Kedoshim

Kedoshim, K'doshim, or Qedoshim (קְדֹשִׁים – Hebrew for "holy ones," the 14th word, and the first distinctive word, in the parashah) is the 30th weekly Torah portion (פָּרָשָׁה, parashah) in the annual Jewish cycle of Torah reading and the seventh in the book of Leviticus. It constitutes Leviticus 19:1–20:27. The parashah is made up of 3,229 Hebrew letters, 868 Hebrew words, and 64 verses, and can occupy about 109 lines in a Torah Scroll (סֵפֶר תּוֹרָה, Sefer Torah).

Jews generally read it in late April or May. The lunisolar Hebrew calendar contains up to 55 weeks, the exact number varying between 50 in common years and 54 or 55 in leap years. In leap years (for example, 2016, 2019, 2022, and 2024), parashah Kedoshim is read separately. In common years (for example, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2025, and 2026), parashah Kedoshim is combined with the previous parashah, Acharei Mot, to help achieve the needed number of weekly readings. Some Conservative congregations substitute readings from part of the parashah, Leviticus 19, for the traditional reading of Leviticus 18 in the Yom Kippur Minchah service. And in the standard Reform High Holidays prayerbook (מחזור, machzor), Leviticus 19:1–4, 9–18, and 32–37 are the Torah readings for the afternoon Yom Kippur service.