי אֶתְכֶם מִן-הָעַמִּים” (Lev. 20:24). There, however, the word is different: it is hivdalti and not kidashti (as in havdalah, our ritual for separating Shabbat from the rest of the week). And then the next verse describes our dietary laws as a separation of animals into categories of pure and impure with the word ve’hivdaltem / וְהִבְדַּלְתֶּם.” (Lev. 20:25) Again, not kedushah.

Immediately thereafter, however, the Torah seems to equate the two concepts. “You shall be holy to Me,” we are told, “for I, the Lord, am holy, and I have separated you from the nations, to be Mine / וִהְיִיתֶם לִי קְדֹשִׁים כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי יְהוָה וָאַבְדִּל אֶתְכֶם מִן-הָעַמִּים לִהְיוֹת לִי.” (Lev. 20:26) So we return to our original question: is separation a prerequisite for holiness?

Mary Douglas, in her classic “Purity and Danger,” examines the book of Leviticus and observes: “Holiness requires that individuals shall conform to the class to which they belong. And holiness requires that different classes of things shall not be confused.” (p. 54) She elaborates: “Holiness means keeping distinct the categories of creation. It therefore involves correct definition, discrimination and order.” To Douglas, separation equals holiness, and holiness separation.

Rabbi Eliezer Berkovitz understands things differently. In his essay “The Concept of Holiness,” Rabbi Eliezer Berkovitz demonstrates that in Tanach “the manifestation of divine holiness is the cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving. Far from signifying separateness, the idea of the holy conveys a sense of intimacy and relatedness.” (Essential Essays on Judaism, p. 252) As we recite from Isaiah three times during Shacharit, “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord of Hosts, who fills all the land with glory / קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת מְלֹא כָל-הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ.” (Is. 6:3) God’s kedushah is an immanent presence, not partial or segmented.

And there is more to it than mere presence, teaches Berkovitz. When described as holy, God “is the friend of the poor and the needy; he protects them when they are in trouble. He is ‘with you”; he is ‘in your midst.’” (249) To hear Isaiah tell it: “In times of crisis, one should have trust in the holiness of God. Instead of making alliances with military might, one should ally oneself with the Holy One.” (pp. 249-250)

Of course this does not preclude kedushah in moments of separateness as well. Many of us have experienced holy moments during this past year of separateness, for example in more time for personal reflection, in more time with family. Separateness has been necessary for our collective health.

However, when I am prompted to consider separateness as a value - as a goal in and of itself - I am not inclined to equate it with kedushah, or even as a long term path towards increasing kedushah in the world. Quite the opposite. Of course differences abound among people and objects, the animate and the inanimate. And these differences should be recognized, respected and celebrated, not ignored. 

At the same time, though, categorizing based on differences must be approached with extreme caution and care. Categories tend too easily to morph from descriptive into prescriptive, into separations that perpetuate divisions. Again and again we see this process undercut and oppose kedushah in our world in just about every facet of human existence.

May we learn to recognize and embrace the intimacy and connectedness of kedushah, as Rabbi Eliezer demonstrates, of equity and justice that are cause for rejoicing and thanksgiving, and of befriending the poor and the needy, as our way of making divine kedushah more manifest in the world each and every day.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head
Rabbinic Advisor