Parashat Kedoshim exhorts the Israelites to be holy because God is holy. Holiness is achieved, in part, by honoring our parents, protecting our children, rejecting idolatry, giving to the poor, offering sacrifices sincerely, and dealing with strangers and neighbors with decency and fairness.  Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy. (Leviticus 19:2)

At the heart of the section in the Torah known as the "Holiness Code" is a reminder that Israel holds a special place in God's heart, and that we must act accordingly.

God is the absolute authority over the world because He is separate from it and transcends it but He is not withdrawn from it. Israel must in imitating God by being a holy nation similarly not withdraw from the world of the nations but rather radiate a positive influence on them through every aspect of Jewish living. - Martin Buber, Behirat Yisrael

A great many of these laws are completely unenforceable. After all, what is involved in "respecting" your mother and father -- and who is going to determine that you have violated such a stricture? If I leave behind a single stalk of wheat in the corner of my field, will I be deemed to have kept the requirement of leaving some food for the gleaners? Probably not. But then, how much is enough? The Bible doesn't say. ... Since none of these things is spelled out, what actually violates the law is always going to be a matter of opinion.  

How can you order someone to have common decency? That seems to be the reason why the text keeps coming back to its main point, being holy. "You know what it means to be holy," it seems to say. "So there is no reason to try to specify everything involved. Just don't do anything that is not appropriate to someone who is holy." - James L. Kugel, How to Read the Bible

God's command that Jews should be holy is as much a manifesto for the repair of the world as it is a program for the healing of the soul. Jewish life is life with a mission: to grow religiously, to question life's meaning, and to leave the world a better place than we found it. - Daniel Gordis, God Was Not in the Fire

Feel free to find your own answers and explore each question in greater detail:

1. Often, we find ourselves in places where our words and actions are understood as being representative of Jews in general. Is this an unfair responsibility? How can we clarify that our behavior is not necessarily the same as other Jews, and should not be seen as such?
2.  If it is impossible to mention all the ways to be holy, why does the text bother trying to enumerate them? To what extent should we be free to define for ourselves what holiness ought to be?
3. If Jewish life is, indeed, "life with a mission," to what extent can an introverted Jew fulfill this mission? If an introvert takes Jewish observance seriously, should that person try to resist his/her natural instincts? Or can such a person still make a real contribution to creating holiness in the world without sacrificing his/her comfort zone?

If you wish additional material on the parasha (Torah portion of the week) feel free to check out the following sites: