Three holinesses, two given to Yisrael

במד' העליונים מכתירין להקב"ה בג' קדושות כביכול ניתן לבניו ב' קדושות ע"ש.

In the Midrash: the upper beings crown the Holy One, blessed be He, with three "kedushos" (declarations of "Kadosh"), and, as it were, two of those kedushos were given to His children — see there.

The angels proclaim "Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh" three times, but Bnei Yisrael are granted a share in only two of these three levels of holiness; the Sefas Emes will explain why.

לבאר הענין כי קדושה פי' ג"כ לשון פרישה והבדלה כדאיתא בת"כ פרושים תהיו כו'.

To explain the matter: kedushah also denotes separation and withdrawal, as is stated in the Toras Kohanim: "you shall be perushim (set apart)."

Holiness is not only an elevated state but an act of separating oneself — pulling back from what is forbidden, as Chazal read "kedoshim tihyu" to mean "be separated."

וז"ש במד' מקידוש מעשים וציון מעשים הוא בחי' מל"ת סור מרע ועי"ז בנ"י נפרשים ומובדלין מכל האומות.

And this is what the Midrash means by "the sanctifying of deeds and the marking of deeds" — this is the aspect of the lo-saaseh (prohibitions), "turn away from evil," and through this Bnei Yisrael are set apart and separated from all the nations.

The negative commandments, the "sur mei-ra" of refraining from evil, are what separate Bnei Yisrael from the other nations and give them their distinct kedushah.

וציון מעשים הוא עשה טוב.

And the "marking of deeds" is "do good" (asei tov).

The positive commandments, the "asei tov" of doing good, are the complementary side of this avodah of kedushah.

והנה הג' קדושות הם א' שהקב"ה וב"ש נבדל מכל.

Now, the three kedushos are: the first, that the Holy One, blessed be He, is separate from everything.

The first level of holiness is Hashem's transcendence — He is utterly distinct from all of creation.

הגם כי מלא כ"ה כבודו עכ"ז הוא קדוש ונבדל.

Even though His glory fills the whole earth, nevertheless He is holy and separate.

Although Hashem's presence fills all of existence (immanence), He simultaneously remains entirely beyond and apart from it (transcendence).

והב' הוא גוף הקדושה שהוא קדוש בכל מיני קדושות.

The second is the very essence of kedushah — that He is holy with every kind of holiness.

The second level is holiness itself in its fullness, encompassing all possible forms of kedushah.

והג' הוא קדושה שאין כח הנבראים להשיג במציאות קדושה זו.

And the third is a holiness that created beings have no capacity to grasp — they cannot even apprehend the reality of this kedushah.

The third level is a holiness so utterly beyond creation that no created being can perceive or attain it at all.

וזה הוא ענין ג' הקדושות.

This is the matter of the three kedushos.

These three — transcendence, the essence of holiness, and the wholly unattainable holiness — are the three declarations of "Kadosh."

וב' מהם נמצא גם בבנ"י בחי' הבדלה ואבדיל אתכם כו'.

And two of them are found also in Bnei Yisrael: the aspect of separation — "and I have separated you [from the nations]."

The first of the two kedushos given to Bnei Yisrael is havdalah, the separation by which Hashem set them apart from the nations.

שהגם שבנ"י הם בין האומות הם נבדלין בעצם ואין להם התדבקות להם.

For although Bnei Yisrael dwell among the nations, they are intrinsically separate and have no real attachment to them.

Even while living physically among the nations, Bnei Yisrael remain essentially set apart, with no genuine bond to them — paralleling Hashem's transcendence even amid His immanence.

ובחי' הקדושה עצמה קודש ישראל לה'.

And the aspect of holiness itself — "Yisrael is holy to Hashem" (Yirmiyahu 2:3).

The second kedushah given to Bnei Yisrael corresponds to the essence of holiness — they themselves are "kodesh," sanctified and dedicated to Hashem.

נמצא שב' קדושות נתן הקב"ה גם לבנ"י.

It emerges that the Holy One, blessed be He, gave two kedushos to Bnei Yisrael as well.

Thus Bnei Yisrael share in two of the three holinesses — separation and the essence of holiness.

זולת ענין קדושה הג' שאין השגה בה לנבראים.

Except for the matter of the third kedushah, which is beyond any apprehension by created beings.

Only the third, wholly unattainable holiness remains exclusively Hashem's, since no created being can reach it.

וכתי' קדושים תהיו לשון הוי' חדשה שבכל עת שאיש ישראל מקדש עצמו מאיר בו כח הנשמה ונעשה כברי' חדשה כדכתי' והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים:

And it is written "kedoshim tihyu" (you shall be holy) — an expression of new being; for every time a Jew sanctifies himself, the power of the neshamah shines within him and he becomes like a new creation, as it is written: "and you shall sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy."

"You shall be holy" implies a continual renewal of existence — each act of self-sanctification lets the soul's light break through and remakes the person as a briah chadashah, a new creature.

Summary: Kedushah means separation — "turn from evil" and "do good." The angels crown Hashem with three holinesses: His transcendence even while filling creation, the essence of holiness, and a third holiness wholly beyond any created grasp. Bnei Yisrael are granted the first two: they remain intrinsically separate even while living among the nations, and they are "holy to Hashem" in their very essence; only the third, unattainable holiness belongs to Hashem alone. Each time a Jew sanctifies himself, his neshamah shines forth and he is reborn as a new creation.