Worlds of Expanding Scope

Seudah Shlishit – Shabbat Achrey Mot-Kedoshim, April 25, 2026 – Brookline

How does our service to Hashem/God affect us, those closest to us, and the larger Jewish community? In a very famous statement, Rabbi Akiva quotes the pasuk in Parashat Kedoshim (VaYiqra 19:18):

וְאָֽהַבְתָּ֥ לְרֵעֲךָ֖ כָּמֹ֑וךָ

“And you shall act with love towards your friend as you would like to be treated.”

He describes the phrase as “zeh klal gadol b’Torah (this is a great principle of the Torah).” In Toras Kohanim (also called the Sifra – a set of Rabbinic literature on the Book of Vayiqra), Ben Azzai adds that the verse (Bereishit 5: 1)

זֶ֣ה סֵ֔פֶר תֹּולְדֹ֖ת אָדָ֑ם

“This is the chronicle of the generations of humankind.”

Is a “klal gadol heymenu (an even greater principle than that of R. Akiva)”.

The Sfat Emet (Al HaTorah – Kedoshim – 1892) observes that:

“The fundamental fulfillment of Torah and Mitzvot within the Community of Israel is that it is within the Community that the people are sanctified.”

The Midrash Rabbah (VaYiqra 24:5) notes that the paragraphs of Kedoshim were publicly recited during the Hakhel ceremony/celebration.”

[The Hakhel traditionally took place once every seven years at the Bais HaMiqdash during the Chag of Sukkot in the year following the Shmittah/Sabbatical year. See Devarim 31:10-13)].

תָּנֵי רַבִּי חִיָּא פָּרָשָׁה זוֹ נֶאֶמְרָה בְּהַקְהֵל, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁרֹב גּוּפֵי תוֹרָה תְּלוּיִן בָּהּ, רַבִּי לֵוִי אָמַר מִפְּנֵי שֶׁעֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת כְּלוּלִין בְּתוֹכָהּ

“R. Chiya taught: This section was recited during Hakhel because the majority of essential elements of the Torah are contained within it. Added R. Levi: it is recited because the Ten Utterances/Commandments/Aseret HaDevarim are referenced within it.”

What was the specific intention behind the public reading of our Parasha? Hakhel was an experience of covenant renewal, communal responsibility, and the overlay of Kedusha (holiness) in the real world.

Our parashah was recited for several important reasons:

The call to be “Kadosh” is not only an individual goal but rather a call to shape a society. It is phrased in the plural. This particular set of verses specifies the type of behavior that defines what a bris/covenant/contract looks like in real life.

Kedoshim, rather than listing many specific, technical Mitzvot, contains Mitzvot that are widely applicable Respecting our parents Honest business ethics Care for those who are vulnerable Constructing and implementing a fair system of justice “Loving the other as you would like to be loved.”

Respecting our parents

Honest business ethics

Care for those who are vulnerable

Constructing and implementing a fair system of justice

“Loving the other as you would like to be loved.”

Everyone gathered at Hakhel, from every segment of Am Yisrael, from young to old, laypeople or scholar, could relate to these themes.

The core of our Brit is to commit to building and actualizing a moral society. The national cohesion of Am Yisrael is a major theme of Kedoshim. References in Kedoshim to the Ten Commandments lead to Kedoshim being termed a “mini-Torah”. The crux of the Mitzvot presented in Kedoshim lies in interpersonal relationships, where they thrive.

Hakhel strived to achieve the fullest expression of a national recommitment to a holy, ethical, and God-centered society.

The Sfat Emet continues to develop the theme of the Jewish people’s connectedness to one another and to God.

“Given the symbiotic relationship between our Mitzvah action and its place within the Jewish people’s world and the divine world, it is necessary that each Mitzvah we do be prefaced by a statement of “b’Sheym kol Yisrael/In the name of all Israel.” In doing so, we set aside our personal identity from the action and instead expand our scope to encompass those around us (the Klal).

“It’s interesting that if R. Akiva describes “love your neighbor” as a “klal gadol/great principle, ” there would logically exist a “klal katan/smaller principle.” The Klal Katan is that every Mitzvah be accomplished by a person with the complete involvement of their entire being (termed the Olam Katan – see Midrash Tanchuma – Pequdei, 3. As it similarly says (see Talmud Bavli, Masechet Eruvin, 54a):

אִם עֲרוּכָה בִּרְמַ״ח אֵבָרִים שֶׁלְּךָ — מִשְׁתַּמֶּרֶת

If the Torah is “ordered” in your limbs (meaning that you exert all of yourself in studying it), it will remain secure.”

“And following this theme, the Klal Gadol is all of Klal Yisrael – the Jewish people as a bloc. Ben Azai adds that “This is the Book of the Generations of Humankind” is an even greater principle because it is not only that we are required to live Torah and Mitzvot within Klal Yisrael, but also that it is written, “and you shall love your friend as you love yourself.” But additionally, one must bind oneself to all the generations that have come before and will come in the future. We are part of such a greater world. This is the “Klal Gadol” – the assemblage of all Neshamot/souls as they were all present within Adam, where all depended on the other (since Adam is a parent of all humanity).”

“And we must protect/secure this Principle of performing every Mitzvah within the dimensions of Klal Yisrael, and then the Name of Hashem will rest on them as is written (Vayiqra 19:18) – “I am Hashem.””

“The explanation of “And you shall love your friend as you love yourself” is that in every action there exists a will and love to perfect one’s soul, or when one performs a mitzvah-act with even more dedication towards God, one merits to comfort one’s Creator. Similarly, one demonstrates love for one’s friend, for the consequence of performing this Mitzvah is the expansion of Kedushah/holiness towards all our fellow Jewish people. At its apex, this demonstration of love for another Jew brings gladness and comfort to Hashem and further deepens the power of the Klal, the principle of connection, mutual responsibility, and respect.”

Our constant performance of Mitzvot, be they related to prayer, eating, acts of Chessed, interpersonal or relationaships, or Talmud Torah, begins in our private world – the atomic Olam Katan. Somewhere in our religious essence, we actively choose to perform a Mitzvah. While doing so, we recognize (or should) that our Mitzvah performance is only truly wholesome if it is performed “in the name of Am Yisrael” – that our action is performed for the sake and honor of the Klal, the Jewish world. Furthermore, we mentally prepare ourselves before performing a Mitzvah so that our actions reflect the divine relationship among us, the Jewish people, and Hashem.

In an inscrutable and powerful way, each of our actions reverberates from within our personal world, out through the Jewish world, and spreads into the divine world. The realm of the Divine rejoices at observing humanity stressing themes of religious devotion, interpersonal connectedness, and the awareness that not only are we all connected, but that Kedushah/sanctity is as much about separation from that which is profane (Chol) as it is about mutual respect, drawing closer, and truly loving the other.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)