Kedoshim: You Can Be Like Me!
On the Limits and Possibilities of Human Holiness
- May 1, 2015
- |
- 12 Iyyar 5775
Rabbi YY Jacobson
9 viewsKedoshim: You Can Be Like Me!
On the Limits and Possibilities of Human Holiness
Rabbi YY Jacobson
- May 1, 2015
Me and G-d
Yankele was watching his father, a Rabbi, write one of his shabbes speeches.
"How do you know what to say, Daddy?" Yankele asked.
"Why, son, G-d tells me", said the Rabbi.
"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"
The Special Milk
The old scholarly rabbi, a man of great wisdom and erudition, was dying. His son's gathered around his bed, trying to make his last journey comfortable.
They gave him some warm milk to drink but he refused.
One of his son's took the glass back to the kitchen. He had come from Colorado, where marijuana is legal.
He opened a vial of cannabis oil, and mixed a generous amount into the warm milk.
Back at the rabbis bed he held the cup to his father's lips.
The rabbi drank a little, then a little more, and before they knew it he finished the whole glass.
"Father" said the eldest son, "please share some wisdom with us before you go. Give us some perspective and advice.”
The rabbi raised himself up in bed. A sage look came over his face, And then he said, "DO NOT SELL THAT COW".
You Shall Be Holy
The opening instruction of Kedoshim may be the most challenging in the entire Torah:
קדושים יט, א-ב: וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָֹה אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: בדַּבֵּר אֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם קְדשִׁים תִּהְיוּ כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.
“Be holy, for I am holy!”
What does it mean to be holy? Rashi and most commentaries explain that this means to separate yourself all forms of sexual immorality. Most of us spend our entire lives working to achieve this. The 13th century Spanish sage, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, known as Nachmanides or Ramban, maintains that the injunction to by holy is a general principle that one ought not to be overly indulgent and gluttonous; one ought to cultivate a life of refinement, spiritual sensitivity and subtlety. “One can be a degenerate with the permission of the Torah,” he writes. “Therefore, after enumerating the things which it forbids entirely, the Torah declares, 'Be holy.' Discipline yourself also in that which is permitted."
But the reasoning the Torah gives seems strange. “Be holy, because I am holy.” What type of reason is this? Warren Buffet tells you, “become a billionaire because I am a billionaire!” And Buffet is no G-d; he’s just a rich man. G-d says, “Be holy, because I am holy.” G-d may be very holy, but me? I can’t even be as holy and good as my wife, I stopped trying long ago. Now you want me to compare myself to G-d?
When we read the Midrash on the verse it becomes even more confusing.
On the words “You shall be holy, for I, your G-d, am holy," the Midrash states:
מדרש רבה ויקרא כד, ט: קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ, יכול כמוני? תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני! קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם.
The literal translation of this Midrash is this:
“’You shall be holy.’ You might ask, can you be as holy like Me? Hence the verse continues to say, ‘For I am holy,’ My holiness is far beyond your holiness.”
But who might have imagined on their own that they can be as holy as G-d and needs the Torah to dispel that myth? Who in their right mind would entertain the idea that when G-d says, “you shall be holy,” it is an instruction to be as holy as G-d?[1] Do I need the Torah to state that G-d’s holiness is beyond mine?
There are two ways to understand this Midrash. One is the literal message of the Midrash—trying to sober up people who are delusional. There is another, opposite, interpretation of the Midrash, presented by Reb Nochum Chernobyler and the Degel Machane Ephraim, and expounded upon by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It seems to me that if the first interpretation was vital for the days of yore, it is the second explanation we need to hear today.
Don’t Be So Holy
One way of understanding the Midrash is this. The Midrash is trying to undo somewhat of the power of this verse and commandment. The Torah says, “Be holy because I am holy.” And the Midrash comes along and says: Well, not really. Don’t think you can be THAT holy. Relax. “I am the really holy one.” My holiness is the real holiness. You can just try and be a little holy.[2]
It is sending a sober message to the delusional man who might think he is too holy.
