"You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d, am holy"
(Leviticus 19:2)
Nisan 28, 5779/May 3, 2019
"And HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying, speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d, am holy." (Leviticus 19:1-2) Thus begins this week's Torah reading, Kedoshim, (holy). It is a beautiful sentiment, and is made to sound easy, but just how do we do it? How do we become holy? How do we be holy because G-d is holy?
Being holy has been the consistent and oft repeated theme of the book of Leviticus. At first this notion of holiness seems very tangible, as the opening chapters of Leviticus deal exclusively with the inauguration of the desert Tabernacle, the sanctification of the kohanim, and the bringing of offerings. The daily service in the Tabernacle would seem to be the very definition of holy. Leviticus then expands its theme, discussing in details the laws of spiritual purity. Even here we understand that sensitivity and attentiveness to our personal space and what we come in contact with can be understood in the light of maintaining a certain quality of holiness in our personal lives. What we eat, what we refrain from eating, our intimate relationships, these all seem to be clearly comprehensible areas where we can pursue and, hopefully, achieve holiness in our lives.
But now comes along parashat Kedoshim, and takes the commandment to be holy to a whole other aspect of our humanity: to our interpersonal relations with one another, not only on a family or intimate level, but as neighbors and good citizens. We are told not to lie, and thereby be holy. We are told not to use false weights, to price our wares fairly, to pay our workers on time, and thereby be holy. We are told to help out others in distress, to return lost property, to refrain from harvesting all our crops so that the destitute can glean what we leave behind, and thereby be holy. We are told to honor our parents and be kind to the stranger, all in the name of being holy. Clearly these commandments are all embodying basic and immutable moral precepts, and the fulfilling of them is both a necessary prerequisite for a just society and, at the same time, edifying and ennobling to the soul and spirit of man. But what, in their fulfillment, make us holy just as HaShem, our G-d, is holy? Good and decent, yes. But holy?
Kedoshim further focuses on our question, taking the concept of acquiring holiness via moral social behavior to its ultimate conclusion: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am HaShem." (ibid 19:18) Can we actually be commanded to love? Isn't love an emotion either generated spontaneously or nurtured through deep seated and intimate relationships? Can we simply be commanded to love another person? Apparently, Torah thinks we can. And the secret to how it is done, is in the very commandment itself, or at least, in its concluding affirmation: "I am HaShem." "I am HaShem," an ever present and infinitely near G-d. Just as My Presence is so visible and so tangible within the Temple/Tabernacle courtyards, so is My Presence filling and surrounding your everyday life, if only you open your hearts and your eyes and welcome it in. Just as My holiness can be felt and intimated in your personal conduct concerning My laws of purity, so can My holiness enter your life through your care and attentiveness toward others.
G-d created our world so that He could bless our world with loving kindness. G-d created mankind in His image so that man could likewise carry on the blessed task of doing good in G-d's world. There is no distinction in G-d's eye between what is holy and what is morally right. What is good is what is holy, and when we engage in acts of true selflessness, doing good because it is G-d's desire that we do good, we are, in effect, emptying ourselves of all the petty and puny motivations that infiltrate our beings, thereby opening the door of our souls to G-d's Presence: "I am HaShem."
Kedoshim is teaching us to be good because being good is being holy, and being holy is witnessing G-d's Presence in our lives, everywhere and at all times. Holiness is not confined to certain rites or rituals. Holiness is holistic, it is ever present. It is easy to love our neighbor as ourselves when we understand that "I am HaShem" is our shared reality, the glue that binds us together.
G-d shaped our reality within the confines of time and space, and Torah has taught us that it is incumbent upon us to sanctify both time and space. This we achieve through our actions. Our good deeds, our love for one another as expressed through our positive actions, through our willful and witting transformation and sanctification of time and space via our good and beneficial actions toward one another, is how we imbue our lives, and the lives of others, with holiness. "You shall be holy, for I, HaShem, your G-d, am holy." It's as easy, and as beautiful, as it sounds.
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