וִהְיִ֤יתֶם לִי֙ קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֑ה וָאַבְדִּ֥ל אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִן־הָֽעַמִּ֖ים לִהְי֥וֹת לִֽי׃
E sereis santos para mim, porque eu יהוה sou santo, e vos separei dos povos para serdes meus.
Rabbeinu Bahya
בנים אתם לה' אלוקיך”You are children to the Lord your G’d.” The reason this paragraph follows immediately after the paragraph dealing with the עיר הנדחת is that it is forbidden to observe rites of mourning on behalf of any of the people of that city that have been executed, just as it is forbidden to observe mourning for anyone executed judicially by the court. The Torah continues to describe mourning rites which are forbidden to observe even for people for whom it is incumbent upon us to observe mourning under normal circumstances.
The Torah forbids incisions in one’s flesh, לא תתגודדו, as a pagan rite of mourning practiced by the Emorites. They did this because they considered life on earth as the principal life of a person; therefore, they had no reason to consider his departure from earth as a promotion to a higher form of life in the celestial regions. Emorites were therefore correct to mourn their family members as losses never to be restored.
The Torah tells us here that our whole outlook on life is so radically different that we have nothing in common with them seeing that “you are children of the Lord your G’d.” It is customary for a father to leave his son as a bequest something which was very dear to him. Seeing that we are G’d’s children and He is our father, He leaves us the bequest of the world to come as His portion for us. Seeing Jews who die have such a bright future to look forward to in the hereafter it would be most inappropriate to overreact to our loss and ignore their promotion by making painful incisions on our flesh. Pulling out one’s hair and other such symbols of our grief are equally out of the question. The Torah adds: “for you are a holy nation;” the meaning of קדוש is “separate, apart,” i.e. of all the nations of the world you have been set apart in that we receive the reward for good deeds performed in this life in another life, a life which commences with the death of our bodies.
The Torah forbids incisions in one’s flesh, לא תתגודדו, as a pagan rite of mourning practiced by the Emorites. They did this because they considered life on earth as the principal life of a person; therefore, they had no reason to consider his departure from earth as a promotion to a higher form of life in the celestial regions. Emorites were therefore correct to mourn their family members as losses never to be restored.
The Torah tells us here that our whole outlook on life is so radically different that we have nothing in common with them seeing that “you are children of the Lord your G’d.” It is customary for a father to leave his son as a bequest something which was very dear to him. Seeing that we are G’d’s children and He is our father, He leaves us the bequest of the world to come as His portion for us. Seeing Jews who die have such a bright future to look forward to in the hereafter it would be most inappropriate to overreact to our loss and ignore their promotion by making painful incisions on our flesh. Pulling out one’s hair and other such symbols of our grief are equally out of the question. The Torah adds: “for you are a holy nation;” the meaning of קדוש is “separate, apart,” i.e. of all the nations of the world you have been set apart in that we receive the reward for good deeds performed in this life in another life, a life which commences with the death of our bodies.
Kli Yakar
However, according to what is concluded in the Midrash, Korach — who made a bald spot [korcha] in the world, etc., it appears that the author of this Midrash intends to say that Korach disputed the existence of the Holy One, Blessed be He, as it is written, who had assembled against the Lord when they opposed the Lord (Numbers 26:9). But where do we find that Korach assembled against the Lord? Even though our Sages of blessed memory said (Sanhedrin 110a) that one who disputes his teacher is like one who disputes the Divine Presence, nevertheless, this itself is difficult — why should it be considered like disputing the Divine Presence?
Rather, it is because Korach claimed that the world is eternal, co-eternal with the Holy One, Blessed be He, and that it exists necessarily. He needed this heretical belief to strengthen his argument, as he claimed and said, For all the congregation are holy, and the Lord is among them; why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? His intention was to say that no created being has superiority or authority over another, just as there is no primacy [God forbid] of the Blessed One over His creations. This is why he said, and the Lord is among them. It would have been appropriate to say that the Lord is at their head, not among them in the middle, but this indicated and acknowledged, as it were, that He has no primacy. How much more so, a fortiori, why do you exalt yourselves?
Moses replied to him, In the morning — the Holy One, Blessed be He, set boundaries in His world — “Can you transform morning into evening? So too, you cannot nullify this,” as it says, And there was evening and there was morning… and He divided (Genesis 1:4-5). And it is written, I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine (Leviticus 20:26). And just as He distinguished Israel from the nations, so did He distinguish Aaron, etc. [Rashi, quoting the Midrash].
Rather, it is because Korach claimed that the world is eternal, co-eternal with the Holy One, Blessed be He, and that it exists necessarily. He needed this heretical belief to strengthen his argument, as he claimed and said, For all the congregation are holy, and the Lord is among them; why then do you exalt yourselves above the assembly of the Lord? His intention was to say that no created being has superiority or authority over another, just as there is no primacy [God forbid] of the Blessed One over His creations. This is why he said, and the Lord is among them. It would have been appropriate to say that the Lord is at their head, not among them in the middle, but this indicated and acknowledged, as it were, that He has no primacy. How much more so, a fortiori, why do you exalt yourselves?
Moses replied to him, In the morning — the Holy One, Blessed be He, set boundaries in His world — “Can you transform morning into evening? So too, you cannot nullify this,” as it says, And there was evening and there was morning… and He divided (Genesis 1:4-5). And it is written, I have set you apart from the peoples to be Mine (Leviticus 20:26). And just as He distinguished Israel from the nations, so did He distinguish Aaron, etc. [Rashi, quoting the Midrash].
Or HaChaim
The words כל קדושיו may best be understood in line with Yalkut Shimoni at the end of Parshat Kedoshim item 626, on Leviticus 20,26: "and I have separated you from the other nations to be Mine." If the Torah had written: "I have separated the other nations from you," this would have meant that we do not accept proselytes. Seeing that the Torah uses the reverse order and writes: "I have separated you from the nations," this means that when Gentiles wish to convert to Judaism they are able to do so. [this is the thrust of the comment; our author has enlarged on it. Ed.] The words קדשיו בידיך mean that G'd reserves the right to allow those who wish to sanctify themselves by embracing the Torah to do so.
Rabbeinu Bahya
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ולהיתך עם קדש … כאשר דבר AND THAT THOU MAYEST BE AN HOLY PEOPLE … AS HE HATH SPOKEN — in the words, (Leviticus 20:26) “And ye shall be holy unto Me” (Mekhilta).