Let’s begin with the opening blessing for the Torah:

Our Torah portion this week is called K'doshim. The root of this Hebrew word is one of the most widely recognized, as well as beloved words in the language spoken by the offspring of Avraham: kadosh. Actually "kodesh" itself is not the prime root, but nevertheless, it is the most easily recognized of the cognates.

Our parashah begins with this benevolent statement from the Holy One:

The following lengthy quote from the 'Everyman's Talmud' by Abraham Cohen is made concerning holiness: 'To the Rabbis the idea of God was not a metaphysical abstraction but the very foundation of right human living. As already mentioned, idolatry was synonymous with immorality and a degraded standard of life. Conversely, belief in God was the inspiration of a lofty plane of thought and action. It will be shown later that the doctrine of imitatio Dei, the Imitation of God, lies at the root of Talmudic ethics.

'The characteristic term, which distinguishes the Deity from this point of view, is 'holiness.' It implies apartness from everything that defiles as well as actual perfection. The Rabbinic Jew always thought of God as 'the Holy One, blessed be He,' that being the commonest of all the names ascribed to Him.

'Both the divine holiness and its meaning for human beings are emphasized in this [Talmudic] passage: 'The Holy One, blessed be He, says to man, "Behold, I am pure, My abode is pure, My ministers are pure, and the soul I give you is pure. If you return it to Me in the same state of purity that I give it to you, well and good; if not, I will destroy it before you"' (Leviticus Rabbah XVIII. I).

'But the term 'holiness' has a special connotation when applied to God. It has a perfection, which is beyond the attainment of any human being. In the text, 'For he is a holy God' (Josh. XXIV. 19), the adjective has a plural form, which is explained to mean, 'He is holy with all kinds of holiness,' i.e., He is the perfection of holiness. On the words 'Ye shall be holy' (Leviticus XIX. 2) the comment is made: 'It is possible to imagine that man can be as holy as God; therefore the Scripture adds, "for I am holy"—My holiness is higher than any degree of holiness you can reach’ (Leviticus Rabbah XXIV. 9).’

As has already been stated, holiness is not metaphysical; our concept of holiness does not define what is holy. Only the Holy One himself can fully define—as well as embody holiness. To be sure, the phrase ‘I am ADONAI,’ or its equivalent ‘I am ADONAI your God appears sixteen times in chapter nineteen alone! Chapter twenty sees another four uses of these phrases. The lesson is obvious:

So what happens when humanity meets holiness?

HaShem is intimately interested in our redemption. Likewise, he is our deliverer from the unholy. That is why he masterfully planned for one man to become the perfect embodiment and display of his holiness. Only this man would be able to showcase the fullness of the holiness of God to such a degree that to look at this man was to look at God! Only this man would be able to perfectly imitate God—for only this man was and is perfectly God.

And he sets the standard!

Because of our new life in Messiah, we have inherited the holiness that HaShem intended for us to posses all along. When we place our trusting faithfulness in the perfect Man of God, our holiness (or lack thereof) becomes the holiness of the Father! Our constitution changes and we are no longer deemed ‘unholy’, for his riches in glory—which includes his holy standard of being—are transferred to our account! We must grasp this central truth and begin to live according to it!

Just as unrighteous Avraham became righteous when he placed his complete faith in HaShem, so we too inherit the righteousness and holiness of the Holy One when we place our unreserved trust in his Son. But holiness is also a duty. What do I mean?

Apart from being and attribute of God—one that we inherit intrinsically with our trusting faithfulness in the Messiah, holiness is also meant to be a lifestyle. This is why I keep using the phrase ‘trusting faithfulness’ rather than simple ‘faith’.

The latter implies a one-time action on our part, which forever sets into motion a spiritual truth that will be fully actualized at the return of our LORD. Notice the candor of the phrase, "I place my trust in Yeshua. However, the former carries the aspect of a daily motion, which permeates every movement of our new-creation lives! "I place my trusting faithfulness in Yeshua. Do you notice the subtle difference? To live by ‘trusting faithfulness’ rather than just by ‘faith’ alone characterizes our moment-by-moment thought process as well as our actions. The former carries our faith into action! In other words, this new life in Messiah is an ever constant, ever-growing relationship with the Holy One of Isra’el; a demonstration of the miraculous on a level that can and should be measured in even the smallest areas of our lives. Trusting faithfulness is ongoing! It is not some unmoving, monumental event which took place sometime in our lives—it is the ongoing monumental process that overtakes our lives—for the rest of our lives—which was enacted when we first had a genuine encounter with the divine holiness!

