Kedoshim

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This page is about Kedoshim, a parshah in the yearly Torah cycle. See Kodashim for the Order of the Mishnah by that name.

Kedoshim, K’doshim, or Qedoshim (קדושים — Hebrew for "holy ones,” the 14th word, and the first distinctive word, in the parshah) is the 30th weekly Torah portion (parshah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the book of Leviticus. It constitutes Leviticus 19:1–20:27. Jews in the Diaspora generally read it in late April or May.

The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 54 weeks, the exact number varying between leap years and regular years. In years with 54 weeks (for example, 2008, 2011, and 2014), parshah Kedoshim is read separately on the 30th Sabbath after Simchat Torah. In years with fewer than 54 weeks (for example, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015), parshah Kedoshim is combined with the previous parshah, Acharei, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings.

Kodashim is also the name of the fifth order in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Talmud. The term "kedoshim" is sometimes also used to refer to the six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust, whom some call "kedoshim" because they fulfilled the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem.

“You shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field.”
“You shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field.”

Contents

[edit] Summary

[edit] Holiness

God told Moses to tell the Israelites to be holy, for God is holy. (Lev. 19:1–2.) God’s instruction, considered by scholars to be part of the Holiness Code, then enumerates how people can be holy. God instructed the Israelites:

[edit] Penalties for Transgressions

God then told Moses to instruct the Israelites of the following penalties for transgressions.

one imagining of Molech
one imagining of Molech

The following were called toivah a category of transgression that includes in other places in the Torah not observing dietary laws':

  • One who gave a child to Molech (Lev. 20:1–2.)
  • One who insulted his father or mother (Lev. 20:9.)
  • A man who committed adultery with a married woman, and the married woman with whom he committed it (Lev. 20:10.)
  • A man who lay with his father’s wife, and his father wife with whom he lay (Lev. 20:11.)
  • A man who lay with his daughter-in-law, and his daughter-in-law with whom he lay (Lev. 20:12.)
  • A man who lay with a male as one lies with a woman, and the male with whom he lay (Lev. 20:13.)
  • A man who married a woman and her mother, and the woman and mother whom he married (Lev. 20:14.)
  • A man who had carnal relations with a beast, and the beast with whom he had relations (Lev. 20:15.)
  • A woman who approached any beast to mate with it, and the beast that she approached (Lev. 20:16.)
  • One who had a ghost or a familiar spirit (Lev. 20:27.)

The following were to be cut off from their people:

  • One who turned to ghosts or familiar spirits (Lev. 20:6.)
  • A man who married his sister, and the sister whom he married (Lev. 20:17.)
  • A man who lay with a woman in her infirmity, and the woman with whom he lay (Lev. 20:18.)

The following were to die childless:

  • A man who uncovered the nakedness of his aunt, and the aunt whose nakedness he uncovered (Lev. 20:19–20.)
  • A man who married his brother’s wife, and the brother’s wife whom he married (Lev. 20:21.)

God then enjoined the Israelites faithfully to observe all God’s laws, lest the Promised Land spew them out. (Lev. 20:22.) For it was because the land’s former inhabitants did all these things that God dispossessed them. (Lev. 20:23.) God designated the Israelites as holy to God, for God is holy, and God had set the Israelites apart from other peoples to be God’s. (Lev. 20:26.)

[edit] In classical rabbinic interpretation

[edit] Leviticus chapter 19

Rabbi Judah ben Pazzi deduced from the juxtaposition of the sexual prohibitions of Leviticus 18 and the exhortation to holiness in Leviticus 19:2 that those who fence themselves against sexual immorality are called holy, and Rabbi Joshua ben Levi taught that wherever one finds a fence against sexual immorality, one will also find sanctity. (Leviticus Rabbah 24:6.)

A midrash interpreted God’s message to Israel in Leviticus 19:1–2 to mean: “My children, as I am separate, so you be separate; as I am holy, so you be holy.” (Leviticus Rabbah 24:4.)

