The mitzvot of Kedoshim

The commandment of the reverence of father and mother

Positive · Leviticus 19:3

A person should recognise the good done to him and repay kindness to whoever has been good to him, and not be ungrateful, for that is a wicked trait in the eyes of God and people. Father and mother are the reason he is in the world, and they toiled over him greatly in his childhood, so it is right that he honour and revere them. And once this trait is fixed in his soul, he will rise from it to recognise the goodness of God, the cause of his existence and of all his ancestors, and understand how careful he must be in His service.

To not turn after the worship of idols, not in thought, not in speech and not in vision

Negative · Leviticus 19:4

Keeping away from idolatry is the foundation of faith, and its root is known to everyone. One who dwells on the empty claims of its worshippers - that such a star or such an incense has such an effect - or who keeps gazing at their images to learn how they are worshipped, will end up being enticed after it and serving it. So the Torah forbade even turning towards it in thought, in speech or with a look.

To not make idols not for himself and not for those besides him

Negative · Leviticus 19:4

Keeping away from idolatry is the foundation of the whole Torah, and its reason is plain to all. One who makes an idol, even for someone else and even for a non-Jew, prepares with his own hands an instrument of error and gives it a place in the world. So the Torah forbade the very making of it, even without worshipping it.

To not eat notar

Negative · Leviticus 19:6

An offering is meant to correct a person's thoughts and to fix in his soul, through the deed of his own hands, the evil of sin and the goodness of the right path. So its whole service must be done as God commanded, and holy meat whose time for eating has passed has left the bounds of its holiness. It is not fitting to eat it, for that would undo what the offering came to teach.

To leave over the corner of the field

Positive · Leviticus 19:10

God wished His people to be adorned with every good trait, with a blessed soul and a generous spirit, and the soul is shaped by deeds. One who leaves part of his field's produce for the poor shows contentment and a blessed spirit, while one who gathers everything into his house and leaves nothing for the needy, who saw the field and longed for it, reveals a mean heart. And the measure a person uses is the measure used for him.

To not finish the corner in the field

Negative · Leviticus 19:9

This is the other side of the mitzvah of the corner of the field. God wants the soul of His people to be generous, and leaving the edge of the field for the poor trains the heart in generosity and in contentment with one's lot. One who reaps everything to the very end teaches his soul stinginess, and the sages have said that the measure a person uses is the measure used for him.

To leave the gleanings in the field

Positive · Leviticus 19:10

The ears of grain that fall during the harvest are left for the poor, so that a person trains his soul in generosity and does not gather every grain for himself. When he lets the needy enjoy the blessing of his field, his soul fills with contentment and a good spirit, and God's blessing rests upon it.

To not take the sheaves that fall at the time of the harvesting

Negative · Leviticus 19:9

One who goes back and gathers every ear that fell from his hand reveals stinginess in his soul, while one who leaves it for the poor acquires a good heart. God wants His people to have a generous spirit, and the measure a person uses is the measure used for him.

The commandment of leaving over the corner of the vineyard

Positive · Leviticus 19:10

As with the field, so with the vineyard - God wished His people to have a generous and blessed soul. When a person leaves the small clusters of his vineyard for the poor, he trains his heart to give and sees for himself that God has satisfied him with His goodness. And one who leaves a blessing behind him merits that blessing rests upon him.

To not finish the corner of the vineyard

Negative · Leviticus 19:10

In the vineyard too the Torah forbade harvesting everything to the last, so that a share remains for the poor. This deed shapes the soul and teaches it generosity, while one who gathers every small cluster for himself trains his heart in stinginess. And the measure a person uses is the measure used for him.

The commandment of leaving the peret of the vineyard

Positive · Leviticus 19:10

The single grapes that fall during the grape harvest are left for the poor. In this way a person learns that not everything that grows in his vineyard is his alone, his soul becomes generous and content, and God pours His blessing upon it.

To not gather the peret of the vineyard

Negative · Leviticus 19:10

One who bends down to gather every grape that fell from the cluster shows that there is no room in his heart for the poor. The Torah forbade this to build a generous spirit in Israel, for the soul is shaped by deeds, and when it acts generously God's blessing rests upon it.

