~ What are positive actions or states of being that our reading indicates are done by "holy people"?
~ How does the Torah expresses the idea of a holy people, in our parshiot?
~ What is to be a holy people as expressed in Judaism, in your opinion?
The Holiness Code is a term used in biblical criticism to refer to Leviticus chapters 17–26, and is so called due to its highly repeated use of the word Holy.
(1) And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying: (2) Speak to all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them: You shall be holy; for I the LORD your God am holy. (3) Every person shall fear his mother, and his father, and you shall keep My Shabbatot: I am the LORD your God.
5.(ב) קדשים תהיו. הוו פרושים מן העריות ומן העברה, שכל מקום שאתה מוצא גדר ערוה אתה מוצא קדשה, אשה זונה וחללה וגו' אני ה' מקדשכם, (ויקרא כא ז ח) ולא יחלל זרעו אני ה' מקדשו (ויקרא כא טו) קדשים יהיו אשה זונה וחללה וגו' (ויקרא כא ו. ז) :
(2) YOU SHALL BE HOLY — This means, keep separated from the forbidden sexual relations just mentioned and from sinful thoughts. Wherever you find in the Torah a command to fence yourself in against such relations you also find mention of “holiness". Examples are: (Leviticus 21:7) “[They shall not take] a wife that is a harlot, or a profane etc.", and in the next verse "for I, the Lord, who sanctifies you, [am holy]"; (Leviticus 21:15) “Neither shall he profane his seed (by the forbidden unions mentioned in the preceding verses) for I the Lord do sanctify him"; (Leviticus 21:6) "They shall be holy… followed by (v. 7) "[they shall not take] a wife that is a harlot or a profane" (cf. Vayikra Rabbah 24:4-6).
(יב) כבד את אביך ואת אמך סמך כבוד אב ואם לשבת לומר לך כשם שחייב לכבד את השבת כך חייב לכבד אביו ואמו:
Honoring one's parents is next to [the commandment to observe] Shabbat to tell you that just as one is obligated to respect Shabbat one is obligated to honor one's parents.
3.(ו) וְאַתֶּ֧ם תִּהְיוּ־לִ֛י מַמְלֶ֥כֶת כֹּהֲנִ֖ים וְג֣וֹי קָד֑וֹשׁ אֵ֚לֶּה הַדְּבָרִ֔ים אֲשֶׁ֥ר תְּדַבֵּ֖ר אֶל־בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵֽל׃
(6) and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel.’
(12) Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the LORD your God gives you.
Rabbi Joseph Telushkin (Olam Magazine, Summer 2001)
The surprising feature of the Fifth Commandment is its insistence that we owe our parents honor, while saying nothing about loving them. It is not as if the Torah is reluctant to command love: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Lev. 19:18); “And you shall love the Lord your God” (Deut. 6:5); “You shall love the stranger” (Lev. 19:34).
Why then are we not commanded to love our parents?
I think the real reason is that the Torah realized that it is harder to command love in a relationship as intimate as that between children and parents; either the love is present or it isn’t.
In addition, many children, much as they might love their parents most of the time, go through periods of estrangement from them. Thus, what the Torah is offering us is a guideline for behavior even during those periods when we might not be feeling loving toward our parents. Even at those times when we feel our parents have not been fair to us, or even when we have seen them do something we regard as wrong, we are still obligated to honor them.
Defining קָדוֹשׁ
קָדֹשׁ: to be cut off, separated, to be/become pure, sacred, holy (Jastrow Dictionary)
This "separated" quality is probably the basic meaning of the Hebrew word kadosh. Much like the English word "distinguished," which can mean both "separate" and "special," kadosh begins by meaning "separate" and ends by meaning "special" or "sacred," "holy," "elevated" (Neil Gilman, Sacred Fragments, p.229)
Religion Allied to Progress - Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1854)
Comparisons are futile, Judaism is not a religion, they synagogue is not a church, and the rabbi is not a priest. Judaism is not a mere adjunct to life: it comprises all of life. To be a Jew is not a mere part, it is the sum total of our task in life. To be a Jew in the synagogue and in the kitchen, in the field and in the warehouse, in the office and the pulpit, as father and mother, as servant and master, as man and as citizen, with one's thoughts, in word and in deed, in enjoyment and privation, with the needle and the engraving tool, with the pen and the chisel -- that is what it means to be a Jew. An entire life supported by the Divine Idea and lived and brought to fulfillment according to the Divine Will.
For Judaism to be relevant, it can't be relegated to just a piece of one's life. "There's a Jewish way of playing basketball"
(14) [The Lord] says: Build up, build up a highway! Clear a road! Remove all obstacles From the road of My people! (15) For thus said He who high aloft Forever dwells, whose name is holy: I dwell on high, in holiness; Yet with the contrite and the lowly in spirit— Reviving the spirits of the lowly, Reviving the hearts of the contrite. ... (1) Cry with full throat, without restraint; Raise your voice like a ram’s horn! Declare to My people their transgression, To the House of Jacob their sin. (2) To be sure, they seek Me daily, Eager to learn My ways. Like a nation that does what is right, That has not abandoned the laws of its God, They ask Me for the right way, They are eager for the nearness of God: (3) “Why, when we fasted, did You not see? When we starved our bodies, did You pay no heed?” Because on your fast day You see to your business And oppress all your laborers! (4) Because you fast in strife and contention, And you strike with a wicked fist! Your fasting today is not such As to make your voice heard on high.... (6) No, this is the fast I desire: To unlock fetters of wickedness, And untie the cords of the yoke To let the oppressed go free; To break off every yoke. (7) It is to share your bread with the hungry, And to take the wretched poor into your home; When you see the naked, to clothe him, And not to ignore your own kin. (8) Then shall your light burst through like the dawn And your healing spring up quickly; Your Vindicator shall march before you, The Presence of the LORD shall be your rear guard. (9) Then, when you call, the LORD will answer; When you cry, He will say: Here I am. If you banish the yoke from your midst, The menacing hand, and evil speech, (10) And you offer your compassion to the hungry And satisfy the famished creature— Then shall your light shine in darkness, And your gloom shall be like noonday. ... (13) If you refrain from trampling the sabbath, From pursuing your affairs on My holy day; If you call the sabbath “delight,” The LORD’s holy day “honored”; And if you honor it and go not your ways Nor look to your affairs, nor strike bargains— (14) Then you can seek the favor of the LORD. I will set you astride the heights of the earth, And let you enjoy the heritage of your father Jacob— For the mouth of the LORD has spoken.
A person is obligated to honor his or her parents also after their death, and there are opinions that state that this obligation is only of a rabbinic nature, and there are opinions that state that also after their death this obligation is of a Torah nature. And this [last one] is the main.