Our Gemara on Amud Beis quotes (Devarim 14:21):
You shall not eat anything that has died a natural death; give it to the stranger in your community to eat, or you may sell it to a foreigner. For you are a holy people (am kadosh) consecrated to your God.
In another verse (Shemos 22:30) referring to an animal torn apart by beasts:
You shall be holy people to Me (anshei kodesh): you must not eat flesh torn by beasts in the field.
The Kesav VehaKabbalah notes the subtle difference. In Devarim it says am kadosh — a holy nation. In Shemos it says anshei kodesh — holy people.
“Kadosh” as an adjective describes someone who acts with holiness, while “anshei kodesh” as a noun describes people whose essence is holiness itself, detached from material indulgence. The former is a broader, national level; the latter is rare and individual. The former is a person who behaves in accordance with Torah values such as extension and kindness and sacrifice, which are the ways of a holy person. The latter is a person who has become holy himself, has internalize these values deeply.
The verse about tereifah (animal torn or fatally diseased) refers also to the prohibition of eating sacrificial meat outside the Temple (Chullin 68a) — an extra level of holiness, abstaining even from the permitted when it is removed from its sanctified context. That is why it uses anshei kodesh. Consumption of food is symbolic for engaging in the physical world, and being sure that this food remains within the boundaries of the temple, is symbolic of maintaining a higher level of purity and abnegation.
I would add: a neveilah (unslaughtered carcass) is visibly defective. A tereifah may look fine but has an internal defect — detectable only upon examination. So too, anshei kodesh are holy from within, not just in outward behavior, this is why the verse uses that description in regard to the tereifah.
Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation
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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, LMFT, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com