LEV290 Few are the Biblical commands thus introduced. This is significant. For it implies that the duty of being holy devolves upon each Jew and not upon a cloistered set of hermits only. The Jew must be holy not only in the synagogue and in the home but also in the office and in the workshop. Judaism is something more than a badge and a birth-mark; it is a life, a civilization. The virtues of trust, justice and mercy that are associated with our conception of God must be woven into the daily pattern of life. The mere accident of birth does not qualify one to be of the elect; it only designates him for enrollment among of the elect. God signs the covenant, but we have to seal it -- to seal it with a life of service.