Parashat Achrei Mot-Kedoshim

The time that I felt most flustered as a teacher was when I was teaching a Tanakh lesson to prospective parents on Parashat Kedoshim, half of the dynamic duo of parashiyot that we read this Shabbat. Introducing the concept of kedushah (holiness) with what I thought was a captivating hook, I asked: “What is holy? Is kiddush wine holy? Is wine holy before the kiddush prayer? Is challah holy when we say hamotzi? Is it still holy on Sunday morning as french toast?” With the question “Is challah french toast holy?” projected on the SmartBoard, in multicolored letters no less, in walked Dr. Spiegel, our illustrious headmaster of Schechter Westchester. I will never forget, first, his quizzical look as he read those words and, then, the smile on his face as he walked out of the room. As admittedly peculiar an example as holy challah french toast may be, it does speak to the difficulty of defining the concept of kedushah. Lucky for us, this week’s double parashah Achrei Mot-Kedoshim is devoted to just this concept. 
 
One of the goals of my lesson that day was to discuss holiness in terms of time, space, and people (through action). This week’s Torah reading informs us of all three, with the bulk of the pesukim (verses) devoted to the actions that can help us become kadosh (holy). As we read the list of commandments, including the Ten Commandments which are hidden there, it’s no wonder that God instructs Moshe to impart these laws to the “whole congregation of Bnei Israel,” not just to the priests for whom this “Holiness Code” was intended: Don’t insult the deaf, don’t put a stumbling block before the blind, leave part of your harvest for the poor and the stranger, don’t cheat in business, judge your kinsman justly, don’t go around as a talebearer, love your neighbor as yourself, just to name a few.
 
The “why” of being kadosh is explicit in this parashah: “Kedoshim tehi’u — You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.” We are created in God’s image, so if God is holy, we too have the potential to be holy. What’s interesting is that in the Hebrew (and English) of this pasuk, God’s holiness is in the present tense: God IS holy. Now. Then. Always. As for us, we “shall be holy.” Future tense. We’re not there yet. An aspiration, not a quality which yet defines us. 
 
So what is kadosh? Actually, the word is related to “separate.” “You shall be separate because I God am separate,” according to the midrash Sifra Kedoshim. Indeed, so much of Jewish practice is based on separation. Through candle lighting and brachot at the beginning and end of the holiday, we separate and cocoon Shabbat as a “palace in time” (Abraham Joshua Heschel). In following our dietary laws, we separate milk from meat and kosher animals from other animals, all in an effort, says anthropologist Mary Douglas, to imitate God who created heaven and earth through separation of sky, land, and sea. 
 
Yet, while separating our baser impulses and desires from our everyday actions may be one way to attain kedushah, surely the same cannot be said about separating ourselves from one another. Covid taught us at least that much. Necessity is the mother of invention, and during the pandemic, our need to connect with others engendered new and creative ways to offset the unnatural isolation. Previously unthought-of modes of connecting suddenly became cherished lifelines: learning from home in socks and pajamas, celebrating holidays socially distantly with friends behind masks, Zooming with loved ones during shiva, livestreaming Shabbat services.   
 
As Covid restrictions continue to loosen, each of us will discover our own ways to rejoin society. Some of us, for whom Covid isolation aligned with our natural introversion, may have to force ourselves to gradually dip our toes, feet, and legs back into the waters of communal life. Others, who suffered from craving the personal contact, company, and energy of others around them, may be ready to just cannonball right in. Regardless of the pace and the approach we take, we will make ourselves whole and more holy just by coming together. Shabbat Shalom.