Leviticus 19:1-4, 9-18, 32-37: The Holiness Code

The afternoon reading for Yom Kippur in Reform Judaism

 

Leviticus 19 states what behavior is expected of the Jewish people in order to be holy, a state of sanctity being one of the goals of Yom Kippur observance.  The message of the portion focuses on ethical conduct as opposed to ritual, an idea that is at the heart of classical Reform Judaism. This English translation is reprinted with permission from Tanakh: The Holy Scriptures published by the Jewish Publication Society.

 

19:1.         The LORD spoke to Moses, saying:

Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them:

 

You shall be holy, for I, the LORD your God, am holy.

 

19:2.         You shall each revere his mother and his father, and keep My sabbaths: I the LORD am your God.

 

 

19:3.         Do not turn to idols or make molten gods for yourselves: I the LORD am your God.

 

 

19:9.         When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap all the way to the edges of your field, or gather the gleanings of your harvest.

19:10.     You shall not pick your vineyard bare, or gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I the LORD am your God.

 

 

19:11.     You shall not steal; you shall not deal deceitfully or falsely with one another.

19:12.     You shall not swear falsely by My name, profaning the name of your God: I am the LORD.

 

 

19:13.     You shall not defraud your neighbor. You shall not commit robbery. The wages of a laborer shall not remain with you until morning.

 

 

19:14.     You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

 

 

19:15.     You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich; judge your neighbor fairly.

19:16.     Do not deal basely with your fellows. Do not profit by the blood of your neighbor: I am the LORD.

 

 

19:17.     You shall not hate your kinsman in your heart. Reprove your neighbor, but incur no guilt because of him.

19:18.     You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against your kinsfolk. Love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.

 

 

19:32.     You shall rise before the aged and show your deference to the old; you shall fear your God: I am the LORD.

 

 

19:33.     When a stranger resides with you in your land, you shall not wrong him.

19:34.     The stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens; you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I the LORD am your God.

 

 

19:35.     You shall not falsify measures of length, weight, or capacity.

19:36.     You shall have an honest balance, honest weights, an honest ephah, and an honest kin.

 

 

I the LORD am your God who freed you from the land of Egypt.

19:37.     You shall faithfully observe all My laws and all My rules: I am the LORD.