26 April, 2007

Parshas Kedoshim

Kedoshim Teyuh... 'You shall be holy, for i hashem am holy'. A living person is full of potential , to grow (and c''v to fall) and become a true servent of hashem. His potential is not complete up until the second that one dies, at that moment we can judge if he has fulfilled his lifes mission of getting closer to hashem. That is what the torah is saying Kedoshim Teyuh you shall strive all your days to be and become holy and holier 'KI kadosh ani hashem' for i hashem AM holy i dont need nor have room to to grow. I am the empitome of holiness. Our lifes mission is to try and emulate and get closer to him every second of our lives and to strive for that kedusha.
The medrish says hashem said "'kedoshem teyuh' you'd think (that you shall be holy) like me says the posek 'ki kodosh ani' my holiness is holier then yours". Reading this medrish sounds very discouraging. We can never achieve real holiness for only hashem is holy so why even try? Whats the point of starting something thats not humanly possible to complete? Yet as Reb samson Raphael Hirsch points out that the only times we find the posak talking 'to all congregation of the children of israel' is in parshas Bo when hashem gave us final instructions for mitzias mitzraim, and here by the parsha of kedusha R' Hirsch says "no position in life, no age, no degree of fortune, is excluded from this call to the very height of absolute morality". We have to appreciate that Hashem gave us the zechus to try and tap into his holiness. To strive all our lives to get ever so holier slowly one step at a time and every step we take gives one the label of 'kodosh'. We might not ever get to the point of absolute pure holiness but we have to try and we will get there one day.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

For further guidance on how to achieve the holiness you are craving for, allow me to quote the Rav (Derashot Harav, The American Jew and the State of Israel), who states that man (not G-d) is paramount to the establishment of holiness. This is because “holiness has one source: sacrifice. Holiness and sacrifice, both literally and figuratively, are fundamentally the same concept. Holiness can only be created through self-sacrifice, pain, effort, and exertion. If a person does not anticipate and struggle, holiness cannot come into being.” What holy words.

Reb Y. Brachfeld said...

thanx for the additions everyone.
I saw the Ohaiv Yisroel that says the key to relize that a person can become holy is the end of the posok, 'Ki kadosh ani' that each one of us in Klall Yisroel has a Tzelem Elokim and being that we we are part of Hashem we can tap into his infinite kedusha.

reb sabra said...

let us not forget to mention being holy isn't in the lenghth of your daening its tapping into the infinite in every part of life eating sleeping and working being pleasent to people and showing them what an eved hashem realy is (sorry no sources but basicly r' shimshon pincus mixed with a little r' berkowitz with a touch of r'pam)

Anonymous said...

The Ruv Shlit"a gave a wonderful shmuz, on Chol Hamoed Pesach, on the inyan of avodas hashem with regular gashmius. This avodah is was the rasha can't understand, the kedusha through the "luchem".

Anonymous said...

To quote the holy R' Shlomo'le: So holy, so beautiful! The holiest of the holy! The sweetest of the sweet!