Kedoshim: Differences

We separate things milk and meat.   Sometimes, however, they come together, like in a cow.  The animal itself is meat while what it produces is milk.  Still, when we ingest them, as Jews we make distinctions between the two.  One is life-giving and the other represents death.

We also separate light from darkness (God actually first does this in the opening verses in Genesis).  Traditionally we state that a new day begins once the sun has set.  Unlike most other cultures that say that a day begins at midnight, we think otherwise.

Jews are oriented toward drawing lines of distinction between the holy and profane.  Think, for example, of Havdalah, the ending ceremony of Shabbat.  

The word itself - l’havdil- is often used in Hebrew when we want to be absolutely sure that lines are not blurred, or God forbid, crossed. Think also of the words “tamey” and “tahor” (they indicate acceptable parameters of what is spiritually safe and unsafe).

Did you know that there is a law, which forbids a man from dressing in clothes like a woman?  A woman is likewise forbidden from dressing as a man.  Lines must be maintained.

The Psalms indicate, “The heavens are the realm of God while the earth is the domain of humankind.”  As if referring to the Tower of Babel and the great sin that occurred there we are warned not to blur the differences between God and man.

The Torah also states elsewhere that we are not permitted to mix wool and linen fibers (19:19).  The first comes from an animal and the second from the earth.  Again, distinctions.

The word “kodesh” means “holy.”  It has an earlier, root meaning, though.  “Kodesh” means “other.”  Put another way, “kodesh” is something that needs to be kept separate from all else.

Thought: Does God want us to be “kodesh?”  If so, how?  Are there problems or obstacles with being “kodesh?”

                                Ideas for Thought and Discussion

Kedoshim in the same of this parasha.  According to what we read in the Torah we are to be “kodesh.”  Why?  You may want to look at 19:2.

Torah says you shall “fear” your parents.  Why does it not say “love” them?

“Do not hate your kinsmen in your heart.” 19:17  Instead of despising them we are supposed to tell them what they are doing wrong.  How difficult is this mitzvah?  What do most people do?