(The following was used for a derashah at Bar Yochai Sephardic Congregation in Sunnyvale California on parashas Qedoshim. It’s the further development of a number of ideas R’ Gil Student and I wrote for Mesuqim MiDevash.)The question of qedushah is central to the title phrase of parashas Qedoshim. “Qedoshim tihyu… – Be qadosh for I Am Qadosh.” (Vayiqra 19:2) But what is qedushah? Translating it as “sanctity” or “holiness” falls short as first, the meaning of the English words is not too clear, nor are we sure that they truly capture the connotations of the Hebrew original.
The Toras Kohanim on the pasuq writes “qedoshim tihyu – perushim tihyu, you shall be separated”. Along these lines, Rashi understands the pasuq as referring to the list of laws of intimacy with which the previous parashah concluded, as well as other transgressions. And he gives other examples where such a separation is associated with the concept of qedushah. The Ramban writes “make yourself qadosh with that which is permitted to you” by refraining from the permitted. It would seem that they are both defining qedushah as separation.
But there