Kedushah in the Choir

May 13, 2016 By Nancy Abramson | Commentary | Kedoshim

This week’s parashah opens with a statement on holiness: “You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Lev. 19:2). In the original Hebrew, the word “you” in this verse is in the plural form, implying that anyone can attain holiness the capacity for holiness is not only for those who are spiritually gifted. The plural “you” might also suggest that holiness is best achieved in the context of a community, rather than as a solo effort.

“You Shall Fear Your God”: Theological, Moral, and Psychological Implications

May 13, 2016 By Walter Herzberg | Commentary | Kedoshim

There are many exhortations in Leviticus 19, but only two of them conclude with “you shall fear your God, I am the Lord.” We will focus on Leviticus 19:14—

You shall not curse the deaf, and before the blind you shall not place a stumbling block; rather you shall fear your God, I am the Lord

—and five traditional Jewish interpretations, to examine how the phrase “you shall fear your God” informs our understanding of the injunctions not to curse the deaf and not to place a stumbling block before the blind.

Loving in God’s Image

Apr 30, 2011 By Andrew Shugerman | Commentary | Text Study | Kedoshim

At numerous points in Jewish history, rabbis and scholars have addressed the question of what tenet or observance represents the heart of Judaism. Seldom, however, have our teachers argued the converse about a biblical text that ought to be eliminated from the canon.

Whose Land?

May 6, 2006 By Matthew Berkowitz | Commentary | Kedoshim | Shavuot

Over the past few weeks, immigration and the protection of foreign workers have taken center stage on the American political scene. Far from being a distant, abstract philosophical conversation, the issue is one that the Jewish community has wrestled with throughout its many years of wandering. Indeed, this is a topic that touches the heart and soul of our people.

Explaining the Inexplicable?

Apr 20, 2002 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

In speaking of the legal corpus which dominates this week’s double parashah, the Torah makes use of two terms, mishpatim and hukkim, translated as “rules” and “laws.” Technically, as Baruch A. Levine makes clear in his commentary, they reflect two sources of legal practice. The word mishpatim deriving from the root sh-f-t, “to judge,” embodies rules articulated in a judicial setting. Hukkim from the root h-k-k “to engrave” or “inscribe” suggests laws promulgated by decree. In our parashah the terms seem to be synonymous, because God is the only lawgiver: “My rules (mishpatim) alone shall you observe, and faithfully follow My laws (hukkim): I the Lord am your God” (18:4).

Mitzvah vs. Mitzvah

May 5, 2001 By Joshua Heller | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

Sometimes in the Biblical text, the first half and second half of a verse seem to be talking past each other. The first half addresses one commandment or concept, and the second half seems to go off on a tangent. This strange type of juxtaposition appears a number of times in K’doshim , the second half of our double portion for the week.

Love for All

May 9, 1998 By Judith Hauptman | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

This Shabbat we will read two Torah portions, Aharei Mot and K’doshim . The topics covered in these parashiyot range from the ritual requirement of sending a scapegoat out to the desert on Yom Kippur, to a list of forbidden sexual relationships, to fundamental social legislation, reminiscent somewhat of the Ten Commandments.

Sanctification through Mitzvah

Apr 23, 1994 By Ismar Schorsch | Commentary | Kedoshim

What is the nature of holiness? I’m not sure that our noisy, frenetic, secular lives ever prompt us to raise the question. And yet it lies at the very heart of the Torah’s message to Israel. Just before Sinai God singles out Israel as God’s “treasured possession… a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Exodus 19:5–6).” Again this week God instructs Moses: “Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God, am holy (Lev. 19:1–2).”