According to Torah law, the firstborn young of a kosher domestic animal must be brought as an offering in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Even when conditions do not allow this -- as has been the case since the Temple's destruction more than 1900 years ago -- the firstborn animal retains its sacred status, and it is forbidden to eat it or make use of it in any way. In the shtetel, where raising a few head of cattle or a small herd of goats was common practice, these animals would run loose, getting into everything and wreaking general havoc. And since they could not be shorn or groomed, their stench was quite unbearable.
"You're holy, but you stink!" That's what the village children would yell at the bechor (first-born animal) who would often be seen wandering about the shtetel.
The lesson in this is that something holy can also stink. You might be this really pious guy, but if people hold their noses when you walk by, you're doing something wrong. So the Midrash cautions us: Be holy, but never think you are so holy, you can step on other people. Never think you are a G-d.
Four Mitzvos and a Slice of Fish
An anecdote:
In a small town in Eastern Europe, a poor beggar once approached the home of an extremely wealthy but very stingy man. "Sir, I haven't had a morsel of food in more than two days," he said. "Can you please spare something to eat?"
"My home was not made for losers like yourself," the miser replied. "Why don't you go to the synagogue? There they will surely feed you!"
But the poor man pleaded. "Please, I beg you, I have no strength left. If I don't eat something now, I will die. Please, give me any food you have in the home."
The rich man took from the garbage an old, rotten and smelly piece of fish and gave it to the beggar, who consumed it within a few seconds. As the poor man thanked his host and left the home, he collapsed in the street. They rushed him to the local hospital.
That evening, after returning home from the evening services in the synagogue, the wealthy man informed his wife that he would be leaving and return later at night. "The poor man who ate in our home suddenly fell ill, and he was taken to the hospital. I must go visit him and fulfill the great mitzvah of visiting the sick."
The following morning, after returning home from the synagogue's morning service, the man told his wife: "I have a busy day today. In the synagogue they announced that the poor beggar died early this morning, and that his funeral would take place at 2 p.m. I must attend the funeral of this man and perform the extraordinary mitzvah of escorting the dead on their final journey."
That evening, after returning home from synagogue, the wealthy man informed his wife once again that he would be out late. "At the funeral they announced that the deceased beggar was survived by a son. I must go pay him a shivah call and perform the great mitzvah of comforting a person who is in mourning."
When the wealthy man returned that night from the shivah call, his face was beaming with joy. His entire countenance radiated with happiness. The man was simply kvelling.
"What are you so happy about?" his wife asked him. "What was so exciting about visiting an orphan sitting shivah?"
To which the wealthy miser replied: "How could I not be overjoyed when I think of how many tremendous mitzvos I performed with merely one small stinky piece of fish!
"Think about it. With one decayed slice of fish, I achieved four of the most extraordinary mitzvos: hospitality to the poor, visiting the sick, escorting the dead and comforting the mourning. Ah! How happy I feel."
This satirical episode depicts, of course, the profile of a man who may consider himself to be very religious and holy, but who totally doesn't get it; an individual who may technically follow the laws, but who is absolutely alienated from G-d’s truth and from the very definition of holiness; a person for whom religion is merely a self-centered obnoxious ego trip, rather than a challenge to transcend the superficial, base and depraved aspects of the human personality and touch the divine within himself and his fellow human beings.
The Pope
An anecdote:
After putting all of the Pope’s luggage loaded into the limo, (and he doesn't travel lightly), the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb.
'Excuse me, Your Honor,' says the driver, 'Would you please take your seat so we can leave?'
'Well, to tell you the truth,' says the Pope, 'they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and I'd really like to drive today..'
'I'm sorry, dear Peope, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! What if something should happen?' protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.
'Who's going to tell?' says the Pope with a smile.
Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision because, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 125 mph.
'Please slow down, cherished People!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.
'Oh, dear G-d, I'm going to lose my license -- and my job!' moans the driver.
The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.'
I need to talk to the Chief,' he says to the dispatcher.
The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going 125 mph.
'So bust him,' says the Chief.
'I don't think we want to do that, he's really important,' said the cop.
The Chief exclaimed, 'All the more reason!'
'No, I mean really important,' said the cop with a bit of persistence.
The Chief then asked, 'Who do you have there, the mayor?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
Chief: 'A senator?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
Chief: 'The Prime Minister?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
'Well,' said the Chief, 'who is it?'
Cop: 'I think it's G-d!'
The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, 'What makes you think it’s G-d?'
Cop: 'The Pope is His chauffeur!'
Don’t lose perspective, the Midrash is telling us. Be holy, but don’t think your G-d. You may be the Pope, but you are no G-d.
This is an important message. But what always moved me was another explanation—quite an opposite one—in the Midrash. I love the first interpretation, but I am moved by the second. I think we need to hear it today.
The Student of the Baal Shem Tov
Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twerski of Chernobyl, Ukraine (1730-1787) was the founder of the Chernobyl Chassidic dynasty, and one of the greatest disciples of the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) and the Maggid of Mezritch (d. 1772). He published one of the first works of Chassidic thought, Maor Einayim. It was Reb Nochum Chernobyler who presents a beautiful insight into the above verse and into this Midrash.[3] (The Lubavitcher Rebbe frequently quoted and expounded upon this teaching of the Maor Einayim.[4])
Another great Chassidic master was Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov, the son of Rebbetzin Odel, the daughter of the Baal Shem Tov. (He was born in Medzhybizh, Ukraine in 1748 and died there on the 17th of Iyar in 1800). He is known for the work Degel Machaneh Ephraim. There he too follows the same thought process.
מאור עינים פרשת קדושים (מז, א): קדושים תהיו, פירושו שהתורה מבשרת אותנו שבוודאי קדושים תהיו ולא יאבד נפש א' מישראל ח"ו רק וודאי יתוקן ויתעלה. והטעם, כי קדוש אני, ואתם הם חלק אלקי ממעל, וקודשא בריך הוא וישראל כלא חד.
“You be holy, for I am holy.” How do we define the “you?”—that is the question. When the Torah states, “you be holy for I G-d am holy” it is giving us perspective on the very definition of the “you.” You are a “part of me;” your soul is a “fragment of the Divine,” so the “part” is just like “whole,” and you are holy as me. You and I are really one. If I am holy, it means you are holy!
Reb Nochum Chernobyler goes a step further by showing that in Hebrew the words “kedoshim tehyu” can be translated not only as an injunction but as a prediction. Not, “you shall be holy, for I am holy,” but “you WILL be holy for I am holy.” This is not only a commandment but also a promise. Since I am holy and you are part of me, holiness is your most real, natural, innate state; it is your core, your truth, your essence. All other forces ae external to your true essence and being. Your reality will certainly prevail, for such is the nature of reality, of all that is real. If it is real it will emerge sooner or later. You can run from yourself for a while, but at the end you will certainly be holy! It is who you are.
You Can Be Like Me
But then Reb Nochum goes on to see this message in the above Midrash:
מדרש רבה ויקרא כד, ט: קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ, יכול כמוני? תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני! קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם.
The literal translation of this Midrash is this: “’You shall be holy.’ Can you be as holy like Me? Hence the verse continues to say, ‘For I am holy,’ My holiness is far beyond your holiness.”
מאור עינים קדושים מז, ב: יכול כמוני בניחותא! תהא יכול לברוא עולמות כמוני, כאמור על ידי ההתעוררות שלך. תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני ה', קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם, פירוש כי קדושתי למעלה מה שנשפע מקדושתי למעלה בעולמות עליונים, היא מקדושתכם כשאתם מתקדשים את עצמכם בראשונה...
דגל מחנה אפרים קדושים: ירמוז בזה, יכול כמוני. היינו, כל אדם יכול להיות קדוש כמו השם ברוך הוא כביכול. כי הנשמה הוא חלק אלוה ממעל ויכול להיות החלק ככולו שזהו התכלית הגמור. ומנא לן זה, תלמוד לומר אני ד', קדושתי למעלה, היינו מה שקדושתי נתעלה למעלה הוא רק מקדושתכם, שכביכול ישראל במעשיהם הטובים נותנים כח וקדושה בפמליא של מעלה, והוא שאמר הפסוק אני ד', היינו מה שאני ד' הוא מחמת אלקיכם שהוא אלקיכם אלקי ישראל. והמשכיל יבין כי יש בזה דברים עמוקים ונסתרים.
