Parashat Kedoshim 5784

Our parsha begins with the striking words:

קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י ה׳ אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃

You shall be holy, for I, your God, am holy.

(Lev. 19:2)

While most people would accept the principle that God is holy, how can we mere mortals be holy?  What do we have to do in order to become holy? While everything that God undertakes is inherently holy, much of what normal people do is not in the same sphere. In fact, much of what we do is inherently unholy. How can we change our acts to come close to the border of holiness, to make our actions holy?

This is a tall order.

God’s words about holiness in Parashat Kedoshim are intended for the entire population of the Children of Israel. Moses is directed to “speak to the whole community.”  Emulating God is not meant only for Moses and Aaron, or for the heads of the tribes, but for all the people. We are told to be a holy people.

How should we think about holiness? Is the opposite un-holy? Perhaps we can think of this concept similarly to how we reflect upon Shabbat versus the rest of the week. We call Shabbat holy and the rest of the week as common or mundane. Perhaps we are being told by God that by being holy we should not be common or mundane, but that we have a special purpose.

“To be holy means to make an effort to separate ourselves from the everyday and usual” said Rabbi Ilan Emanuel, “and set time aside in our lives to focus on the spiritual. Thus, we set aside Shabbat, sanctifying it to God and creating a space in our lives to be holy, away from the distractions of our daily lives.”

“Finding holiness in the everyday is not about making more moments mundane but about raising more of the everyday to be holy,” Rabbi Emanuel continued. “It is about recognizing that moments we might otherwise think of as mundane and insignificant can and should be made holy and special…We have the opportunity not just to find holiness but to make holiness, setting aside that moment and sanctifying it. And every time we do we make ourselves and the world a little more holy.”

It is about everyone finding common events and turning them into holy moments. Everyone was commanded to be holy. “Not everyone is a master of Jewish law, but spirituality is engraved in all our souls,” said the late Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. “God enters, said the Rebbe of Kotzk, wherever we let Him in.”

We sometimes feel bogged down by the little things in life, the constant daily humdrum which consumes most of our lives. But it is in how we do the little things and how we focus on them that matter. We need to take those activities and look at them differently.

“A daily chore has no meaning in-and-of-itself,” said Rabbi Pini Dunner, “but if it is put into the perspective of broader goals – such as living in a tidy home or attaining a particular skill or reaching a specific target – it becomes greater than the sum of its parts. Of course, to achieve this state of mind, one must make the mundane tasks personally significant, so that they accord with our passions.”

The result, Rabbi Dunner states, “the mundane is not spiritual by default, rather the mundane can become spiritual by choice.”

And we can make the mundane holy and spiritual by choice. Much of the remainder of our Torah portion discusses some of our everyday concerns. But as Rashi, the eminent Torah commentator, states: Our Rabbis have already said that this section was addressed to the full assembly [of all Israel] because most of the fundamental principles of the Torah are dependent on it.

What are the fundamental principles which we follow? And, how can we make them holy in our life? One must revere their father and mother, do not turn to idols, do not reap to the borders of the field or gather fallen fruit from your vineyard.

These are among the basic, core values we have as descendants of the Children of Israel: worshiping God faithfully, honoring our parents and making certain that we continually think of the needy.

We do not need any assistance in making those values holy. But understanding how mowing the lawn or dusting the breakfront or washing the laundry can be imbued with holiness is our task. We are holy because God is holy and we are fashioned in God’s image.

As we wash the floor or cook a meal, we can think about our holiness factor. What good can I do for the world today? How can I make my imprint for the good of humanity? What idea can lift our spirits and lift our connection to God? How can we head into Shabbat more mindful of our relationship to our family and friends?

It’s the little things that matter. It’s how we perform all the tasks in each day to the best of our abilities, and raise our thoughts l’eilah, u’l’eilah, higher and higher; how we pay it forward to the betterment of our community and the world.

You will be holy because I, your God, am holy. It is all about recognizing that moments we might otherwise think of as mundane and insignificant can be made holy and special.
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Rabbi Gerry L. Ginsburg (AjR ’19) is associate rabbi of Temple Beth El, Stamford, CT (Conservative). He works in pastoral counseling, adult education, synagogue outreach, life cycle events and worship services.