Kedoshim
Reb Shlomo Minyan HarNof
(R. Raphael, email: [email protected])
"You shall be holy" (VaYikra 19:2)
Just like I, Hashem, am holy, so you shall be holy. Thus, he should not just stay away from what is forbidden but also control his appetites with that which is permitted, as well. Because a person can make himself disgusting even within that which is sanctioned by the Torah. Therefore the pasuk comes to command us to separate ourselves from overindulgence in whatever form it takes (From the Ramban on VaYikra 19:2).
When Receiving Is Giving
"How lovely and how pleasant is the love of pleasures" (Shir HaShirim 7:7). The loveliness and pleasantness of worldly pleasure originates from a higher spiritual source and we need to understand that every pleasure that a man desires in this world is a love that has fallen from its source rooted in exalted love.
It is a kindness of Hashem that we are aroused to worldly pleasure as this makes it is easier for us to love the Creator, Blessed be He. And Hashem knows that without this a person would not come to be aroused to a greater love. But when a person doesn't understand that worldly love is there in order to bring him closer to Gd, then the person is drawn after the pleasure and he actually causes himself to fall further away from devloping a love of Gd within himself.
Sometimes a person is drawn to a love for something that takes him further from Hashem, Gd forbid, till he desires to transgress the Torah. But he finds that in spite of his wayward desire he is unable to act on his thoughts because of some obstacle that has appeared. This is also Hashem giving the person assistance, impeding him so that the person can reflect on what he is doing; so that he can realize that he doesn't have the wisdom to raise up a fallen love to its source - to grasp the love of Hashem, May He be Blessed. If this person persists even then in going after the bad, he creates an opposite effect causing, so to speak, Hashem's glory to become even more constricted. This is manifested in Hashem's bringing other obstacles that will cause the person to desist and do nothing so that at least he will cause himself no further damage (Baal Shem, Terumah 5)
Mitzvot
According to Sefer HaChinuch Kedoshim has fifty one mitzvot.
At A Glance
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