From Altar Fire to Kedusha: How “Kadosh” Began as Burning

 

Interesting Shadal on this past week’s parsha, Ki Teitzei (Devarim 22:9), on the pasuk of kilayim — which also appears in tomorrow’s daf:

ט לֹא־תִזְרַע כַּרְמְךָ כִּלְאָיִם פֶּן־תִּקְדַּשׁ הַמְלֵאָה הַזֶּרַע אֲשֶׁר תִּזְרָע וּתְבוּאַת הַכָּרֶם

“You shall not sow your vineyard with mixed seeds, lest the fullness of the seed that you sow and the produce of the vineyard become kadosh.”

The Gemara in Kiddushin 56b learns פן תקדש homiletically as פן תוקד אש — “lest it be burned by fire.” The Torah uses this language because the produce is forbidden for benefit and is to be destroyed by burning.

Shadal (on Shemot 15:11) uses this same Gemara to extend the idea further. He suggests that the term kodesh originally derived from קד אש / יקוד אש (“burning of fire”), referring first to the korbanot that were burned on the altar. From there the word was extended to anything from which one may not derive benefit, and eventually to anything set apart for God.

I would like to take this idea one step further in our parsha, with the prohibition of prostitution among the daughters of Israel (23:18):

לֹא־תִהְיֶה קְדֵשָׁה מִבְּנוֹת יִשְׂרָאֵל

“There shall be no kedeshah among the daughters of Israel.”

The commentaries (including Shadal) explain that female cultic prostitution was a common pagan form of worship: the wages were donated to the gods in the form of sacrifices to be burned on the altar. The Torah is warning against this type of “service” to Hashem — which is why the very next verse forbids bringing the wages of a prostitute as a sacrifice. This fits beautifully with the idea that kadosh originally meant something burned on the altar.

Interestingly, a bat kohen who commits adultery is punished by burning (Vayikra 21:9). Perhaps this is another reason the term kedeshah appears in discussions connected to sacrifices.

We can take this even further and see a hint to the story of Tamar and Yehuda. After acting as a prostitute, Tamar is accused of infidelity and brought out to be burned

 (Bereishit 38:24). Notice the language Yehuda uses when searching for her:

אַיֵּה הַקְּדֵשָׁה הִוא בָעֵינַיִם עַל־הַדָּרֶךְ וַיֹּאמְרוּ לֹא־הָיְתָה בָזֶה קְדֵשָׁה

“Where is the kedeshah who was at Enaim by the roadside?” And they said, “There was no kedeshah here.”

Taking this to another level: when we pray in the Amidah אַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ — it means “You are separate (holy),” but according to Shadal’s understanding it can also mean “to You we burn our sacrifices.” וּשְׁמְךָ קָדוֹשׁ — “and Your name is holy,” or “to Your name we offer sacrifices” (perhaps alluding to the times when the Kohen Gadol pronounced the Name during the Yom Kippur offerings).

And וּקְדוֹשִׁים בְּכָל־יוֹם יְהַלְּלוּךָ סֶּלָה — this too can refer to the priests, Levites, and Israelites who recited prayers over the sacrifices.

In fact, when we quote from Isaiah קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ, perhaps it alludes to the tamid of the morning, the tamid of the afternoon, and the burning of the eimurim at night — which correspond to our three daily prayers.

This fits nicely with the seraphim earlier in Isaiah, which can also mean the “burners” of the sacrifices — the kohanim. When we say in the Musaf Kedusha כְּסוֹד שִׂיחַ שַׂרְפֵי קֹדֶשׁ הַמְקַדְּשִׁים שִׁמְךָ בַּקֹּדֶשׁ, it can once again be speaking of the sacrifices-the ones that speak over the burning of the sacrifices. 

The prophecy of Isaiah makes much more sense in this light, and it explains why Chazal incorporated these verses into our prayers — in memory of the Temple and its sacrifices. Time to view every mention of קדוש in a new light...