The Parshios of Vayikra

The parshios of Vayikra are known as תורת כהנים. This is because many of the mitzvos given in the parshios between Vayikra and the end of Behokosai are specifically to do with the Kohanim or the Mishkon and Bais Hamikdosh. Nevertheless, there are numerous parshios which are not to do with Kohanim specifically, for example, virtually the whole of the sedra Kedoshim and a considerable amount of Behar-Behokosai as well as parts of Shemini and Emor.

Looking at the five parshios commencing אחרי מות, carrying on with קדשים, אמר, through בהר and finally בחקתי, I think we can find a common thread running through all these parshios, namely, that a person has to try to acquire the quality of kedusha. In order to be able to do this, one has to not only keep to the strict mitzvos of Torah but one also has to build extra walls and fences to assist in obtaining kedusha and increasing it.

The word קדושה comes from the root קדש. This is translated in English as Holy. But what does it mean? We have visions of angels up in heaven saying קדוש קדוש קדוש ה' צבאות Holy, holy, holy is Hashem of the legions. We need to define what is meant by this holiness. It is broadly speaking, setting oneself aside from the mundane and becoming more spiritual and near to Hashem.

Rashi at the beginning of Kedoshim states as follows:-
כל מקום שאתה מוצא גדר ערוה אתה מוצא קדושה. A negative concept, wherever you find a fence against lewdness you will find holiness.

The Ramban goes one further and states that one can keep all the mitzvos of Torah and still be what is called a נבל ברשות התורה. I intend going into that concept in greater detail a little later.

קדושה has been translated as הבדלה and פרישות, setting oneself aside and perhaps even leading an ascetic life. That is only part of the concept.

We must, however, always remember that the רבונו של עולם’s קדושה His sanctity and holiness is much higher than any holiness that we can aspire to. קדושתי למעלה מקודשתם

The seforim Hakedoshim say that there are three parallel levels on which one has to work. They are known as עולם, the world, שנה, time, and נפש, the soul, the human being. In each department one has to create, retain and aspire to kedusha.

Let us commence with the sedra אחרי מות. This gives detailed instructions for Aharon and subsequent Kohanim Gedolim to go into the Holy of Holies, the Kodesh Kodeshim, once a year. This is firstly a reflection of kedusha in time, namely the 10th Tishrei every year. It is also kedusha of עולם, the world, because it is the one place in the world, originally the Mishkon and subsequently the Bais Hamikdosh, which had this special kedusha. In addition, the Kohan Godol had to set himself aside for seven days before Yom Kippur and on Yom Kippur itself, immerse himself five times in the mikvah. We see here all three headings of kedusha, עולם, שנה, נפש. The particular place in the world, in time and in the person. Furthermore, the Kohen Godol only had the opportunity to go into the Kodesh Kodeshim just once a year.

The next parsha in Torah talks about שחוטי חוץ, that is a sacrifice, a korban, may not be brought (when there was a Mishkon or the Bais Hamikdosh standing) except at that very place, again this is קדושת המקום, a place in the world. This is followed by the parsha stating that one may not eat blood under any circumstances. This being קדושת הנפש, in a human being. In fact, the Torah itself uses the word נפש in this connection.

We begin to see that in order to create, retain and aspire to kedusha, one has to have these restraints and much more.

This is followed by the parsha of עריות, the ultimate in physical kedusha, namely, that certain relationships are completely forbidden. So much so, that the Torah says that the transgressing of those mitzvos can cause the opposite of kedusha, and lead, in the extreme, to the Bnei Yisroel being exiled from our Holy Land. As we know, unfortunately, this did happen on more than one occasion especially after each Beis HaMikdosh was destroyed.

Immediately after that, commences the sedra קדשים. Where we are enjoined to be spiritually holy.

Interestingly, if one goes carefully through all the mitzvos in that sedra, they appear to be a jumble of commands. There are relationships between one man and his fellow man and at the same time other mitzvos between man and his maker. I should like to enumerate a few of the general principles

We can climb the ladder of holiness by being kind and charitable, honest and fair, upright and just, practising self control over our words, our thoughts and our actions and by avoiding spiritually destructive things, relationships and also by atoning for all our mistakes. We have to behave in a holy manner with regard to agriculture, personal conduct and appearance, child rearing, inter-personal relationships, commerce and life in general. This is all mentioned in the sedra קדשים. Of course, there are numerous other mitzvos mentioned including שבת, פיגול and נותר, ערלה etc. which are mitzvos בין אדם למקום.

All these help in and are part of ascending the ladder of holiness.

As we can see kedusha, holiness, does not just mean putting our heads in the clouds and having mitzvos between ourselves and Hashem. It is very much also about inter personal relationships בין אדם לחבירו.

As I mentioned fleetingly earlier on, the Ramban at the beginning of Kedoshim goes one step further in trying to define and discuss kedusha.

