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Home -> 5785 -> Kedoshim

ואהבת לרעך כמוך אני ד'

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5785

You shall love your fellow as yourself – I am Hashem. (19:18)

Understanding the need to promote love and positive relationships between fellow Jews is quite simple. However, how is Ani Hashem, “I am Hashem,” connected to ahavas Yisrael? The Rizhiner Rebbe, zl (Horav Yisrael), explains this with a parable. Two friends were inseparable. Even when they grew into adulthood and they chose vocations which created a geographic distance between them, their relationship did not change. They tried to stay in touch with one another as much as possible. One day, “Reuven” heard that his friend “Shimon” had been accused of a trumped-up charge; he immediately prepared to travel to his community…

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Home -> 5785 -> Kedoshim

ואמרת אליהם קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני אלקיכם

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5785

And say to them: “You shall be holy, for holy am I, Hashem, Your G-d. (19:2)

Hashem exhorts us to be holy, to sanctify ourselves. In other words, “being good” is insufficient. One must strive to be holy. How does one achieve holiness? Indeed, how does one define holiness in the Heavenly vernacular? Rashi explains kedoshim tehiyu as perushim tehiyu, abstinence from immorality, distancing oneself from morally profligate behavior. Ramban maintains that instruction to be holy is not limited to any specific observance or discipline; rather, it is an enjoinment to live a life of moderation. Just because an activity is permitted, one does not have license to overindulge. Such a person is called a naval…

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Home -> 5784 -> Kedoshim

ובקצרכם את קציר ארצכם לא תכלה פאת שדך לקצר

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5784

When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not complete your reaping to the corner of your field. (19:9)

Before one may consider his crops to be his own, he must first discharge his obligations to others. Horav S. R. Hirsch, zl, observes that, even at the closing moment of an entire growing season – after he has put in his time and effort, cultivated, planted, seeing to it that his crops have grown well and are ready for reaping – the produce still does not belong to him until he leaves peah, the corner of his field to the poor. They, too, must eat. This is how they sustain themselves. The obvious question is: Why not give them…

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Home -> 5784 -> Kedoshim

איש אמו ואביו תיראו

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5784

Every man: your father and mother shall you revere. (19:3)

One fears his father more than his mother. Rashi explains that this is why the Torah places mother first. A child naturally fears his father more than his mother. He is instructed that Torah does not “play” by the rules of nature. Both parents are the same. Likewise, concerning the mitzvah of honoring a parent, the Torah mentions the father before mother, because a child is predisposed to honoring his mother. Thus, the Torah teaches that both parents are on the same level. The Jew does not act because he is so inclined. He acts in accordance with Hashem’s dictates….

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Home -> 5784 -> Kedoshim

קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5784

You shall be holy, for holy am I. (19:2)

Holiness for the Jew is a Divine mandate, whose meaning is debated by the Rishonim (Ramban, Rashi). Rashi posits that kedoshim tiheyu means perushim tiheyu, distance yourself from the illicit relationships detailed in the previous parshah. Ramban contends that is an exhortation to approach all aspects of life through moderation. Despite the fact that a particular behavior is permitted, surrendering to self-indulgence, gluttony and licentiousness undermines the goals of kedushah. Having said this, we turn towards what appears to be an enigmatic statement by Chazal (Vayikra Rabbah 24), “‘Be holy’ – I might think that this means Kamoni – like…

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Home -> 5784 -> Kedoshim

דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל ואמרת אליהם קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5784

Speak to the entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael, and say to them: “You shall be holy, for holy am I.” (19:2)

Sefer Vayikra is called Toras Kohanim, the Laws of Kohanim. Veritably, only the first few parshiyos of Sefer Vayikra address the Priestly service and obligations. Why, then, is the entire book under the rubric of Toras Kohanim? The question is especially germane with regard to Parashas Kedoshim which addresses the normal gamut of mitzvos that applies to all Jews, who, through the observance of these mitzvos, sanctify and maintain the kedushah of the entire nation. Horav Simcha Wasserman, zl, explains that, just as the Kohanim are to be the spiritual exemplars of the Jewish nation, so, too, should the Jewish…

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Home -> 5783 -> Kedoshim

לא תלין פעלת שכיר אתך עד בקר ... לא תקלל חרש

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5783

You shall not withhold a worker’s wage with you until morning… You shall not curse the deaf. (19:13,14)

The deaf person will not hear your curses. Nonetheless, one does not curse his fellow. Certainly, if he can hear and is aware of the curse, such deplorable behavior is an anathema for a Jew. The Baal HaTurim expounds on the juxtaposition of withholding wages upon cursing the deaf. Even if one has a valid complaint, i.e. he worked hard through sweat and toil, and he put in a full day’s work. He now wants/needs to get paid. He has no food at home. His children are starving. His earnings were to be used to purchase the vital necessities to…

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Home -> 5783 -> Kedoshim

איש אמו ואביו תיראו

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5783

Every man: Your father and mother shall you revere/fear. (19:3)

Interestingly, in the Aseres HaDibros, Ten Commandments, the Torah commands Kabeid es avicha v’es imecha, “Honor your father and mother” (Shemos 20:12), without adding the word ish, every man.  It is almost as if the Torah were intimating a special command to one who is an ish, that he must fear his parents. What is the difference between kavod, respect, and mora, fear? Horav Yosef Tzvi HaLevi Dunner, zl (Mikdash HaLevi), explains the disparity homiletically. The Torah is teaching us a valuable and vital lesson – one that I think is quite obvious in today’s society. The Torah world, for…

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Home -> 5782 -> Kedoshim

ואהבת לרעך כמוך אני ד'

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5782

You shall love your fellow as yourself – I am Hashem. (19:18)

Rabbi Akiva teaches (Yerushalmi Nedarim 30b), V’ahavta l’reiacha kamocha – Zeh klal gadol baTorah; “Love your fellow as yourself. This is the all-encompassing principle of Torah.” In other words, an unbreakable bond exists between ahavas Yisrael, love of Jews, and ahavas Hashem, love of the Almighty. A general principle is one which contains all the detailed principles within it. Thus, ahavas Yisrael is the rubric under which all mitzvos fall. Loving a fellow Jew is an integral component of every mitzvah. Thus, when I shake the lulav; observe Shabbos, put on Tefillin, I am/should be enhancing my ahavas Yisrael. If…

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Home -> 5782 -> Kedoshim

וכי תזבחו זבח שלמים לרצונכם תזבחהו

Sruly Schnair
In Kedoshim, 5782

When you slaughter a feast peace-offering to Hashem, you shall slaughter it to find favor for yourselves. (19:5)

Ramban explains that when one offers a korban, sacrifice, to Hashem, the intention behind and accompanying it “shall be to find favor for oneself… like a servant ingratiating himself to his master… without any service for the purpose of receiving reward, but only to carry out the ratzon, will, of Hashem, for it is His simple will that constitutes what is appropriate and obligatory.” In other words, the kavanah, intention, of the individual who is slaughtering the animal is not for the shechitah, ritual, but simply to serve Hashem by carrying out His will. This is how a Jew should…

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