Yisrael's higher holiness within the physical

במד' קדושים תהיו יכול כמוני ת"ל קדוש אני קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם.

In the Midrash: "You shall be holy (kedoshim tihyu)" — one might think [holy] like Me; therefore the verse teaches, "for I am holy" — My kedushah is above your kedushah (Vayikra Rabbah 24:9).

The Torah commands holiness, but the Midrash cautions: do not imagine you can be holy like Hashem, for His holiness is utterly beyond ours.

דכתיב אין קדוש כה' כי אין בלתך כי הקדושה אינו פרישה בלבד אך הש"י הוא מרומם ונבדל מכל נברא כמ"ש ואתה מרום לעולם.

For it is written, "There is none holy like Hashem, for there is none beside You" (Shmuel I 2:2) — for kedushah is not only separateness (perishah); rather, Hashem is exalted and set apart (nivdal) from every created being, as it is written, "And You are exalted forever" (Tehillim 92:9).

Holiness is more than abstaining from the physical; Hashem's holiness is His being utterly transcendent and distinct from all of creation.

פי' הגם שהוא בורא הכל ומחי' הכל אף ע"פ כן הוא מרומם ונבדל וזה עדות על עצם קדושתו כי אין בלתך ואתה מחי' כל ואעפ"כ אין מי ידמה וישוה לו והוא בקדושתו עומד.

The meaning is: although He creates everything and gives life to everything, nevertheless He is exalted and set apart — and this is testimony to the essence of His kedushah; "for there is none beside You," and You give life to all, yet even so none can be compared or likened to Him, and He stands in His kedushah.

Even though Hashem fills and enlivens all of creation, He remains entirely transcendent — this very combination, immanent yet incomparable, is the mark of His essential holiness.

וזה עדות על עצם קדושתו כענין דאיתא בשם האר"י ז"ל ביציאת מצרים דכתיב אני ולא מלאך כי מרוב טומאת מצרים לא הי' יכול מלאך לכנוס בתוכו והקב"ה לפי עצם קדושתו הוא נבדל ומרומם בכל מקום וזה מרום לעולם ה' רוממות אתה כו' בעולמך.

And this is testimony to the essence of His kedushah, as is brought in the name of the Arizal regarding the Exodus from Mitzrayim, where it is written, "I and not an angel" — for due to the great impurity of Mitzrayim, no angel could enter within it, but the Holy One, blessed is He, by the very essence of His kedushah, is set apart and exalted in every place; and this is "exalted forever (marom le'olam), Hashem; You are exalted (romemus atah)..." in Your world.

An angel, bound to a level, could not enter the defilement of Mitzrayim — but Hashem, whose holiness is absolute, remains exalted and untouched in every place, even the lowest, so He Himself redeemed Bnei Yisrael.

וכתיב ואתה ו' מוסיף.

And it is written "ve'atah" ("and You") — the letter vav is an addition (vav hamosif).

The extra "and" (vav) of "and You are exalted" hints at something joined to Hashem's exaltedness — namely, the tzaddikim.

לומר שהצדיקים הדבקים בו ית' גם המה מתרוממין וזוכין לבחי' הקדושה.

To say that the tzaddikim who cleave to Him, blessed is He, also become elevated and merit the aspect of kedushah.

The added vav teaches that those who attach themselves to Hashem are lifted up along with Him and attain a share of holiness.

ומעלה זו יש בישראל על המלאכים שהרי בנ"י ירדו למצרים ומ"מ נשארו בקדושה.

And this advantage Yisrael has over the angels: for Bnei Yisrael descended into Mitzrayim and nevertheless remained in kedushah.

Unlike angels, who could not enter the impurity, Bnei Yisrael went down into Mitzrayim yet kept their holiness — a greatness angels do not possess.

וזה הרמז שכ' במד' כי למלאכים קדושה א' ולבנ"י שני קדושות.

And this is the hint of what is written in the Midrash, that the angels have one kedushah, but Bnei Yisrael have two kedushos.

The Midrash's count alludes to this: angels possess a single form of holiness, while Bnei Yisrael possess two.

דקדושת המלאך מה שהוא נפרש ונבדל מגשמיות אבל יש עוד קדושה שניתן לישראל שהגם שהם בגשמיות ובלבוש גשמיי אעפ"כ יכולין להישאר בקדושה.

For the kedushah of the angel is that he is separated and set apart from physicality; but there is a further kedushah given to Yisrael — that although they are within the physical and in a physical garment (levush gashmi), nevertheless they are able to remain in kedushah.

The angel's holiness is simply being free of physicality; the Jew's higher holiness is staying holy precisely while clothed in a physical body and immersed in the material world.

וז"ש קדושים תהיו כענין שאמרו בהויתן יהיו שצריך איש ישראל לשמור נקודה הקדושה שבו שלא יתדבק בו פסולת.

And this is the meaning of "kedoshim tihyu," similar to what they said "behavayasan yihyu" ("they shall be as they are") — that a Jew must guard the point of kedushah (nekudah hakedoshah) within him so that no impurity (pesoles) attaches to it.

"Be holy" means: preserve the holy point already within you, keeping it pure so that no dross clings to it.

כענין שכ' לא אשית לנ"ע דבר בליעל עשה סטים שנאתי לא ידבק בי שע"י שאדם שומר עצמו כמ"ש והתקדשתם זוכה לעצם הקדושה שלא יוכל לדבוק פסולת בנפשו.

