Parashat HaShavua - Aharei Mot/Kedoshim

קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ:  כִּי קָדוֹשׁ, אֲנִי יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם (ויקרא י״ט:ב)

“You shall be holy for I, your God, am holy.” (Leviticus 19:2)

What does it mean to be קדוש -- holy?  The root kadosh denotes something that is set apart for a special purpose.  The first use of the root in the Tanakh refers to Shabbat, the day that is set apart from all others to occupy a unique spot in the cosmic order.  In a Jewish wedding ceremony, the traditional “vow” is הרי את מקודשת לי, (harei at mekudeshet li, you are consecrated to me), signifying a relationship that is both special and exclusive.

Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, quoting from Sifra on Parashat Kedoshim (19:3) explains that the commandment “you shall be holy, for I, your God, am holy” in this week’s parasha means: “be separate and exercise self-restraint.”  From this perspective, holiness can be achieved through what we forego and choose not to do, whether by avoiding certain foods, refraining from work on Shabbat, or abstaining from sexual relations at certain times.

It is true that there is a particular kind of holiness that can be experienced through that which we forego.   Who has not felt the power of those final moments on Yom Kippur as we stand together, hungry but full of purpose, chanting “Adonai hu ha Elohim” as one?  As a parent it is often the sacrifices, the things we give up for our children, that bring a powerful feeling of sanctity to life.

And yet, it is interesting to note which mitzvot have been chosen to follow the instruction to be holy in this week’s parasha.  The Torah does not place the list of forbidden sexual relationships, which call for separateness and self-restraint, in the Holiness Code of Parashat Kedoshim.  Rather the mitzvot in this week’s parasha include: making sure part of our harvest is given to  the poor, paying workers on time, judging fairly and, most famously, loving your neighbor as yourself.  These are all commandments that speak to the need to strengthen our sense of connectedness to our fellow human beings, not our sense of separateness.  

The Torah seems to be pointing to a definition of holiness as a process of discerning between the times when restraint is called for and the moments when connection is called for.  The Holiness Code bids us to protect the boundaries of Shabbat.  But it also demands that we treat the blind and the deaf with respect. Another way of putting it is that sometimes holiness is achieved through holding back and sometimes holiness is achieved through reaching out.  Perhaps holiness can be found in the effort to balance these two values: one the one hand, restraint and moderation as a way of building character and on the other, reaching out to connect to and take responsibility for others, in fulfillment of this week’s “Golden Rule” of loving one’s neighbor as oneself.

Rabbi Anne Ebersman
Director of Jewish Programming N-5 and Director of Hesed (Community Engagement) and Tzedek (Social Responsibility)