레위기 19:2의 주석

You shall be holy etc - Holiness is an expression of separation and an expression of belonging and invitation, that is, the Holy One of Blessing warns Israel that they will be separated from all things that carry idolatry, and are invited and belong to the service to the Blessed One.

You shall be holy. As I heard that in the parasha Kedoshim it opens with "you shall be holy" [also an explanation that it is a reassurance that they will be holy in everything that is written in the parsha] that is impossible for a person to do all the mitzvot written in the parsha if one is not holding oneself in holiness in what is written beforehand. And he said, as example, that "love your neighbor as yourself" is impossible to do, what can one do if in one's heart one hates the fellow nonetheless, or maybe just does not love the fellow, and all the exertions of one's heart will definitely not help if beforehand one has not reached the level of holiness.

"You should be holy because I Hashem your G-d am holy:" To explain this, this is similar to what our sages say that if there's is a letter that's used as a prefix to G-d's name that it can be erased, but if it's used as a suffix it can't be erased like the name Elokiechem because the letters are sanctified with the Name in the front. This hinted in the Torah as it says "you should cleave to Hashem your G-d" and "You should cleave to Hashem." What this means it that you should cleave to Hashem via mitzvot and good deeds. Our sages are alluding that even though one achieved devikut to Hashem that they have not reached the higher level and always stand in front of Hashem because a person like this can fall all the way down, chas veshalom. The real path is that a person shouldn't considered himself important at all. Even if they reached the highest level, they should think nothing of themselves like Avraham Avinu who said "I am but dust and ashe." and like King David "I have drawn my heart to do your mitzot and I will always still be a heel." What that means is even though I drew my heart to do miztvot and I reached the highest level, I am still a heel, the lowliest of people. This is also what it means when it says "I have not gone to do things which are greater than me and more wonderous than me." This what our sages mean when they say that a "prefix" which means secondary in Hebrew [in front and in the beginning of the word] what this means that he thinks that he is secondary and is attached and is always in front of Hashem he can fall [be erased]. But anything that is a suffix to Hashem, that he is lowly and humble and follows after Hashem, this kind of person will not be erased and will merit to cleave to Hashem. This is the meaning of the verse that "you should walk behind Hashem and cleave to Him"... and this is what the Torah means when it says "you shall be holy" if you're able to estimate yourself as being like the verse continues "I am Hashem your G-d is holy" when you consider yourself attached to Hashem behind, like -leichem, you should be holy. The Gemera says that in food if there's a primary part and a secondary part and that you should make a blessing on the primary part. What this means is make a bracha on the major part of Hashem's name and through this you'll elevate the first part of the Name. This is explains the story in the Gemara where R Chanina ben Doysa prayed for rain and R Yochanan Zachai confirmed why his prayers were answered. He said that [to R Chaina ben Doysa] "you're like a servant to behind" and I'm "like a minister in front of Hashem."

דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל SPEAK UNTO ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — This (the addition of the words כל עדת) teaches us that this section was proclaimed in full assembly because most of the fundamental teachings of the Torah are dependent on it (contained in it) (Sifra, Kedoshim, Section 1 1; Vayikra Rabbah 24:5).

SPEAK UNTO ALL THE CONGREGATION OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL. Our Rabbis have already said¹Torath Kohanim at beginning of Seder Kedoshim. Quoted also in Rashi. that this section was addressed to the full assembly [of all Israel] because most of the fundamental principles of the Torah are dependent on it,²Mizrachi on Rashi offers two explanations of this text: (a) Since the laws of this chapter are so fundamental, it was necessary for all the congregation to be present, so that if a doubt arises in anyone’s mind as to precisely what Moses said, the other people can easily clarify it to him, which would not have been the case if the laws of this section were not declared to the full assembly. (b) Since these laws are so fundamental, men, women, and children were all present when Moses addressed them, whereas in the other sections of the Torah only the elders and the men were present. this being the reason for the expression, speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel. This section, however, was mentioned here in [the book of] Torath Kohanim³Literally: “the Law of the Priests,” which is another name for the Book of Vayikra, or Leviticus. In other words, since the laws of this section are so fundamental to the entire congregation of Israel, why were they placed in the book which is essentially devoted to the laws of the priests and the offerings? The answer follows in the text. because it contains laws concerning the thanks-offering,⁴The Tur, quoting the language of Ramban, writes: “peace-offerings.” That is correct, since the following verses [5-8] refer only to the peace-offerings, and not the thanks-offering. There are important differences between them. A thanks-offering may be eaten only on the same day that it was slaughtered until midnight, whilst a peace-offering could be eaten for two days and the intervening night. Therefore Verses 6 and 7, speaking of permission to eat the offering for two days, could not possibly refer to the thanks-offering. and also because it states the punishments⁵Further, Chapter 20. He commanded us to execute on those who do the abominable deeds mentioned [in the preceding sections], as well as [those for] the forbidden sexual relationships. These subjects have been included in this book [of Torath Kohanim] for the reason that we have written at the beginning of this book.⁶See Ramban’s introduction to this book where he writes: “As a result of mentioning these laws, He warned afterwards about forbidden sexual relationships etc.”