Rabbi Abin likened the two exhortations to holiness in Leviticus 19:1–2 and 20:7 to the case of a king who rewarded his drunkard watchmen twice as much as his sober watchmen. Similarly, God twice exhorted the Israelites to holiness, because the Evil Inclination sways people like drunkards, whereas the Evil Inclination does not exist among celestial beings. Similarly, Rabbi Abin likened the two exhortations to holiness to the case of the citizens who made three crowns for the king, and the king placed one on his own head and two on the heads of his sons. Similarly, every day the celestial beings crown God with three sanctities, calling him, in the words of Isaiah 6:3, “Holy, holy, holy.” God then places one crown of holiness on God’s own head and two crowns of holiness on the head of Israel. (Leviticus Rabbah 24:8.)

Rabbi Hiyya taught that the section beginning at Leviticus 19:1 was spoken in the presence of the whole Israelite people, because it includes most of the essential principles of the Torah. And Rabbi Levi said it was because it includes each of the Ten Commandments, noting that: (1) Exodus 20:2 says, “I am the Lord your God,” and Leviticus 19:3 says, “I am the Lord your God”; (2) Exodus 20:2–3 says, “You shall have no other gods,” and Leviticus 19:4 says, “Nor make to yourselves molten gods”; (3) Exodus 20:6 (20:7 in NJPS) says, “You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain,” and Leviticus 19:12 says, “And you shall not swear by My name falsely”; (4) Exodus 20:7 (20:8 in NJPS) says, “Remember the Sabbath day,” and Leviticus 19:3 says, “And you shall keep My Sabbaths”; (5) Exodus 20:11 (20:12 in NJPS) says, “Honor your father and your mother,” and Leviticus 19:3 says, “You shall fear every man his mother, and his father”; (6) Exodus 20:12 (20:13 in NJPS) says, “You shall not murder,” and Leviticus 19:16 says, “Neither shall you stand idly by the blood of your neighbor”; (7) Exodus 20:12 (20:13 in NJPS) says, “You shall not commit adultery,” and Leviticus 20:10 says, “Both the adulterer and the adulteress shall surely be put to death; (8) Exodus 20:12 (20:13 in NJPS) says, “You shall not steal,” and Leviticus 19:11 says, “You shall not steal”; (9) Exodus 20:12 (20:13 in NJPS) says, “You shall not bear false witness,” and Leviticus 19:16 says, “You shall not go up and down as a talebearer”; and (10) Exodus 20:13 (20:14 in NJPS) says, “You shall not covet . . . anything that is your neighbor's,” and Leviticus 19:18 says, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Leviticus Rabbah 24:5.)

A Baraita cited the words of Leviticus 19:3, “You shall fear every man his mother and his father, and you shall keep My Sabbaths,” to teach that one’s duty to honor one’s parent does not supersede one’s duty to keep the Sabbath. (Babylonian Talmud Yevamot 5b.)

A midrash noted that everywhere else, Scripture mentions a father's honor before the mother's honor. (E.g., Exodus 20:11 (20:12 in NJSP), Deuteronomy 5:15 (5:16 in NJPS), 27:16) But Leviticus 19:3 mentions the mother first to teach that one should honor both parents equally. (Genesis Rabbah 1:15.)

Tractate Peah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem Talmud interpreted the laws of the harvest of the corners of fields in Leviticus 19:9–10. (Mishnah Peah 1:1–8:9; Tosefta Peah 1:1–4:21; Jerusalem Talmud Peah 2a–73b.)

Tractates Nedarim and Shevuot in the Mishnah, Tosefta, Jerusalem Talmud, and Babylonian Talmud interpreted the laws of vows in Exodus 20:7, Leviticus 5:1–10 and 19:12, Numbers 30:2–17, and Deuteronomy 23:24. (Mishnah Nedarim 1:1–11:11; Tosefta Nedarim 1:1–7:8; Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Nedarim 2a–91b; Mishnah Shevuot 1:1–8:6; Tosefta Shevuot 1:1–6:7; Jerusalem Talmud Shevuot 1a–; Babylonian Talmud Shevuot 2a–49b.)

Once a gentile came before Shammai and said, “I will convert to Judaism, on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot.” Shammai pushed him away with a builder's ruler. When the gentile repeated his challenge before Hillel, Hillel said to him (paraphrasing Leviticus 19:18), “What is hateful to you, do not to your neighbor; that is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary on that. Go and learn it.” (Babylonian Talmud Shabbat 31a.)

Rav Nahman said in the name of Rabbah bar Abbuha that Leviticus 19:18 requires that even when executing a person, one must choose for the condemned an easy death. (Babylonian Talmud Ketubot 37b, Sanhedrin 45a.)

