Parshiyot Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
10 Iyar 5764 - April 30, 2004

In the heart of the book of Vayikra, we encounter a wealth of mitzvot designed to create a society with lofty goals. This society sets its sights on no less than the emulation of Hashem:
And Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: “ Speak to the entire congregation of the Children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, because holy I am, Hashem, your G-d” (Vayikra 19:1-2).

As enumerated by the Sefer HaChinuch (ascribed to either R. Aharon HaLevi or R. Pinchas HaLevi of Barcelona, mid-13th Century), 51 never-before-seen mitzvot appear in Parshat Kedoshim alone.

Moshe is instructed to teach this passage to the entire community as one, rather than repeating it first to Aharon and his sons and the Elders, before teaching it to the people (see Eiruvin 54b). This is because, as Rashi quotes from Torat Kohanim (1:1),
“The majority of the main principles (literally, “bodies”) of the Torah depend on it.”

As elucidated by the Midrash (Tanchuma 3; Vayikra Rabbah 24:5), and quoted by Ramban, this passage recapitulates the Decalogue (Shemot 20:2-13).

On a simple level, parallels can be found between specific commands here and in the Decalogue. Here are examples from the first five:
• I am Hashem, your G-d (Shemot 20:2) — I am, Hashem, your G-d (here, verse 2).
• You shall have no other gods before Me (Shemot 20:3) — Do not turn to the false gods (here, verse 4).
• You shall not take the name of Hashem your G-d in vain (Shemot 20:7) — and you shall not swear in My Name for falsehood (here, verse 12).
• Remember the Shabbat day (Shemot 20:8) — and My Shabbatot keep (here, verse 3).
• Honor your father and your mother (Shemot 20:12) — Each one shall revere his mother and his father (ibid.).
This continues throughout.

Upon closer examination, however, we find more here than simple repetition of the Decalogue. Instead, additional dimensions are added. We must not only “remember” Shabbat, we must “keep” it; we must not only “honor” our parents, we must “revere” them, and so on. Each is a development, an expansion, of a central concept.

Consequently, our passage demonstrates that the Decalogue, revealed to the assembled Children of Israel at Sinai, establishes categories of commandments. (In fact, Saadia Gaon [882-942] in his Azharot, a special liturgical poem written for Shavuot, shows how all 613 commandments are conceptually derived from the Decalogue; see Ibn-Ezra’s commentary to Shemot 20:2-3.) And now, one year after Sinai, Moshe duplicates the Revelation by teaching Kedoshim, the “expanded version” of the Decalogue.

Accordingly, each of the mitzvot of Kedoshim that restates part of the Decalogue might be said to be the “nucleus” of a “cluster” of connected mitzvot.

Let’s examine one such “cluster” closely:
Do not turn to the false gods, and molten gods shall you not make for yourselves; I am Hashem, your G-d. And if you sacrifice a peace-offering to Hashem, for your acceptance shall you sacrifice it. On the day of its offering shall it be eaten, and the next day; and that which is left on the third day shall be burned in fire. And if it would indeed be eaten on the third day, it is an abhorrent thing; it shall not be accepted. And one who eats it shall bear his transgression, because the sanctity of Hashem he has desecrated; and that soul shall be severed from its people. And when you cut the harvest of your land you shall not cut the corner of your field completely; and the gleaning of your harvest shall you not glean. And of your vineyard shall you not pick the unfinished clusters, and the droppings of your vineyard shall you not glean: for the poor and the stranger shall you leave them. I am Hashem, your G-d (Vayikra 19:4-10).

Three topics are evident here:
1. To reject all manner of idolatry utterly, not honoring it or ascribing success to it in any way (see Sforno [R. Ovadia ben Yaakov Sforno, c. 1470-c.1550] here and on Shemot 34:17).
2. To offer sacrifices in an acceptable fashion, not to even think of bringing them incorrectly (see Rashi).
3. To provide for the poor from the produce of the land.

It is interesting that the archetype of sacrifices here is the Shelamim, the peace-offering, from which all other offerings are derived by extension. Ramban suggests two reasons for this: since Shelamim are classified among the “lighter” sacrifices (kodashim kalim), then anything taught about them is certainly (kal vachomer) true of more severe offerings; alternatively, Shelamim are unique to the people of Israel (Zevachim 116a), they are the prototype for all Jewish worship. Abravanel (Don Yitzchak Abravanel, 1437-1508) adds that Shelamim are voluntary offerings, eaten by all, not just the Kohanim; lest we think that we can do as we like with such sacrifices, the Torah insists on the same honorable standards as with obligatory offerings.

Why do sacrifices and charity follow the prohibition of idolatry?

Ramban points out that, in forbidding all idolatry, the Torah “directed [literally, “emptied”] all forms of worship to be for the sake of Hashem (Sanhedrin 60b).” Service to Hashem, it then follows, must be categorical and unequivocal: do not serve Him in order to receive reward (Avot 1:3), but only to do His will and obtain His favor, like a servant whose only desire is to please his master in all that he commands.

The highest aspiration of such a devoted servant will be to emulate the kindly ways of his beloved master. Thus, says Sforno, the acts of charity described by the Torah follow the laws of sacrifice.

Acknowledgement of Hashem leads to proper service of Hashem, and these become the basis for true compassion for one’s fellow man. Other legal and moral systems might strive for social justice, but only the Torah’s system leads to the sanctified society.

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