Nisan 28, 5776/May 6, 2016
"You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d , am holy." (Leviticus 19:2) What do these words mean and where have we heard them before? The Book of Leviticus, in Hebrew'Vayikra - And He Called' - is, in fact, the book of holiness - kedusha. Vayikra opens with the words, "And He called to Moshe..." Who is He? He is G-d . What did He say? We don't know, the verse ends there. We didn't hear G-d's voice. Only Moshe did. But the words that open this weeks reading of Kedoshim, "You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d , am holy," G-d says to "to the entire congregation of the children of Israel." (ibid) This, indeed, is the very same message G-d spoke to Moshe when "He called to Moshe..." and invited him into the newly established Tabernacle. Be holy for I your G-d am holy. With what other words could G-d possibly call Moshe to draw near Him?
The book of Leviticus, which is the book of the Tabernacle and the Divine service, speaks of holiness from its first words and conveys through its vivid description of the kohanimand the offerings an overwhelming sense of holiness, of a dedication to G-d's will. But the holiness which is manifest in the Holy Temple cannot be contained within the Temple courtyards. It wants to spread forth and fill the world. But for this to happen, man must pave the way. Parashat kedoshim includes many commandments, many of them involving relationships between people, civil laws invoking justice and fair-play, while others are directed to the individual, calling upon personal responsibility and yet others which deal with forces beyond our intellectual comprehension, chukim - statutes, such as "You shall not crossbreed your livestock with different species. You shall not sow your field with a mixture of seeds, and a garment which has a mixture of shaatnez shall not come upon you," (ibid 19:19) pure manifestations of G-d's love for His people. And each time a new commandment, or cluster of commandments is spoken, it is followed by the words "You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d , am holy," or simply, "I am HaShem."
"You shall not oppress your fellow. You shall not rob. The hired worker's wage shall not remain with you overnight until morning." (ibid 19:13) What do these laws have to do with holiness? These are logical, rational and practical commandments that all reasonable men and women can naturally arrive at. G-d's council is not necessary for these civil laws. Holiness is not required.
This, at least, is the impetus, the driving force behind the modern, western world. Some two hundred years ago, philosophers, political thinkers and scientists drew the conclusion that man was mentally mature and wise enough to be able to promulgate his own laws, and navigate his own moral code. This is an experiment that has gone catastrophically awry. Today there is not one moral code by which men live, but thousands. A custom moral code exists for every individual. The self has become so all important, so all consuming. We have created our own "molech" throwing our children into the flames of false promises and illusions. (ibid 20:2) We no longer recognize ourselves and we no longer recognize others. We no longer need them. We have been taught to worship the self, that's where the holiness is, but the self itself has lost its integrity. Modern medicine enables us to recreate our physical selves and the surfeit of narcissistic and anarchic doctrines and ideologies, isms and self-righteous 'causes' which have flooded the market enables us to be eternally hitching a ride in someone else's madness. We are no longer ourselves. We no longer recognize ourselves or the holiness which is the G-d given life force that defines ourselves.
Laws such as "You shall not oppress your fellow. You shall not rob. The hired worker's wage shall not remain with you overnight until morning" are absolutely dependent on man's ability to recognize his own holiness and the holiness in others. That is what makes these laws not merely reasonable or logical or practical. They are laws of morality but much more than that, they are laws of holiness. Morality is the recognition of the common "created in the image of G-d " holiness that we all share. Our holiness is unique within ourselves but it binds us together. It is what makes us a people. The idea that man can create a secular world, a reality in which holiness is not recognized, and live by an ever changing moral code, unperceiving of the holiness which binds us to one another and unperceiving of the holiness that binds us to G-d Who made us holy, is a tragic assumption that has devastated modern man.
Now the appearance of the commandment "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am HaShem" (ibid 19:18) in this week's reading becomes crystal clear. This commandment is the true definition of holiness. When we love our fellow man we are recognizing his holiness and being reminded of our own. How can we not love that which we share with one another? It is the recognition of holiness which informs all of Torah's commandments, from the most difficult to grasp intellectually, to the most 'logical' and 'practical.' They are all formulas for attaining, recognizing and sharing holiness. The idea that man can create a flourishing society void of holiness is no less vapid and nihilistic than the notion that the world can endure indefinitely without the Holy Temple, the most manifest nexus of space and time on earth in which G-d's life-giving word and breath of holiness can be heard and breathed in by man. "You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d , am holy."
-The Temple Institute
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