דבר אל כל עדת...קדושים תהיו; after the presence of G’d had manifested itself among the Jewish people, sanctifying them for eternal life, as had been the meaning of the verse in Exodus 19,6 “you shall become for Me a nation of priests a holy nation,” and taking into consideration G’d’s statement in Leviticus 11,45 “I have led you out of the land of Egypt in order to be your G’d and your becoming holy,” G’d had in the meantime separated the Jewish people from impurity through the legislation concerning forbidden foods, skin eczemas, ritual impurity contracted through cohabitation with menstruant women, or women afflicted with excretions from their vaginas at times other than when they were experiencing menstruation.
G’d had also elaborated on other ritual contaminations contracted through sinful contact. The objective of all these parts of Torah legislation was to establish a nation that could be described as “holy,” not least of it the legislation concerning incest.
At this point, i.e. after achieving this “holiness,” i.e. emulating the Creator’s holiness in the maximum manner possible for creatures, the Torah spells out this objective by saying כי קדוש אני, “For I the Lord am holy;” the message is that the original intention in creating man in the image of G’d (Genesis 1,26) had already had as its declared goal for this “image” to become something constant. The Torah now proceeds to list laws which appeared on the first of the Two Tablets, whose objective it is to ensure enduring life for the Jewish people as we explained on Exodus 20,11.

אל כל עדת בני ישראל, "to the whole community of the children of Israel." Torat Kohanim explains why the Torah writes the words "to all." Seeing that most of the important commandments of the Torah are contained in this portion Moses addressed them to the whole nation as outlined in Eyruvin 54. Rabbi Eliyahu Mizrachi describes the logistics of this [seeing they did not have a public address system in those days, Ed.] as distinctly different from other occasions when Moses revealed legislation. Whereas usually the people approached Moses in group after group- "a group" meaning a בית אב,- in this instance they all approached simultaneously. This is very difficult. If the Rabbi meant that whereas usually the elders came to Moses first to be followed by the people at large in groups, Moses would have had to repeat the same lecture more than 65 times. According to the Baraitha in Eyruvin 54 Moses taught the same legislation only four times. The Talmud there describes that by the time Moses taught the legislation to the people at large, Aaron had heard it four times, etc. If Rabbi Mizrachi meant by the words "group after group," that Aaron was one group, Nadav and Avihu a second group, and the elders a third group, whereas in this instance the Israelites, the elders, Nadav and Avihu and Aaron all came at the same time, the question is why Moses used a different system when he taught all the other commandments. Why did Moses not teach all of the people these commandments 4 times? Surely if the other commandments warranted that Aaron would hear them 4 times, in this instance it was warranted that all the people hear these commandments 4 times! It would be better if they heard it each time from Moses directly than just once, and the other times only from people who themselves had heard it only from Moses. I believe there are one of two possible reasons for the manner in which Moses normally taught the Torah precepts G'd had revealed to him. 1) He wanted to accord honour to the different levels of spiritual achievements attained by his respective listeners. Accordingly, he would first honour Aaron, then his sons, followed by the elders, and finally the people at large. 2) He wanted to ensure true transmission of his words. Seeing that he taught each group of people separately, when they in turn discussed what they had learned they would be able to compare if each one remembered exactly the same. If the entire people had learned the same lesson from Moses four times in a row, there would not have been any way to compare any discrepancies due to someone's faulty memory. This is something that the listener would be well aware of. It would therefore have been better to follow the pattern of teaching the legislation separately to different groups at different times in this portion also. Why would Moses deprive Aaron of his privileged status when teaching this legislation, or, why would he deprive everyone of the chance to double-check if he heard and remembered correctly? The more important the legislation, the more important that there should be unanimity about exactly what the legislation consisted of! On the other hand, if it was appropriate to teach these commandments to all the people at the same time, why was it not appropriate to have done so with the commandments Moses revealed prior to this occasion? It appears, at least when we look at this superficially, that the Torah's departure from its norm in this case represented a change for the worse!

