In this week's parasha, we are instructed to be “holy” (Vayikra 19:2). How does one go about accomplishing this holiness? Rashi links this commandment with the previous parasha, explaining that holiness is found primarily through the observance of the commandments regarding illicit sexual relationships. The Rambam, in labeling the forth of his Yad HaChazaka “Sefer Kedusha,” takes a similar tact, seeing holiness in laws relating to sexual relationships and the Torah’s rules about ritual slaughter and eating. Even the Ramban, in his commentary to this week’s parasha, despite his more expansive definition of “kedoshim tihiyu,” singles out eating and sexual vices as the address of holiness; he later talks about physical cleanliness in this context. Thus, from these Rishonim, it would seem that holiness is a function of controlling our physical selves, especially in the powerful, primal realms of eating and sex, harnessing these urges as the Torah commands.

However, I believe that the overall literary context of the rest of Parashat Kedoshim, especially the rest of the opening parshiya and chapter 19, lends itself to a more expansive definition of holiness. Following the introductory verse that mandates holiness, the Torah begins an extensive list of commandments: fear one’s parents, keep Shabbat, idol worship, laws of sacrifices, agricultural rules (both bein adam la-Makom and le-chaveiro), stealing, lying, false testimony, fair wages, “love your neighbor as yourself,” improper mixtures, and so on. And those were just some of the commandments; the Chinuch counts 51 commandments, without “kedoshim tihiyu.” A look at this list, along with the other commandments in the parasha reveals a scattered, seemingly haphazard order, lacking any unifying principle. Yet, this precisely is the message of holiness: one can find and achieve holiness, and one should find and achieve holiness, in all types of commandments, in every commandment. Whether between man and his fellow man, or between man and God; whether a question of justice, neighborliness, societal order, or “welfare”; each and every mitzvah is a vehicle for holiness, an opportunity to distinguish, sanctify, and separate ourselves in the service of God.

Shabbat shalom