To not steal any money

Negative · Leviticus 19:11

The root of this mitzvah is well known, for it is one of the mitzvot that reason itself requires. A society in which a person secretly takes his fellow's property cannot endure, and no one is secure in what he owns.

That we do not disavow money that is in our hand from another

Negative · Leviticus 19:11

This too is one of the mitzvot to which reason bears witness. One who was entrusted with money, or who owes something to his fellow, and denies it betrays the trust placed in him, and if this spread, no one could deposit anything with his fellow or lend to him.

To not swear about the denial of money

Negative · Leviticus 19:11

An oath by God's name is meant to fix in the heart that God is true and endures forever, so His name must be mentioned with awe and reverence and not as one speaks of a trivial matter. One who denies his fellow's money and swears falsely about it not only robs his fellow but also makes light of the fear of Heaven, as though saying in his heart that there is no truth.

To not swear falsely

Negative · Leviticus 19:12

God endures forever and does not change, and His name should be mentioned with awe and not lightly. One who swears by His name to something he knows to be false makes light of the fear of God, as though saying in his heart that there is no truth. The author of the Chinuch explains that one who swears resolves in his heart that his words will stand and not change, just as God endures forever, so one who breaks his oath is among those who deny the truth.

To not oppress

Negative · Leviticus 19:13

The root of this mitzvah is well known, for reason requires that a person not hold on to money that is not his, whether by force or by putting off and trickery. The Torah listed oppression, robbery and theft each on its own, though they are all one matter, because God desires to give Israel merit. The more the warnings multiply, the greater the reward for one who keeps away from the sin.

To not rob

Negative · Leviticus 19:13

Reason strongly rejects robbery. One who robs someone weaker than himself knows that when someone stronger comes upon him, he too will be robbed, and if everyone snatches from his fellow, all of society will be destroyed.

To not delay the wage of a wageworker

Negative · Leviticus 19:13

God desires the survival of the human being He created, and it is known that when food is delayed the body perishes. So He commanded that a hired worker be paid on time, for he sets his heart on his wage and lives by it. The limit was set at one day, apparently because people sometimes go without food for a day, but not longer.

To not curse an Israelite, whether a man or a woman

Negative · Leviticus 19:14

We do not know how a curse takes hold of the one cursed or what power speech has to bring harm upon him, but people all over the world fear curses and say that even the curse of an ordinary person leaves its mark. So God kept us from harming others with our mouths, just as He kept us from harming them with deeds, and the sages already said that there is power in the words of a person's mouth.

To not make an innocent one stumble on the way

Negative · Leviticus 19:14

The repair and settling of the world depend on people guiding one another and giving each other good advice in all their affairs. One who gives his fellow bad advice, especially in order to profit from it himself, destroys the trust between people and trips up the one who relied on him.

To not vitiate justice

Negative · Leviticus 19:15

The root of this mitzvah is well known, for human society endures through just judgment. When a judge perverts the law, the strong prevail over the weak, and there is no place where a person can seek his rights.

To not honor a great person in judgment

Negative · Leviticus 19:15

When a judge treats the litigants equally, the world is set in order. If he honours the great and the rich more than the other party, the weaker one will be afraid to put forward all his claims, and the judgment will come out crooked.

The commandment to judge with righteousness

Positive · Leviticus 19:15

When the law is equal for both sides the world is set in order, but if the judge honours one party more, the other will be afraid to state all his claims and the judgment will come out crooked. It is good that the wise and upright should judge, for he will judge truly. And one who judges his fellow favourably increases peace and friendship among people and removes suspicion of one another.

To not spy

Negative · Leviticus 19:16

God desires the good of the creatures He made, and He commanded us this so that there would be peace among us. One who tells a person what his fellow said about him kindles quarrel and strife between them.

To not stand over the blood of neighbors

Negative · Leviticus 19:16

When a person saves his fellow, his fellow will also save him in his time of need, and so the world is settled. And God desires the settling of the world, for He did not create it to be a waste but formed it to be inhabited.

To not hate brothers

Negative · Leviticus 19:17

Hatred in the heart causes great evils among people, until each raises his sword against his brother and his neighbour, and it is the cause of all the betrayals that happen between people. It is the lowest and most despicable trait in the eyes of every person of understanding. Hidden hatred is worse than open hatred, which is why the Torah warned against it most of all.