קדושים תהיו, seeing that most commandments are designed to sanctify you and to be observed by you.

קדושים תהיו, ”you shall be holy;” Our sages in Torat Kohanim state that this was one of the portions of the Torah which was read out in public once every seven years on Sukkot on the occasion of “hakhel,” the public reading of the Torah by the King before the assembled nation, men women and children (compare Deuteronomy 31,10, the penultimate of the 613 commandments). The reason was that it contains so many of the basic laws of the Torah, such as the laws about offering personal voluntary peace-offerings, the penalty for disregarding the laws abut incest and sexual mores. We must understand that holiness can only develop as a result of abstaining from all the items that the Torah has described as an abomination in the eyes of Hashem. Nachmanides writes that he has examined the wording in his edition of the Torat Kohanim, and has not found anything spelled out there about being especially פרוש, i.e. keeping one’s distance from the subject covered by sexual mores, but that we are to be generally פרושים, discreet, and discriminating in our conduct, as a result of which holiness will develop. [My edition of the Torat Kohanim, printed in Torah Shleymah bears out what Nachmanides writes. Ed.] G’d is quoted as saying: “just as I keep apart (from contact with what is unbecoming, so shall you keep yourself apart from contact with matters that are unbecoming for you.” It follows that the subject of פרישות includes abstaining and keeping one’s distance from all the subject matter mentioned in the Talmud as subject to such warnings by our sages. Nachmanides uses as an example the fact that whereas on the one hand, the Torah has permitted sexual intercourse, it imposed limitations with whom such sexual intercourse may be indulged in, similarly, it has also permitted the eating of foods which are palatable and non poisonous, but has imposed limitations in forbidding Jews foods which gentiles clearly enjoy without apparent harmful effects. Holiness, if aspired to, is therefore possible by imposing upon oneself restrictions and not considering everything that has not been expressly forbidden as permitted, but to train oneself to be moderate in enjoying the material attractions the world has to offer. These attractions may be enjoyed when they are intended to make the performance of a commandment more meaningful both esthetically and artistically, for instance. A person intent on attaining a level of holiness would not seek out such attractions for their own sake. [When someone loves silver trinkets and collects them, this does not further his path to attaining holiness, although he did not do something forbidden. If, however, he indulges his whim by buying beautiful ethrog boxes, mezuzah housings, kiddush cups, etc., then he may at one and the same time indulge his sense of what is esthetically beautiful, and come closer to attaining degree of holiness. Our sages, in limiting the frequency of marital relations with one’s wife even, suggested that a Torah scholar limit himself to such marital intercourse once a week, while an ordinary uneducated worker is allowed to indulge in such activity more often. (Compare Chagigah 18, Berachot, 22 and other places in the Talmud) Nachmanides points out that it is possible not to violate a single one of the 613 commandments in the Torah and still not only to remain far from “holy,” but to continue to be a gross and uncouth individual, eating to excess, drinking to excess, indulging in legally permitted sex at every opportunity, etc. If the ideal of a Torah personality could be the result of merely not violating any of the 613 commandments, Moses would not have had to write in Deut. 6,18 ועשית הישר והטוב בעיני ה', “do what is fair and good in the eyes of Hashem.” In halachic parlance, our approach to life should be to act לפנים משורת הדין, “to stay well within what is allowable legally.” The meaning of the dictate in our verse therefore is:

During an assembly. You might ask: Moshe taught the whole Torah to Israel as Rashi says in parshas Ki Sisa. The answer is: This parshah was said to them in an assembly of women and children [too] as it is written, “the entire congregation [of] Bnei Yisroel,” and [also] as it is written in parshas Vayeilech (Devarim 31:12), “Assemble the people — the men and the women and the infants.” But [generally], Moshe taught the men only. Another answer is: Moshe [generally] taught them in groups, one after the other, but this parshah was in the assembly of all Israel. The difference [of teaching in this manner] was that no one could say, “I do not accept this mitzvah because I have questions against it, and the reason I did not ask Moshe immediately is because not all Israel were present there.” Therefore, [here] all Israel were together so that no one could say this. [See Re’m]

קדושים תהיו, “you shall strive to attain holiness.” The meaning of this verse is made clear in verse four where the Torah adds that “you must not turn to idols, etc;” even if the purpose of your preoccupation with idols is to understand why they are completely useless, so that you think that what you do is לשם שמים, “for the sake of heaven,” do not do so! Seeing that only the Lord is holy, there would be no point in studying other nations’ ideologies.

דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל, “speak to the entire congregation of the Children of Israel;” This verse teaches that this legislation was revealed to the whole people while they were all assembled. What is the reason for this? Because so many laws are contained in it that address all the people in their daily lives. Our author enumerates a synopsis of all these laws contained in the 37 verses of this chapter showing how even the Ten Commandments were repeated here also.

קדשים תהיו YE SHALL BE HOLY — This means, keep aloof from the forbidden sexual relations just mentioned and from sinful thoughts. [It is evident that this is the meaning of קדשים תהיו because] wherever you find in the Torah a command to fence yourself in against such relations you also find mention of “holiness". Examples are: (Leviticus 21:7) “[They shall not take] a wife that is a harlot, or a profane etc.", and in the next verse "for I, the Lord, who sanctifieth you, [am holy]"; (Leviticus 21:15) “Neither shall he profane his seed (by the forbidden unions mentioned in the preceding verses) for I the Lord do sanctify him"; (Leviticus 21:6) "They shall be holy… followed by (v. 7) "[they shall not take] a wife that is a harlot or a profane" (cf. Vayikra Rabbah 24:4-6).

כי קדוש אני ה' אלוקיכם, “for I, the Lord your G’d am holy.” Naturally, G’d did not expect that we, the creatures, become like He, the Creator. But, He hopes and expects that we will try and emulate as many of His characteristics as it is possible for us to emulate, seeing we are only creatures. By doing this we can achieve דבקות, a measure of close attachment to the Divine, something the Torah encouraged us to do on several occasions (compare Deut. 10,20; 11,22; 30,20) In a way, this was the message of G’d revealing Himself to us in the first of the Ten Commandments.

From sexual crimes. Because [one may have thought that] holiness is only discernable in Jews when they are separate and apart from the nations, through acts like tzitzis, etc., and tefillin and [by keeping] other positive commandments. But separation is not discernable by keeping negative commandments. And he explains: “Separate yourselves etc.,” meaning that this [command] applies even to sexual prohibitions mentioned above. When Rashi says “from transgression,” he also means the transgression of sexual prohibitions.

I believe that the solution to our problem is that up until now Moses had not taught the commandments directly to the women but had spoken only to the men even when he addressed the people at large. In this instance G'd ordered Moses to speak directly also to the women and even to the children. They were to line up just as they had lined up at the revelation at Mount Sinai. We will offer an alternate solution shortly.

