Parshat Kedoshim - April 30, 2011

Parshat Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1 - 20:27)

Synopsis: Parshat Kedoshim

In this portion, God tells Moses to instruct the entire Israelite community in the laws of holiness. The Israelites are to be holy because God is holy. Therefore, they are to observe the commandments and the laws of the sacrifices. They are to provide for the poor and the stranger, leaving the edges of the fields unharvested and the fallen fruits of their vineyards ungleaned, so that the needy can come and gather food.

The Israelites are told not to insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind and to show respect for the elderly. They are to be fair in judgment and in commerce and they are not to bear a grudge. Moses tells them further to love their neighbors as themselves and to love the strangers in their midst, for the Israelites were strangers themselves in the land of Egypt.

The Israelites are not to mix different species of cattle or seed and tehy are not to wear clothes made from a mixture of two kinds of material.

Moses also reviews the prohibited sexual relations and the punishments for these.

All these laws the Israelites are to observe so that they may be holy to God, Who has set them apart from other peoples, freed them from slavery in Egypt, and chosen them as God's people.

Synopses courtesy of Teaching Torah, by Sorel Goldberg Loeb and Barbara Binder Kadden

For your Shabbat table:

• God told the Israelites that they would be holy. What do you think it means to be holy? How are you holy?
• How can you act in a holy way?
• What are some holy things that your family can do together that you could not do by yourself? How can doing these things together bring you closer to God?
• In Parshat Kedoshim, we are told to respect the elderly. What does it mean to respect someone? How is it different from "honor"? Why do you think the Torah uses both these words? What word would you use to describe the ideal relationship between a child and a parent? Why do you think the Torah does not use the word "love"?

And now.. the parsha in cartoon form - courtesy of g-dcast.com:

Kedoshim: