If you recall, back in February we read Mishpatim. It covers civil and social laws ranging from personal injury and property damage to courtroom justice, the treatment of the vulnerable, and commandments regarding Shabbat and the festivals.
This Shabbat, our second perasha is Qedoshim. Much like Mishpatim, Qedoshim contains many moral and social duties such as honesty in business, honoring parents, caring for the poor, and the universal call to love your neighbor as yourself.
Why didn’t the Torah simply include all of Qedoshim’s laws within Mishpatim? Furthermore, why is Qedoshim placed here, in the middle of Sefer Vayiqra? Vayiqra is known as Torat Kohanim, because it is dedicated to the Kohanim and their service in the Mishkan. What do social and moral duties of society have to do with any of that?
The Ramban (Vayiqra 19:2) addresses our questions and explains that Qedoshim is not merely a collection of more laws. While Mishpatim provides the framework for a legal and just society, the laws of Qedoshim are actually spiritual in nature and serve as the pathway to attaining holiness. To illustrate this, the Ramban introduces the concept of a person who technically adheres to every civil and ritual law yet remains fundamentally immoral. Such a person might eat only kosher food and strictly keep Shabbat, while remaining stingy, haughty, and cruel in character. The Ramban concludes that the complete Jew strives to be both civilly obedient and spiritual, thus making the individual holy according to the requirements of the Torah.
As for why Qedoshim appears here, it actually fits right in. The last few weeks we’ve read about how a person can become more holy. What began in Shemini with dietary laws and continued through Tazria and Tahor with spiritual purity now reaches the next level, sanctifying our social character and our relationships with others. Qedoshim is simply the next step.
Still, one more question remains. Since Vayiqra is referred to as Torat Kohanim, why does the Torah dedicate so much of it, from Shemini through Qedoshim, to guidelines for “ordinary people?” Why are these laws even in Vayiqra to begin with? Perhaps the placement itself is the answer, and as Rabbi Jonathan Sacks ZT’L beautifully explains (Covenant & Conversation, Qedoshim, 2018), until this point “we have been reading about a holy place, holy offerings, and the elite and holy people, Aharon and his sons, who minister there. Suddenly, in chapter 19, the text opens up to embrace the whole of the people and the whole of life.” In that light, we should not think for a moment that only the Kohanim can be holy. Every Jew has the capacity to be holy and is loved by G-d. By embedding the laws of the home, business, and interpersonal relationships next to the laws of the Mishkan and the Kohanim, the Torah is telling us that our everyday actions matter. We may not all serve in the Mishkan, but every interaction is an opportunity. When we act with honesty, kindness, and restraint, we draw ourselves closer to G-d, we become holy, and we become a light to the nations and to the world.