YE SHALL BE HOLY. “Abstain from the forbidden sexual relationships [mentioned in the preceding section] and from [other] sin,⁷So explained in Gur Aryeh on Rashi. because wherever you find [in the Torah] a warning to guard against immorality, you find the mention of ‘holiness.’” This is Rashi’s language. But in the Torath Kohanim I have seen it mentioned without any qualification [i.e., without any particular reference to immorality, as Rashi expressed it], saying:⁸Torath Kohanim, at beginning of Seder Kedoshim. “Be self-restraining.” Similarly, the Rabbis taught there:⁹Ibid., Shemini 12:4. “And ye shall sanctify yourselves, and be ye holy, for I am Holy.¹⁰Above, 11:44. Just as I am Holy, so be you holy. Just as I am Pure, so be you pure.” And in my opinion, this abstinence does not refer only to restraint from acts of immorality, as the Rabbi [Rashi] wrote, but it is rather the self-control mentioned throughout the Talmud, which confers upon those who practice it the name of P’rushim (Pharisees), [literally: “those who are separated” from self-indulgence, as will be explained, or those who practice self-restraint]. The meaning thereof is as follows: The Torah has admonished us against immorality and forbidden foods, but permitted sexual intercourse between man and his wife, and the eating of [certain] meat and wine. If so, a man of desire could consider this to be a permission to be passionately addicted to sexual intercourse with his wife or many wives, and be among winebibbers, among gluttonous eaters of flesh,¹¹Proverbs 23:20 and speak freely all profanities, since this prohibition has not been [expressly] mentioned in the Torah, and thus he will become a sordid person within the permissible realm of the Torah! Therefore, after having listed the matters which He prohibited altogether, Scripture followed them up by a general command that we practice moderation even in matters which are permitted, [such as in the following]: One should minimize sexual intercourse, similar to that which the Rabbis have said,¹²Berachoth 22 a. “So that the disciples of the Sages should not be found together with their wives as often as the hens,” and he should not engage in it except as required in fulfillment of the commandment thereof. He should also sanctify himself [to self-restraint] by using wine in small amounts, just as Scripture calls a Nazirite “holy” [for abstaining from wine and strong drink],¹³Numbers 6:8. and he should remember the evils which the Torah mentioned as following from [drinking wine] in the cases of Noah¹⁴Genesis 9:21. and Lot.¹⁵Ibid., 19:33. Similarly, he should keep himself away from impurity [in his ordinary daily activity], even though we have not been admonished against it in the Torah, similar to that which the Rabbis have said:¹⁶Chagigah 18 b. “For the P’rushim (Pharisees), the clothes of the unlearned are considered as if trodden upon by a zav” [or zavah — a man or woman having suffered a flux], and just as the Nazirite is called “holy” because of guarding himself from the impurity of the dead.¹⁷Numbers 6:6-7. Likewise he should guard his mouth and tongue from being defiled by excessive food and by lewd talk, similar to what Scripture states, and every mouth speaketh wantonness,¹⁸Isaiah 9:16. and he should purify himself in this respect until he reaches the degree known as [complete] “self-restraint,” as the Rabbis said concerning Rabbi Chiya,¹⁹See my Hebrew commentary p. 116, for different personalities to whom this character trait has been ascribed in Rabbinic sources. I have not found a clear source for Ramban’s version here. that never in his life did he engage in unnecessary talk. It is with reference to these and similar matters that this general commandment [Ye shall be holy] is concerned, after He had enumerated all individual deeds which are strictly forbidden, so that cleanliness of hands and body, are also included in this precept, just like the Rabbis have said:²⁰Berachoth 53 b. “And ye shall sanctify yourselves.¹⁰Above, 11:44. This refers to the washing of hands before meals. And be ye holy.¹⁰Above, 11:44. This refers to the washing of hands after meals [before the reciting of grace]. For I am holy — this alludes to the spiced oil” [with which they used to rub their hands after a meal]. For although these [washings and perfuming of the hands] are commandments of Rabbinic origin, yet Scripture’s main intention is to warn us of such matters, that we should be [physically] clean and [ritually] pure, and separated from the common people who soil themselves with luxuries and unseemly things. And such is the way of the Torah, that after it lists certain specific prohibitions, it includes them all in a general precept. Thus after warning with detailed laws regarding all business dealings between people, such as not to steal or rob or to wrong²¹Further, 25:17. one another, and other similar prohibitions, He said in general, And thou shalt do that which is right and good,²²Deuteronomy 6:18. thus including under a positive commandment the duty of doing that which is right and of agreeing to a compromise [when not to do so would be inequitable]; as well as all requirements to act “beyond” the line of justice [i.e., to be generous in not insisting upon one’s rights as defined by the strict letter of the law, but to agree to act “beyond” that line of the strict law] for the sake of pleasing one’s fellowman, as I will explain when I reach there [that verse], with the will of the Holy One, blessed be He. Similarly in the case of the Sabbath, He prohibited doing certain classes of work by means of a negative commandment,²³Exodus 20:10. and painstaking labors [not categorized as “work,” such as transferring heavy loads in one’s yard from one place to another, etc.] He included under a general positive commandment, as it is said, but on the seventh day thou shalt rest.²⁴Ibid., 23:12. I will yet explain this²⁵See further, 23:24. with the help of G-d.

ואמדת אליהם, "and say to them." According to Vayikra Rabbah 24, the reason we find both the harsh דבר and the softer ואמרת is that seeing this portion contains so much basic legislation G'd wanted it presented in a manner similar to the revelation at Mount Sinai. We find the combination of דבר ואמרת also in Exodus 19,3 where the dual form of כה תאמר ותגד is also explained as both harsh speech and softer speech.

