Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1-20:27)

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Kedoshim - Leviticus 19:1-20:27

You shall be holy, for I am holy, HaShem your G-d... You shall sanctify
yourselves, and you shall be holy, for I am HaShem your G-d" [19:2, 20:7]

Immediately after telling us to "be holy," G-d instructs us to fear our
parents, guard the Sabbath, avoid idolatry, and more. The implied lesson is
then made explicit: "sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy." Holiness
doesn't happen by accident. We make it happen through our study and our
actions.

Holiness isn't easy, either. Moral behavior requires restraint when we want
to fulfill our desires. Some would prefer to avoid the necessary study and
effort, and some will even attempt to convince you that trying is a waste of
time.

First, they trot out examples of supposedly moral individuals who, despite
their studies, engaged in immoral behavior. Then, extrapolating wildly, they
tell you that this proves that the studies themselves are of no benefit.

To understand the fallaciousness of this approach, let us take a different
example. Is it true that anyone who plays basketball on a regular basis will
become a Michael Jordan, or achieve professional talent? We know that most
do not. But it would be ridiculous to then conclude that it is all a matter
of natural ability, and practice causes no improvement.

Not every physicist becomes Albert Einstein, and not every pre-med becomes a
capable surgeon, but only after years of study and practice is it even
possible.

So if someone reputed to have studied the Jewish laws against gossip should
ever stumble in this area, can we argue that someone who studies these laws
daily is just as likely to gossip as anyone else? To say that is to imagine
that moral behavior is somehow different and distinct from every other area
of life.

The Torah tells us otherwise. It is no different: we must study and practice
in order to grow. "Sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy." And the
Torah tells us that this is our obligation as Jews.

The following story illustrates what a person can become, if he will only
make the attempt -- and what he can accomplish.

My wife's grandfather, Rav Zvi Elimelech Hertzberg zt"l, studied and
practiced holiness every day. Congregation Beth Abraham, which he founded
here in Baltimore, still commemorates his yahrtzeit on the 27th of Nissan.
This year, Dr. Aaron Siegman provided this anecdote.

The Rav was sitting out on his porch, studying one evening, in the days when
the synagogue and his home were the same building. An elderly man walked by,
and then paused. He asked Rabbi Hertzberg, "how much are tickets for the
High Holy Days?"

"Here," replied the Rabbi, "we have three types of tickets. For those who
can afford it, they pay what they want. For those who cannot afford it, they
are welcome to join us anyway. And for those who not only cannot afford it,
but do not have enough to 'make Yom Tov' [prepare the holiday meals], we
give them tickets, and we give them something with which to 'make Yom Tov.'"

On Yom Kippur morning, this man came to the synagogue for prayers. And when
they recessed in the afternoon, he asked permission of the Rabbi to address
the congregation.

He introduced himself to the assembled -- who reacted with some surprise,
for his name was well-known. He then said that he came over alone from
Minsk, Poland, as a boy of 14. He got off the ship on the eve of Yom Kippur,
and wandered the streets that day before finding a synagogue in time for Kol
Nidrei.

At the synagogue entrance, he was stopped by a guard who asked for his
ticket. When he said that he had none, the guard called the Gabbai of the
synagogue, to whom the boy explained his situation.

"I'm sorry," said the Gabbai. "If you do not have a ticket, you cannot pray
here."

"For fifty years," concluded the man, "I have not entered a synagogue. Only
your Rebbe made it possible for me to return."

Rabbi Hertzberg made it look easy, but it's not. It takes a great deal of
effort -- effort which will surely be blessed with success. "Sanctify
yourselves, and you shall be holy."

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Yaakov Menken