(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר יְהוָ֖ה אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כָּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ (ג) אִ֣ישׁ אִמּ֤וֹ וְאָבִיו֙ תִּירָ֔אוּ וְאֶת־שַׁבְּתֹתַ֖י תִּשְׁמֹ֑רוּ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ (ד) אַל־תִּפְנוּ֙ אֶל־הָ֣אֱלִילִ֔ים וֵֽאלֹהֵי֙ מַסֵּכָ֔ה לֹ֥א תַעֲשׂ֖וּ לָכֶ֑ם אֲנִ֖י יְהוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
(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. (3) You shall each revere his mother and his father, and keep My sabbaths: I the LORD am your God. (4) Do not turn to idols or make molten gods for yourselves: I the LORD am your God.
וִהְיִ֤יתֶם לִי֙ קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אֲנִ֣י יְהוָ֑ה וָאַבְדִּ֥ל אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִן־הָֽעַמִּ֖ים לִהְי֥וֹת לִֽי׃
You shall be holy to Me, for I the LORD am holy, and I have set you apart from other peoples to be Mine.
Defining קָדוֹשׁ
קָדֹשׁ: to be cut off, separated, to be/become pure, sacred, holy (Jastrow Dictionary)
This "separated" quality is probably the basic meaning of the Hebrew word kadosh. Much like the English word "distinguished," which can mean both "separate" and "special," kadosh begins by meaning "separate" and ends by meaning "special" or "sacred," "holy," "elevated" (Neil Gilman, Sacred Fragments, p.229)
קָדֹשׁ: to be cut off, separated, to be/become pure, sacred, holy (Jastrow Dictionary)
This "separated" quality is probably the basic meaning of the Hebrew word kadosh. Much like the English word "distinguished," which can mean both "separate" and "special," kadosh begins by meaning "separate" and ends by meaning "special" or "sacred," "holy," "elevated" (Neil Gilman, Sacred Fragments, p.229)
God is separate from the world and transcends it, but God is not withdrawn from it. Israel must in imitating God by being a holy nation similarly not withdraw from the the world, but rather radiate a positive influence on it through every aspect of Jewish living.
Martin Buber, Bechirat Yisrael
Martin Buber, Bechirat Yisrael
"The root meaning of the concept of the holy in the holy language is separation: it implies the apartness and remoteness of something. The holy is that which is out of bounds, untouchable, and altogether beyond grasp: it cannot be understood or even defined, being so totally unlike anything else. To be holy is, in essence, to be distinctly other." Adin Steinsaltz, p. 69 Thirteen Petaled Rose (1980).
1. How do we identify what is holy?
2. If God is Holy, unlike anything else, how can we also be holy?
3. To comprehend holiness, we have to be open to its influences and forms. Holiness emanates through place, time and soul. Does the concept of holiness vary as to its milieu?
1. How do we identify what is holy?
2. If God is Holy, unlike anything else, how can we also be holy?
3. To comprehend holiness, we have to be open to its influences and forms. Holiness emanates through place, time and soul. Does the concept of holiness vary as to its milieu?
God can be both within time and beyond time. God encompasses the Cosmos and God transcends the cosmos. There is no logical reason compelling God to be exclusively one or the other. Recognizing that God can be both5in some manifestations within time$ in some modes of being beyond space time$ erases 1500 years of fruitless philosophical gerrymandering and opens us to the poetry and depth of biblical/rabbinic tradition. God on God's own is beyond time. God, entering into relationship, is within time. Brad Artson, Holy, Holy, Holy! Jewish Affirmations of Panenthieism.
1. Is God radically separate?
2. Is God constant and unchanging?
3. Is God influenced by this world?
4. Is God more than everything and thus transcendent, or is everything in God and thus imminent? Is God both here and more than here?
5. God on God's own is beyond time. God entering into a relationship is within time.
2. Is God constant and unchanging?
3. Is God influenced by this world?
4. Is God more than everything and thus transcendent, or is everything in God and thus imminent? Is God both here and more than here?
5. God on God's own is beyond time. God entering into a relationship is within time.
(ג) וְקָרָ֨א זֶ֤ה אֶל־זֶה֙ וְאָמַ֔ר קָד֧וֹשׁ ׀ קָד֛וֹשׁ קָד֖וֹשׁ יְהוָ֣ה צְבָא֑וֹת מְלֹ֥א כָל־הָאָ֖רֶץ כְּבוֹדֽוֹ׃
(3) And one would call to the other, “Holy, holy, holy! The LORD of Hosts! His presence fills all the earth!”
Kedusha, we have explained, is the increase in God's presence in the world as produced by Man's ability to reflect the absolute perfection of God. Man does this by perfecting himself, by striving upward to transcend himself, to be more than he naturally is. In other words, kedusha is transcendence, real increase in value, producing more than the sum of the parts. Rav Ezra Bick.
“Kadosh” refers to a person’s individual obligation to become holy. I need to do things to improve and better myself and I have a personal religious obligation to become holy. To be Kadosh is an obligation that is specific to me and is based on my own particular character DNA and personality. It is a mandate that is specific to my particular strengths and weaknesses.
“Kodesh,” on the other hand, refers to a form of holiness that’s transferable from item to item or from person to person. Kodesh means that my level of holiness, or lack thereof, doesn’t just affect me, but is shared with those around me. It creates a social norm that influences my spouse, my children, my neighbors and my community. While the Torah tells us we must be Kadosh, we must make ourselves holy, the Torah also reminds us that we are Kodesh, that we need to be cognizant of the fact that our actions also impact those around us. My holiness affects your holiness as well.
Rabbi Philip Moskowitz
“Kodesh,” on the other hand, refers to a form of holiness that’s transferable from item to item or from person to person. Kodesh means that my level of holiness, or lack thereof, doesn’t just affect me, but is shared with those around me. It creates a social norm that influences my spouse, my children, my neighbors and my community. While the Torah tells us we must be Kadosh, we must make ourselves holy, the Torah also reminds us that we are Kodesh, that we need to be cognizant of the fact that our actions also impact those around us. My holiness affects your holiness as well.
Rabbi Philip Moskowitz
There is another way to understand this passuk. The Great Maggid of Mezhirech offered another explanation of you shall be holy. The Midrash on Kedoshim comments on this verse: “One might think that we are commanded to be as holy as God; so the verse continues, for I the Eternal your God am holy—My holiness is above [superior to] yours.” The Maggid parses the words of the Midrash in the following way: “My holiness above—is yours.” That is, God’s holiness is dependent on ours, so to speak. The children of Israel, by means of their good deeds, bring about holiness above in heaven. We are to be like God because God is holy, and our good deeds increase holiness everywhere.
"Holiness is arrived at when one lives life in its fullest dimensions, when one experiences the physical and the spiritual in interaction with each other. When I meet another person and interact casually, even if I treat them honestly and respectfully, I am living properly. But when I deepen the exchange into a relationship, into caring and loving the other, then I get to know them in depth as an image of God. I experience them not just as another person, but as a wondrous creature that is of infinite value, equal and unique. This is a moment of holy encounter. Then, if I go deeper, on and through and beyond meeting the other, I encounter the divine medium, the God in which the image is rooted. This too is the experience of holiness." Yitz Greenberg