A Holy People

וְאַנְשֵׁי־קֹ֖דֶשׁ תִּהְי֣וּן לִ֑י וּבָשָׂ֨ר בַּשָּׂדֶ֤ה טְרֵפָה֙ לֹ֣א תֹאכֵ֔לוּ לַכֶּ֖לֶב תַּשְׁלִכ֥וּן אֹתֽוֹ׃ {ס}

You shall be holy people to Me: you must not eat flesh torn by beasts in the field; you shall cast it to the dogs.

ובשר בשדה טרפה לפי שהיא קשה מן הנבלה שיש בה ארס הדורס ואינה מטמאה ומניחין אותה בשדה הזהיר עליה הכתוב מה שאין כן בנבלה, לפיכך מוכרין אותה לבן דעת המשמרה ואוכלה בבית פן יכשלו בה רבים אם יניחוה בשדה

Chizkuni, Exodus 22:30:1

ובשר בשדה טרפה, “flesh from animals that were found in the field torn,” you must not eat; eating such flesh is an even greater sin than eating the flesh of animals that died of natural causes but had not undergone ritual slaughter. The probable reason is that such torn carcasses may have become infected by harmful bacteria transmitted by the marauding beast that had caused their death. It is therefore to be left untouched on the field where found.

רמב"ן על שמות כ״ב:ל׳:א׳

ואנשי קדש תהיון לי טעם הכתוב הזה, כי עד הנה הזכיר המשפטים והזהיר בדברים המכוערים. ועתה כשבא להתחיל באיסור המאכל פתח ואמר ואנשי קדש תהיון לי, שראוי הוא שיאכל האדם כל מה שיחיה בו, ואין האסורין במאכלים רק טהרה בנפש, שתאכל דברים נקיים שלא יולידו עובי וגסות בנפש, על כן אמר ואנשי קודש תהיון לי, כלומר אני חפץ שתהיו אנשי קדש בעבור שתהיו ראויים לי לדבקה בי שאני קדוש, לפיכך לא תגעלו נפשותיכם באכילת הדברים המתועבים

Ramban on Exodus 22:30:1

AND YE SHALL BE HOLY MEN UNTO ME. The reason for the expression in this verse is that until now He mentioned only the ordinances and admonished them about repulsive matters, but now when He is about to begin the law of forbidden food, He prefaced it by saying, And ye shall be holy men unto Me. For in order to preserve his physical life man should [be able to] eat anything which serves that purpose, and the prohibitions concerning certain foods are only a means of guarding the purity of the soul, in order that one should eat clean things which do not give rise to harshness and coarseness in the soul. Therefore He said, And ye shall be holy men unto Me, that is to say: “I want you to be holy men so that you will become suitable for Me, to cleave to Me, for I am Holy; therefore do not defile your souls by eating abominable things.”

Jastrow Dictionary - קָדוֹשׁ
קָדֹשׁ: to be cut off, separated, to be/become pure, sacred, holy
Excerpt from Sacred Fragments by Neil Gilman
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"

Excerpt from Bechirat Yisrael by Martin Buber
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.

Excerpt from Thirteen Petaled Rose by Adin Steinsaltz

"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."

Questions:
In your opinion, what about eating torn meat is contrary to Holiness?
Are there ways that your relationship to food, what you choose to eat or not, connects you with a sense Holiness?
What does it mean to be a Holy People?
What is the relationship between the Holiness of Am Yisrael and the Holiness of HaShem?

תענית כ״ט א:י״ח

מִשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אָב מְמַעֲטִין בְּשִׂמְחָה וְכוּ׳. אָמַר רַב יְהוּדָה בְּרֵיהּ דְּרַב שְׁמוּאֵל בַּר שִׁילַת מִשְּׁמֵיהּ דְּרַב: כְּשֵׁם שֶׁמִּשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אָב מְמַעֲטִין בְּשִׂמְחָה — כָּךְ מִשֶּׁנִּכְנַס אֲדָר מַרְבִּין בְּשִׂמְחָה.

Taanit 29a:18

§ The mishna teaches that from when the month of Av begins, one decreases acts of rejoicing. Rav Yehuda, son of Rav Shmuel bar Sheilat, said in the name of Rav: Just as when Av begins one decreases rejoicing, so too when the month of Adar begins, one increases rejoicing.