Kedoshim

דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them:
You shall be holy, for I, the ETERNAL your God, am holy.

– Leviticus 19:2 Kedoshim

Parashat Acharei Mot–Kedoshim sits at the heart of the Torah and at the heart of our moral lives. In the aftermath of loss and uncertainty, God calls to Aaron with precise instructions for sacred service. This reminds us that even in grief, structure and ritual can guide us back to meaning. But the portion does not stay in the sanctuary. It moves outward, into the everyday, where holiness is not confined to priests or sacred spaces, but demanded of all of us: “Kedoshim tihyu –You shall be holy.”

For us, living in a complicated world filled with both beauty and brokenness, this call remains urgent. We are not asked to be perfect, but to be intentional—to bring a sense of קדושה, of sacred purpose, into our daily lives. Holiness, the Torah teaches, is not a place we visit. It is a way we choose to live.

L’Shalom,

Cantor Paula Baruch