Holy is Not a 'Four-Letter Word' – Parshat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

How we express ourselves publically in our western civilization is an issue that has more or less gained widespread agreement. Part of that understanding are words that due to their content and meaning are censored out of statements made publically. These words, called euphemistically 4-letter words, are often not used at all publically to prevent the need for censoring and the pernicious "beep".

Due to the separation of church and state in our culture it has also become somewhat taboo to speak about being holy in public. Wanting to be holy has become like a 4-letter word and holiness has been relegated to our religious institutions – the shul, school, Beit Midrash, etc. Yet is this how we wish to live our lives? We are expected, even commanded, to be holy. This week's parsha starts off by telling us that we are to be holy.1 Truth is, it sounds like a tall order. What does it mean to be holy? How will I know if I reached that level? How is it measured? Could we admit in public that we wish to be holy without feeling embarrassed?

Rabbi Hirsch offers a unique approach to holiness. He describes holiness as the highest form of human morality possible and that one who gives himself over totally to live on a higher level is one who has sanctified his life and dedicated it to something greater than he.2 Dedicating oneself to morality is, in his eyes, the height of holiness. Holiness, then, means dedication.

In a slighty different vein, Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, one of my teachers and the rabbi of the community where I grew up, gave a sermon over 35 years ago entitled 'Menchliness Before Godliness'. He said that our ethical behavior and the value of looking out for your fellow man is a requirement in our struggle to become holy – in other words, he says, "to become a Tzadik you first have to be a Mensch." He then told a story about the founder of the Mussar movement, Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, who had yahrzeit for his father and he was therefore entitled to daven before the Amud. "Another man, however, had yahrzeit for a daughter (which is not considered a high priority to daven before the Amud) and was very anxious for the Amud. I can just imagine the analysis and debate that would go on in shul over such a crisis. Not with Rabbi Yisrael. He gave up the Amud to the other man. When asked, "Is this kibbud av for your father?" he answered: "The greatest honor I can pay my father is to make his memory the instrument for the happiness of another Jew." Rabbi Yisrael understood that menschliness precedes Godliness." He was able to put the needs of another before his own and in fact, make the needs of the other, his own.3

Either way you look at it, being a good and ethical person is part of being holy. Whether being ethical is a prerequisite or is in itself holiness, it is clear that it is a goal of the Torah for humankind. 

It is easy to be a mensch on a desert isle but when confronted with dilemmas and conflicts  involving others, how do we react? Do we see only ourselves? Can we see the needs of others? Do we feel obligated to try and live a life dedicated to ethical behavior - a life of holiness?

While it is important for us to care for ourselves, it is imperative that we know that we are here not only for ourselves. Rather to dedicate ourselves and our lives to something even greater and, yes, to become holy.4 Part of that is behaving like a mensch. It is an obligation for the human race. 

So, we need not be afraid to say that we may want to be holy. After all, we may just want to be good, ethical people – and that is nothing to be embarrassed about

Click here to read another logoParsha blog on Kedoshim (You don't need to be Betazoid)

Notes

  1. Vayikra 19:2
  2. Together with Rabbi Hirsch's commentary on this week's parsha, note his commentary on Bereishit 2:3 where he discusses in greater depth the explanation of the root קדש (q'd'sh).
  3. This sermon of Rabbi Lookstein, as well as the follow up sermon, can be found in the shul bulletin at this link on pages 3-6. http://media.digital.library.yu.edu.s3.amazonaws.com/pdfs/KehilathJeshurunBulletin_19861219_54_04.pdf
  4. This also echoes the approach of Dr. Viktor Frankl who writes about our existence as not only for ourselves and our own 'self-fulfillment' but for the betterment of others and the world. See 'Doctor and the Soul', pp. 9-11

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

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