parshaמפרשי הפרשה

רבינו בחיי — קדושים תהיו

Why is parshas Kedoshim called the parsha that ends ne'emrah be'hakhel — "that most of the guf of Torah hangs from"?

ר' לוי אמר עשרת הדברות כתובין בפרשה זו: אנכי ה' אלהיך וכתיב הכא אני ה' אלהיכם; לא יהיה לך וכתיב הכא ואלהי מסכה; לא תשא וכתיב הכא ולא תשבעו בשמי; זכור את יום השבת וכתיב הכא את שבתותי תשמרו; כבד את אביך ואת אמך וכתיב הכא איש אמו ואביו תיראו; לא תרצח וכתיב הכא לא תעמוד על דם רעך; לא תנאף וכתיב הכא אל תחלל את בתך; לא תגנוב וכתיב הכא לא תגנבו; לא תענה וכתיב הכא לא תלך רכיל; לא תחמוד וכתיב הכא ואהבת לרעך כמוך.

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רבינו בחיי

רבנו בחיי, ויקרא י״ט:ב׳

Rabbeinu Bahya, Vayikra 19:2

Kedoshim

Q — Why is parshas Kedoshim called the parsha that ends ne'emrah be'hakhel — "that most of the guf of Torah hangs from"?

A — Rabbeinu Bachya quotes (and endorses) the midrash of R' Levi that the Aseres haDibros are *all* embedded in this one parsha — ten for ten, in order. אנכי maps to אני ה' אלקיכם. לא יהיה לך maps to ואלהי מסכה. לא תשא — ולא תשבעו בשמי. זכור את השבת — את שבתותי תשמרו. כבד — איש אמו ואביו תיראו. לא תרצח — לא תעמוד על דם רעך. לא תנאף — אל תחלל את בתך. לא תגנוב — לא תגנבו. לא תענה — לא תלך רכיל. And the climactic last one: לא תחמוד — ואהבת לרעך כמוך. The chiddush is that ואהבת לרעך כמוך is positioned as the affirmative reversal of לא תחמוד: do not just refrain from coveting your neighbor's portion — actively love your neighbor's portion as if it were your own. RBB's reading turns Kedoshim into a re-promulgation of Sinai, with the negative "thou shalt nots" of Yisro restated here as the positive, generative kedushah-program of Israel.

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