Ramban on Kedoshim and Hakhel

The Ramban's comments to the first verse of Parashat Kedoshim constitute perhaps the most famous passage in all his writings. In explaining the Torah's obligation of "kedoshim tihyu" – "You shall be holy" – the Ramban writes that the Torah here refers to those areas of life that are not directly proscribed by Torah law, but must nevertheless conform with the general values and ideals of the Torah. Beyond the particular do's and don'ts, the Torah demands a certain overarching quality of sanctity in our lives, to which it refers with the words, kedoshim tihyu.

We will focus today on the very first, far less known sentences of this otherwise celebrated passage in the Ramban's commentary. Before proceeding to define the imperative of kedoshim tihyu, the Ramban first addresses the unusual phraseology in this verse: "Speak to the entire congregation of the Israelites, and say to them: You shall be holy." In Torat Kohanim, Chazal interpret this expression – "daber el kol adat Benei Yisrael" ("speak to the entire congregation of the Israelites") – as implying that Moshe was to present this parasha be-hakhel, in an assembly of the entire nation. As opposed to the rest of the Torah, which Moshe initially presented to only select individuals, this parasha, upon which, as Chazal comment, "most of the principles of the Torah hinge," was to be presented before the nation in its entirety.

The Ramban cites this passage from Torat Kohanim and then makes the following, ambiguous remark: "But it [this parasha] was mentioned here, in Torat Kohanim [an alternate name for Sefer Vayikra], because it [the Torah] discusses in it the thanksgiving offering, and because it mentions in it the punishment commanded to be carried out for those who commit the specified abominations." The Ramban here finds it necessary to justify the inclusion of Parashat Kedoshim within Sefer Vayikra. He explains that it was placed in this sefer because it presents a law relevant to the consumption of sacrificial meat (19:6-8), a topic clearly relevant to the theme of Sefer Vayikra, and because it specifies the punishments for the various sexual offenses (chapter 20) outlined earlier in the sefer. The question arises, why was the Ramban bothered in the first place by the location of this parasha? The fact that he raises this issue immediately after citing the passage from Torat Kohanim implies that somehow, the presentation of this parasha be-hakhel, in a nationwide assembly, renders it, at first glance, out of place here in Sefer Vayikra. Why?

Rav Menachem Kasher, in his notes to Torah Sheleima (Shemot 12:3), raises the possibility that Ramban read this passage in Torat Kohanim much differently. Rather than explaining the word be-hakhel to mean that this parasha was presented to Benei Yisrael in a nationwide assembly, the Ramban perhaps understood that it is to read at hakhel – the national gathering conducted every seven years at the Temple.

Towards the end of Sefer Devarim (31:10-13), Moshe introduces the mitzva for the entire nation to gather on the festival of Sukkot once in seven years to hear the reading of the Torah. According to tradition, it was specifically the book of Devarim that was read during the hakhel ceremony. The Ramban, however, may have understood the Torat Kohanim to mean that Parashat Kedoshim, too, was to be read at hakhel. Thus, he naturally wondered why Parashat Kedoshim was included in Sefer Vayikra, rather than in Sefer Devarim, where it belongs, as evidenced by its required reading at hakhel.

Rav Kasher notes that although we do not find in the mishna or Gemara any reference to the required reading of other sections of the Torah at hakhel, the Meiri (Sanhedrin 22) cites a view that according to some Tanna'im, the entire Torah was read at hakhel. Perhaps, Rav Kasher speculates, the Ramban followed this position but understood it to mean not that the entire Torah was actually read, but rather that other sections besides Sefer Devarim were read.

If so, then this would mark a particularly novel and fascinating position of the Ramban, that – at least according to Torat Kohanim – the hakhel Torah reading ceremony included the reading of Parashat Kedoshim.

Courtesy of Yeshivat Har Etzion - www.etzion.org.il