Being Holy in the 21st Century

Apr 25, 2014 By Gerald C. Skolnik | Commentary | Kedoshim

If I were challenged to present a one-sentence, pithy articulation of the overarching responsibility of a Jew in this world, I would be hard pressed to find abetter phrasing than the second verse of this week’s Torah reading, Parashat Kedoshim: “Kedoshim tih’yu, ki kadosh Ani Adonai Eloheikhem”(Be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy).

Getting Out of Your Own Way

Apr 16, 2013 By Abigail Treu | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

“You shall not . . . place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God. I am the Lord.” Taken literally, this is a verse about respecting the disabled. Taken figuratively—as the Rabbis give us ample precedent and license to do—it is about all of us.

A Holy Tongue: Kedushah and the Ethics of Speech

May 1, 2015 By Marc Gary | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

A few years ago, my wife and I attended a retreat at Camp Ramah Darom in northern Georgia. The scholar-in-residence for the Shabbat was Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, a widely respected author of popular books on Jewish literacy and Jewish ethics. He suggested that all of us in attendance—approximately 100 adults—commit to one of the most difficult challenges we had ever faced: refrain from talking about other people for the duration of Shabbat. That is to say, for an entire day, we should speak not a word of gossip. I will not tell you whether we succeeded or failed in that challenge, but I will tell you that it was a very long 25 hours indeed.

Aharei Mot-Kedoshim

Jan 1, 1980

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to the presence of the Lord. ² The Lord said to Moses:
Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come at will into the Shrine behind the curtain, in front of the cover that is upon the ark, lest he die; for I appear in the cloud over the cover. 

Filling Life with Life

May 5, 2012 By Arnold M. Eisen | Commentary | Aharei Mot | Kedoshim

“The deeds of the ancestors are a sign for their descendants,” said the medieval commentator Nahmanides. Sometimes it seems that the weekly Torah portion captures the situation of our generation with remarkable prescience. So it is with Aharei Mot-Kedoshim.

Kedoshim

Jan 1, 1980

⁷ To Me, O Israelites, you are
Just like the Ethiopians

— declares the Lord —

True, I brought Israel up
From the land of Egypt,
But also the Philistines from Caphtor
And the Arameans from Kir.

Kedoshim

Jan 1, 1980

¹ The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: ² Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them:

You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.