Parshat Kedoshim: The Broader Message of Kiddush Hashem By Rabbi Ari Kahn

it's still R so on Al is the yard ofstein and uh this week we're reading p kosim and kadushi was something which he had an incredible interest in one of the books that was published after he passed away was something that he had worked on himself he had taken it was only time he had taken to quote unquote sabatical was to work on this book which is a book which is called Kat Aviv the reason he called Aviv is that his name is Aon Aon benel and bluma so it has his parents name in the book Aviv and uh it's a book which is for the most part Hala and it deals with various aspects of kadha in his analysis so therefore on his yard side it really is most appropriate to be talking about Kusa because this is something which as I said was uh an absolute interest of his and somebody wants to uh actually enter into his thought and to learn his you know approach to learning this is uh it's not the easiest it's a book which is you know serious book of hak talmudic analysis but it's one which is worthwhile and uh in my opinion at least is accessible if anybody buys it and it's not accessible so then uh I take no responsibility but I think it and it looks good on the Shelf just in case uh it it proves to be too difficult but I I don't think that it is okay so let let us begin so we have this new idea which is really not a new idea but it becomes a central idea and that idea is to be kados of course we can pose the question how is it even possible for humans for people to have kadus so maybe that's asked and answered here Kad why or how even the kadus is something which is results from the relationship which we have with God or it's only by somehow fulfilling that relationship which allows Kusa but there is somewhat of a problem and that would be what is our working definition of Kus so those who may have leared this quote unquote Su in the past will know that there's a m between Rashi and the ramban the ramban looks very much in the previous section and and essentially I'll put it like this according to Rashi there is this commandment to be separate Kos to P to you to separate from sin and on the other hand the ramban would see it as more of a global idea essentially aside from the 612 other Commandments kados to you is how to go about being kados which means the ran very famously tells us that you can have something which he labels in where somebody essentially does the the checklist of all of the the mitv but he doesn't do them in a way of achieving so therefore Kus is for the ran the objective and there it becomes something which is independent and something which then colors every other Mitzvah which means okay I did it now did I do it in a kados way or did I somehow do the almost impossible which unfortunately people of all religions are able to succeed in doing and that is doing something which they believe to be Pious but the way that they go about results in something which is other than piety that's the beginning of the of the parha now if we were to pay attention we would see a couple of things one is that there is somewhat of a similarity between and both of them have this other commonality and that is that they remind us to some extent of the S which means there is this sense over here again we go to the next p still in Source One yes kinds of reminds us of a couple of the of Shabbat on the one hand and uh dealing with parents on the other hand I say dealing not in a disrespectful way I just didn't want to get into the issue of the T versus the kib but there is this it seems to be that the S on the background that I'll say the same thing again you get that sense in par MIM now once I compare with MIM something else hopefully will become a little bit clearer and that is I could imagine that Kusa is only the kinds of things where the nature is that it's spiritual by definition so then maybe anything especially in vayra anything which is mishan Centric anything which is has to do with the the mishan the the mikdash the corote or I'll put it differently anything which is ritual there therefore that would be the kinds of thing which is and therefore all of would be a book of and therefore we had all kinds of examples till this point and now there's just more but there's something else which emerges right away and instead of going straight to theim I want to use the midash which clearly understands that which I want to say or I'm going to explain that which the M says it quotes and it goes that's the that God is somehow going to be elev ated by us going about and creating Justice which means it's not just in the beta mikdash and the ritual per se it's also going to be I'm going to say this in two different ways one in the judicial system or I'll say it a little differently or the interaction between a person and their fellow which means that the and not just the and I hope that that then creates the clarity that is very different from again very different they seem to be completely different Realms and I could have imagined that kadus is only the things when I get involved in relationship when I'm doing things connected to God but over here right away this oh what does mean that is how do you elevate God and that's really interesting that that's what it quotes and continues which itself is a really interesting turn of phrase when is God's name when is it when is it again made greater in this world when Wicked people are treated for their wickedness and it says similarly in by the way that should remind you all of something think back to just now told us so I could have thought that sorry I could have thought that oh no only in ritual only when I'm saying the kades and say no no there's another way of making God's name great as it was and it says and that is creating a world where there's a world of Justice so this mid again it may seem like there's some kind of a disconnect kados should be only things of ritual but the midash knows something