No Limits 

We are all born into a certain culture. Each culture has sub-cultures with societal rules, many of which are unwritten. In some places those rules are so varied and complex that it is hard to understand them all and go through life adhering to all of them. There are class structures, glass ceilings or other Icarus-type barriers. There may be physical or psychological barriers to our growth as well.

Even so, our ability to rise above and beyond our class or our personal limitations is a basic tenet in Western philosophy. In fact, in this week’s parsha, even the Kohanim, who are the only group allowed to serve inside the Beit Hamikdash because they are considered to be on a higher spiritual plane, cannot be ensured that they are the ones who are the most exalted in the nation.

On the verse “and you shall be for me a kingdom of priests1”, the Kli Yakar offers a unique interpretation. He says that the correct interpretation of that verse is that anyone may be a king to the priests. Each individual has the opportunity to grow higher - even above Kohanim. He then brings a rabbinic principle of how we relate to the potential of individuals. “A bastard who is a sage will be respected more than even the High Priest who is ignorant.”2 Priests have been born into priesthood but that is not an automatic pass to wisdom, knowledge, and greatness. One can achieve greatness just by virtue of his humanity and how he utilizes the potential of that humanity.

 

Man, we would say is that entity which has freed itself from his biological-psychological-sociological type. (Frankl)

 

Being human, we have that ability to rise above limitations and become freed from those fetters holding us back.

Dr. Viktor Frankl writes “If we wanted to define man, we would have to call him that entity which has freed itself from whatever has determined it (as biological-psychological-sociological type); that entity, in other words, that transcends all these determinants…”3 Humans have that ability to rise above those external boundaries.

 

We can applaud a Jackie Robinson for his courage in rising above the prejudices of his time. He never saw himself as something special even as he was well aware of his athletic abilities – and that humility, coupled with his courage, has made him such an icon.

 

We all have that ability to transcend those stressors which try to hold us back – whether external stressors, such as bigotry, or internal stressors, such as fear. It will not necessarily be an easy path to travel. But it will shine a light on the greatness of our humanity.

 

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

 

Footnotes

 

  1. Shemot 19:6
  2. Horayot 13a
  3. Frankl, Viktor E.. The Doctor and the Soul: From Psychotherapy to Logotherapy (pp. 75-76). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

 

Have A Great Shabbat!laughing

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