Parsha for Kids: Kedoshim 2023
Below is the transcript for this week’s episode of Parsha for Kids, Kedoshim 2023.
You can listen to the podcast on Spotify (link to this week’s episode), Apple, Audible, iHeartRadio and a variety of other places. (Some of these might only update with the new episode content tomorrow.)
Please give it a listen and share it with the kids in your life. Additionally, I would very much appreciate it if you would be willing to subscribe, rate the podcast on the app where you listen to it, and leave a review.
Season 3 Episode 7:
Hello! My name is Chana and this is Parsha for Kids. The Parsha of the week is Kedoshim. Kedoshim means “holy ones.” In this context, it refers to God commanding the nation of Israel to be holy because God is holy.
But what does it mean to be holy?
Holiness typically refers to being separate. When something is holy, it is different from things that are regular or everyday. To be a holy nation means to live in a way that is different from the other nations around us, and specifically in a way that is more like or closer to God. It was certainly important to be different from others when other nations were idol worshippers and it is still true today. Even now, in 2023, our guiding values come from the Torah, not from whatever our modern society believes it is a good idea to do.
There are several different approaches regarding how to live like a holy Jew. One approach, according to Rashi, is to be holy when it comes to our relationships. For example, as we learned last week, a person is not allowed to marry a woman and also her daughter. By making sure we treat the people we marry respectfully, and making sure to follow the laws of the Torah, we are being holy.
A second approach is brought down by the Ramban, or Nachmanides. This commentator explains that God does not only expect us not to sin. Rather, God also expects us to impose limits on ourselves, also known as self-discipline. Here is an example. Have you ever been to someone’s house and saw a candy platter on the table being served as dessert? Maybe you took five or ten pieces of candy, but did you eat the whole platter? Probably not. But why? There probably wasn’t a sign that said “Only one per person.”
The answer is that you understood that this would simply not be polite, and that your host expected you to eat your share of the candy. They didn’t expect one person to eat all of it. Similarly, there are things that are permitted by Torah law. For example, adults are permitted to drink wine. And we are permitted to enjoy good kosher meat. But if all we did all day was guzzle wine and devour meat, do you think that would be living a holy life?
No. Kedusha has to do with making sure that we live a life that is focused on fulfilling God’s will. And that means fulfilling God’s desire for us when it comes to our relationship with Him, Bein Adam L’Makom, as well as our relationships with our fellow human beings, Bein Adam L’Chavero. We need to do what God asks of us, even when it is difficult, but also care for our fellow man, especially people who are poor or have ended up in difficult situations.
Our parsha will teach us about many mitzvot that we need to keep in order to be holy.
TRANSITION
One of the first mitzvot mentioned in this week’s parsha is the obligation to fear and honor one’s mother and father.
For some people, this mitzvah may be easy and obvious. After all, you wouldn’t even exist if your parents had not given birth to you. And if you have a good life, then of course you would want to pay back your parents however you can for all the good things they have given you.
For other people, this mitzvah might be more complicated. It’s important to note that if a parent physically harms or hurts their child, this mitzvah might not apply.
What does it mean to honor one’s parents? Rashi gives examples:
-You are not allowed to sit in their special chair or at their special place at the head of the table
-You may not interrupt or speak for your parents when they are talking
-You may not contradict your parents
And there are certain situations that are specific to adults who are helping their parents.
-You must provide food and drink to your parents
-You must provide clothing to your parents
-You must help your parents get dressed and put on their shoes (if they are not able to do this on their own)
The only time we are not supposed to listen to our parents is if they tell us to do something that is a sin. In that case, we need to listen to God’s laws instead of what our parents tell us to do. So if your parent tells you to worship an idol, you would have to refuse.
TRANSITION
There are three mitzvot in this week’s parsha that focus on leaving part of the harvest for poor people, including the widow and the ger, which here means convert. The harvest refers to crops, which refers to items like grain, or grapes or olives, that are being grown in fields in the Land of Israel. These mitzvot are called Peiah, Leket and Shikcha.
In the time when Bnei Yisrael entered the land of Israel, they were an agricultural society. This means that unlike your parents, who might go to work as lawyers, doctors or graphic designers, most people worked the land. There weren’t electric machines in that time, so this work was challenging. A Jewish farmer had to prepare the field for planting, removing stones and weeds. They had to plow the field, which means overturning the earth to prepare it for planting. (And yes, they did use animals to help them pull the heavy plow!) You then plant your seeds, and hope that they will grow into grain, assuming that God sends the right amount of rain and there is enough sunshine.