The Ramban says that one can keep all the mitzvos and still be what he refers to as a נבל ברשות התורה, namely being very lowly without breaking any of the mitzvos. To illustrate, if somebody sits all day long eating and drinking like a glutton, even though he can be eating absolutely kosher foods and drinking nothing which is prohibited, it is very far from kedusha and in fact it leads to the opposite happening. The person can become very coarse and degenerate, instead of refined and holy.

You may have noted when reading the sedra last week, that it is the second verse of קדשים which states קדשים תהיו, you shall be holy. The second verse from the end of the sedra repeats this. The Torah says והייתם לי קדשים You should be holy to Me, כי קדוש אני ה' because I am Holy. Meaning that you should try and emulate Me, as far as is humanly possible, of course. I don’t know whether anybody has noticed that the word Kedoshim is spelt without a ו, קדשים, whereas the word קדוש is spelt with the ו, when referring to Hashem.

I have discovered that this is a general rule in Torah, namely, wherever we are referring to the kedusha of Hashem, the holiness with reference to the Al-mighty, the word is spelt קדוש. This is because His Holiness, sanctity, separation etc. is beyond and above anything that we can aspire to, it is מלא, complete, in the same way it is spelt fully, קדוש. When the Torah refers to human beings theו is omitted because we can only go so far.

Turning to the next sedra, אמר, if you look at פסוק ח', the 8th verse, we are talking about the Kohanim, and their level of kedusha. וקדשתו כי את לחם אלקיך הוא מקריב you should sanctify him because he brings the sacrifices to Hashem. The Torah carries on as follows קדש יהיה לך he should be holy to you כי קדוש אני ה' מקדישכם because I am Holy, and sanctify you. Please note that the first קדש, referring to the Kohen, is spelt חסר, without a ו, whereas the second one, referring to Hashem, is spelt מלא, with a ו, קדוש.

As I mentioned the kedusha of the Kohanim is given in detail at the beginning of Emor and the Kohan Godol’s kedusha is at a higher level. We are talking there of קדושת הנפש, the human being.

The Torah then continues, all Jews have to be careful not to touch or to eat of קרבנות when they are in a state of טומאה. Then we have the parsha about the animals themselves that could not be sacrificed if they were not perfect, without any blemish. This is followed by an injunction that an animal cannot be sacrificed for the first seven days of its life. This, in turn, is followed by the various parshios all concerning the different קרבנות brought in the Mishkon or the Bais Hamikdosh on Yomim Tovim.

Harking back to the three parallel levels of kedusha that I mentioned above, one can see that again עולם, שנה, and נפש are mentioned time and time again. There was even a kedusha in respect of the oil that was utilised for the menorah, of course, in the Holy part of the Mishkon and that it had to be replenished each day. We then go to the parsha of the לחם הפנים, the special bread that was brought once a week and placed on the shulchan, on the table, once again in the Holy part of the Mishkon.

We can see that apparently mundane objects in the world, including animals, oil, bread etc. are utilised as a means of spiritual uplift and kedusha.

The Torah then comes to another parsha where there was an incorrect relationship between an Egyptian man and a Jewish woman and the son was caught blaspheming and what happened to him and others in similar circumstances. Obviously, the opposite of kedusha, to be avoided at all costs.

The sedra of בהר commences with the mitzvah of שמיטה, here we have קדושת הארץ, the holiness, the sanctity of the actual Land of Israel. Once in seven years, work on the fields stopped, קדושת הזמן. We know that the farmers and their families were supposed to spiritually elevate themselves as well in that sabbatical year, קדושת הנפש.

The Torah then goes one further and states that once in 50 years there is a special jubilee יובל, so that in effect one has two years of complete rest of the fields, the 49th year and the 50th year, to the extent that even Jewish servants had to be allowed to go home then and the leasehold properties which had been sold reverted to their owners.

Do I have to keep on mentioning the interplay between עולם, שנה,and נפש, Eretz Yisroel being holier than the rest of the world, the years mentioned in and the individuals as well.

The Torah then continues for the whole of בהר with a poor person selling part of his inheritance and selling a house and eventually selling himself, not only to a fellow Jew but in extremity to a Non Jew. Rashi tells us that this was all because originally שמיטה was not kept properly and this was a downward spiral, the opposite of kedusha.

Finally, in בחקתי we are enjoined to keep all the mitzvos properly and we will have great ברכה blessings showered upon us.

If, חס וחלילה we do the opposite, there are a series of קללות which unfortunately over the ages did occur in previous generations.

However, the Torah then, at the end of בחקתי comes back to kedusha, the elevation of people and animals and possessions by declaring them קודש, holy, ending finally with the mitzvah of taking a tithe, מעשר from all flocks, the tenth one being, as the Torah states קדש לה'.

I think that you will agree that there is a common thread going through these sedras from אחרי מות right the way through to בחקתי. This is a lesson for all of us, male and female, to try and adhere to קדושהand spiritually uplift ourselves. This, of course, includes keeping the mitzvos בין אדם למקום between ourselves and Hashem, and בין אדם לחבירו between ourselves and fellow Jews.