and it knows as I said what we all could have or should have figured out ourselves and that is you go couple verses down the line in kadosha you look at source three again this is the context of kadus these are all ways of taking someone else's possessions by taking things denying that you found it lying in court by the way that goes back to shame Hashem shame that's the relationship there or the inter relationship between the action of stealing and between the desecration of God's name and that becomes so interesting because we were just now introduced to A New Concept and that is hasem and by the way here in a in the most literal sense what makes item you sore in God's name to lie what was the context of the of the swearing most likely it's the it's commenting on the previous verse and that is that you went and you acted in an injust way in terms of the rules of justice so now you go back to that mid that talked about well what exactly kados is that's creating Justice where did that come from well by simply reading the verses as you continue if we'll go on to again still in Source three but so again it's talking about over here of doing Justice in a just way and making sure that they're we're following not just to get to the right conclusion but we're actually also fighting we're also following the proper procedure in order to get there we're not going to elevate somebody simply because they're weaker and we're not going to punish somebody we're not maybe going to help some because they're stronger we're not going to do we're going to do justice um again the continuation of this concept of which are all kinds of laws that we would have said are very nice laws very fine laws and maybe they would not have been the first thing we would have chosen when we're thinking about contemplating what exactly is Kusa so now we have the torah's understanding of what is Kusa what does this para lead us into and that is one of the chapters again there's more in that but that's represents one of the chapters in this par of periced when we move over to peric we find still there's going to be something which is going to connect it and you're going to see what it is in a moment over here right away it talks about something which is called molak now m is interesting because M as far as we understand it is killing children in order to serve to do some kind of ritual which is an absolute again just think about this for a second in terms of the is literally sacrificed because of the right that's what m is and it says over here so that concept of is right here as well but not only that it also says that this is going to desecrate the holy place places so therefore this is the opposite of something which is Holiness and there and and in a sense in a metaphor I'm going to say it again because I think you all heard as I said it it really is interesting that I can't divorce the Ritual from the interpersonal but over here if I'm trying to sacrifice the interpersonal literally in order to create the ritual then something is really wrong and that is the and obviously not a k it also uses an interesting term along the way a term which I started last week didn't get as far as we really should have but it says from the word it's really interesting it uses the word over here we're going to see in a moment when midash is going to pick up on some of this part as well a couple verses later also staying away from idolatry and then it says so that really is the continuation of kados right as I said we're in the same par we've moved up a chapter but it's still it's focus on the same thing why or how so again how does take place God infuses us with us then it goes into a list again echoing some of theer WR in terms of honoring the parents the and then it goes into a whole list of what we call the again which is something you say is here you have a whole list and then we have the conclusion which really is a wrap up of a good part of because that was all the way back in and we'll skip a little more again following up this other theme that we had seen of not following the practices of uh of others that again really takes us towards the end of of kosin if we will sneak and take a peek into next week's paraa we have the same kind of words or concept with themes returning and coming at us in Source five again same words be Kad and don't create this hasem again in a much very literal sense and over here it's talking about the requirements of the cohain how a Cohen is somebody who's deserving to be one who works in the mishkan or the mikdash but then it goes back to that word that we noticed right before so again it creates the and over here uses the word zon here in the most literal sense unlike the all the other times it was used again the same idea again going to this theme of what is what is that people need to have how is possible it's only possible because hasem gives and or commands or allows there to be Kusa in the world following up a little bit further that was in par Emma peral following a little further in peret we again find similar themes God speaks again Rules of Engagement create a and don't allow um again these words are going to come out again and again on these themes or these phrases again and again and we'll just want to move towards the end which by the way is really the verse that the gar is going to use about the obligation of K on the one hand and the prohibition of on the other hand so really what I'm pointing at is that when it started with this it wasn't a one verse and and in in a certain sense I'm really ignoring ing the whole ramban versus Rashi technicality about what that word means because I'm much more interested it thematically in what emphasis it's putting on going through parad kados going through parar about this obligation of creating Kus about avoiding hasem about trying to infuse different areas of life withus we saw one example taking us towards the whole concept of mish is a part of it and there is this other element that I want to note as well in uh in Source number eight again just interesting how these things come together and also just by the way anybody learning Momi they would be get up to this in the last day or so or maybe even today I don't recall exactly I'm never on the exact day as that everyone else is this talks about the mishna in sa and it says that when the so again is some somebody who is guilty of possibly guilty of or suspected of so you have this idea of and but listen to one of the things that it says in the mishna and she gets threatened letting people know about severity of their actions consequences and so wine has causes lots of trouble and levity causes lots of trouble immaturity can cause a lot of trouble bad neighbors can cause lots of trouble so this is trying to avoid most literally Hashem because you're going to write God's name on this parchment which will then be destroyed and it gives this warning you know what if you're guilty then just admit guilt in order to avoid God's name being destroyed that's again Hashem and rather create allow there to be at least little more maybe you sacrificed the Kus in your marriage but don't cause there to be again literally a so it's interesting how all of the various aspects come together over here and in Source number nine which is a little long we'll see how much of it we have or you have the patience to go through it it's another midash this time Medan and it starts to tell us about various understandings of what is the idea of and it says the same thing God can be lifted by creating Justice and you realize I'm skipping a little bit then start quoting verse after the verse now that's really interesting because that is what's going to allow us to coronate God as it were is that there being Justice in the world allows God Who is the of Justice to be elevated that again something which we're really used to as a r theme but it's saying is that Justice in the world is what coronates God it's not just that you know on rashash WE coronate God who's going to sit in Judgment of us but it's when we are partners with God and create Justice in the world then God gets elevated and God gets coronated which is again really interesting as a background Kash who and soone will quote Yeah and then it also goes that somehow we do this and it causes God to be sitting on the throne and he says yeah that's really the case and then it quotes a p which at a left field so yeah we recognize the verse it's easier for us than some of the other ones it's at a left field in terms of God sitting in Justice although you can say something else happened right then that God sat in Justice and the nations of the world who were guilty were punished for the guilt of that particular moment but it's interesting that this whole thing is about God sitting on his throne the mid of and all of this has to do with K that's the starting point that's Kad and we need to create a world where there is Justice Just we'll go a little bit more a little down it says me is so therefore there's now seems to be this parallel that God gets coronated and sits on the throne by virtue of Justice in the world but who goes about creating this and again this is really where you can say a leap just now took place oh that's what Mal David is Mal David is not just that we need a king to be Nation like every other Nation no that we need a king in order to in order to create a country that lives by Justice and creates Justice in the entire region and for that matter in the entire world and that's Mal David um and as it says which you now realize that there's a parallel over here what is when God sits in judgment what is it's actually Mal Mal is going to be the manifestation down here below of kingship which will then bring about the Judgment which the king who's coronated above wants to take place on this world which really then creates this whole another maybe even you can say a macro level of K kados and okay Kos you know I would have thought okay do a Mitzvah in a in a holy way and over here is talking about something which is much much broader than that it's really the need from Mal David in order to allow God to be coronated because there is Justice in the in the world which really then again does take the Ten Commandments take the Asser he bro take the the laws the values that God gave us how are they going to be manifest throughout the world that becomes the challenge and is going to be one of the solutions um continue a little bit more and I know I'm skipping a little bit but still I'm in this source source at the end of this Muma gets elevated coronated lifted up in uh with Justice it says but hold on a second it's not just Justice there's also other things that's really interesting just think back about that M so here it's so again it's it goes back to this theme so it's interesting because already there are two different levels of taking us back to the Sea and that it's very deliberate and that's what it means so this whole thing is talking about this inter relationship between God and man that we allow God to be elevated and holy as it were because of course God doesn't need us but therefore we reveal God to this world and therefore allow God to be elevated in man's Minds in man's Consciousness and in man's actions hopefully and as we do that we become elevated and we become kadosh and therefore there's this wonderful inter relationship and therefore that you know that little verse that we started with as I said it's not just isolated it goes on through this whole chapter and the next chapter and the next chapter and the next chapter and to a very great extent it's something which is going to be here with us in as we continue in uh VRA here's another mid which again starts from the beginning k k to and it notes something which you can look it up it's correct it's the kados doesn't have the V it's not Kad with the it's that you the V is always a connection right the letter V remember the and