And other Rabbis counseled that Leviticus 19:18 prohibits taking actions that would make one’s spouse unattractive. Thus Rab Judah said in the name of Rab that Leviticus 19:18 requires a man not to become engaged to a woman before he sees her, lest he subsequently see something in her that might make her repulsive to him. (Babylonian Talmud Kiddushin 41a.) Similarly, Rab Hisda taught that Leviticus 19:18 prohibited one from engaging in marital relations during the daytime, and Abaye explained that this was because one might observe something that should make one’s spouse repulsive. (Babylonian Talmud Niddah 17a.)

Tractate Kilayim in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem Talmud interpreted the laws of mixing plants, cloth, and animals in Leviticus 19:19. (Mishnah Kilayim 1:1–9:10; Tosefta Kilayim 1:1–5:27; Jerusalem Talmud Kilayim 2a–.)

Leviticus 18:4 calls on the Israelites to obey God’s “statutes” (hukim) and “ordinances” (mishpatim). The Rabbis in a Baraita taught that the “ordinances” (mishpatim) were commandments that logic would have dictated that we follow even had Scripture not commanded them, like the laws concerning idolatry, adultery, bloodshed, robbery, and blasphemy. And “statutes” (hukim) were commandments that the Adversary challenges us to violate as beyond reason, like those relating to shaatnez (in Leviticus 19:19 and Deuteronomy 22:11), halizah (in Deuteronomy 25:5–10), purification of the person with tzaraat (in Leviticus 14), and the scapegoat (in Leviticus 16). So that people do not think these “ordinances” (mishpatim) to be empty acts, in Leviticus 18:4, God says, “I am the Lord,” indicating that the Lord made these statutes, and we have no right to question them. (Babylonian Talmud Yoma 67b.)

Tractate Orlah in the Mishnah, Tosefta, and Jerusalem Talmud interpreted the laws of the prohibition in Leviticus 19:23–25 against using the fruits of a tree in its first three years. (Mishnah Orlah 1:1–3:9; Tosefta Orlah 1:1–8; Jerusalem Talmud Orlah 2a–.)

Judah ben Padiah noted Adam’s frailty, for he could not remain loyal even for a single hour to God’s charge that he not eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, yet in accordance with Leviticus 19:23, Adam’s descendants the Israelites waited three years for the fruits of a tree. (Genesis Rabbah 21:7.)

[edit] Leviticus chapter 20

Mishnah Sanhedrin 7:7 and Babylonian Talmud 64a–b interpreted the laws prohibiting passing one’s child through the fire to Molech in Leviticus 18:21, 20:1–5, and Deuteronomy 18:10.

The Mishnah asked about the command of Leviticus 20:15–16 that the animal be killed: If the person had sinned, in what way did the animal sin? The Mishnah concluded that Scripture ordered it killed because it enticed the person to sin. Alternatively, the Mishnah explained that the animal was killed so that it should not pass through the streets provoking people to say, “This is the animal on account of which so and so was stoned.” (Mishnah Sanhedrin 7:4; Babylonian Talmud Sanhedrin 54a.)

[edit] Commandments

According to Sefer ha-Chinuch, there are 13 positive and 38 negative commandments in the parshah:

“The Red Vineyard” (painting by Vincent van Gogh)
“The Red Vineyard” (painting by Vincent van Gogh)
Amos (illustration by Gustave Doré)
Amos (illustration by Gustave Doré)
Ezekiel (painting by Michelangelo)
Ezekiel (painting by Michelangelo)

(Sefer HaHinnuch: The Book of [Mitzvah] Education. Translated by Charles Wengrov, 3:3–163. Jerusalem: Feldheim Pub., 1984. ISBN 0-87306-297-3.)

[edit] Haftarah

The haftarah for the parshah is:

When parshah Kedoshim is combined with parshah Acharei (as it is in 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015), the haftarah is still the haftarah for parshah Kedoshim.

[edit] In the liturgy

God’s characteristic of holiness in Leviticus 19:2 is reflected in Isaiah 6:2–3 and in turn in the Kedushah section of the Amidah prayer in each of the three prayer services. (Reuven Hammer. Or Hadash: A Commentary on Siddur Sim Shalom for Shabbat and Festivals, 4. New York: The Rabbinical Assembly, 2003. ISBN 0916219208.)