After working so hard, it would be understandable for a Jew to want to hold on to every piece of grain grown on his property. But God wants us to understand that what we have ultimately belongs to God, not to us. And that is why God gives us some commands regarding our fields.
The mitzva of leaving crops in a corner of your field and not taking them for yourself is called peiah. You need to leave the corner of each field you own unharvested, which means you do not collect those crops for yourself. That way, poor Jews can come to that section and take grain for themselves, so that they will not starve. This enables every single Jew to be joyful when the harvest comes, because everyone will have food.
It’s important to note that your field must remain open to every poor Jew. You cannot limit it to only be for your Jewish poor family members, for example. Anyone who needs is free to come into your field and take.
A second mitzvah that has to do with providing grain to the poor is called leket. Let’s say that it is the time of the harvest. If, while you or your workers are collecting the harvest, one or two stalks of grain fall on the ground, you are not allowed to pick them up. You need to leave them for poor people to collect. If you drop three or more stalks of grain, though, you are allowed to pick them up.
A third mitzvah is called Shikcha. After you’ve cut the grain, you and your workers will tie the grain together into bundles. You will put the bundles on your wagon and bring them into your barn. You might accidentally forget a bundle and leave it in the field. If this happens, you need to leave it there and not go back and get it. It now belongs to poor people.
The same rules apply when it comes to owning a vineyard or olive grove in Eretz Yisrael. However, one does not need to leave a paia from one’s vegetable garden.
There is a famous story that many of you are familiar with that references these laws of Peah, Leket and Shikcha. Do you know what it is?
Yes! It is the story in Megillat Ruth, which we read on Shavuot. When Ruth and Naomi came back to Israel, they were very poor. That is why Ruth went out gleaning in Boaz’s field, which meant collecting the dropped stalks (leket) or other items that were permitted for the poor to take home.
We learn some beautiful ideas from these mitzvot. They include:
Our fields and property belong to God, which is why we need to follow God’s instructions for them. Even when we might feel like we worked very hard on planting the crops and deserve to keep all of them for ourselves, this is not really the case. The crops only grow if God says so, and God says that a portion of the crops are intended for poor people as well.
A truly joyful harvest is one that includes everybody. In order to enjoy our harvest, we have to make sure others are not starving, which is why we make sure to include the poor as well.
TRANSITION
The Torah warns us to be very careful when it comes to money. There are several laws in this week’s parsha about making sure not to steal. If we did steal something, we should not deny it and lie about it. Instead, we should admit what we did, repay the item, and do teshuva.
We are also not allowed to take an oath swearing that we did not do something that we actually did. For example, someone might have asked us to hold onto their money. We are not allowed to swear that we don’t have the money when we really do.
It is also important to pay people on time. We have to pay people at the time we arrange to do so. This might mean paying them at the end of every day’s work, but could also mean after each week, month or after a job is finished, based on what the original agreement said. Delaying to pay someone at the arranged time is a sin.
TRANSITION
Sometimes people think that it’s okay to do something mean as long as nobody catches you. The Torah makes very clear that this is not the case.
The Torah explains that you are not allowed to put a stumbling block in front of a blind person, and you are also not allowed to curse a deaf person. Putting a stumbling block in front of a blind person might be something like moving a big rock or a large wooden crate in front of them and then waiting for them to fall down. Cursing a deaf person is what it sounds like- someone can’t hear, so you say nasty things about them. It’s not like they can catch you and punish you since they can’t hear.
God says that both of these things are wrong even if the other person can’t catch you or see what you’ve done. That’s why the pasuk that includes these ideas ends with the words “And you shall fear your God. I am the Lord.” This means that even when nobody else can see what you are doing or can catch you when you’ve done something wrong, God can. And it’s important to remember that God is always watching, so make sure that you do not do things that He considers wrong.
Our commentaries explain that these situations apply beyond the literal scenario of tripping a blind person. For example, placing a stumbling block before the blind can refer to giving someone bad advice. Maybe you own a company and know it’s not doing well. Your friend asks you whether they should invest money in your company. If you tell them yes, that’s like placing a stumbling block before the blind. They are blind in this matter and you are giving them advice that is bad for them. This is forbidden and you are not allowed to do this.
