Parshas Achrei-Mot Kedoshim: Rashi’s thoughts on being holy

Parshas Kedoshim begins with an exhortation from God to the people:

“God spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to the entire congregation of the Children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy because I, the Lord, your God, am holy.” (Vayikra 19:1-2). We logically ask – OK, how do we go about acting in a holy manner? The passages that follow the two opening verses appear to offer a game plan to get to holiness – these verses instruct us to honor our parents, keep the Sabbath, forsake idol worship, be careful with animal sacrifices to follow the rules, set aside areas of your field for the poor to glean, and a number of other commandments.

Rashi disregards the juxtaposition of commands that immediately follow the opening two verses about being holy and, instead, understands the opening verses as a follow up to the previous chapter [Vayikra 18] that contains the prohibitions against forbidden sexual unions.

You shall be holy. Separate yourself from sexual crimes and from sin, for wherever you find a fence against sexual crime you find holiness mentioned. [For example] “A prostitute or a profaned woman they (the Priests) shall not marry, for the Lord am holy, the One who makes you holy [Vayikra 21:7-8.] [Rashi also offers two other examples, both from the same chapter].

~ Rashi on Vayikra 19:2.

I might think that how someone treats his parents, or the Sabbath, are surefire indicators of holiness – both reflect a sense of obligation (to parents, for raising the person, and to God who created the Earth) and carry a public component wherein someone acts in a manner that creates a Kiddush HaShem or conversely a Chillul HaShem. Taking Rashi’s perspective, however, we see the Torah selects a private behavior, between two people, as the arbiter of whether or not someone is holy. And on reflection, this association seems quite apt. For it is what we do when few are looking, and no one else might find out, that can be seen as the truest measure of our desire to be God-like.