Parashat Kedoshim is one of the centerpieces of the entire Torah because it contains what Torat Kohanim calls "a majority of the body of the Torah (gufei torah)." What exactly is gufei torah and what is the substance of God’s directive "You shall be holy"? On this question, Rashi and Nachmonides offer two divergent voices that reflect two completely different approaches to Torah.
Rashi bases his approach on what many scholars see as his intentional misreading of Torat Kohanim. The midrash teaches that holiness (kedushah) implies abstinence. Rashi then adds that the abstinence referred to by the midrash is the abstinence from the illicit conjugal relations that comprised the end of the preceding chapter. Rashi’s commentary points to a common feature of his thinking which is also implied in his commentary on the first verse of the Torah on Genesis 1:1, "Why didn’t the Torah begin with the first mitzvah"? For Rashi, the overarching purpose of the Torah is the transmission and observance of mitzvot. That is why when Rashi is confronted with a disconnected directive for holiness: He misreads the midrash’s definition of kedushah as perishut (abstinence) by tying it into the transgressions of the preceding chapter of the Torah.
Nachmonides offers a different approach to holiness which relates to his disagreement with Rashi on reading Genesis 1:1. This difference reflects a deep disagreement between these Torah commentators about religious action in Judaism. Nachmonides questions Rashi’s reading of Torat Kohanim and then uses the midrash for his own purposes. Nachmonides agrees that holiness requires abstinence. However, he says that the mitzvah of k’doshim tihyu (becoming holy) is not related to the illicit relations in the preceding chapter, but rather is applicable only after those transgressions have been enumerated. For Nachmionides, holiness derives not from obedience, but rather from rebellion against pure obedience. The abstinence implied in God’s call to be holy is refraining from that which is permitted, not from that which is prohibited.
Most commentators see the statement "be Holy, For I am Holy" as an example of Imatatio Dei, emulating the Divine. Nachmonides disagrees. For him, holiness does not emulate the Divine; it unites the human and the Divine. Holiness transforms the human being into the image of God. Nachmonides teaches that we are not created in the image of God, we are created with the potential to become the image of God. Obedience is like taharah (purity). It rectifies deviance but does not lead to transformation. When we sin and become pure, we are not better, we have just reverted to our previous form. When we become holy, we are changed, elevated, transformed.
For Rashi, Torah is about mitzvah, pure obedience. To become holy is to perform mitzvot. For Nachmonides, Torah is piety and holiness. These poles enable people to act obediently without believing that obedience is an end in of itself.
So how can we relate to Nachmonides’ vision of Torah? For one, abstaining from that which is permitted teaches us to appreciate the gifts that we have without seeing them as entitlements. Just because something is permitted does not mean we have to partake. On a deeper level, Nachmonides teaches us that our obedience of mitzvot is part of a continuum that requires devotion in addition to the fulfillment of religious actions. For us to become truly holy requires more than action, it requires us to disobey pure commandment and to add devotion to our actions.
Shabbat Shalom