You may have noticed by now, if you have been following me, I love being thematic!  Tomorrow night will be Passover, after all!  For those of you who aren’t Jewish, we ask four questions at the Seder every year.

        Our parashah this week is called Kedoshim, or Holiness, only it is written here - in  the Torah - in plural form.  I want to focus your attention on four themes in our parashah and how they are connected to holiness.

1. 1. How does G-d want us to demonstrate respect, honor, awe, reverence, fear, and love for Adonai?
   

2. 2. How can we utilize those differences that separate us from the animal kingdom?
   

3. 3. What does it mean when the Torah tells us not to curse our mother or father?
   

4. 4. During Passover, we Jewish people separate ourselves from our neighbors’ food choices even more than usual.  Why, and how, does our parashah speak of the importance of separation?
   

        It is in this passage we are told to love your fellow as yourself.  This occurs after we are told not to hold grudges, nor to seek vengeance.  It is also written prior to the list of who should not have sex with whom is given.  We can rightly infer therefore, the decree is about non-sexual love.  In other words, there is a difference between love and sex, and while we are supposed to love our family members, both blood members and those who marry into our unit, we are admonished never to have sex with any family member other than our spouse. 

        Implicitly, we get the idea that marriage is considered holy by Adonai.  Our parashah discusses clean and unclean separation, including the separation - carnally - of spouses during menstruation.  One reason for this, which seems especially clear by the law’s placement in this parashah, is because the blood indicates a potential pregnancy did not occur, and we should not take pleasure in this fact.

        Our parashah lists some of the commandments again, and pays special attention to righteousness and fairness between people - all people.  It also keeps emphasizing, “I am Adonai”,  “I am Adonai your G-d”, and “I am Adonai, your G-d, you will be holy because I am holy, I am your G-d”.  This teaches not only that there is only one G-d, but also, G-d isn’t ONLY the Jewish G-d, but the Only G-d.  The specific placements of the words, “I am Adonai”, without the qualifiers, teaches us the laws of how people treat each other, who our sexual partners should never be, and not to pray to or follow any evil one’s ways - Molech is specified - and especially not to sacrifice our children, nor lead them to turn toward evil ways.  All of these are expected of all people, not just Jewish people. 

        There are certain laws which do, however, pertain to only the Children of Israel.  This is because we were chosen to teach the world about G-d, ethics, morals, and justice.  Leaders of any type of group, whether it be familial, political, religious, secular, or school, all leaders must abide by a higher standard.  Need I remind you if a leader cannot be trusted, if they are morally, or ethically corrupt to any degree, the followers lower their own personal standards of behavior?!  Plenty of examples abound.

        Maybe you think I haven’t answered the first question I posited. . . think again!  The way to honor, love, fear, and respect Adonai is to connect with each other, to treat each other fairly, lovingly, kindly, and justly.  We must also give the same respect to everything Adonai created.  We were also told the laws about planting, and farming, and leaving some food behind for those in need.  In fact, we are told here to leave food for the poor, and the proselyte, in other places for widows, orphans, and animals.  This parashah also speaks of Sabbath rest for all people and working animals.

        We humans are told not to hold grudges, nor to seek vengeance, but rather to treat others as we would like to be treated.  If you think about it, our feelings of anger hurt us much more than the one with whom we are angry.  Let us not forget, we humans are all fallible, some to greater degrees than others, but we all sin - intentionally or otherwise - at some point at least in our lives, so why waste valuable time and energy on anger?  The time spent being angry is time wasted which could have been fruitful for yourself and others.

        Question 2 is about the uniqueness of human beings, in terms of conscious choice, intelligence, and the ability to pray.  It is due to these abilities, gifts really, that we are given guidelines here in this parashah on who we cannot have sexual relations with, how to treat each other, what not to eat, the Sabbath, etc.

        I thought question three would get your attention!  I believe this law is widely misinterpreted.  The word “curse” is about the kind of curses, or hexes, people used as a form of magic spell.  Like a voodoo doll, some people tried to make bad things happen to those who angered them.

        Last but not least, question four actually adjoins numbers one and two.  We are told to separate the profane from the holy, good from evil, and sanctify Adonai and G-d’s sanctuary.  The laws referring to this are those which teach us who not to have sex with, what not to eat, and of course, the Sabbath.  Our business related dealings are to be honest and fair, and we are given laws specific to this.

        As always, this parashah is quite rich in content, and there is so much more to be found and discussed.  Maybe you’ll have time before the Seder!

        Shabbat Shalom, chag sameach, happy Passover!  I’d love to know what you think!

Four Questions