…Covenant and Conversation for the double parsha of Acharei Mot – Kedoshim, it was the Priests who taught the people the specific ethic of holiness. The key text of the holiness ethic is Vayikra 19: “Be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy.” It is this chapter that teaches the two great commands of interpersonal love, of the…
…criticism, and no one too junior to administer it, if done with due grace and humility…all of us, simply by bearing the name Israel, are summoned to wrestle with God and our fellow humans in the name of the right and the good. Kedoshim: Followership in Lessons in Leadership, p. 160 Around the Shabbat Table What was the purpose of…
…the book of Devarim, places on each of us an immense dual responsibility, both individual and collective. I am responsible for what I do. But I am also responsible for what you do. That is one meaning of the command in Kedoshim: “You shall surely remonstrate with your neighbour and not bear sin because of him.” As Maimonides wrote in…
…seriously the principles of what they called the Old Testament. [3] See Josephus, Against Apion 1:22. [4] In the upcoming essay for parshat Kedoshim, we will delve further into the role of the follower in Judaism. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS FOR YITRO How can we be both followers and leaders? Do you think that, as a people, we need to prioritise being…
…of halachah, from the value-system of Judaism. They come under broad halachic categories such as gemillat hassadim (acts of compassion), tzedakah (an untranslatable combination of charity and social justice), and hayashar vehatov (the right and the good). Some commentators include them in the command Kedoshim tihyu, (“Be holy”). Others place them under the rubric of vehalachta biderachav (the command to…
…people high. [1] Some suggest that their mistake was to say, “all the congregation are holy” (kulam kedoshim), instead of “all the congregation is holy” (kula kedoshah). The holiness of the congregation is collective rather than individual. Others say that they should have said, “is called on to be holy” rather than “is holy”. Holiness is a vocation, not a state. [2] Aristotle, Politics, Book…
…by its alignment with the will and word of its Creator. Vayikra Tzav Shemini Tazria Metzora Acharei Mot Kedoshim Emor Behar Bechukotai Bamidbar (Numbers) The central theme of Bamidbar, the book of Numbers, is the second stage of the Israelites’ journey: physically from Egypt to the Promised Land, mentally from slavery to freedom. It is among the most searching, self-critical…
…the ‘Jewish Algorithm’ was taken) On Being Jewish (JInsider video) On Being Jewish (New whiteboard animation version) Seven Principles for Maintaining Jewish Peoplehood On the Jewish Narrative (JInsider video) On Peoplehood (JInsider video) Further articles from Rabbi Sacks on Jewish Identity In Search of Jewish Identity (Covenant & Conversation, Kedoshim) Why Be Jewish? (Covenant & Conversation, Parshat Nitzavim-Vayelech) Being Jewish…
…criticism, a disciple may challenge a teacher and a prophet may reprimand a king. Kedoshim: Followership God trusted us enough to make us His ambassadors to an often faithless, brutal world. The choice is ours. Will our lives be a Kiddush Hashem, or, God forbid, the opposite?… A great leader has the responsibility to both be an ambassador and inspire…
…whose teacher has told all of them, “Be good.” It would not follow that all of them are good. They are all commanded, but not everyone obeys. Korach was making an elementary mistake in confusing a fact and a command. There is a third possibility, that the mistake Korach made was in saying “all the congregation are holy [kulam kedoshim]”…