The Hebrew root ק.ד.ש. can mean:
- Apartness
- Sacredness
- Holiness
- Consecrated
(א) וַיְדַבֵּ֥ר ה׳ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֥ה לֵּאמֹֽר׃ (ב) דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כׇּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם׃
(1) God spoke to Moses, saying: (2) Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, your God, am holy.
(לד) כְּאֶזְרָ֣ח מִכֶּם֩ יִהְיֶ֨ה לָכֶ֜ם הַגֵּ֣ר ׀ הַגָּ֣ר אִתְּכֶ֗ם וְאָהַבְתָּ֥ לוֹ֙ כָּמ֔וֹךָ כִּֽי־גֵרִ֥ים הֱיִיתֶ֖ם בְּאֶ֣רֶץ מִצְרָ֑יִם אֲנִ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם׃
(34) The strangers who reside with you shall be to you as your citizens; you shall love each one as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am your God.
(ז) וְהִ֨תְקַדִּשְׁתֶּ֔ם וִהְיִיתֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֑ים כִּ֛י אֲנִ֥י ה׳ אֱלֹקֵיכֶֽם׃ (ח) וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם֙ אֶת־חֻקֹּתַ֔י וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָ֑ם אֲנִ֥י ה׳ מְקַדִּשְׁכֶֽם׃
(7) You shall sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I ה׳ am your God. (8) You shall faithfully observe My laws: I make you holy.
(כו) וִהְיִ֤יתֶם לִי֙ קְדֹשִׁ֔ים כִּ֥י קָד֖וֹשׁ אֲנִ֣י ה׳ וָאַבְדִּ֥ל אֶתְכֶ֛ם מִן־הָֽעַמִּ֖ים לִהְי֥וֹת לִֽי׃
(26) You shall be holy to Me, for I am holy, and I have set you apart from other peoples to be Mine.
שׁוּב מַעֲשֶׂה בְּגוֹי אֶחָד שֶׁבָּא לִפְנֵי שַׁמַּאי. אָמַר לוֹ: גַּיְּירֵנִי עַל מְנָת שֶׁתְּלַמְּדֵנִי כׇּל הַתּוֹרָה כּוּלָּהּ כְּשֶׁאֲנִי עוֹמֵד עַל רֶגֶל אַחַת! דְּחָפוֹ בְּאַמַּת הַבִּנְיָן שֶׁבְּיָדוֹ. בָּא לִפְנֵי הִלֵּל, גַּיְירֵיהּ. אָמַר לוֹ: דַּעֲלָךְ סְנֵי לְחַבְרָךְ לָא תַּעֲבֵיד — זוֹ הִיא כׇּל הַתּוֹרָה כּוּלָּהּ, וְאִידַּךְ פֵּירוּשָׁהּ הוּא, זִיל גְּמוֹר.
There was another incident involving a non-Jewish person who came before Shammai and said to Shammai: "[Help me] convert me with the condition that [in doing so] you teach me the entire Torah while I am standing on one foot." Shammai pushed him away with the stick in his hand. The same non-Jewish person came before Hillel. He [Hillel] converted him and said to him: "That which is hateful to you do not do to another; that is the entire Torah, and the rest is its interpretation. Go study."
Rabbi Aha in Leviticus Rabbah 15:1
If a person can protest a wrongdoing of another and does not, or if they can help support students of Torah and do not, such a person is not considered holy. But, if a person does protest the wrongdoing of others and does support students of Torah, that person attains holiness.
Rabbi Shefa Gold on Holiness
LOOKING THROUGH GOD’S EYES, I can see a world that is whole, undivided by class, race, gender, yet exquisitely beautiful in its diversity; each part of the whole uniquely precious. This vision guides me towards justice and opens my arms in embrace of the stranger. My holiness rests on the “I AM” that God speaks from within me.
That “I AM” reverberates through me and also speaks from the center of every moment in time and every molecule in space.
When I chant the Sh’ma* each day, I am reminded to listen within me for that “I AM” — which is the source of holiness. By listening and paying attention to the holiness at the core of each moment, to the holiness of existence itself, I am sanctifying myself for a life of being holy. This means being true to my own essential nature, which is loving and generous and interdependent.
I am blessed with knowing how precious my life is, and through this intimate knowledge I am guided to cherish all life.
The Summer Day by Mary Oliver
Who made the world? Who made the swan, and the black bear? Who made the grasshopper? This grasshopper, I mean — the one who has flung herself out of the grass, the one who is eating sugar out of my hand, who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down — who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes. Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face. Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away. I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass, how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields, which is what I have been doing all day. Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Discussion Questions