[edit] Further reading

The parshah has parallels or is discussed in these sources:

[edit] Biblical

Confucius
Confucius

[edit] Ancient

  • Confucius. The Analects 3:15:23. (“Tsze-kung asked, saying, ‘Is there one word which may serve as a rule of practice for all one's life?’ The Master said, ‘Is not Reciprocity such a word? What you do not want done to yourself, do not do to others.’”). China, circa 5th Century B.C.E.
Aristotle
Aristotle

[edit] Early nonrabbinic

  • James 2:8 (“If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right.”). Circa 45–62 C.E.
  • Galatians 5:14 (“The entire law is summed up in a single command: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”). Circa 49–58 C.E.
  • Romans 13:8–9 (“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for he who loves his fellowman has fulfilled the law. The commandments . . . are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”). Greece, circa 58 C.E.
  • Mark 12:31 (“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these."). Circa 70 C.E.
  • Matthew 7:12 (“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”); 19:19 (“‘love your neighbor as yourself.’”); 22:39–40 (“And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”). Circa 70–100 C.E.
  • Luke 6:31 (“Do to others as you would have them do to you.”). Circa 80–150 C.E.
  • Acts 7:42–43 (Molech). Circa 80–150 C.E.

[edit] Classical rabbinic

  • Mishnah: Peah 1:1–8:9; Kilayim 1:1–9:10; Sheviit 1:8; Terumot 3:9; Orlah 1:1–3:9; Shekalim 1:1; Yevamot 8:6; Nedarim 9:4, 11:3; Kiddushin 1:7, 1:9; Bava Kamma 5:7; Bava Metzia 5:11, 7:7; Sanhedrin 1:3–4, 3:7, 7:4, 7:6–8, 7:10–11, 9:1; Makkot 3:5–6, 3:8–9; Keritot 1:1, 2:4–6, 6:9. Land of Israel, circa 200 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Mishnah: A New Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 14–36, 49–68, 70, 100, 158–66, 251, 356, 424, 428, 489, 515, 544, 548, 583–84, 589, 597–98, 602, 617–18, 836, 840, 851. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1988. ISBN 0-300-05022-4.
  • Tosefta: Peah 1:1–4:21; Demai 5:2; Kilayim 1:1–5:27; Maasrot 3:12; Orlah 1:1–8; Bikkurim 2:4; Shabbat 15:9; 17:1; Megillah 3:24; Sotah 5:11; 15:7; Gittin 2:7; Kiddushin 1:4; Bava Metzia 10:3; Bava Batra 5:7; Sanhedrin 3:1; 6:2; 9:11; 12:1; Shevuot 3:1. Land of Israel, circa 300 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., The Tosefta: Translated from the Hebrew, with a New Introduction. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 1:47–76, 103, 251–76, 292, 341–43, 349, 415, 423, 650, 853, 891, 901, 925–26; 2:1084, 1115, 1150, 1164, 1178, 1185, 1229. Peabody, Mass.: Hendrickson Pub., 2002. ISBN 1-56563-642-2.
  • Sifra 195:1–210:2. Land of Israel, 4th Century C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Sifra: An Analytical Translation. Translated by Jacob Neusner, 3:85–159. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1988. ISBN 1-55540-207-0.
  • Jerusalem Talmud: Berakhot 60a; Peah 2a–73b; Sheviit 12a, 59a; Kilayim 2a–; Orlah 2a–. Land of Israel, circa 400 C.E. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Yerushalmi. Edited by Chaim Malinowitz, Yisroel Simcha Schorr, and Mordechai Marcus, vols. 2, 3, 6a, 6b. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