The commandment of rebuke to an Israelite who does not behave properly

Positive · Leviticus 19:17

Rebuke brings peace and goodwill between people. When one person wrongs another and the other rebukes him privately, he apologises, his apology is accepted and they make peace; but if he does not rebuke him, he will hate him in his heart and harm him when the chance comes, as is said of Avshalom, who did not speak with Amnon. And all the ways of the Torah are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace.

To not whiten the face of an Israelite

Negative · Leviticus 19:17

Shame is a great pain for people, and there is no pain greater. So God kept us from causing His creatures such pain, since it is possible to rebuke a wrongdoer in private, without shaming him.

To not avenge

Negative · Leviticus 19:18

A person should know that whatever happens to him, for good or for bad, comes from God, and no one can harm him against His will. So when his fellow causes him pain, he should know that his own sins brought it about and not think of taking revenge, as David said of Shimi ben Gera, let him curse, for God has told him to. There is also great benefit in this, for it puts an end to quarrels and removes hatred from people's hearts.

To not begrudge

Negative · Leviticus 19:18

The root of this mitzvah is that of the prohibition of revenge. Everything that happens to a person comes from God, and the one who hurt him is not the cause of his trouble - his own sins are - so he should not keep in his heart what his fellow did to him, even when he does not repay him. One who wipes the hurt from his heart removes hatred and increases peace, and God makes peace for those who have peace between them.

The commandment of love of Israel

Positive · Leviticus 19:18

As a person treats his fellow, so his fellow will treat him, and in this way there will be peace among people. One who loves his fellow as himself will not steal his money, will not wrong him and will not harm him in any way, which is why Rabbi Akiva said that this is a great principle of the Torah.

To not mate a beast, a species with not its species

Negative · Leviticus 19:19

God created His world with wisdom and understanding, and made every form as it needs to be for the purpose of the world, and of everything it is said, and behold, it was very good. Because each species is perfectly fitted to its task, He commanded that every species bear fruit after its kind and that the species not mingle, lest their perfection be diminished and His blessing not rest upon them.

To not sow seeds of forbidden mixtures and not graft in any place in the Land

Negative · Leviticus 19:19

As with animals, God created every plant perfectly fitted to its task and commanded that each species bring forth fruit after its kind. One who combines one species with another creates a kind of third species, as though seeking to alter God's perfect works. So we were kept even from doing with our own hands a deed that shows a wish to change what God has made.

To not eat orlah

Negative · Leviticus 19:23

Nachmanides wrote that the mitzvah comes to honour God with the first of all fruit, so that we do not eat of it until all of it is brought in praise to God in a single year. In the first three years the fruit is scant and has no good taste or scent, so we wait until the fourth year. He also wrote that young fruit is full of excess moisture that harms the body, like other foods the Torah forbade.

The commandment of the fourth year plant

Positive · Leviticus 19:24

God wished a person to be moved to praise Him for the choicest fruit of his trees, the fruit of the fourth year, so that God's blessing would rest on him and his fruit would be blessed. So He commanded that it be brought up and eaten in Jerusalem, the place He chose for His service, where God commanded the blessing. Moreover, one who goes up there to eat of his fruit may settle there, himself or one of his sons, to learn Torah in the place where its teachers are found.

To not eat or to drink in the way of a glutton and a drunkard

Negative · Leviticus 19:26

Most human sins come from excessive eating and drinking, as it says, Yeshurun grew fat and kicked. Food is the business of the body, while reflecting on the fear of God and His mitzvot is the business of the soul, and when the body grows strong the soul grows weak. So the Torah keeps us from excess in eating and drinking, and warns a youth about it at the start of his maturity, so that he takes the lesson for all his days.

To not divine

Negative · Leviticus 19:26

Divining by omens is madness and utter folly, and it is not fitting for the holy people God chose to turn to lies. Moreover, it may lead a person to heresy, when he comes to think that everything that happens to him is chance and not the providence of his Creator. So the Torah commanded us to fix in our hearts that good and bad come from God according to a person's deeds, as it says, there is no divination in Yaakov.

