Author Topic: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness  (Read 3397 times)

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Offline muman613

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Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« on: April 18, 2014, 01:19:08 AM »
Shalom JTF Readers,

Once again it is time to write the Video Study thread. This week went quickly as the Pesach Yom Tovim took up most of the week. I usually try to start writing this thread on Wednesdays, but this week I am writing it on Thursday...

Many times I have been asked by people what it means to be 'Holy', or what exactly the Torah means when it talks about 'Holiness' or Kedusha (in Hebrew). I usually explain that this weeks Parsha is a good place to start learning what Hashem considers Holiness to be (and not be). The English word 'Holy' does not do the Hebrew word 'Kedusha' any justice (as many words in English lose their essential meaning).

Hashem took the Jewish people out of the oppression of Egypt in order to make the Jewish people his nation, his special nation set apart from the nations of the world, with a purpose to learn and to teach the world about Hashem and his divine plan. He gave us the Torah in order to give us the ability to see beyond the limitations of this physical world.

We are instructed to be a Holy nation and to bring rectification to a broken world.


From Chabad.org's Parsha in a Nutshell...

Quote
http://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/75894/jewish/Kedoshim-in-a-Nutshell.htm
The Parshah of Kedoshim begins with the statement: “You shall be holy, for I, the L‑rd your G‑d, am holy.” This is followed by dozens of mitzvot (divine commandments) through which the Jew sanctifies him- or herself and relates to the holiness of G‑d.

These include: the prohibition against idolatry, the mitzvah of charity, the principle of equality before the law, Shabbat, sexual morality, honesty in business, honor and awe of one’s parents, and the sacredness of life.

Also in Kedoshim is the dictum which the great sage Rabbi Akiva called a cardinal principle of Torah, and of which Hillel said, “This is the entire Torah, the rest is commentary”—“Love your fellow as yourself.”

According to my recently instituted tradition I will start with a video by the esteemed Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute:



PS: I now realize that during Pesach we do not read the normal Portion of the week. The portion read on Shabbat Chol HaMoed is Exodus 33:12 - 34:26 & Numbers 28:19 - 28:25
« Last Edit: April 18, 2014, 03:12:33 AM by muman613 »
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #1 on: April 18, 2014, 01:38:29 AM »
Here Rabbi Chaim Miller discusses some of the Chassidic thought on the Parsha:

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #2 on: April 18, 2014, 01:48:21 AM »
Rabbi Finkelstein on Kedoshim:

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #3 on: April 18, 2014, 01:58:13 AM »
Rabbi Odze on the portion...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #4 on: April 18, 2014, 02:08:16 AM »
Rabbi Ginsburg gives a talk on the deep meaning of Kedoshim.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #5 on: April 18, 2014, 02:18:04 AM »
Let us see what Rabbi Mizrachi says in this 20 minute talk...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #6 on: April 18, 2014, 02:40:40 AM »
Once again, the great Rabbi Richman on what being Holy means...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #7 on: April 18, 2014, 02:49:22 AM »
Rabbi Shafier gives a short shmuz on the topic.

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #8 on: April 18, 2014, 02:56:04 AM »
Rabbi Svirsky in Jerusalem on being Holy...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2014, 02:03:38 AM »
Rabbi Herschel Finman gives a short talk on the portion:

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2014, 02:07:48 AM »
I have not posted this Rabbi before, let us see what he says...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2014, 02:15:51 AM »
Rabbi Nagin from Jerusalem talks about love...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #12 on: April 24, 2014, 02:25:32 AM »
Sometimes I find the animated G-dcast videos a little off from the traditional interpretation, but let's see if this one is on the mark...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2014, 05:01:12 PM »
Rabbi Pinchas Winston's recent article on the parsha which ties in the Counting of the Omer to the command to be holy.


http://www.torah.org/learning/perceptions/5774/kedoshim.html

Parshas Kedoshim   
The Omer and Holiness

God told Moshe, "Speak to the entire congregation of the Children of Israel and tell them, 'Be holy, for I, your God, am holy.'" (Vayikra 19:1-2)

We have begun the Omer Count. We began, as we do each year, on the second night of Pesach and we will continue, God willing, for 49 days altogether after which we will celebrate the holiday of Shavuos and the giving of Torah.