  • Mekhilta of Rabbi Simeon 49:3; 45:1–2; 61:1; 62:1, 3; 66:1; 74:4; 76:3; 77:3. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Mekhilta de-Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai. Translated by W. David Nelson, 218, 249–50, 278, 282, 284–85, 294, 348, 355, 359. Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 2006. ISBN 0-8276-0799-7.
  • Leviticus Rabbah 19:4; 24:1–25:8; 26:7; 27:3; 30:10; 35:3; 36:1. Land of Israel, 5th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Midrash Rabbah: Leviticus. Translated by H. Freedman and Maurice Simon, 4:242, 304–24, 330–36, 346, 391, 448, 456. London: Soncino Press, 1939. ISBN 0-900689-38-2.
Talmud
Talmud
  • Babylonian Talmud: Berakhot 10b, 21b, 35a, 36a–b; Shabbat 23a, 31a, 69b, 71b, 108a, 149a; Eruvin 17b; Pesachim 3a, 16b, 22b, 75a, 78a, 113b; Yoma 18b, 23a, 36a–b, 43a, 69a, 81b, 85b; Sukkah 34b–35a; Beitzah 3b, 5a, 14b, 25b, 28b; Rosh Hashanah 2a, 9b, 31b; Taanit 6b; Megillah 7b, 17b; Moed Katan 2a–b, 4b–5a, 9a, 14b, 17a; Chagigah 4a, 7a, 16a, 25b; Yevamot 2b, 4a–6b, 37b, 46b–47a, 54a–55b, 65b, 94b–95a, 97a, 122a; Ketubot 29a, 30b, 36a, 37b, 46a, 80a; Nedarim 2a–91b; Nazir 29a, 37a, 41a, 57b, 58b; Sotah 7a, 8b, 43b; Gittin 39b, 41b, 43a–b, 47a, 53a–b, 54b, 59b, 85a; Kiddushin 6a, 19a, 23a, 29a, 30b, 31b–32b, 33b, 34b, 35b, 37a, 39a, 41a, 54b, 56b; Bava Kamma 16b, 28a, 51a, 54b–55a, 68b–69b, 70b, 76b, 80b, 94a, 99a, 101a, 105b, 113a; Bava Metzia 5b, 9b, 10b, 12a, 21b, 26b, 31a, 32a, 49a, 55b, 59b, 61b, 75b, 83b, 90b–91a, 92b, 94b, 101a, 110b–11b; Bava Batra 24a, 27a, 36a, 89b, 94a; Sanhedrin 2a, 3a, 15a, 29a, 30a, 31a, 32b, 33b, 39a, 40b, 45a, 46a, 50b–53a, 54a–55a, 57a, 60a, 63a, 64a–65a, 66a, 67b, 69a, 70a, 73a, 75a–76a, 84b, 85b–86a; Makkot 4b, 5b, 7b, 8b, 13b–14b, 16a–b, 20a–22b; Shevuot 2a–49b; Avodah Zarah 6a–b, 10b, 22a, 54b, 62a, 64a, 65b, 68a; Horayot 4a, 11a; Zevachim 5b, 23b, 28a–b, 44a, 47a, 56b, 72a; Menachot 5b–6a, 16b, 25a, 69b, 90b, 110a; Chullin 3a, 7b, 13a, 26b, 29a, 31a, 71a, 74b, 78b–79a, 82b, 85a, 95b, 114a–15b, 120b, 121a, 130b–31b, 134b, 135b, 137a, 138a, 141a–b; Arakhin 16b; Temurah 3a, 4a, 6a, 28b; Keritot 3a–b, 5a, 9a–b, 10b–11a, 12b, 15a, 16a, 21a–b, 22b, 24a, 28a; Meilah 2a, 10a, 16b–17a, 18a; Tamid 27b; Niddah 17a, 41b, 50a, 51a, 57a. Babylonia, 6th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Talmud Bavli. Edited by Yisroel Simcha Schorr, Chaim Malinowitz, and Mordechai Marcus, 72 vols. Brooklyn: Mesorah Pubs., 2006.
Rashi
Rashi

[edit] Medieval

  • Rashi. Commentary. Leviticus 19–20. Troyes, France, late 11th Century. Reprinted in, e.g., Rashi. The Torah: With Rashi’s Commentary Translated, Annotated, and Elucidated. Translated and annotated by Yisrael Isser Zvi Herczeg, 3:225–59. Brooklyn: Mesorah Publications, 1994. ISBN 0-89906-028-5.
  • Judah Halevi. Kuzari. 3:11; 4:3. Toledo, Spain, 1130–1140. Reprinted in, e.g., Jehuda Halevi. Kuzari: An Argument for the Faith of Israel. Intro. by Henry Slonimsky, 148, 203. New York: Schocken, 1964. ISBN 0-8052-0075-4.
  • Zohar 3:80a–88a. Spain, late 13th Century. Reprinted in, e.g, The Zohar. Translated by Harry Sperling and Maurice Simon. 5 vols. London: Soncino Press, 1934.

[edit] Modern

Kant
Kant

[edit] External links


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