Learn It, Then Earn It | Rabbi Stewart Weiss | Beit Midrash

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Beit Midrash

קטגוריה משנית

"Speak to the community of Israel & say to them: ‘Kedoshim Tehyu, Be Holy!" (19:2)

These opening words of our Sedra constitute the quint-essential "mission statement" of the Jewish People: Be holy throughout your life. But what does "holy" mean?

Some sources connect holiness with separateness; i.e. we should maintain a distinction from all other peoples on Earth, consecrating ourselves to a unique way of life & devoting ourselves solely to Hashem. They associate the word "kodesh" with "hekdash," a term that refers to offerings (animal sacrifices, monetary donations to the Bet HaMikdash, etc) that have been designated for a specific spiritual purpose & so may not be used for anything that is mundane or secular.

This is the reason why some Jews engage exclusively in "religious practices" such as Torah study or prayer, considering other pursuits as "bitul z’man" or a waste of our precious time; why they live in closed communities that shun any contact with the outside world & why they associate only with "their own kind," unless forced to do otherwise for compelling financial or health reasons.

That is certainly one strategy.

But our parsha is filled with Mitzvot – commandments – that discuss interaction with the world at large & the way in which we must act as we interface with others. These include dealing honestly in business dealings by maintaining accurate weights & measures (one of only 3 Mitzvot that promise long life); reserving a place in our fields for the poor; paying workers on time; refraining from misleading another person; not bearing a grudge or taking revenge on another; loving the convert; indeed, loving all of those around us, even as we love ourselves.

How can we fulfill all these mitzvoth, & so many more, if we lock ourselves in a virtual closet?

I suggest that Hashem created the world as an ultimate "training center." He could have made us all uniform, like-minded people who live totally identical lives. But that would frustrate His overall goal – molding our neshamot to their highest level of perfection. And so He created the possibility of poverty, to see how we respond to the needy; situations of social or sexual temptation, to see if we can control our urges & hold back our desires; & even war, to test if we’ll actively fight evil or just try to avoid it.

Kedusha, in short, is something you not only must learn, but something you must earn.