holiness

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The Repeated List of Forbidden Sexual Relations
Rabbi Amnon Bazak
Why does the Torah repeat the list of prohibited sexual relations twice? This lesson explains why the episodes discussing prohibited relations belong to two different spheres - the sphere of purity and impurity, and the sphere of sanctification and secular. This distinction clarifies the difference in content and formulation.
Be Holy, For I Hashem Am Holy
Rabbi Yair Kahn | 17 minutes
This shiur presents various ideas about what it means to "be holy" according to Parshat Kedoshim, and why the command needed to involve gathering the whole congregation of Israelites together (by exploring other instances of gathering the whole congregation). The content of the parasha is analyzed to shed some light on the above questions.
The Incense Challenge
Rabbi Chanoch Waxman | 30 minutes
The rebellion of Korach, Datan, Aviram, and the 250 men offering incense is complex, with multiple agendas. The holiness incense “test” suggested by Moshe is perplexing, especially in light of the Nadav and Avihu story. Was it a death threat? If so, would it not have been an obvious one? Why did the men agree to it?
Mizmor 99
Kabalat Shabbat (Part 4)
Rabbi Avi Baumol
Mizmor 99 focuses on God’s relationship with the Jewish Nation. The Mizmor is divided into three sections based on the word holiness. Through an analysis of the concept of holiness we can begin to appreciate the reason it acts as the crucial link in this Mizmor.
A Closer Look at Kiddush
Rabbi David Fohrman |
Rabbi Fohrman offers a deeper insight into the seemingly boring and repetitious nature of the text of our Shabbat morning kiddush. Over and over, the text discusses "keeping" shabbat, holiness, and a covenant - but why? Want to see more videos like this? Check out https://www.alephbeta.org/
Of Death and Defilement
Rabbi Chanoch Waxman
Why did the Torah place the laws of tum'a and tahara in between the stories of the deaths of the sons of Aharon and the laws of entering the Mishkan? Why do the laws of the metzora directly follow the story of the deaths of Nadav and Avihu? It is possible that the answer to this question lies in the mutual exclusivity of the concepts of holiness and tum'a, and the link between tum'a and death.
Vayikra 16-20: From Sanctuary to Sanctity
Rabbi Dr. Avraham Walfish | Hour and 12 minutes
The book of Vayikra is best known for its lengthy discussion of ritual matters involving the Sanctuary, including the laws of sacrifices and of impurity. However, the latter part of the book has little to say on these matters, focusing instead on the ramifications of the Torah's injunction to "be holy". In this lecture we will examine the ways in which Chapters 16-20 of Vayikra serve as a bridge between these two topics. The issues discussed and their arrangement, as well as the use of keywords, verbal echoes, and imagery, serve to highlight both the differences and the interaction between sanctity focused on the Sanctuary and sanctity focused on everyday life.
Where Does the Divine Presence Live?
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
Like many other passages in the description of the making of the Mishkan, the completion of the building echoes a line from the creation narrative: “God saw all that He had made, and behold – it was very good”

The literary parallels between the Divine creation of the universe and the Israelites’ construction of the Tabernacle are intentional and consequential. The Tabernacle was a micro-cosmos, a universe-in-miniature. In creating the universe, God made a home for humanity. In building the sanctuary, humanity made a home for God. And just as, at the beginning of time, God had blessed creation, so Moses blessed those who had a share in its human counterpart. What is the nature of the similarities between the creation and the building of the Mishkan? Through an examination of the text we can learn about the concept of holiness, and that it is not objects that are holy. It is human action and intention in accordance with the will of God that creates holiness.

This article is part of the Covenant & Conversation series.

To read more from Rabbi Sacks or to subscribe to his mailing list, please visit http://www.rabbisacks.org/. You can also follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
One is Holy
Rabbi Jay Kelman
Shemini: Close to G-d
Rabbi Jay Kelman
Judaism’s Three Voices
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks
The nineteenth chapter of Vayikra, with which our parsha begins, is one of the supreme statements of the ethics of the Torah. It’s about the right, the good and the holy, and it contains some of Judaism’s greatest moral commands: “You shall love your neighbour as yourself,” and “Let the stranger who lives among you be like your native-born. Love him as yourself, for you were strangers in Egypt.”

But the chapter is also surpassingly strange. It contains what looks like a random jumble of commands, many of which have nothing whatever to do with ethics and only the most tenuous connection with holiness.

What have these to do with the right, the good and the holy?

To understand this we have to engage in an enormous leap of insight into the unique moral/social/spiritual vision of the Torah, so unlike anything we find elsewhere.

Through an examination of the text, we can understand that the strange collection of commands in Kedoshim turns out not to be strange at all. The holiness code sees love and justice as part of a total vision of an ordered universe in which each thing, person and act has their rightful place, and it is this order that is threatened when the boundary between different kinds of animals, grain, fabrics is breached. An ordered universe is a moral universe, a world at peace with its Creator and itself.

This article is part of the Covenant & Conversation series.

To read more from Rabbi Sacks or to subscribe to his mailing list, please visit http://www.rabbisacks.org/. You can also follow him on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
Acharei Mot - Kedoshim and Yom HaAtzmaut
Rabbi Shlomo Dov Rosen
Korach: Power Outage!
Rabbi Jay Kelman
Ramban on Ki Tisa - The Holy Half Shekel
Rabbi Ezra Bick | 24 minutes
What is the "Holy Shekel" mentioned by the Torah? Is it a known monetary unit, or has Moshe invented it? If it is known, why is it described, and if it is new, why is it not clarified? What is "holy" about the half-shekel? Is the shekel intrinsically holy, or does the holiness refer to its potential to be elevated to a holy status?
Parshat Naso - The Nazir and the Book of Bamidbar
Rabbi Chanoch Waxman | 38 minutes
We will be looking at the Nazirite vow. Crucial to our investigation is the context – what is this voluntary vow doing here, when the Kohen is at the centerpiece of most of the other chapters of Parashat Nasso? And why is the Nazir commanded to bring a sin offering at the end of his Nazir period? What sin has he committed?

We note parallels between the Nazir status and the Kohen Gadol, and contrast the intrinsic holiness of the Kohen with the voluntary holiness of the Nazir. In the optional Nazirite vow is a solution to any misconception about Bnei Yisrael being stuck outside, away from the holiness of the Mishkan. Through the nazirite vow, holiness is accessible to all of Bnei Yisrael , even as Bemidbar describes a social, political, and religious hierarchy.

Parashat Naso emphasizes the unique holiness of every member of Bnei Yisrael, correcting any misconception to the contrary. It reminds us that everyone can achieve a status equivalent to the Kohen Gadol.
Parshat Vayikra Part 1: Introduction to Sefer Vayikra
Shani Taragin | 25 minutes
This podcast presents an introduction to Sefer Vayikra, allowing us to appreciate this sefer based on both its unique content as well as its context and juxtaposition to the previous sefarim. An analysis of the verses in both Vayikra and Shemot allow us to understand the role of Sefer Vayikra as a model of the relationship between the people and God through the Mishkan, and learning to live in the presence of God both within and outside of the Mishkan. We also discuss the differences in the order of korbanot listing between parshiot Vayikra and Tzav, and what may account for those discrepancies.

Courtesy of www.tanachstudy.com
Parshat Metzora Part 6: Chiastic Conclusion
Shani Taragin | 10 minutes
This podcast discusses the final three verses of Parshat Metzora which serve as a transition into Parshat Achrei Mot.

Courtesy of www.tanachstudy.com