the mishan the V is a connection right whenever you have V in a world in the beginning of a word the end of a word it connects to something so it says over here kadosh is written in a uh deficient way and to say that if you're doing what you're doing in order to be connected to God again low then there's and now it doesn't say it says kades now the same three letters now what exactly does the word mean over here because a man who goes over the woman to get CH essentially it's saying is that this man is doing this for lustful reasons so now again I I'm sure you weren't you knew I was going to come back to it you just didn't know where or how now again you you could be stand say what just now happened over here and maybe this will work much better with the ramban of K we need to do things so it's not just performance Judaism is never about performance it's about motivation and it's about attitude and it's about transformation which means two people could be doing the same two things and it doesn't mean that both of them are getting to the same objective and over here it's talking about the objective which means the kadosh to you right now it's without the V and you need to bring the V into it you need to have the god Consciousness as you're doing what you're doing otherwise what you may end up finding is that instead of having Tusa you have some something which is very very different or separate or the opposite from Kusa and in order to understand this a little bit better because maybe it wasn't as clear if you look in in Source 11 which means I can't I want to work backwards I can't then say or woman let's say works as a prostitute can say listen bottom line is I made some money and now I'm going to go and bring a Corbin with the money he says no it doesn't work that way God says that's not that's not kados to you that's not the Holiness that that I want that's not something which is acceptable and again along the way over here it use the words kades and Kadesh which are in a sense the opposite of K so that's really interesting but it was going back say yeah what's the difference the difference is the V or not the V kadesha or Kadesh is not the same thing as kadosh because in order to be Kad there needs to be some kind of connection to God which means even k k ises is there needs to be something which is done with not something which is done where there is it is devoid of K there is a the is and in a certain sense this is what got me started to think about this whole topic today it says God spoke to mosha 15 times in one day you know in the gamar it tells us that the greatest day in gamar history is the boay Yom that was the Yum the day that they took away the guards the day that Ringo was disposed the day that La Ben aarya took over that was the day that everybody was involved discussions and thear tells us was was discussed on that day and all kinds of things were resolved on that day and every question there was everything was resolved that is the day so over here this m say yeah there's a day there's there is a major day in the Kish now we know about this because we've learned before but we did not realize it really goes this far which day am I talking about so just to make sure that we understand which one the day the Mish was consecrated which is one month ago it'ses Nissan that is the day that was mentioned end the day the day was mentioned by midbar but now pay attention it's going to tell you all kinds of things 15 things there not Place Rashi does not quote this m I believe rash quotes that there were 10 took us the beginning of that took us the beginning of but the way you notice after that's the continuation um those are pario which are again subsequent to we have their now we're in par Kos which means when it said when began where it says that's what m supposed to go and gather them but what when did God say this to Moshe so this is telling us that this is that same day God told him that as well what we up toal that is a little bit earlier um sorry is actually in that's also in in that's in again that's still in that's that's that is in which means these are all these sections again when we read them right it just sounds kind of like that's the way that the Torah talks says no here are 15 different things which according to this that day again for my interest I think the one that we did not know or even to think to imagine is that kosim was taught on that day and and that itself is interesting because you could have argued that a lot of these things are really discussing the man to God relationship and over here we have something which is an interpersonal relationship as well with this act aspect of mishkan and so on this is a day the mishan is created so you would say okay what purpose is the mishan created the mishan is created for mishan work so that's why it's really interesting especially the way that we know in the beginning that there there is this aspect of the interpersonal this aspect of the and therefore I can't think or I can't imagine creating a holy world if that Holiness does not affect the world itself if it's only in some closed building and the only way that you do ritual is where Holiness is and that's what really makes this addition that par kados is mentioned over here as well now just to continue with this a little bit because now it's going to connect to one of these other things it's going to say over here that was said as well now there were 12 n and then 12 days this is fromes going on for the next 12 days one n each day is going to bring the offering so when God said no one knows who should go first now going back to this idea of K by the way now you realize why par kados is part of this discussion is because we've been talking about from Kos going through em this idea of this of this K or theem have you Sanctified God's name have you desecrated God's name now we're talking about something or someone who's going to be helping to go about to celebrate the creation