With Kedoshim, the laws of holiness broaden out from the world of the Sanctuary and Priests to that of the Israelites as a whole, as they are gathered together and commanded to be holy because “I, the Lord your God, am holy.” The opening chapter contains the famous “holiness code” with its commands to love the neighbour and the stranger,…
…places, and the kohen’s protest is against the blurring of boundaries so common in pagan religions – between gods and humans, between life and death, etc. The strange collection of mitzvot in Kedoshim turns out not to be strange at all. The holiness code sees love and justice as part of a total vision of an ordered universe in which…
…the High Priest entered the Holy of Holies, which was the spiritual high-point of the Jewish year. The parsha also details more of the laws of holiness such as the prohibition against eating blood, and the laws of forbidden relationships. Kedoshim continues to discuss holiness laws, changing focus from the world of the Mishkan and the Kohanim to the Israelites…
…kohen, is one in which everything is in its proper place, and the kohen has special sensitivity toward the stranger, the person who has no place of his or her own. The strange collection of commands in Kedoshim thus turns out not to be strange at all. The holiness code sees love and justice as part of a total vision of…
Kedoshim contains the two great love commands of the Torah. The first is, “Love your neighbour as yourself. I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:18). Rabbi Akiva called this “the great principle of the Torah.” The second is no less challenging: “The stranger living among you must be treated as your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt. I am the Lord your God” (Lev….
The Parsha in a Nutshell Parshat Kedoshim continues to discuss the laws of holiness, changing focus from the world of the Sanctuary and Priests to the Israelites as a whole, commanding them to be holy. The opening chapter contains the “holiness code” with its commands to love the neighbour and the stranger, as well as other ritual laws. The second…
…inspiring to witness, and it continues to inspire me today. Torah Trivia Question: A child says to the teacher: “I studied Acharei Mot – Kedoshim and learned two laws. First, the law that one must glorify the beard on their face, and second, that we may not cut in line in front of an elderly person. The teacher responds: “Go…
Something fundamental happens at the beginning of this parsha and the story is one of the greatest, if rarely acknowledged, contributions of Judaism to the world. Until now, Vayikra has been largely about sacrifices, purity, the Sanctuary, and the Priesthood. It has been, in short, about a holy place, holy offerings, and the elite and holy people – Aaron and…
Some years ago I was visited by the then American ambassador to the Court of St James, Philip Lader. He told me of a fascinating project he and his wife had initiated in 1981. They had come to realise that many of their contemporaries would find themselves in positions of influence and power in the not-too-distant future. He thought it…