Dan Juster:  1. A holy person is one who has died to self. 

Ariel:  The person who struggles with complete surrender to our LORD cannot rightfully address him as LORD. For the person who recognizes him as such cannot at the same time claim to have personal control over his own life as well. When we surrender to God, we are transferring the seat of authority from our will to the Will of the Father. Yeshua must be LORD of all in order for him to be LORD of Ariel. In this aspect, holiness is a lifelong process. Am I saying that I am totally surrendered in my flesh? Oh, that I wish it were so! As Sha’ul stated, so state I: ‘For in my inner self I completely agree with God’s Torah; but in my various parts, I see a different "Torah"….(Romans 7:23-23)’

This aspect of holiness is one that entails my constant surrendering to the LORD of lords, so that my death in Messiah might indeed be complete, and my life in him full to overflowing.

 

Dan Juster:  2. A holy person is a person of compassionate love (agape).

Ariel:  Love is the supreme motivator of holy actions, and as such, should be the chief characteristic our new-creation lives in Messiah!

 

Dan Juster:  3. A holy person reflects God’s standards of righteousness in the Bible.

Ariel:  This is an issue of authority. We cannot dictate the standard of holiness, nor should we attempt to. Only God’s holy Word has the authority to perform this vital function in our lives. When we succeed in demonstrating the holiness of HaShem as outlined for us in his Word, the surrounding communities will see and understand that there is no God like our God, and that his righteous standards are good, true, and reliable. Moreover, they will consequently desire to walk in this holiness as they see us walk in this holiness. Failure to make a difference between the holy and the profane always results in ungodliness and moral degradation and ultimately leads to death and destruction.

 

Dan Juster:  4. A holy person does not lust for material possessions.

Ariel:  The Torah states ‘The LORD is my Shepherd I shall not want’. The absence of holiness leaves room for covetous desire. HaShem has promised to supply all our needs, according to his riches, in Messiah. Lust for the treasures of this world is counterproductive to our trust in Messiah. Something, which truncates our trust, will also effect our standard of living, thus hindering our holiness. In the believer’s life, there simply is no room for material lust.

 

Dan Juster:  5. A holy person is called to holy or pure thinking.

Ariel:  This is where the battlefield of the mind exists! Our thought processes govern our outward actions. We usually think and then we act. Some of us fail to ever think before we act, but that is another lesson. The Torah enjoins us to take on the mind of Messiah that we may indeed perform the Will of God and therefore do his good pleasure. The Torah also admonishes us to think on godly things (read Philippians 4:8).

 

Dan Juster:  6. The holy person is called to purity of speech.

Ariel:  It is said that the tongue can kill. Indeed, slander and gossip can so ruin a person’s life that they are all but physically destroyed. The rabbis characterized such unholy speech by the title ‘lashon harah’, which means ‘the evil tongue’. Lashon harah has the effect of a leprous sore which slowly but surely cripples the individual until the whole body is infectious and weak. Unholy speech tears down individuals. The rabbis even go so far as to say that three individuals are destroyed by lashon harah: the person being talked about, the individual listening to the gossip, and the one delivering the gossip! The student should read Ephesians 4:29-30; James 3:6-18.

 

Dan Juster:  7. The holy person is called to humility.

Ariel:  Genuine holiness cannot be maintained apart from humility. The proud person may externally follow some of the rules of holiness but will project a self-righteous, holier-than-thou attitude. Holiness without humility is pretense. This is a primary trap of many otherwise godly leaders. Without holiness and humility you cannot help others conquer sin and grow into maturity. Our ultimate example here of course is our humble LORD Yeshua.

 

Dan Juster:  8. The holy person is a socially compassionate person.

Ariel:  Our Torah portion includes this familiar, all-important mitzvah:

"V’ahavta l’reyacha kamochah." (Love your neighbor as yourself) Leviticus 19:18

Our sages had much to say about this verse. Rabbi Akiva said that this is the fundamental rule of the Torah (Rashi; Sifra). Hillel paraphrased: "What is hateful to you, do not do to others" (Shabbos 31a). The story has been told how Hillel answered the request of the heathen who wished to be converted to Judaism on the condition that he was taught the whole Torah while he stood on one foot. The Rabbi answered him, ‘What is hateful to yourself, do not to your fellow man’ (ibid.). This is the Talmudic formulation of the Golden Rule. Great stress has been laid by theologians of a certain school upon the fact that Hillel’s maxim is worded in the negative, whereas the Gospels have it in the positive form. Profound ethical differences are detected by them in the variation; but they who have no theological axe to grind will probably agree with the conclusion of Professor Kittel: ‘In reality almost everything which has been thought to exist in delicate difference between the negative and positive form is due to modern reflections on the subject. For the consciousness of the age of Jesus the two forms were scarcely distinguishable’.