FOR I THE ETERNAL YOUR G-D AM HOLY. This means to say that we will merit to cleave unto Him by being holy. This expression [I the Eternal your G-d] is similar to that of the first commandment in the Ten Commandments [which begins, I am the Eternal thy G-d].²⁶Exodus 20:2. He commanded here, Ye shall fear every man his mother, and his father,²⁷Verse 3. for there [in the Ten Commandments] He commanded that we honor them,²⁸Exodus 20:12. and here it is about fearing them. And he states here, and ye shall keep My Sabbaths,²⁷Verse 3. for there [in the Ten Commandments] He commanded concerning remembering it,²⁹Ibid., Verse 8 (Vol. II, pp. 306-311). and here about keeping it. We have already explained the meaning of both terms.²⁹Ibid., Verse 8 (Vol. II, pp. 306-311).

קדושים תהיו, "be holy!" We need to analyse what precisely G'd meant when He commanded us to either be or become "holy." I believe the Torah wanted to add a positive commandment as a corollary to the string of negative commandments we have just read in chapter 18. Inasmuch as G'd commanded us to be holy, a person who violates any of the transgressions of a sexual nature is not only guilty of violating a negative commandment but also simultaneously violates the commandment to strive and be holy.

Furthermore, our verse may reflect something we have learned in Kidushin 39: "If a person sits quietly and refrains from committing a transgression he is given a reward as if he had performed a positive commandment. This is the meaning of our verse. If you are presented with an opportunity to commit a sin and you refrain from grasping that opportunity, you have fulfilled the commandment to be or to become holy. The reason G'd commanded Moses to tell this commandment directly to the whole congregation of Israel was to inform them directly of this and to show them how easy it is to be counted amongst the people described as "holy." Every single individual can achieve that spiritual level by merely fighting off the desire to violate a commandment when the opportunity presents itself. Every Israelite is on the same spiritual level concerning the acquisition of this merit. This also explains why the Torah used both the harsh דבר and the softer ואמרת when introducing this comandment. The harsh דבר reminds us that violation of a commandment in chapter 18 is simultaneously a violation of the commandment to be holy. The softer ואמרת is a reminder that the merit of becoming holy can be attained by simply not violating a commandment when presented with an invitation to do so. Possibly, it is only the Israelites who qualify for reward simply for resisting the invitation to commit a sinful act. To assure us that this is so the Torah may have written the words: "to all the children of Israel."

כי קדוש אני, "for I am holy." What kind of a reason is this? Besides, how can a creature be expected to be similar to its Creator? Does not G'd possess many virtues and attributes not found amongst the Israelites? If the Torah wrote this line to explain that the reason why G'd commanded us to strive to be holy is that He Himself is holy, i.e. He wants us to be as much like Him as possible, but that this is not a reason which obligates us to be so, why would the Torah suddenly feel it incumbent upon itself to state a reason why G'd wishes us to behave in a certain manner?

It appears that our sages were sensitive to this point and that this is why they said the following in Torat Kohanim "If you sanctify yourselves I will account it for you as if you Had sanctified Me." Accordingly, we must view the word קדוש not merely as an adjective, but as a description of the usefulness of our action as well as of its reverse. If we were to do the reverse, G'd forbid, our moral failure would impair the very holiness of G'd Himself! The sages in Torat Kohanim phrased it thus: "If you do not strive to become holy, I will account it for you as if you had failed to sanctify Me." Possibly this is also a reason why the Torah used the dual דבר ואמדת, to teach us through the word דבר how seriously the Torah views the mere lack of effort to sanctify ourselves. On the other hand, ואמרת alludes to the Torah viewing a person who does try to sanctify himself as someone achieving spiritual stature.

Another way of explaining this verse is this. In the last chapter G'd issued a number of directives all of which ask us to deny a natural biological urge, something that threatens to dominate and subvert our רצון, our will, which is seated in the mind. I have already written concerning this subject on Leviticus 18,2 when the Torah referred to practices rampant both in Egypt and in the land of Canaan. We explained in that context that it is impossible to resist the lure of one's biological urge unless one not only avoids visual exposure but also makes a conscious effort not to allow one's imagination to dwell on the subject. Seeing that G'd did command us to procreate and thereby to insure the continuity of the human species, one cannot totally dissociate oneself from the subject of sex and all that this entails. Not only that, there are times when the very preoccupation with that subject becomes a positive commandment, how else is one to engage in one's marital duty at the right time and place? Is this not what Solomon (Proverbs 30,19) had in mind when he spoke of דרך גבר בעלמה, "the way of a man with a maiden?" He referred to the duty to procreate, something which cannot be done by total denial of any thoughts involving one's sexuality.

The Torah commanded us to be holy in order that we elevate the subject of procreation to a spiritual experience, not to the fulfilment of a mere biological urge. Marital relations are not to be merely a means to gratify the urges of one's body. The act is to be performed as a מצוה, much like putting on טלית ותפלין. When a person feels himself assailed by thoughts of sex unrelated to the duty to sire children, he should reject such thoughts and suppress them. He should conduct himself in accordance with the story told by a woman of her husband's conduct during marital relations (Nedarim 20). She described the reason why they were blessed with exceedingly handsome looking children as due to her husband's rigorous self-control even during the act of procreation. She said that her husband acted as if the very act itself were forced upon him by a demon. Such a person can truly be described as holy, and it is this the Torah wishes us to strive for and emulate.

Seeing that man will ask how it can be expected of him to suppress thoughts and emotions which overcome him without his having invited them, and how would he know which thoughts are inspired by simply physical urges, the Torah writes כי קדוש אני ה׳ אלוקיכם, that whenever someone performs a מצדה, G'd's holy name will come to rest on one of his organs. It will invariably be the organ involved in performance of that מצוה. It follows that if man uses his male organ only for the performance of the commandment to procreate and to multiply that he will enjoy a heavenly assist helping him control his biological urges (Tikkuney Ha-Zohar 70). In fact our verse alludes to the type of מצוה which secures one this heavenly assist. I have explained on Leviticus 18,4 why half the holy name of G'd is spelled recognisably while the other half is spelled in a deliberately obscure fashion (page 1181).

Another approach to the words כי קדוש אני is that these words are a reminder of the mutual bond between Israel and its G'd. We know from Deut. 4,4 that "you who cleave to the Lord are alive this day," that the key to our survival is the דבקות, the affinity we maintain with G'd. This theme has been repeated by the prophet Jeremiah in Jeremiah 13,11 where the prophet (G'd) describes this relationship in these words: "for as a loincloth clings close to the loins of a man, so I brought close to Me the whole House of Israel;" G'd therefore has the right to demand of us: קדושים תהיו, "be and maintain your sanctity because I am holy and you adhere to Me." If you were to argue: "how can one compare the straw to the grain," G'd answers "I am the Lord your G'd." This is a clear allusion to the principle that the presence of the שכינה in our midst is directly related to the degree of affinity we display in our relationship with G'd.

Another reason why the Torah writes: "be holy for I am holy," is that had it not been for this line we would have thought that as long as we had refrained from violating any of the sexual mores legislated in chapter 18 in deed, we had conformed with G'd's wishes. We would have thought that mere visual contact or fantasizing about such unions is not forbidden. We are told in Berachot 61 that even counting coins into the hands of a woman (in order to have an excuse to look at her) is forbidden. This prohibition is even derived from a biblical verse (Proverbs 11,21): יד ליד לא ינקה רע, "when [man and woman] join hands they will not be considered innocent of doing evil." (compare my translation of Alshich's commentary on that verse, page 209). In this instance G'd commanded the words "be holy," i.e. matters which are designed to maintain our distance from direct involvement with the women forbidden to us as sexual partners. The Zohar on 19,4 has interpreted the words: "do not turn in the direction of idols" in a similar manner. The Torah was not concerned with idolworship in that verse but with a mode of life which brings us into proximity with idols. We have interpreted Deut. 23,11 to mean that a ritually pure person will not experience involuntary seminal emission during his sleep. This is based on the same approach as the Torah employs here. He who does not entertain thoughts of forbidden sexual unions will not be aroused and lose control. A person is liable to claim that such nocturnal emissions during his sleep are entirely beyond his control, why should they be held against him? The Torah replies: "for I the Lord your G'd am holy." G'd implies: "I am able to protect you against such experiences for I will prevent a Jewish person falling victim to this kind of defilement unless the Israelite in question allows himself to dwell on the subject of forbidden sexual unions."

