B"SD
GRACIOUSNESS,
GREATNESS AND GRATITUDE: PARSHAT ACHAREI MOT-KEDOSHIM
Shira Smiles shiur 2023/5783
Adapted by Channie Koplowitz Stein
Parshat Kedoshim begins with
Hashem exhorting Bnei Yisroel to "be holy/kedoshim tihiyu; for holy
am I, Hashem your God." Our first concern in our discussion must be to
define kedushah/holiness, sanctity. While Rashi defines kedushah
as separation and dedication to a particular purpose, Rambam understands that
we are not to separate from life, but that we are to enjoy life without finding
loopholes within strict Torah law to act in undignified and depraved ways, we
should not be נבל ברשות התורה.
How can we compare ourselves
to Hashem, asks the Aish Tamid. It would be sacrilegious to contemplate
being as holy as Hakodosh Boruch Hu. Therefore we must find other explanations
for the Torah's seemingly telling us that the reason we are to be holy is be
just like Hashem, because Hashem is holy.
The Kotsker Rebbe, as cited by
Rabbi Reichman in Living the Chassidic Legacy, explains that the second
half of the verse is trying to teach us how to become holy: When one attaches
oneself to God and wants to create closeness to Him, when he want God to be his
God, he will take the physical elements of life and elevate them to the
spiritual. In other words, explains Rabbi Gamliel Rabinowitz in Tiv Hatorah,
the key to a holy life of service to Hashem is realizing that one is always in
Hashem's presence. He always sees us. As we say every morning, "The
beginning of wisdom is awe/fear of/Yirat Hashem;" the letters for
awe and fear, yirah/יראה are also the root for seeing, ראה.
How does one achieve that
stage? In Heorat Derech, Rabbi Weissblum suggests some meditation to
create a sense of mindfulness of Hashem's presence. Ask yourself two questions.
First, what am I about to do? This question, although meant to prepare us for
performing a mitzvah, is equally effective in preventing us from sin. Then ask
yourself before Whom am I standing? [Studies have shown that even in the
presence of a photograph of eyes, people are more circumspect and honest in
their behavior. CKS] One of the reasons we don't grow in our observance or
prayer is that our performance becomes rote, without thought or intention.
However, mental and emotional preparation turns us into receptacles to receive
spirituality. That is why we prepare for a mitzvah with the brachah, "That
He has sanctified us with His mitzvoth..."We need to make a conscious
choice to observe a mitzvah, to recite that preparatory blessing with focus
rather than act robotically as an obligatory response to a stimulus. Draw an
awareness of God down before you begin the mitzvah. Be mindful of what you are
doing.
The simplest reading of our
verse implies that we are to emulate Hashem, and thus to become holy as He is.
But it is quite evident that we cannot be holy as He is, for Hashem is all
spiritual, while we are bound with our bodies to the physical world. Therefore,
Rabbi Sternbach explains, we are meant to enjoy this world, for it too is holy.
We are not meant to refuse enjoyment of the world Hashem has created. Even a nazir
must bring a sin offering for denying himself some of the earth's pleasures.
Only God can be completely separate from this world. But one must achieve the
proper balance and measure between the physical and the spiritual. As Rabbi
Mattisyahu Salomon, citing the Mesillot Yesharim writes, the
physical world is meant to enhance and buttress the spiritual world so that we
can be comfortable. It is difficult to serve Hashem when one is uncomfortable
or struggling. Nevertheless counsels Rebbetzin Smiles, in a world and
environment of tremendous abundance, it is often difficult to maintain a line
between comfort and over-indulgence.
Nevertheless, there is a place
for abstinence, writes Rabbi Adlerstein in Step by Step. When one knows
the triggers that temp him to bad behavior or to sin, it is prudent to distance
oneself from those situations completely. [Think of emptying one's pantry from
unhealthy snacks when you need to lose weight. CKS] Rabbi Adlerstein, citing
Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz, contrast Esau, the man of the field, with Yaakov Avinu
who was a dweller of tents. Esau was not content without excitement, without
"the thrill of the hunt." Yaakov Avinu, in contrast, was self
sufficient, content with what he had in his surroundings. Perishut/abstinence
is not asceticism. It is the discipline of being able to say no to ourselves.
In this context, training oneself to always leave something on one's plate may
indeed be an effective exercise in discipline.
But there is an element of
sanctification based on dedication for a specific function (like designating a
particular sheep to be offered as a sacrifice), explains Rabbi Svei, citing
Rabbi Shimon Shkop. We are meant to sanctify our lives by dedicating ourselves
to serving others, not to living selfishly only for ourselves. However, we
cannot help others and give to others unless we take care of our own needs
first. We must keep ourselves, strong, healthy and content so that we can help
and give to others graciously.