of the mishan says who should to do this the person who actually operated outside of the mishan now right now when you notice that it's Al this should then connect it with all those references that we noticed before about what's the yam doing here why in the world are we talking about the yam so yeah you could have said on the yam is where Mish took place but now you realize that it's a little bit more interesting because it's also the one who you know the spark plug who starts the whole thing off of going through the Y that is and he's the one who's worthy to to bring down the and so here does I didn't need Source 13 but I'm just going to tease it out of what he said I could have asked it anyway but he added one thing to this which I liked to yov Y of course if you don't know is one of the major students of the best the bov over here it says I name yud so just added one more aspect in not just from Yehuda by the way that just helped us with something else because in the very beginning when we were talking about God's kingship and us enthroning God and then malid has a purpose so now you realize that this whole thing is so much more interesting because nak becomes uh an essential part of all of this and N of course is from Yehuda and therefore by of Yehuda now whether David is literally from or not is something we could discuss the whole genealogy is more complicated than I could deal with but it is nonetheless interesting over here that he focuses specifically on Yehuda now the other thing about Yehuda is is over here it focuses specifically ones right Al but we also know that with Yehuda himself there's this other aspect and that is is that when uh his sons do whatever they do which by the way I'm willing to even consider to be somewhat akin to molak but they do whatever it is that they do and then he does not allow his third son to marry Tamar and when she finally comes and well she realizes he's coming and then she dresses up as a Zona so that was also one of the things that we've seen along the way but the other is that the only other time in the Torah that the word kadha is used other than we had seen in over there not to is that when he goes looking for this woman that he treated as a zon and he sends a message by way I love that instead of right looking for Holiness and they tell him there wasn't over here and uh then Yehuda stands as a judge when he finds out that she's pregnant and says take her out to be killed and this is of course the opposite of mishpat which is the which is pretty much where everything stands and now we will read TOA at the very end theni menu which goes back to anded andish but let's first read TOA as you see a long TOA inot and then we'll try to put this all together the the earlier part of this TOA is it tells us that rar was involved in teaching and that's really where this is coming from so I'm just going to I don't want to do the whole thing because you see this enough afterwards so that's our we starting points so what did you do that he goes first by the way you do realize now there's two different possibilities okay but if you don't realize it yet as of right now why does he go first because he admitted which is really interesting because Yehuda was was mod Yehuda becomes Yehuda when he so notice the playing words over there because that's really interesting there were rabbis sitting there in the outside gate BYU I know I know there are people who pronounce it not as but we have a daughter-in-law so this is they were involved the teaching okay back continuation of our same question that's what said right they said let's continue what are you talking about how can you say because he admitted he admitted after doing horrific things this meaning not going further down the rabbit hole of terrible Behavior should not be the reason why he becomes the melik because he saved his brother from being killed how that by the way this is also not wonderful because he did not agree to kill Y and only to sell him you do realize this is not the best yeah are you kidding that at best that's going to help for his guilt in terms of itself so he didn't do something worse come on cuz he was very mod I'll take this place okay being somebody modest is something which will help in terms of being in this to get to a position of we're going to skip a little bit AR he was an AR of course he had to take his place he said he said to yov that I take responsibility when you sign that you're going to be an AR for somebody how do you say that in English AR guarant a guarantor you you sign you sign on the mashanta that you're going to pay someone's mashanta so don't be surprised when they knock on your door and they take over your bank account that's what you signed up for and you notice it's not satisfied yet so now it goes back to that phrase we're looking for for the Kem because what's the whole point of Mal is to create a Kem what's the whole point of malood is to be the Earthly manifestation of God's Mal in order to create this wonderful connection so it had to of course be notice instead of just they the ones who helped create the and by the way again that takes place and in the wicked or punished and so on hopefully everybody read this this morning so therefore this idea of the of the Mal is actually the same idea again I'm repeating myself the same idea of creating the Kem so I I just want to go back and make sure that we see the the line and see the connection over here essentially we have this obligation of Kusa which which by itself is a wonderful obligation we we need to be holy and as I said from the very beginning you know we have this argu between Rashi and ran what exactly does it mean to become holy so it's interesting to me that if you start reading further you realize that it's not an isolated it's not a one-time usage it's something rather which then creates the theme moving forward there needs to be Kusa we also learned along the way that K is the opposite of we also learned