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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV270 ... Jewish tradition provides a rationale for helping the poor that speaks to our own character: we would want to be the kind of people who aid those in need. Whereas non-Jews might help others for similar reasons of self-image and self-respect, the Torah put these considerations in theological terms: we should aspire to be not only decent and even noble human beings, but also Godlike. We should strive to be holy like God, and part of the way to do that is to provide for the poor as the following selections made clear. [Leviticus 19:1-2, 9-10; Deuteronomy 13:5; Babylonian Talmud, Sotah 14a.]

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV278 Nahmanides in his commentary on [this verse]: "The Torah exhorts us against sexual immorality and against eating forbidden foods, but permits sexual intercourse between husband and wife and eating meat and drinking wine. Hence, the licentious individual may thus permit himself all kinds of indulgences with his wife … and be among the imbibers of wine and the gluttons for meat, and speak profanities, since these are not specifically forbidden in the Torah. He could then conceivably be a disreputable individual without violating any laws of the Torah. Therefore, the Torah, after detailing the things completely forbidden us, commands us in these general terms to be restrained even in matters permitted to us." The ethical concept cannot define with exactitude just how far we may go in indulging in the legally permitted. It can only alert us to the truth that even the legally permissible becomes ethically repulsive at a certain point. The responsibility for fixing that point rests essentially with each individual, whose moral stature is largely molded by the boundaries he fixes for himself in his pursuit of the legally permissible.

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV286 The God of Judaism is neither aloof nor self-centered. He is very much involved in the world which He created. Heschel, Prophets, Ch. 11-18. The nature of their involvement, in so far as it bares upon the behavior of man, is subsumed under the concept of holiness. Because God is holy (Isaiah 6:3), and because man was created in His image, "the utmost virtue of man is to become like onto Him, may He be exalted, as far as he is able; which means that we should make our actions like unto His, as the Sages make clear when interpreting the verse "Ye shall be holy."

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV288 The starting point for understanding Mussar is the verse in the Torah that tells us: "You shall be holy" [this verse]. The Torah here reveals in no uncertain terms what a human being's job description is. In essence, we are here on earth for no other purpose than to grow and blossom spiritually--to become holy. Our potential and therefore our goal should be to become as spiritually refined as possible. It is interesting that when the rabbis combed through the Torah to seek out the commandments that are the backbone for living a Jewish life, none of the major commentators seized on "You shall be holy" as a commandment they told us we must follow. This omission is classically explained by saying that our spiritual pursuits are the overarching and all-encompassing goal of our lives, and so this injunction can't be brought down to the level of an ordinance on par with the other 613 commandments the rabbis identified in the Torah. (See, for example, Rambam's Sefer ha'Mitzvot [The Book of Mitzvot] (Shoresh 4), trans. Rabbi Shagra Silverstein (New York: Moznaim, 1993).

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV276 Holiness is attained by living among other people. God commanded Moshes to state this verse in front of "the entire congregation," that is, in assembly, because the majority of the essentials of the Torah are summarized herein. (Sifra cited by Rashi). The Chasam Sofer commented that to attain holiness we need not be isolated and withdrawn from the rest of society. On the contrary, the admonition to be holy was stated in assembly. A person must learn how to sanctify himself by behaving properly amongst people. (Otzer Chayim, vol. 3, p. 114).

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV275 Finally, how about the argument that “so few Reform Jews keep kosher--why should the Movement even pay attention to it? My very unscientific research has led me to doubt this old assumption. Yes, if you ask most Reform Jews, “Do you keep kosher?” they will reply in the negative. But if you ask them, “Do you eat pork?” a surprising number will say, “no.” If you ask them, “Do you eat shrimp or oysters?” a smaller number, but still a number, will also say, “no.” If you ask them, “Do you mix meat and milk?” some others will shake their heads as well. Our assumption that few Reform Jews keep kosher has been based on an all-or-nothing proposition. A survey of several hundred respondents among the regional URJ leaders attending the 2005 Biennial in Houston confirmed my feeling that there are many Reform Jews who keep some form of kashrut (see chapter 8). Is it legitimate to keep only some aspects of kashrut? Of course it is. Kashrut comprises a number of discrete mitzvot, and we may feel called by some of them but not necessarily by all of them. If we are to include oshek and tzaar baalei chayim in our definition, there are non-Reform Jews who according to our standards will also not keep all the mitzvot of kashrut. Such a situation would be a reminder that, for all Jews, kashrut is, as my erstwhile Hillel colleague Rabbi David Berner taught me, a continuum, on which a large number of Jews find themselves and on which many religious decisions remain before one takes all of the steps. It is a reminder, too, that Leviticus 19:2, K’doshim tihyu, “You shall become holy,” is a lifelong process. In the unique context of our own time, kashruth can be a “natural” for Reform Jews. It nurtures our yearning to deepen our spiritual lives; it responds to our classic imperatives for social justice; it brings us into closer contact with our godly role as guardians of Creation; it opens new opportunities to mingle with today's diverse population of Jews and non-Jews; it offers a variety of disciplines that can keep us from sliding into the maw of North American materialism. Freed from the restrictive bonds of the past, Reform Jews have remarkable opportunity to let kashrut flourish once again as a way to strengthen the nurturing bonds of the covenant between the Jewish people and the Creator of all life. (By Richard N. Levy, “KASHRUT: A New Freedom for Reform Jews”)

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LEVITICUS — 19:2 holy

LEV285 The concept of kedushah, therefore, would appear to be the most general and all-embracing term by which Judaism designates the highest religious quality that can be attained either in space, in time, or in man himself and that brings one closer to God, or into communion with Him. But, since in Judaism, the essential core of religion is morality, it follows that holiness for man is "basically an ethical value" [D. S. Shapiro, "The Meaning of Holiness in Judaism." Tradition 7, no. 1 (Winter 1964-65): 62], the "perfection of morality" and the "ethical ideal of Judaism." [M. Lazarus, The Ethics of Judaism (Philadelphia: Jewish Publication Society, 1901), pt. II, pp. 25, 176]. The concept of holiness is also found in connection with the dietary laws and the rules governing sexual behavior. [Leviticus 11:44-45; 20:8, 26. See Rashi on this verse]. These two, however, must be seen as ultimately contributing to the development of the personal morality of the individual, i.e., his inner character traits and moral dispositions. For clearly, we are dealing here with the two strongest urges or appetites in men, which are biologically grounded in and thus have "natural" and useful channels of expression. Yet there is something in men that can convert these passions and sources of great creative energy into an "evil urge." ... While Judaism accepts the pleasures of food and sex as legitimate and as a positive good, it seeks, by the imposition of guidelines -- by laying down rules for the "how," "when," and "with whom" of these activities -- to encourage the individual to exercise a degree of control. Armed with deep insight into the psychology of desire and the dynamics of hedonism, Judaism strove to have man avoid the extremes of repression and obsession and instead cultivate an approach that would preserve for the individual the simple and satisfying joys of food and sex.

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