The sages continue, ‘We must wish upon others the same degree of success and prosperity we wish upon ourselves and we must treat others with the utmost respect and consideration (Ramban)’. When questioned directly about which mitzvot are the greatest in Torah, Yeshua replied that the Shema (Deuteronomy 6:4) and this one here in Leviticus 18 are! In fact, our Master went on to explain that a proper understanding of his Father’s Torah stems from an understanding of these two mitzvot!

Which brings us back around full-circle! Loving God is based on a correct knowledge of him, and this in turn produces holiness—of which he commands us to possess!

This is the primary form of profound revelation knowledge.

This is fruit of genuine revelation knowledge of the unity [echad] of HaShem.

The injunction is set into motion once we have internalized the first two mitzvot.

Our holiness finds purpose as we imitate God by demonstrating his love in us towards our fellow man.

Nahar Deah

K’doshim: "Peah" and Lessons in Jewish Charity

One of the Torah's expressions of charity for an agrarian society is the mitzvah of peah: leaving over the final corner of the field for the poor. ('Peah' means 'corner' in Hebrew.)

"When you reap your land's harvest, do not completely harvest the ends of your fields. ... Leave them for the poor and the stranger." [Lev 19:9-10]

The Sages stressed that the section of the field left for the poor - the 'peah' - must be the very last edge harvested. One may not set aside a section in the beginning or the middle. By requiring 'peah' to be the last edge of the field, the Torah has established a set time for the poor to claim their share. The Talmud notes that this prevents four potential problems:

* Theft of the poor. The owner won't set aside the peah at some pre-arranged hour, in order to make sure the corner crop will go to his friends or relatives.

* Wasted time of the poor. The poor won't have to hang around the field, waiting until the moment the owner decides to declare a section 'peah'.

* Unwarranted suspicions. People might not know that the owner set aside 'peah' earlier, and accuse him of not fulfilling the mitzvah.

* Swindlers. Rogues could claim they set aside 'peah' earlier, but really never did.

According to Rav Kook, the mitzvah of 'peah', and the requirement for an objective time for the mitzvah, shed great light on the Torah's view of charity in general.

1. The fact the Torah is concerned with 'theft of the poor' indicates that charity is not simply a matter of generosity and kindness. It's an obligation. By not giving to the poor, one is not merely lacking in generosity - one is stealing from them!

As such, poverty should not be regarded as purely a negative condition in the state of man. One should regard the important function it fulfills in man's quest for spiritual perfection. Note that the Hebrew word for charity ("tzedaka") comes from the root-word tzedek - justice.

2. However, if we emphasize only the obligatory nature of charity, we are concentrating solely on the giver's standpoint - and overlooking the needs of the receiver. Therefore we must include the aspect of generosity and kindness, to ensure that one has empathy for the poor man's situation. For this reason the Torah expresses concern for the time and respect of the needy; he shouldn't have to wait for days until the owner decides to give him 'peah'.

In summary, the foundation of Jewish charity is duty, but the element of empathy is also a necessary ingredient.

3. Social mores serve to protect the weak and the destitute. Some people give because they are embarrassed to be looked upon as stingy and uncaring. Also, society honors generous donors and benefactors.

Since the first two aspects, duty and empathy, relate to one's inner motivation, they could cause a weakening in the external pressures of social obligations. Certainly the individual who has full recognition of the ethical nature of charity is not motivated by social pressures. But not everyone achieves this level of enlightenment. For the good of society as a whole, the Torah affirms the importance of social pressure to give and help. Therefore we are concerned about unwarranted suspicions that may fall upon individuals who in fact did set aside 'peah'.

4. The fourth problem - closing off a potential loop-hole for swindlers - only applies to the lowest, most corrupt segments of society. Nonetheless, this is sufficient to obligate all members of society. There exists an organic unity in society. People are influenced by each other, such that enlightened individuals cannot say they are unaffected by the moral deterioration which such a loop-hole would bring to the lowest elements in society [Ayn Aya III:74-5 on TB Shabbat 23].

The closing blessing is as follows: