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LOOK INTO THE MIRROR FIRST

The verse states “Do not hate your brother in your heart, rather, you should reprimand him and do not carry on him any wrongdoing.” The Talmud teaches us that although we may hate one who fails to accept the Torah, nevertheless, we must not hold that hatred in the heart. We must reprimand him.

What is the intent of “do not carry on him any wrongdoing”? Rebbe Tarfon says (Erchichin 16b) “I wonder if there is anyone nowadays who can give a successful ‘tochacha’.” He explains, this is because if the one giving the tochacha tells the wrongdoer that he is doing wrong, the recipient will turn around and tell the reprimander that he is doing greater wrong in the same area or in some other area. The recipient will therefore pay no attention to the words of the reprimander.

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JUST THINK ABOUT IT!

The first mitzvah of Kedoshim instructs us ‘to be holy because HaShem your G.D is holy’. The Torah is stating that HaShem’s holiness is the cause for us to be holy. Holiness in this context refers to being removed from the materialism of this world. The notion of HaShem’s holiness is that He is removed from the material world, He exists outside of this universe. To be more accurate, HaShem exists outside the spiritual realms as well; He created those realms just as He created the material world. HaShem is therefore Absolute Holiness. The question we must ask is how can HaShem’s holiness be the reason for us to be holy? HaShem’s holiness is intrinsic and such holiness within the sphere of the human condition is absurd. We understand that the Torah would not instruct us to be creators because HaShem is a creator. Such a mitzvah would be absurd since creation is the exclusive domain of HaShem. In a similar way HaShem’s holiness cannot be the reason for Man to be holy since His holiness is of a totally different nature.

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RETURNING TO NORMAL

All of us who are in this lockdown still remember what life was before the lockdown. We recognize that our current state is not normal and are convinced that life will certainly return to ‘normal’, hopefully soon. Imagine, if you will, that this current state remains the same for another 40 years, Heaven forbid! The children born into this new world will have no frame of reference to expect that things will return to ‘normal’ because this current state will be ‘normal’ to them.

In this week’s Parsha, Acharei Mos – Kedoshim, the Torah teaches us what ‘normal’ is. The Parsha of Kedoshim opens with HaShem’s instruction to Moshe to address the entire nation; the elders, the lay folk, the women and even the children. He tells Moshe to tell the entire nation that everyone in the nation is to strive to become kadosh, to become Holy, to achieve a level of Holiness similar to HaShem’s Holiness. HaShem adds a word of encouragement by telling them “because I, HaShem your G.D, am Kadosh.

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IT BELONGS IN THE KNAPSACK

This week’s Parsha, Acharei Mos – Kedoshim, instructs us not to insult the convert to Judaism by pointing out how he served idols in the past. The Torah reminds us that we, too, have a history of idolators when we lived in Egypt. Our Sages explain that a blemish that you have do not point it out in someone else.

The implication seems to be that if you have a blemish don’t insult someone else with that blemish because the insulted person can turn around and throw it back to you. But is this what the Torah means? This reason seems self-serving. Perhaps there is a deeper message.

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A SACRIFICE

I dedicate this Parsha thought to my dear uncle, Rabbi Benjamin Kamenetzky, who passed away at the end of last week. The following thought gives us an insight to the value that Uncle Benyomin placed on life.

In this week’s Parsha, Acharei mos – Kedoshim, we find the famous dictum that the laws of Torah are suspended before loss of life. The verse states “you shall live by them (through the words of Torah and through her laws)”. Our Sages explain that the implication of this verse is that the Torah and her laws are to bring us life not death. Therefore in a circumstance when life is endangered and can be remedied only by transgressing the Torah we must opt to save the life and forego the Torah’s law. There are however, four exceptions where the Torah’s laws trump life itself. In these cases we uphold the the Torah and sacrifice life. These four exceptions are murder, adultery, idol worship and shmad. Shmad, is where the circumstance is such that by transgression of the Torah a disgrace to HaShem and to His Torah will be perpetrated.