As it is written, "I will set no base thing before my eyes; I hate the doing of wayward deeds (seitim); it shall not cleave to me" (Tehillim 101:3) — for through a person guarding himself, as it is written, "and you shall sanctify yourselves (vehiskadishtem)," he merits the essence of kedushah, such that no impurity can cling to his nefesh.

By refusing to let wrongdoing near him and sanctifying himself, a person attains an essential holiness to which dross can no longer attach.

וזהו השבח שמשבחין לבנ"י כשושנה בין החוחים כו'.

And this is the praise with which Bnei Yisrael are praised, "like a rose among the thorns" (Shir HaShirim 2:2).

Bnei Yisrael are likened to a rose surrounded by thorns — holy though encircled by the coarse material world.

שאע"פ שהם מעורבים בעוה"ז עכ"ז הם כשושנה אטומה ושומרים הפנימיות קדושה שבתוכם.

For even though they are mingled within this world, even so they are like a sealed rose (shoshanah atumah) and guard the inner kedushah within them.

Like a rose whose petals close to protect its center, Bnei Yisrael shield the inner holiness within them even while immersed in olam hazeh.

והנה כתי' קדוש ק' ק' ה' מלא כ"ה כבודו.

And behold it is written, "Kadosh, kadosh, kadosh, Hashem" — "the whole earth is full of His glory" (Yeshayahu 6:3).

The threefold "holy" in the angels' praise hints at three distinct levels of kedushah.

והם ג' בחי' זו למעלה מזו קדושה אחת כענין שנמצא במלאכים שהם נבדלים מכל גשמיי.

And these are three aspects, each higher than the other: the first kedushah is like that found in the angels, who are separated from all physicality.

The first "kadosh" corresponds to angelic holiness — total separation from the physical.

וקדוש ב' כענין שנמצא בישראל שאע"פ שמעורבים בגשמיות ובמקום טומאה מ"מ הם נבדלין.

And the second "kadosh" is like that found in Yisrael, who, although mingled in physicality and in a place of impurity, are nevertheless set apart.

The second "kadosh" is the higher, distinctly Jewish holiness — remaining separate and holy even amid the physical and the impure.

אך יש קדוש למעלה מכל זה והיא קדושתו ית"ש שאע"פ שמלא כ"ה כבודו והוא מחי' כל ומהוה כל אעפ"כ בקדושתו עומד מה שאין ב"ו יכול להשיג כמ"ש אין קדוש כה' כי אין בלתך כמ"ש לעיל.

But there is a "kadosh" above all of this, and that is His kedushah, blessed and elevated is His Name — that although "the whole earth is full of His glory" and He gives life to all and brings all into being, nevertheless He stands in His kedushah, something which flesh and blood cannot attain, as it is written, "There is none holy like Hashem, for there is none beside You," as above.

The third "kadosh" is Hashem's own essential holiness: He fills and sustains all yet remains transcendent — a level no human can ever reach.

וע"ז אמר המד' יכול כמוני שירצה האדם לעשות כל מה שלבו חפץ ויסמוך שישאר בקדושתו.

And about this the Midrash said, "one might think like Me" — that a person might wish to do whatever his heart desires and rely on remaining in his kedushah.

The error of "like Me" is imagining that, like Hashem, one could indulge any desire and still stay untouched and holy.

ובאמת זאת הי' הטענה של אותו רשע באומרו והייתם כאלהים יודעי טוב ורע.

And in truth this was the claim of that wicked one (the serpent) in saying, "and you shall be like God, knowing good and evil" (Bereishis 3:5).

This very illusion — that one can be "like God," tasting everything and remaining holy — was the nachash's enticement in Gan Eden.

אבל הקב"ה אמר ביום אכלך ממנו מות תמות כי גלוי וידוע לפניו שלא הי' אדה"ר ראוי עדיין לקדושה עליונה כזו.

But the Holy One, blessed is He, said, "on the day you eat from it you shall surely die" (Bereishis 2:17), for it was revealed and known before Him that Adam HaRishon was not yet worthy of such a supernal kedushah.

Hashem warned of death because Adam was not on the level where contact with everything would leave him holy — that transcendence belongs to Hashem alone.

ולכן בנ"י צריכין לשמור הקדושה כפי מצות התורה שמלמדת לנו במה שיכולין לעשות בקדושה ומה שצריכין להתרחק ממנו.

Therefore Bnei Yisrael must guard their kedushah according to the mitzvos of the Torah, which teaches us what we may do while in kedushah and what we must distance ourselves from.

Since we are not Hashem, holiness for us means following the Torah's guidance about what to engage and what to avoid.

ואחז"ל לעתיד עתידין ישראל שיאמרו לפניהם קדוש כו':

And Chazal said: in the future, Yisrael are destined to have "kadosh" proclaimed before them, etc.

In the time to come, Bnei Yisrael will reach such holiness that the angels themselves will declare "kadosh" before them.

Summary: Hashem's holiness is His being utterly transcendent even while filling and enlivening all creation — a level no creature can attain. Angels are holy by being separated from the physical; but Bnei Yisrael possess a higher, double holiness: they remain holy even while clothed in a body and immersed in the material world, like a sealed rose among thorns. Holiness for us is therefore not the illusion of "being like God" and indulging everything, but guarding the inner holy point through the mitzvos of the Torah.