along the way that there were a number of references to Z on the one hand or this idea OFA where there is similar to but there's lacking the god Consciousness or the god connection and therefore it ends up creating something which is very very different from actual Kusa we see in this that long TOA we see this this debate which takes place what was it about Yehuda where whereby Yehuda ends up being the first now one of the reasons I have to make sure we understand this one of the reasons why this is significant it's one of the 15 things that happened on that day which means there is a direct connection between kados and that the Nim start their offerings on that day and specifically Yuda is on that day so essentially for me and I'm going to say it again for me that was really the starting point by asking myself hold on a second could kadosh tiu really seems to be the outlier among all the other things that are talked about because everything else really did seem to be so much more ritual oriented as opposed to something which is something else independent especially when you notice how the idea of kadosh is used specifically in the same chapter but even further moving along in in vayikra so then asking myself this question so again what does this mean that kosim is creating mishpat and so on that's what leads us to Mal which means that's what seems to be the underlying message that this midash is trying to tell us there were 15 things Kos to you is one and again I'm not going through every one of them because most of them are very easy they're about the mishkan so who brought about the kadush and the mishkan oh that that's who brought out the K the mishkan that's easy that was Yehuda Yehuda brings about the Mish he's the one who brings down the which means if we never understood before hold it why is the role of Mal eventually to bring about the bet mdash as well no that that goes back to Yehuda that goes back to this concept of kashem that goes back to this idea of creating Justice on this world it's not just something you know that Messiah has this checklist do this this and this no it's creating knowledge of God on this world it's creating a kashem on this world it's creating God Consciousness on this world there needs to be a change on this world you know one of the biggest Corruptions theologically in the history of the world was this idea of Christianity that you can have mashiach but without the Messianic age you no you don't need the all that will happen some other time wonderful okay until then which means how Jud even couldn't entertain the possibility of someone being mashiah without doing what mhia needs to do that's exactly the point so over here tracing backwards hold it what's the origins of Yuda where does all this come from and that's the other thing kushani could not possibly imagine the whole sorted history and background of Yehuda but that doesn't indicate that doesn't stop who yudo becomes there does become Mal there does become this ability of creating this uh K but Kem so if you go back to that that trial ofar that becomes very important because Justice then takes place at the end of the day she is the one who's not guilty she's more innocent than he is that becomes very important because that's part of what kadha is is creating a place of of Holiness and I'm going to of justice and I'll say it again it could be that the various aspects of yehuda's life which is again a really interesting background to kadoshi and all those various as aspects may all be added up together in order to create noxon in order to create that tribe in order to create the consciousness of that tribe that the tribe is the one who's going to jump in first and they're the ones going to be the day that the is going to come down but as I said the backdrop of all of this I think is much more interesting than we normally note and in this case what we really did is we looked at the various MIM and then try to understand how they are connected to theuk even though the suum themselves needed to be paid attention to and anybody who's going to give these long and I'm sure lots of people will these long and learned interpretations of what kados ti is an only focus on that PK itself without looking at all of the other usage and we don't look at all of them by the way there's more to look at the other usage just moving forward I think they kind of uh miss the the mark but as I said in the beginning that R lanstein was very interested in uh in the concept of kadus and the idea of kadha and doing things with kadha and having a god Consciousness and having a world which is just and having a world where there really is going to be a kesem so all of these things which I think very much interested him for us you know everything we're learning this year is clouded and you know by the war but is also clarified by the war and therefore going to war and defending our people and sometimes helping God create Justice in the world all of that is a Kem an absolute kashem and it's also something that we need to uh be focused on and not to listen to various opinions of the world proportionality and so on and so forth there is really a battle between good and evil and something that we uh need to absolutely understand that the people involved in fighting and protecting are people who are involved in Andes God should protect all of them and part of I think the really important concept Judaism that we can have a concept of kashem without unfortunately having to Die Al kashem you know this uh Jos between y on the one hand and Y and on the other hand is something which is very jarring and especially during the moments of Silence when one thinks and contemplates all the kashem which is taking place that we hope that we're able to lead lives of creating kashem while living vibrant healthy religious lives without doing K hasem in the I'll say the oldfashioned way in the way where a person sacrifices their life we're looking to live our lives by K