Perhaps, says Reb Nachum, we have to read the Midrash not with a question mark, but with an exclamation point! Not “Can you be as holy like me,” But “you can be as holy as Me!”
קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ. יכול כמוני! תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני. קדושתי למעלה [באה ונמשכת] מקדושתכם.
G-d says, “Tell the community of Israel, You shall be holy for I, G-d your G-d, I am holy.” Says the Midrash: You can be just like Me! You can be as holy as Me. Yachol Kamoni! When I tell you to be holy I mean that you can be as holy as I! Why? How? “For I am holy.” Since I am holy, and you are a “part of me,” your soul is a “fragment of the Divine,” so the “part” can be like the “whole,” and you can be holy as me. You and I are really one. If I am holy, it means you are holy!
My Holiness Depends on You
But then Reb Nachum adds the explanation of the final words of the Midrash:
קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ. יכול כמוני! תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני. קדושתי למעלה [באה ונמשכת] מקדושתכם.
“That is why the verse concluded, ‘for I am holy, G-d, your G-d.’ The reason I am holy, what makes me G-d, is that I am your G-d. Since you make me your G-d, I become G-d. My holiness depends on you. When you are holy, when you make me your G-d, I am G-d.
This is a most daring, romantic, and stupendous Chassidic comments. It suggests that man and G-d are united in the profoundest way imaginable. My life, your life and every moment of it, have extraordinary significance. What I do or don't do has an eternal impact on the entire Jewish people, on the entire universe, on the eternity of history and on G-d Himself, as it were. He is holy because I am holy. Our life here below, our holiness here below, have the power to effect G-d. If He is holy it only underscores how holy we really are!
But How?
Nice, flowery and fluffy words. But what does all of this this mean? You and me can be as holy as G-d? Is this a joke? A dream? A delusion? I know myself! You know yourself! Is it really sensible to tell someone, “be holy, for G-d is holy,” and you and G-d are one? We don’t experience ourselves as such by the furthest stretch of the imagination.
It was the great Chassidic master, a grandson of Reb Nochum of Chernobyl, Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Rhizin, Ukraine (1796-1850), also known as Der Heiliger Ruzhiner ("The holy one from Ruzhyn"), who presented a remarkable and practical insight. [5] (Reb Yisroel Rhiziner was the great-grandson of the Maggid of Mezritch, the grandson of Rabbi Avrohom HaMalach (1740–1777), and the son of Rabbi Sholom Shachne, Rebbe of Prohobisht (1769–1802). His maternal grandfather was Rabbi Nochum of Chernobyl.)
Der Heiliger Ruzhiner saw this Midrash not only as an injunction or a prediction, but also a suggestive path to achieve it.
The literal understanding of the Midrash is: “יכול כמוני, Do you think you can be holy like Me? תלמוד לומר, the verse therefore teaches, כי קדוש אני, for I am holy.”
But the Rizhiner reads the Midrash as follows: “יכול כמוני, You wonder how you can be holy like me? You wonder how can I ask you to be holy because I am holy? How in the world can you I ask you to be holy like Me? תלמוד לומר, teach yourself to say, ‘because I am holy [כי קדוש אני]!’” You must repeat the phrase “I am holy” in order to remind yourself who and what you truly are.
Declare “I am Holy
The greatest obstacle to you living a wholesome, holy and sanctified life is your belief that you are unholy; that you are tainted, lazy, unworthy, blemished, sinful, lowly, brute, egotistical, and impure. What makes you so distant from G-d is that you think you are distant!
So the Rizhiner advises us: Say “I am holy! I am holy!” Tell yourself the truth about yourself. You are holy! You are awesome! You are as holy as G-d—not because you are delusional, but because G-d Himself declared that you are part of Him. G-d is not corrupt, brute, profane, and lowly; so you—who is a “fragment of G-d,” can also not be anything but sacred and spiritually beautiful.[6]
Have you made mistakes? Of course. Have you, perhaps, made big mistakes? Probably. (I would not know, but you can ask your mother in law. I am sure she can help you with that one). Have you hurt yourself? Perhaps. Have you hurt others? Perhaps. Have you always been good? Maybe not. But you know why you made all of these mistakes? Not because you are not as holy as G-d, but because you didn’t realize how holy you are, how good you are, how powerful you are, how sacred you are, how beautiful you are, how Divine you are. Your sin came from weakness, from mediocrity, from a sense of smallness. Or, in other words, your greatest sin in life is the belief that you are essentially a sinner and incapable of holiness.