The mitzvah is to verbally count each of the 49 days between the holidays of Pesach and Shavuos, beginning on the second day of Pesach when, in Temple times, the Omer sacrifice containing an omer of barley was offered in the Temple. This permitted the harvesting of the new crop of wheat that had grown in the previous year until then.

Without a Temple we can no longer bring the Omer-Offering but we count the 49 days nevertheless, for a couple of reasons. For one it is a “count-up” to Shavuos and the giving of Torah (as opposed to counting down which indicates a desire to end something), showing our enthusiasm to receive Torah, and to help us maintain that enthusiasm throughout the 49 days.

Another reason is because by counting the omer we spiritually prepare ourselves to receive Torah, something that requires a lot of preparation. As to exactly what that preparation is we need look no further than the second verse of this week’s parshah:

Speak to the entire congregation of the Children of Israel and tell them, “Be holy, for I, your God, am holy.” (Vayikra 19:2)


The reaction to this will vary. Some people will say, “Obviously.” Others will cringe and say, “Not for me.” Others may simply be intrigued and say, “What does it mean to be holy?” After all, bloody crusades were called “holy,” as is Jihad. Obviously this obvious concept is not so obvious.

On a metaphysical level, as the Maharal explains, the Hebrew word for holy—kodesh—tells you that to be holy is to be separate. For example, a large part of the holiness of Shabbos is that it was “separated” from the six profane working weekdays. When someone separates himself from something, he becomes holy.

But from what? What is the “something” from which a person in search of holiness must separate himself?

The answer comes from a well-known Ramban, but not one that many people quote when it comes to understand the concept of holiness. The Ramban’s answer is in response to a question he has on this week’s parshah, which is basically: Until this point in Sefer Vayikra we have been learning about that which makes a person holy: avoiding impure foods, abstaining from forbidden relationships, etc. Why introduce the mitzvah to be holy here, and not at the beginning of the book, or at the end of it?

His answer is a little surprising. The Ramban explains that everything the Torah taught until now was just to reach the point that we could start talking about being holy. Avoiding that which is forbidden has been the preparation for discussing what it means to be holy, and this is why it is only now that the topic is being addressed.

But what is left after having discussed all the forbidden foods and relationships? From what else can one separate himself to become holy? The Ramban explains: from that which is permissible. Being holy, says the Ramban, is a matter of not being a menuval b’reshus HaTorah, a “disgusting person with the permission of the Torah.”

Well, actually, it is not with the permission of the Torah since the Torah never permits disgusting behavior. What the Ramban means is that one might think that he can eat like a glutton as long as the food is “Glatt Kosher,” and that he can drink as if there is no tomorrow as long as he imbibes kosher spirits. Says Parashas Kedoshim: not if you are a pursuer of holiness.

In other words, explains the Ramban, kedushah—holiness—is not merely about how you deal with that which is forbidden to you. Any decent human being with a sense of self-dignity should be able to practice some self-control and avoid “bad stuff” no matter how much he feels like partaking of it.

Rather, says the Ramban, kedushah is about how you behave with that which is permissible to you. It is about how you interact with the world that God has given you to enjoy, and what you do with it, and why. Even after commanding so many mitzvos regarding what is forbidden, the Torah still leaves plenty of room for a person to be a menuval with what is permissible, even if he is careful to avoid that which is not.

What the Ramban may not have known in his time is how it would become possible in our generation for a person to blend both worlds together. The technology of his time may not have revealed what it does in our time, how easy it is for one to step over the line that separates that which is permissible from that which is forbidden. This is another great reason why it is important to curb one’s use of even that which is permissible.

Part of the problem is that technology today allows people to fill emotional gaps they may have always had but were unable to fulfill in a way that would not call upon them suspicion and humiliation. Many people do not even know what those gaps are and therefore do not realize that they are being exploited by themselves and others, thanks to things like mobile internet, instant messaging, etc.

