This week we read two parashot: Ajarei Mot and Kedoshim, whose respective meanings are "After death" and "Saints".
To understand why we read certain sections together, we must understand that the globally accepted custom is to read the entire Torah in a one-year cycle. Each week, a portion is read (which may consist of one or two parashot). Now, there are 54 parashot in the Torah, the same number as the weeks in a year. However, we must take into account the Shabbatot that some holidays, so to speak, "take out" of the normal reading cycle. If a holiday falls on Shabbat or on the intervening Shabbatot of Passover and Sukkot, the sequential reading cycle is interrupted, and something related to the holiday is read. This reduces the number of Shabbatots and necessitates combining sections to complete the Torah in a year.
In leap years, that is, when there is an additional month of Adar, sections are generally not combined because 4 (or sometimes 5) more Shabbatot are added to the year.
Our sages indicated which sections can be combined; it's not that a different combination is chosen each year, but rather that they are always the same. This suggests that there must be some relationship between the sections read together and, of course, a lesson we can learn from that combination.
The beginning of the first section discusses the death of Aaron's two sons. As mentioned in another bulletin, there are differing opinions among commentators regarding the cause of their deaths. The Or HaChaim, by Rabbi Chaim ben Atar (1696-1743), states that the reason for their death was an excessive devotion to God. This is why the verse says (Leviticus 16:1), "when they drew near to God and died." This devotion was an exalted level of love for God that caused their souls to separate from their bodies and return to God.
On the other hand, the second section presents an extensive list of 51 Mitzvot, many of which are related to everyday matters, such as respect for parents, helping the poor with the produce of the field, loving one's neighbor, the prohibition of revenge, resentment, theft, etc., all very practical matters that make up life in society.
One way to view the relationship between these sections is to consider that ultimate holiness consists of withdrawing from society, even if it is a healthy society; the holy person is "above" it. Indeed, we call God Holy because His essence is removed from this world, in the sense of not being altered or affected by the entire universe or by our actions. It's as if we were to take the example of Aaron's deceased sons "when they drew near to God" and establish that this is the ideal of holiness.
However, the Torah continues with the second section of this week, clarifying that holiness does not mean total withdrawal, but rather modifying one's surroundings. How? By respecting one's parents, helping those in need, not stealing, and so on.
It is true, there must be a certain detachment from the environment in order not to be negatively affected, because after all, the Torah and its rules are eternal and immutable, because they come from an Eternal and Immutable God, while society and the environment are ephemeral and ever-changing. We, as human beings, are closer to the ephemeral and ever-changing than to the eternal and immutable. That is why there must be a boundary and a certain distance. But not complete detachment. There must always be a connection with the world, because the very purpose of life is to change the world. For that, one must be, so to speak, within the world.
That is why the Torah, in its great wisdom, warns us not to be like the sons of Aaron, but to get involved and improve the world through the Mitzvot, and that means being holy.