LEV122 The Rabbis taught: "And you shall make yourselves holy, and you shall be holy" -- if a man sanctifies himself a little, he is caused to be greatly sanctified; if he sanctifies himself below, he is sanctified from on high; if he sanctifies himself in this world, he is sanctified in the world to come (Yoma 39b).

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LEV123 (Continued from [[LEV861]] Leviticus 20:26 apart COHON 167). These laws are classified by the rabbis as hukkim (statutes), which transcend human reason, and must be observed -- despite the derision of gentiles -- as means of consecration to God. Rab suggests a moral ground for their observance. "What difference does it make to God whether one slaughters the animal by cutting the neck in front or in the back? Or what matters it Him whether one eats pure or impure things? This shows that the commandments were given only for the purpose of testing men." Yoma 67b; Sifra to Lev. 20:26; Gen. R. 44:1 and notes by Theodor; Tanhuma, Shemini, 12; Maimonides, Guide, III:26. The ritual minutia of shehitah and of the other laws of kashrut are thus conceived as serving the purpose of trying and purifying human character. They were interpreted as safeguards against cruelty to animals, as measures to train man in self-discipline, and as means of distinguishing the Jews as a priest people and of submission to God's will. Ibid. Maimonides concludes his treatment of the dietary laws in his Code with a comment, "Whoever is careful in the observance of these matters invests himself with added holiness and purity, and cleanses his soul for God's sake, in keeping with the words [this verse]. In his Guide he writes that the object of observing them "is to restrain the growth of desire, the indulgence in seeking that which is pleasant, and the disposition to consider the appetite for food and drink as the end [of man's existence]." Guide, III, 26.

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LEV124 It is remarkable that whenever the command to be holy appears in the Torah it is addressed to the whole nation, rather than to the individual. Thus at Revelation the entire congregation of Israel is urged to be "a kingdom of priests and a holy nation" (Exodus xix. 6); the Dietary Laws (Leviticus xi) are sealed with the words "And YE shall sanctify yourselves and become holy, for I the Lord am holy" [this verse]; and in Exodus xx. 30, we are told: "And holy men shall ye be unto Me". The remarkable chapter, to which attention has already been called (Leviticus xix) begins: "YE shall be holy". Why? To emphasize that to achieve perfection and to model our lives on the Deity, we must work collectively, regarding the welfare of the individual as a public concern. The word “Kadosh” (Holy One) as applied to God means “One set apart” and stresses His transcendence and independence of all besides Himself. In other words, to be holy means to be master over one’s life and nature, able to lead an existence separate and independent. Jewish ethics stress that not only is He the Holy One but that He also summons man to this task of holiness. For man this task has a twofold connotation, negative and positive. On its negative side, it implies a breaking-away from whatever urge of nature that makes self-gratification the purpose of existence. This does not mean the ignoring of the legitimate calls of nature or the practice of rigid asceticism. All it means is a severance from lust and passion that drag man down to the level of an animal.

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LEV125 It may well be that another reason for the observance of the Dietary Laws, apart from the main stress on holiness found in Leviticus xi. 43-47, is the principle that it is forbidden to eat or do anything which is likely to impair one's state of health. (Bava Kamma 91b, "No man may do injury to himself.) So important is this prophylactic principle that a Rabbi is of the opinion that even such foods that come under the banner of forbidden things are temporarily permitted if, by their means, life may be prolonged (Hullin 10a. See also Ta'anit 11a: "He that makes fasting habitual, is deemed a sinner." If he is a teacher of children, for instance, he will not be able to devote of his best to the task at hand if he spends his days in chastising his body.) In fact, such acts that are conducive to physical health are considered prime religious duties. Those practices that may lead to a weakening of the faculties are deemed sinful and obnoxious, and contrary to Jewish thought. Interesting is the suggestion made by some scholars that antediluvian man lived so long because he ate a healthy vegetarian food produced by the rich soil prior to its deterioration by the waters of the Flood. (Continued at [[DEUT1006]] Deut. 20:19 destroy LEHRMAN 74)

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LEV126 Judaism raises the act of eating to something holy by selecting only those foods permitted by God and by acknowledging God each time a food is eaten in the form of a blessing. Of all the subjects Maimonides could have selected for his Book of Holiness (one of the fourteen books of Jewish law in his Mishneh Torah), he selected only two topics: the laws of permitted and forbidden sexual activity and the laws of permitted and forbidden food. Thus, Maimonides, too, is saying that one becomes holy by satisfying the physical for a spiritual purpose. Nowhere is this concept more apparent than in the Shabbat. Holiness is first mentioned in the Torah with regard to Shabbat (Gen. 2:3). Besides the Kiddush, there are specific actions that man must take to make the Sabbath holy. All of these things have one thing in common: they are fulfillment of physical desires performed for making Shabbat holy. In addition to the wine, man makes Shabbat holy by preparing and eating the best food of the week and by dressing up in the finest clothes of the week. The Talmud (Shabbat 25b) says that it is a mitzvah to wash one's body in preparation for Shabbat. This clearly shows that the Shabbat is made holy through actions that satisfy bodily needs for spiritual purpose. In the portion of Leviticus called Kedoshim, named for the commandment "Be Holy" that begins the portion, the rest of the commandments that follow are, by and large, everyday activities, which take place in the marketplace. These include "Love your neighbor", "Do not steal," "Do not withhold gifts to the poor," and so forth. According to one opinion (Bava Kamma 30a), a person achieves piety by learning the laws relating to the marketplace and damages. Thus, holiness, once again, seems to be achieved in the physical world, by making the physical activities spiritual, and not the other way around. This entire approach is encapsulated in one phrase from the Talmud (Yevamot 20a): "Make yourself holy through that which is permitted to you."

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LEV127 See [[LEV285]] Leviticus 19:2 holy SPERO 47

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LEV128 Most of the mitzvot in the Torah are open for speculation because the Torah does not give reasons. By kashrut, the Torah clearly states a purpose to be holy and separate between pure and impure. Can eating make someone holy? Yes. Judaism believes that a person can become holy by doing an action that seems mundane and physical, like eating, an action that is shared with every other creature in the world.

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