We may also interpret the words קדושים תהיו by emphasizing the future tense, i.e. תהיו, "you shall become holy." The implication is that this is a commandment which is an ongoing process. The Torah asks us to eat מצה on Passover, to sit in huts on סוכות, to abstain from certain kinds of activities on the Sabbath, etc. The common denominator of all those commandments is that they apply on certain days or on certain dates only. Not so the commandment of "be holy." This commandment applies day in day out throughout our lifetime. The imperative to strive for sanctity is one that we cannot take a vacation from. Even while we are busy performing this commandment it is one that we never have mastered completely. Whatever sanctity we attain is superior to what we had achieved previously but inferior to what we still hope to achieve. We know from our prophets that they too possessed sanctity in varying degrees, Moses having achieved the relatively highest level of sanctity. Nonetheless it is entirely possible that one can achieve even greater heights of sanctity than the level attained by Moses. The level of sanctity that will have been achieved by the Messiah when he reveals himself will prove to be even superior to that of Moses. We know this from Isaiah 11,2 in which the attributes of the Messiah are described. They include: "The spirit of the Lord shall descend upon him, a spirit of wisdom and insight, etc. etc." If we accept the words of Bamidbar Rabbah 19 and Devarim Rabbah chapter 2 that Moses himself will be the Messiah, this is further proof that there is no upper limit to the "holiness" described here by the Torah. The Torah writes תהיו in order to remind us that the ultimate realisation of the ideal of holiness will forever remain "in the future."

The Torah supplies the reason for this with the words "for I the Lord your G'd am holy." G'd implies that just as there is no limit to His holiness, so our striving for holiness must remain something that has no upper limit. G'd desires that His favourite creatures engage in an ongoing process of becoming more and more like their father in Heaven.

When G'd supplied the reason that we have to strive to become holy as "for I am holy," He meant that if one wants to compare oneself to someone superior the degree of effort one has to make depends on the relative loftiness of one's ideal, of the person one wants to emulate. Seeing that it is G'd who wants us to emulate Him, we can imagine that the effort to strive for holiness is not merely a relative one but the task is monumental inasmuch as our ideal is so indescribably superior to us. When a junior minister invites the king to be his guest, he makes suitable preparations so that the king will feel at home in his house. When we invite G'd to make His residence amongst the Jewish people must we not make extraordinary preparations to merit His presence on a permanent basis? This is what the Torah reminds us of when it describes G'd as "for I the Lord your G'd am holy."

You are familiar with the statement in Shabbat 112 that if "former generations could be compared to angels then we nowadays are merely like ordinary mortals; if, however, even the earlier generations were comparable only to ordinary mortals, then our generation is comparable to donkeys." This only underlines how much and how hard we have to strive to fulfil the commandment the Torah has legislated in our verse. As an illustration of how hard even the members of former generations worked at this, look at the example of Rabbi Eleazar ben Azaryah (compare Shabbat 54). When the cow of his neighbour [the text in our Mishnah speaks of Rabbi Eleazar's own cow, Ed.] left her stable on the Sabbath wearing a strap between her horns -something the Rabbis disapproved of-although according to the view of Rabbi Eleazar it was perfectly permissible, he fasted so many days that his teeth turned black (compare Jerusalem Talmud Shabbat chapter 5) as a form of penitence. The Torah uses the word דבר when introducing this commandment to alert us to the extraordinary demands this commandment makes upon us; on the other hand, the Torah continues with ואמרת, to remind us of the extraordinary spiritual benefits that accrue to people who take observance of this moral directive seriously. The words אל כל עדת בני ישראל are necessary so we should not say that a commandment demanding such stature could only be addressed to the elite of the people. The Torah stressed that everyone is included in this commandment to teach us that every single Israelite could become a potential Moses if he tried (compare Tannah be bey Eliyahu, and Maimonides hilchot Teshuvah chapter 5).

Yet another meaning of the words קדושים תהיו views this call as an ivitation to become like the angels who are called קדושים. We know this from Daniel 8,13 where Daniel reports overhearing a קדוש speak, etc. We must understand this as similar to Psalms 82,6 in which the Psalmist Assaph describes the human species as אלוהים, divine beings prior to Adam's sin. Seeing that G'd used to reside in the heavens, the domain of the angels, it is no more than reasonable to describe the Israelites as angels once they qualified to provide G'd's new home on earth. You may be interested to read about the reaction of the angels in the celestial regions when they found out that G'd took up residence amongst the humans on earth. (compare Zohar volume 2 page 140). In view of the agitation amongst the angels in the celestial regions who heard that G'd intended to move His residence to earth, He decided to command the Israelites to be holy like angels in order that the angels should cease complaining. This lends additional meaning to the words "I am the Lord your G'd." Thus far the Zohar on the subject.