By the time they do come to the realization what has been going on they may have already stepped over the line of right-and-wrong. It may have started off innocently, and with something that may have been “permissible” even by Torah standards. But technologies today have the ability to “furrow” a path between the permissible and the forbidden quite stealthily. It is not always so clear to the people who walk that path when they pass from one side to the other.

Now more than ever, a person has to be careful how he enjoys the permissible, especially if kedushah, holiness, is his goal.

“Not my goal,” says one group. “Why should it be my goal?” says another. “It should be every Jew’s goal,” says the third.

First of all, there is the command from God to be holy at the start of this week’s parshah, and once upon a time, that would have been reason enough. However, in today’s generation many people remain unmotivated to do the right thing unless they can sense some kind of personal benefit from what they are going to do. In other words, for many today, being holy, truly holy, has to have some kind of personal payback as well.

It does, and this is what the Omer-Count is trying to teach us.

The starting point is in knowing that everyone wants to be happy. It’s a universal value among all mankind, the only difference being the philosophy of happiness from people to people. For some nations happiness is about being a good person and achieving personal fulfillment. For others, it’s about blowing up innocent people in the name of a cause that has no basis in truth for anyone else but themselves.

The Americans have their idea of happiness, just as the Canadians have their own, both of which may be very similar to that of the British. The French have their own version, as do the Moslems and Chinese. But at the end of the day, everyone wants to be happy because it is the way we have been hardwired.

Who is right? Is there even a “right,” or is happiness meant to be subjective and therefore destined to pit nation against nation? And, if there is one path to happiness, how does one know if he is in fact walking it?

The mishnah address this issue:

Rebi [Yehudah HaNassi] used to say: Which is the right path for man to choose for himself? Whatever is harmonious for the one who does it, and harmonious for mankind. (Pirkei Avos 2:1)


The Omer-Count was the build up to Kabbalos HaTorah, which came 50 days after leaving Egypt. Just before receiving Torah, we are told, the Jewish people achieved a phenomenal level of national harmony:

They traveled from Refidim and came to the Sinai Desert, and they camped in the desert; they (written: he) camped opposite the mountain. (Shemos 19:2)

He camped opposite the mountain: k’ish echad, b’leiv echad—like a single person with a single heart. (Rashi)


Not coincidentally, as the Jewish nation built towards unity they also built towards being holy, because it was the latter that led to the former. In fact, an automatic result of true holiness should be harmony, which is why it was Aharon HaKohen, the Kohen Gadol, who became the symbol of that very harmony:

Hillel said: Be of the students of Aharon, loving peace and pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them closer to Torah. (Pirkei Avos 1:12)


Because, and this is the main point: true holiness results in true selflessness, which results in true harmony, internally and externally. If what you are doing results in the opposite, no matter how many times you write or yell out “holy” with respect to what you are doing, it is not. And without true holiness there can be no true harmony, and therefore no true happiness, for the person himself and the world in which he lives.

Certainly this means staying away from what is forbidden by the Torah. But, it also means using that which is permissible in holy ways. The Omer-Count is meant to drive this point home, to help us to prepare for the receiving of Torah, and in truth, to help us prepare for life in general.   
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

Offline muman613

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #14 on: April 24, 2014, 10:39:00 PM »
Rabbi Finkelstein talks about our parsha...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #15 on: April 25, 2014, 12:19:07 AM »
Last year Rabbi Richman posted this video on the double parsha "Acharei Mot/Kedoshim"...

You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14

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Re: Video Study for Parsha Kedoshim : The Essence of Holiness
« Reply #16 on: April 25, 2014, 06:07:42 PM »
Rabbi Label Lam @ http://www.torah.org/learning/dvartorah/5774/kedoshim.html


Parshas Kedoshim   
A Tremendous Mitzvah

… You shall not stand by your fellow's blood. I am HASHEM. (Vayikra 19:16)

You shall not stand by [the shedding of] your fellow’s blood: [I.e., do not stand by,] watching your fellow’s death, when you are able to save him; for example, if he is drowning in the river or if a wild beast or robbers come upon him. — [Torath Kohanim 19:41; Sanh. 73a]
                 

לא תעמד על דם רעך: לראות במיתתו ואתה יכול להצילו, כגון טובע בנהר, וחיה או לסטים באים עליו:

I am the Lord: faithful to pay reward [to those who heed the above warnings], and faithful to exact punishment [upon those who transgress them].
                 