By stating “I am holy!” “I am holy” we can counteract the voice within us which denies the power of the infinite G‑d within each and every one of us. We have the power to say “No!” to the temptations, images, and electronic devices around us. We have the potency to apologize to those we might have hurt; we have the infinite capabilities to construct a happy and meaningful life for ourselves and those around us.
How characteristic of the Rhiziner to share this teaching. Reb Yisroel Rhiziner conducted his court with regal splendor. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, who was said to be jealous of the Rebbe's and influence, had the Rebbe imprisoned for nearly two years on an unsubstantiated murder charge. After his release, the Rebbe fled to Austria, where he re-established his court in Sadigura, Bukovina (Carpathian Mountains), attracted thousands of Hasidim, and built a powerful dynasty. He believed that a Jew was a king and must live like a king, spiritually, physically and emotionally.
In the Pacific!
Rabbi Yitzchak David Groner was the Ambassador of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Melbourne. He has built dozens of Jewish educational and social institutions and sustained them for many decades.
Yet he also struggled internally with difficult emotions.
Once, on a visit to New York, he was in an audience with the Rebbe. Before he departed from the office, the Rebbe said to him:
אז דו פארסט צוריק אין אוסטראליע זאלסטו אריינווארפן דיין מרה שחורה אין דעם פאסיפיק...
As you travel back to Australia over the Pacific Ocean, cast away into the Pacific your insecurities, your negative self-image, and your depression![7]
This, in my mind, was not a charming farewell. There was a profound message for life. Our insecurities are not who we are. Our fears and negative thoughts and do not constitute our core being. They are like an extra suitcase stuck in our brain, and we need to drop that suitcase out the window, and focus on our mission in this world.
The Onion Plot
A story:
Blizzards and storm winds had pounded Lublin and the surrounding countryside for several weeks. The roads were piled so high with snow that no one was able to go anywhere. This meant that the farmers weren't able to reach the city with their produce and food supplies were dwindling rapidly.
Many items were completely lacking, such as onions. There weren't even any onions to use in the tasty foods prepared in honor of Shabbat. This fact constituted a near tragedy, because in Lublin, the mixture of chopped eggs and onions, known in Yiddish as eiyr-un-tzibelech, was considered a nearly indispensable ingredient of the holy day. The Jews of Lublin could remember occasions when there was no meat, or no fish, but whoever heard of being without onions?
The household of the famous tzadik, the Seer of Lublin, was particularly distraught. After all, many Chasidic traditions attaches great significance to this humble dish. They tried to secure some onions by every means they could think of, but to no avail. Someone even managed to plod his way through the snowdrifts to a few of the local farmers, but they didn't have any onions either.
On Friday morning, one of the leading disciples of the Seer, Rabbi Naftali of Rofshitz (who yartzeit is 11 Iyar), rose early as usual to make his way to the Rebbe's shul and pour out his heart in prayer to the Creator. On his way home afterwards he passed through the marketplace, where he unexpectedly came upon a peasant farmer with a sack filled with onions!
"Wow!" said Reb Naftoli to himself, struck by a bold idea. "This is exactly the opportunity I've been waiting for! Baruch HaShem." He approached the gentile and offered to buy the entire sack. The farmer knew very well the value of his precious merchandise and had been looking forward to making a tidy profit. He wasn't going to compromise now. No wholesale discounts! He stated an outrageously high price. To his great surprise, R. Naftoli instantly agreed and handed him the money.
But that wasn't the end of the surprises. "I'd like to buy your fur coat and hat too," the Rofshitzer added. The farmer couldn't believe his ears. Astonished, he refused. How could he possibly return home in the freezing cold without his coat and hat? But the thick wad of bills in his customer's outthrust hand argued persuasively, and the second deal was also quickly struck. Reb Naftoli strode home with his sack of onions and unusual new items of apparel.
