May 9th: Acharay Mot/Kedoshim
THIS WEEK IN THE TORAH
Rabbi David E. Ostrich
There is a conceit among us in which complex subjects can be understood easily. No matter how large the situation, institution, or system, we believe that we can “get a handle on it” and fix it quickly. These kinds of summaries and generalization are part of our culture—sometimes in jokes, sometimes in proverbs. Think about how many of each begin with, “There are three kinds of people in the world…” or “two kinds of husbands/wives,” etc. The notion is that truth can be garnered by reducing great complexity into a few simple categories.
Movies are famous for this kind of simplification. One excellent example is Dave, the Kevin Kline/Sigourney Weaver film where Kline plays both a corrupt president and a look-alike small businessman who is hired as a presidential impersonator. When the real president has a stroke and goes into a coma, the look-alike’s role expands significantly as he occupies the Oval Office. Frustrated with his political handlers and the complexity of the Federal budget, Dave and his small-business accountant (played by Charles Grodin) sit down at the kitchen table one evening and “go through the government’s books.” It takes them several hours, but they finally figure things out and know how to fix the country’s finances.
It is very entertaining—and very alluring. Would it not be great if such complexities could be understood and solved after just a few hours of simple, honest, homespun common sense?! These kinds of scenarios sound great but are ultimately of limited value. Subject to platitudes, reductionist generalizations, and missed details, they are better understood as symptoms of frustration and impatience—or fantasy. They make great stories but not great management.
Such thoughts may tempt some of us to comment on the DOGE chainsaws, indiscriminate firings, and misbegotten “solutions” that are currently “draining of the swamp” in Washington, but the foolishness is self-evident, and, sooner or later, our country will wake up from a bad dream and realize that expertise and homework are not mere formalities.
So instead, let us look at our weekly Torah portion and how it approaches fixing the world. Leviticus 19.1-18, known as The Holiness Code, begins with one of the most important and challenging charges God gives our people:
“Kedoshim ti’h’yu ki kadosh Ani Adonai Elohaychem.
You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.”
Being Kedoshim /Holy like God is a noble aspiration, but it is more than a theme, a trope, or a style. As Rabbi Marcia Prager (The Path of Blessing) explains, holiness is the active importation or manifestation of God/godliness into places or moments where it seems absent. While God is theoretically omnipresent (everywhere at the same time), there are times when God seems far away. Holiness involves bringing God or the influence of God into those times or places, and the Torah completes the grand statement about Kedushah/Holiness with a working definition:
“Revere your mother and your father.”
“When you reap the harvest of your land…leave some for the poor and the stranger.”
“You shall not steal, nor deal deceitfully or falsely with one another.”
“You shall not defraud your fellow or commit robbery.”
“The wages of a laborer shall not remain with you until morning.”
“You shall not insult the deaf or place a stumbling block before the blind.”
“You shall not render an unfair decision—neither favoring the poor nor showing deference to the rich; judge your kin fairly.”
“Love your neighbor as yourself.”
Notice how each mitzvah (Leviticus 19.3-18) breathes the spirit of God into our behavior.
There are of course religious mitzvot which involve the conscious and active relationship God wants to maintain with us (“Keep My Sabbaths…do not turn to idols or molten gods…sacrifice your offerings with respect for God…revere the Lord your God…”), but, lest we think that Kedushah/Holiness is just about religious observance, note that most of the mitzvot are ethical. God is very invested is us and wants us both to be nice and to be treated nicely. As practically defined in the Holiness Code, Kedushah/Holiness is a profound combination of ethics, religion, and the love that emanates from our Creator. By the way, a similar mix of ethics and religion can be found in the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20 and Deuteronomy 5) —with the ethical commandments again outnumbering the ritual.
Kedushah is not just a feeling or a theme. It is a life-long succession of decisions and actions in which we build our godliness step by step, piece by piece, brick by brick, and moment by moment. This is not something to be done quickly or without a lot of thought and planning. It is a serious business and deserves the best we have. It is for more than just bragging rights or photo-ops.
Holiness calls for us to devote ourselves to being vessels of God’s love in the world and requires a lot of thought and care—with lots of attention to details. It can be exhausting—can even give one a headache, but the alternatives of haphazardness, blind emotion, and anarchy cause headaches too. Admittedly, there is something very appealing about letting go of our responsibilities, but we might not be so happy with the decisions of those who end up making our choices for us. Thus does our nation call us to be part of a participatory democracy—a republic which is “of the people, by the people, and for the people.” And in a parallel and even more significant manner, thus have we been called by God to be partners in Ma’aseh V’raysheet, the ongoing Work of Creation, and Tikkun Olam, the fixing of whatever problems arise. The work is not simple. It is not easy. But it is very, very, very important.
God is Kadosh/Holy and hopes that we can be, too. Let us pay attention to these mitzvot and practice them. They are action items for meaningful lives.