To not soothsay

Negative · Leviticus 19:26

As with divination, fixing lucky and unlucky hours is vanity and turns a person away from faith in God's providence. There is also great harm here, for simple people and the young see conjurers' illusions that seem to go against nature, grow used to thinking that the impossible is possible even without a miracle from the Creator, and from this may come to deny Him.

To not encircle the corner of the head

Negative · Leviticus 19:27

The Torah wants to distance us from every trace of idolatry and of all that was done for its sake, and to erase it from before our eyes. So it warned explicitly against practices that its worshippers performed on their bodies, for a mark fixed in the body is a constant reminder of sin.

To not destroy the corner of the beard

Negative · Leviticus 19:27

Here too the reason is to distance us from anything connected with idolatry. The priests of idolatry used to destroy the corners of their beards, so this was forbidden to Israel, so that their bodies would bear no resemblance to those practices.

That we not imprint an imprinted tattoo into our flesh

Negative · Leviticus 19:28

This mitzvah too comes to keep every trace of idolatry away from our bodies and from before our eyes. The nations used to mark their flesh with a sign of their idol, to show that they were slaves sold to it and registered for its service.

The commandment of awe for the Temple

Positive · Leviticus 19:30

The Temple is not for God's need but to prepare our hearts for His service, and so we were commanded to hold it in awe. When a person comes there with reverence and seriousness his thoughts are purified and his heart set right, and so he becomes worthy of the good God wishes to do for him.

To not do an act of ov

Negative · Leviticus 19:31

Vanities such as the practice of ov lead a person away from faith in God and make him think that all that befalls him is chance, and that he can change his fate by such inquiries and devices. But in truth everything is decreed by the Master of the world, and what happens to a person is renewed according to his deeds, good or bad. So he should direct his thoughts and ways to mending his deeds - and these practices also carry an element of idolatry.

To not do an act of yida'aoni

Negative · Leviticus 19:31

The practice of yidoni resembles that of ov, and the root of the prohibition is the same. A person who turns to such vanities drifts away from the faith that everything is decreed by God according to his deeds, and imagines he can know and change his future by devices. So the Torah commanded us to keep away from them, and to place our trust in God and in mending our deeds.

The commandment to honor sages

Positive · Leviticus 19:32

Man was created in the world chiefly for the sake of wisdom, so that he might know his Creator, and so it is right to honour one who has attained it. Through the honour shown to the wise, others too will be stirred to seek wisdom. For the same reason it is right to honour even an elder who is not learned, for in his many years he has seen and understood something of God's works and wonders.

To not cheat in measures, and all measures are included

Negative · Leviticus 19:35

The root of the mitzvah is known to every person of understanding - uprightness, and keeping theft and deceit far from among people. One who cheats in measure or weight robs his fellow in secret, and the Torah wants relations between people to rest on honesty and trust.

The commandment of having just scales, weights and measures

Positive · Leviticus 19:36

This mitzvah comes to establish uprightness among people and to keep theft and deceit far from them, and its root is known to every person of understanding. When scales and measures are just, everyone can rely on his fellow in trade, and the settled order of the world stands on this.

To not curse father and mother

Negative · Leviticus 20:9

A sage once said that what people allow themselves to say they will end up doing, and a curse opens the door to rebellion. Just as the Torah forbade cursing the judges, on whose justice the world stands, so it forbade cursing father and mother, who are the cause of a person's existence and deserve honour, not contempt. And a curse is no light thing in itself, for speech has the power to harm the one against whom it is spoken.

The commandment to burn one who is liable for burning

Positive · Leviticus 20:14

The mitzvah concerns the gravity of the forbidden relations, and the root of their prohibition is that the Torah keeps a person away from desire that does not serve the continuation of the human race, above all with close relatives, who are always near him, so that the risk of stumbling is greater. It is also said that the Torah does not want a person to act brazenly toward one to whom he owes honour and modesty, and some of the sages saw in this a deep secret belonging to the foundations of creation.

To not follow the practices of the gentiles

Negative · Leviticus 20:23

The Torah wants Israel to keep far from the idolatrous nations and to regard their ways as unworthy. So it forbade following their practices and resembling them even in dress, so that outward distance would guard the inner distance from their ways and beliefs.