Yeshiva
Beit Midrash
- Torah Portion and Tanach
- Vayikra
- Kdoshim
These opening words of our Sedra constitute the quint-essential "mission statement" of the Jewish People: Be holy throughout your life. But what does "holy" mean?
Some sources connect holiness with separateness; i.e. we should maintain a distinction from all other peoples on Earth, consecrating ourselves to a unique way of life & devoting ourselves solely to Hashem. They associate the word "kodesh" with "hekdash," a term that refers to offerings (animal sacrifices, monetary donations to the Bet HaMikdash, etc) that have been designated for a specific spiritual purpose & so may not be used for anything that is mundane or secular.
This is the reason why some Jews engage exclusively in "religious practices" such as Torah study or prayer, considering other pursuits as "bitul z’man" or a waste of our precious time; why they live in closed communities that shun any contact with the outside world & why they associate only with "their own kind," unless forced to do otherwise for compelling financial or health reasons.
That is certainly one strategy.
But our parsha is filled with Mitzvot – commandments – that discuss interaction with the world at large & the way in which we must act as we interface with others. These include dealing honestly in business dealings by maintaining accurate weights & measures (one of only 3 Mitzvot that promise long life); reserving a place in our fields for the poor; paying workers on time; refraining from misleading another person; not bearing a grudge or taking revenge on another; loving the convert; indeed, loving all of those around us, even as we love ourselves.
How can we fulfill all these mitzvoth, & so many more, if we lock ourselves in a virtual closet?
I suggest that Hashem created the world as an ultimate "training center." He could have made us all uniform, like-minded people who live totally identical lives. But that would frustrate His overall goal – molding our neshamot to their highest level of perfection. And so He created the possibility of poverty, to see how we respond to the needy; situations of social or sexual temptation, to see if we can control our urges & hold back our desires; & even war, to test if we’ll actively fight evil or just try to avoid it.
Kedusha, in short, is something you not only must learn, but something you must earn.
Rabbi Stewart Weiss
Was ordained at the Hebrew Theological College in Skokie, Illinois, and led congregations in Chicago and Dallas prior to making Aliyah in 1992. He directs the Jewish Outreach Center in Ra'anana, helping to facilitate the spiritual absorption of new olim.
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Hosha'ana Rabba FLYDUBAI & HOSHANA RABBA- ANI VAHU HOSHIA NA- I & HIM SAVE US
"Ani vaHu Hoshia Na", "I and Him, Save Us". We don't just pray to Him, but we also pray to and for ourselves that we should emulate and educate our children to have that instinctive altruism with which He created the world. President Trump seemed amused about Yaniv Hayon, our PLUMBER who confidently worked with G-d like Superman (he learned from a pilot on a TV show!) to save 174 lives on the Dubai hijacking, but we in Israel are totally accustomed already 78 years to our plumbers, teachers, garbage-men, rabbis, farmers & doctors being Hashem's shlichim! This is what Zionism is about.
Moreshet Shaul Hashem Is your Shadow – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 420 – an address from 1941