TRANSITION
Our parsha continues by explaining that we have a mitzvah to judge people fairly. Let’s say a poor man and a rich man come before a judge. The rich man claims he lent the poor man money and the poor man did not repay him. A judge is not permitted to decide a poor person is automatically right just because the poor person needs the money or the judge feels sorry for them. Similarly, the judge is not allowed to decide the rich man is right just because the rich man has a lot of money and is very influential. Instead, the judge needs to look at the facts of the case and make the best decision they can based on the facts and laws.
There is a second part of that pasuk that says B’tzedek tishpot amisecha- in righteousness you should judge your fellow. The Midrash understands this to mean that we all have an obligation to judge our fellow Jews favorably. This is called Dan L’Kaf Zechus. This means that when we see someone do something surprising or that upsets us, we need to try to come up with good reasons as to why the other person did it. For instance. we might see someone enter a McDonalds, which in America is a non-kosher restaurant. Rather than assuming that person is eating non-kosher, we can instead assume that maybe they are getting a Coca Cola from the restaurant, which is kosher, or that they needed to use the bathroom there. Similarly, if you ask a friend to loan you a book and they say no, rather than thinking they are mean and ungenerous, you can assume that maybe they are afraid you might lose and damage it. Perhaps other people they have lent books to in the past did not return them in good condition. In that case, the issue is not about you personally but based on the person’s previous experiences.
It is a good middah, or character trait, to learn to judge others favorably. One of the rewards for judging others favorably is that God will judge us favorably as well when we do things wrong.
(One important note- if someone is acting in a really wrong or cruel way, judging favorably is not the solution. If someone is doing something that is dangerous to you, to others or to themselves, always make sure to tell a trusted adult so they can help you handle the situation.)
TRANSITION
The pasuk
לֹֽא־תֵלֵ֤ךְ רָכִיל֙ בְּעַמֶּ֔יךָ לֹ֥א תַֽעֲמֹ֖ד עַל־דַּ֣ם רֵעֶ֑ךָ אֲנִ֖י יְהוָֹֽה:
teaches us that we are not supposed to spread stories and gossip about other people. Being a Rechil means being a talebearer, someone who tells stories about other people. You should not speak Lashon Hara about people in general, and you should also not tell one person what someone else said about them that was mean.
The second part of the pasuk, Lo Taamod Al Dam Reaacha, means you are not allowed to stand by when someone else is in trouble. In school, you may have learned this concept when you were taught to be an upstander rather than a bystander. God forbid, let’s say you walked by a river and noticed that someone was stuck within it and struggling to swim. Would you just stand by and watch them drown? Of course not. If you’re a good swimmer, maybe you would jump in and save him. At the very least, you or your parent would call emergency services (in America, that’s 911) and alert the police and fire department to come save him. What we learn from this pasuk is that even if we did not CAUSE the situation the person finds themselves in, and did not cause their distress, we are still responsible to help save their life. Every single person is a world, and every single life is precious. We need to make sure not to let a world be extinguished.
TRANSITION
We learn in this week’s parsha how to give tochacha, rebuke. One is only allowed to give tochacha to a person who is on the same level as him, and in a situation where it will be effective. So, for example, if you are at your friend’s house on Shabbat and you see that they are turning on the lights, the first thing you need to consider is whether they are observant like you. If they are, then they must not know that this action is forbidden by Torah law. In that case, you can talk to them privately, not in front of other people, and let them know that actually it is forbidden to turn the lights on during Shabbat. You must give tochecha with love and not with hatred in your heart.
We only give tochacha to people who we think might actually listen. This is why it does not make sense to go up to someone driving on Shabbat, which is also forbidden, and start yelling at them that driving on Shabbat is not allowed. That would only embarrass the person, which would make them not likely to listen to you, and you also don’t have any kind of friendship or relationship with them, so it doesn’t make sense for you to rebuke them.
From here we learn that whenever we correct another person, we must try to do it in the most sensitive and loving way possible, and only when we think the other person is open to learning and growing rather than feeling resentful and angry.
TRANSITION
We learn in this week’s parsha that we are not allowed to take revenge, nekama, or bear a grudge, lo titor. Nekama looks like this. Imagine two children, Dalia and Golda, are friends. Dalia refuses to lend Golda her ball. The next day, Golda asks to play with Dalia’s ball. Dalia says no, because Gold didn’t lend her hers. That is nekama, taking revenge.