Rabbi Berger in Widen Your
Tent, continues this theme by noting that the Torah follows this verse by
listing many mitzvoth that are for the benefit of others, like honesty and
generosity to others, with only a few mitzvoth dealing directly with man's
relationship to God. A person should view what he has as a gift he can use to
benefit others. Even down time and sleep can then be viewed as a way of
rejuvenation so that one can again arise and help others. We should be known as
kllal people, people our communities and friends can always count own.
The comparison remains that
just as Hashem gives to others, so can we. But we do not have infinite
resources as does Hakodosh Boruch Hu. We need to take care of ourselves and
give to ourselves first so that we have the ability to give to others.
When the Torah commands to
love your neighbor as yourself, the underlying premise is that you love
yourself first. However, the definition of "self" is elastic. One
begins by loving only oneself. But we grow as others are included in that
circle of self, explains Rabbi Zev Leff, citing Rabbi Shkop. A man's wife
becomes part of self, as does one's children. Friends and neighbors enter the
circle. The more expansive the definition of self, the more gadol/larger/greater
does one become, and the more he resembles Hakodosh Boruch Hu Whose Self
identifies with and includes everyone. [It is Moshe who is described as
becoming gadol/mature/great when he leaves the royal palace to identify
with the suffering of his brethren. CKS]
Rabbi Chaim Shmulevits
discusses the Prophet Shmuel. When Chanah was praying for a son, she asked for
an average child. Yet, this "average child" grew up to become a
prophet who, in Tehillim, is compared to Moshe and Aharon and all the
Kohanim. If we focus on the kedushah/sanctity we each have, we have the
potential and the ability to achieve greatness, and only Hashem's greatness is
above that. Recognize that same sanctity in others, especially in children, and
be careful not to destroy it. After all, Hashem commanded us to build a
sanctuary so that He may dwell within, not simply with, you. Rabbanit
Yemima Mizrachi urges us to discover the kedushah within ourselves.
Search out the treasures
within yourself. Taking some poetic license, Rabbi Meislisch notes that hidden
treasures are called מטמונים/matmonim,
a word we can divide in two, מט מונים/counting
49. We are now in the season of counting the 49 days, the omer, from
Pesach to Shavuot, reaching the pinnacle of sanctity when our nation witnessed
the revelation at Sinai. Taking this time to assess our individual talents and
strengths will help us develop them so that we can use them to serve Hashem. It
is our choice.
Rabbi Svei interprets our
verse from a different perspective. When we sanctify ourselves here below,
Hashem credits us with sanctifying Him in the heavens above. In this context,
sanctity does indeed involve separation. It means separating ourselves from our
normal inclinations, our yetzer horo, and rising above our nature. When
we separate ourselves from our nature, Hashem responds by separating Himself
from the natural processes of nature and rises above them for our benefit. Our
actions draw down reciprocal responses from on High.
We have earlier stated that an
important way to become holy is to do acts of chesed. But Rabbi Ephraim
Fordsham notices an important caveat here. Usually, when someone does a favor
for his friend, he rejects getting paid or getting a favor in return. Rabbi
Fordsham suggests that the motivation for not accepting anything in return is
actually not altruism, but a means to keep the recipient forever indebted to
his benefactor. To avoid this pitfall, Rabbi Fordsham presents a solution from
Rabbi Yerucham Levovitz: Get into the habit of asking for a favor, even a small
one , immediately after you have done something for him, and free the recipient
from feelings of inferiority or indebtedness. {Something as simple as asking
him to carry your bag into the house, for example.]This, continues Rabbi
Fordsham, is why Hashem asks us to observe mitzvoth and do chessed. Hashem does
not want us to feel worthless because He does so much for us and gives us so
much. By asking us to "do Him the favor" of leaving gleanings in the
field, being honest in our relationships, and so much else, He has removed the
sense of shame we would feel from having received so much as a favor, without
earning it or using it for others.
Understanding these dynamics
helps us to value ourselves. Do not minimize your worth, for when we create
kedushah on earth, it interacts and influences the kedushah above. The physical
world we live in is the only vehicle we, as human beings, have to create
sanctity. In that way the two halves of our verse are totally connected; Hashem
is the model. By partnering with Him as our God, mostly through acts of chessed
along with other mitzvah performance, we create holiness and make His sanctity
manifest on earth as it is in heaven.