You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d, am holy

(Leviticus19:2)

Iyar 9, 5777/May 5, 2017

The book of Leviticus, which literally begins with a whisper, progresses slowly from an intense focus on the inner workings of the desert Tabernacle, into a wider view of the laws of ritual purity and their application to the entire community of Israel, and then spreads its wings, introducing the concept of attaining holiness, which ultimately crescendos into a confirmation of the holiness of the very land of Israel itself. We need bear in mind that once the Tabernacle was completed and the service of the Kohanim (Temple priests) initiated, the nation of Israel was ready and poised to enter the land of Israel and to begin its life as a free people in its own land. Toward this end, the book of Leviticus was much more than a book of rules about offerings and priestly conduct. It was a comprehensive Torah for the building of the new nation.

"You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d, am holy," (Leviticus 19:2) the opening commandment of the second of the double Torah portion we read this Shabbat, Acharei Mot-Kedoshim, is truly a puzzler. G-d is holy because He is, well, G-d. How are we mere mortals supposed to achieve this? And how does the commandment to be holy fit into the scheme of nation-building that Leviticus is unfolding before us?

Torah goes on to answer this question by way of enumerating a large number of varying commandments, each one a path toward holiness. While this list of commandments does contain commandments concerning man's fidelity to G-d, such as observing the Shabbat and not profaning G-d's name, the majority of the commandments in these chapters of Leviticus are concerned with man's behavior toward his fellow man, many of them presented with the concluding imperative, "I am HaShem." Without a doubt, the most far-reaching, and perhaps even most perplexing of these commandments is that which is contained in Leviticus, chapter 19, verse 18: "you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am HaShem." Can love be commanded? And how do we love another as our self? And what does this have to do with G-d?

"You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d, am holy." The Hebrew word for holy, kadosh, literally means separate, distinct. We sanctify something by separating it from the mundane and recognizing its uniqueness. We sanctify Shabbat by regarding it differently than other days. We express the uniqueness of Shabbat by conducting ourselves differently on Shabbat, both in our actions and in our thoughts. But where is the holiness regarding the commandment, "You shall rise before a venerable person and you shall respect the elderly?" (ibid 19:32) This is a self-explanatory act of kindness and respect, of human decency. Where is the holiness? Where is the expression of separation, of uniqueness and distinction in the performance of this commandment?

The answer to this question is the answer to our question above, concerning the commandment, "you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am HaShem." Can love be commanded? And how do we love another as our self? And what does this have to do with G-d? G-d is holy because He is separate, distinct and unique. He is One. What makes us unique? Where is our inner oneness? Are we not all created equal, the children of Adam? Do we not all share a common humanity, and is that not the source and the reason why we honor the elderly and extend a hand to the needy?

Torah is teaching us something far deeper. We reach out toward one another not because we are all ultimately the same, but because we are all ultimately unique. And in that uniqueness is found our own holiness, that which defines and expresses me and only me. This uniqueness is what I share with G-d, One and Holy, and I possess this uniqueness, because G-d implanted it in my being and etched it on my soul. When I recognize my own G-d-given uniqueness, and embrace it, loving my G-dly self, then I acquire the ability to recognize this uniqueness, this holiness, in others. I am unique, I am holy, and I love myself because I recognize myself as a unique and holy expression of G-d's will. When I can acknowledge my own holiness I can then recognize the unique holiness that each one of us possesses. I love my neighbor and treat him with respect and kindness because I recognize his holiness, his own unique expression of G-d's will.

The book of Leviticus opens with our commitment to honoring G-d's will. "Build for ME a sanctuary," G-d commanded, and we did so, pleasing Him. We bring offerings to G-d, as an expression of our yearning to draw near to Him, and this is described as "a pleasing fragrance to HaShem." Once we have learned that G-d is pleased by our attentiveness to honoring His will, we are directed to the commandments concerning spiritual purity, and the need to tend to our own spiritual/metaphysical well-being. Finally, Leviticus directs us toward tending to one another, as the crowning expression of the unique and holy G-dly image in which we are all created.

The end result of the tapestry that Leviticus weaves for us is the formation of a nation whose center is G-d, whose holy Oneness radiates out from the Tabernacle, whose Divine service informs us of our own oneness and our own holiness, which we tend to and cultivate by adhering to commandments of purity, and finally finds full expression in our love and concern toward others. A unity of the G-dly uniqueness possessed by all of us. Truly a holy nation.

-The Temple Institute