In contrast, lo titor refer to holding a grudge. In this situation, Dalia refuses to lend Golda her ball. The next day, when Golda asks to play with Dalia’s ball, Dalia says “I really shouldn’t give it to you because you didn’t let me play with yours. But I’ll be nicer than you were.” This is called bearing a grudge, hanging on to and bringing up the mean thing someone did to you. It’s better to tell someone when you are upset with them during the time that it happens, give them a chance to apologize, and then move on. If they don’t apologize, you can still try to move on.
After both of these commandments, we encounter a famous pasuk, V’ahavta L’Reacha Kamocha, love your fellow Jew like yourself. What does it mean to love somebody the way you love yourself? It means to care and worry about them the same way we care and worry about ourselves.
Some practical ways to do this would include:
-Being concerned about your friends belongings just like you would care about your own. Just because it’s someone else’s water bottle or book doesn’t mean you should be okay with it if you see it rolling under a desk or getting lost. Instead, you should pick it up.
-Treat your friends like you would like them to treat you.
-Help people when you can, just like you would like them to help you.
-Make sure to be dan l’kaf zechus, judging other people favorably, just as you might like to be judged.
-If your friend is sick or not in a good mood, make an effort to cheer them up, just like you would like to be cheered up.
This is an extremely important mitzva. When we treat others the way we would want to be treated, that increases kindness, positivity and love in the world, all of which are very valuable.
TRANSITION
During the time when the Torah was given, there were people who performed dark magic called the magic of Ov and Yidoni. This magic involved talking to the dead in order to find out the future. God forbids us to use this magic ourselves or to consult practitioners who use this kind of magic.
There is a debate as to whether or not this magic was real. If it was not real, then the reason God did not want us to pursue it was because it was a lie, sheker, just like idol worship, avodah zarah, is also sheker.
If it was real, however, then the reason God did not want us to use it is because this was not the right way for us to access information about our lives. God had given us a way to connect to Him during that time period. That was to consult with the Kohen Gadol, who wore the Choshen Mishpat, or breastplate. The Choshen contained a special scroll called the Urim v’Tumim. The Kohen Gadol would be able to ask a question and then certain letters on the Choshen would light up in order to convey the answer. The Kohen Gadol would then interpret the letters to let Bnei Yisrael know what God’s answer was. Additionally, God gave us Neviim, prophets, who could help connect Bnei Yisrael to God and vice versa.
The ways God gave us to connect with Him tapped into pure mechanisms, while the dark magic used forces that were evil and tamei, impure. According to the opinion that the magic of Ov and Yidoni was real, God did not want us to use those tamei forces to learn about our futures.
TRANSITION
We are taught in this week’s parsha to honor elderly Jews, which means people who were seventy years old or older. God commanded that when we saw someone of that age, we should show them honor by standing up for them and behaving properly towards them.
Even if this aged Jewish person is not a particularly learned Torah scholar, or talmid chacham, we still need to show them honor. God has allowed this person to live a long time, which means they have had many life experiences and have seen God’s way of being in the world. For this alone, we should recognize they have much to teach us.
TRANSITION
Something that God cares a lot about is that we do not cheat in business. It may be easy to prioritize making money over being honest and ethical. But God hates it when people lie, and similarly when people cheat.
Therefore, God teaches in this week’s parsha that a businessman must make sure that his weights and measurements are accurate. An old-fashioned scale would have two bowls. In one bowl the merchant would put pieces of wood or metal that would add up to a certain amount- for example, to use a modern day number, one pound. Then, on the other side of the scale, the merchant would weigh out one pound of whatever they were selling, like vegetables or flour.
If the merchant wanted to cheat, they could create weights that they said weighed one pound but that really weighed a half a pound. This meant the person would end up paying the price for one pound but would receive only a half a pound of vegetables.
God says that using false scales or measuring devices is one of the worst sins in the entire Torah. It is absolutely forbidden to cheat one’s fellow man.
TRANSITION
So here’s what we learned this week!
We have a special obligation as Jews to live in a way that makes us kadosh, or holy. Holy means that we live in a way that is different from other nations and is based on God’s commands, making us closer to God.
Some of the ways we can be kadosh include honoring our parents, making sure the poor are cared for by leaving over some of the harvest for them, being careful to pay people on time, not giving people bad advice that they don’t know is bad advice, and judging others favorably.
God especially hates it when people lie or cheat others in business, such as when merchants have false weights and measurements. This is considered one of the worst sins in the Torah.
If you have any questions or comments on this week’s episode, please email me at parsha4kids@gmail.com. That’s parsha the number 4 kids at gmail.com. Good Shabbos!