אני ה': נאמן לשלם שכר, ונאמן להפרע:

You shall not stand by your fellow’s blood: Watching your fellow’s death, when you are able to save him; for example, if he is drowning in the river or if a wild beast or robbers come upon him. (Rashi)

I once asked one of my Rebbeim why the Mitzvah stated above, to save the life of a fellow Jew, is communicated to us as a negative imperative, not to stand by!? Why does it not say emphatically that you should certainly save your fellow? Is that not the requirement?

The Rebbe said that there is major difference between a Mitzvah mandating a certain positive action and a Mitzvah that demands we refrain from a certain behavior. We have limitations of how much we are required to spend to perform or acquire the means to do a certain Mitzvah. We are not asked to spend our last dollar to buy Tefillin or an Esrog. We are only meant to empty a percentage of our pocket to get the job done. However, when it comes to a “don’t do” there one is expected to forfeit their entire fortune or income, only not to actively transgress a law in in the Torah. If the Torah would have told us to save a life as a directive of doing, perhaps we would have to stop and make a cost benefit calculation before moving into action, “Hummmm! Jumping into a river, will damage my suit and I will lose the diamonds I have in pocket. This may not be a Mitzvah I can afford to do now!HASHEM forgive me!”

However, now that the Torah mandates not to “stand by”, as a negative I am required to give up everything. If all my millions will save a single Jew from being taken to certain death in a concentration camp I am required to pay it now, wow! It’s good to know that piece of information just in case the situation ever arises. Likely, for most of us though, it never will. What then is the practicality of this perspective, besides appreciating the extreme value of human life, of course.

The Rebbe Elimelech ztl. writes in the beginning of the Tzetel Katan, “At any time when one is free from learning Torah, especially when he has nothing to do and he is sitting alone in his room, or he is lying on his bed, and he is not able to sleep, he should have in mind the Mitzvah of “And I shall be made holy among the children of Israel.”[This is the Mitzvah of Kiddush HASHEM: to sanctify HASHEM’s holy name, even if it means giving up one's life.] He should feel in his soul, and imagine in his thoughts as if a great fire was burning before him reaching until heaven. Because of his desire to sanctify HASHEM’s name, he breaks his natural inclinations [for life] and throws himself into the fire to sanctify HASHEM’s name. And from this good thought, HASHEM will consider it as if he had physically done the act. This way he is not lying or sitting doing nothing. He is fulfilling a positive Mitzvah of the Torah.”

This is not an entirely new idea. The Talmud tells us that when Rabbi Akiva was being tortured to death by the Romans he was saying Shema! His students were confounded and they asked why at this time he was reciting Shema! He told them that his entire life when he said the verse, “with all your soul” which he understood it to mean that one should love HASHEM even if they are taking your life, he had been practicing visualizing this event his entire life. Now finally he was faced with this rare opportunity to live up this highest of all ideals and he embraced it with all of his soul.

Now right after we are commanded to love HASHEM “with all our heart and all our soul”, we are told to love HASHEM, “with all of our might”, which Rashi explains means with all our monetary resources. Maybe we can extend the concept of the Tzetel Katan and apply it to money and life as well.

When sitting idle we can imagine successfully navigating the great test of being willing to forfeit all of our wealth and all of our possessions to save a fellow Jew. We should never know of such a test, but if we do it we will be more prepared. Even more so, HASHEM will consider it as if we had just done a tremendous Mitzvah!   
You shall make yourself the Festival of Sukkoth for seven days, when you gather in [the produce] from your threshing floor and your vat.And you shall rejoice in your Festival-you, and your son, and your daughter, and your manservant, and your maidservant, and the Levite, and the stranger, and the orphan, and the widow, who are within your cities
Duet 16:13-14