A “Farmer” Shows Up
Later that day, a farmer appeared outside the Seer's door. He was clothed in furs, peasant-style, with a huge hat covering his forehead and upper face and boots covered with mud. In the language and intonation of a gentile farmer he called out, "Onions! Onions for sale!"
Chassidim came pouring from every direction. Everyone wanted onions in honor of the holy Shabbat. They crowded around the onion-seller, attempting to bargain with him. He refused to budge from his price. Then, suddenly, he announced that he was stopping for the day. No more onions!
The Chassidim pleaded with him. "But we still have to get some for the Rebbe. He is a great, holy man. Blessings will shower upon you, if only you will allow us to buy onions for him."
"If he is as special as you say, I'll do it," rejoined the farmer, "but only if I can sell them to the holy man directly, in person, face-to-face."
The Chassidim were shaken. How could they bring such an unrefined character to the Rebbe? After a few moments of confusion, they realized they had no choice. A solemn delegation led the onion-laden farmer to the Seer's house.
When they came in, the Seer was busy polishing his unique kidush cup, as he did every Friday before Shabbat. This was an extraordinary chalice, exquisitely crafted of pure gold, with intricate engravings depicting famous sites in the Holy Land, such as the Western Wall, the Tower of David, and the Mount of Olives.
Many rumors surrounded this kidush cup and its history. It was said that the Seer had inherited it from one of the greatest and holiest Chassidic masters of the previous generation, and that it contained deep spiritual energy. Chassidim would say that whoever was privileged to make a blessing over its contents and drink from it could achieve great spiritual gifts. Yet the Seer did not allow anyone else to use it or even touch it. He felt it was too sensitive; that someone who was unworthy could be hurt if he used the cup. The whole week it stood in a locked cabinet until Friday, when he would work on it until it glistened and sparkled on the white Shabbat tablecloth.
When his Chassidim brought in the gentile with his sack, the Seer understood the reason at once. "How much do you want for your onions?" he queried the farmer.
"One moment. Not so fast," the farmer replied coarsely, holding up his hand as if to ward off the Rebbe's offer. "I'm frozen stiff. I need a proper drink to warm me up."
It was clear that such a person didn't have in mind a cup of tea. The Seer instructed his attendant to serve the man some whisky and a brimming shot glass was quickly set down in front of the farmer.
"That's all?" cried out the farmer, as if insulted. Just this little cup?"
"Give him the whole bottle and let him do as he likes," said the Rebbe, turning away.
Now the onion seller seemed mortally offended. "What! You think I'm a drunkard?" he shouted angrily. "I'll show you! I'll go home. I won't sell you anything!" He tied up the sack and fastened his garments, as if preparing to leave.
The Chassidim hurriedly attempted to soothe him, anxiously muttering words of appeasement. Finally he calmed down. Then he smirked. "I tell you what," he offered.
I'll sell you my onions if, and only if, you fill this goblet with whisky for me to drink." He pointed at the Rebbe's golden cup shining on the table.
The Chassidim drew back, aghast. From this holy kidush cup which no one dared touch except the tzadik, this uncircumcised drunken peasant should imbibe his crude booze? They offered him other cups and glasses, bigger ones, singly and in combination, but he was stubborn. "Only from this one, like I told you. Otherwise I go home."
They tried again to dissuade him, but nothing worked. He simply refused to budge. With trembling hands and heavy heart, the Seer himself filled the precious vessel with the coarse fluid and, with a helpless shrug, presented it to the farmer. The latter lifted it with his right hand, squeezed his eyes shut, and with great concentration and intensity called out, "Boruch atah Hashem Elokanu Melech Haolam shehakol neyeh bidvaro."
Everyone was shocked speechless. Only the Seer, after a quick stare, realized what had taken place. A broad smile spread across his face. "L'chaim, Reb Naftali! You are so clever; it must be that you deserve to drink from this cup. L'chaim u'livracha! - May it be for life and for blessing."[8]
This Chassidic tale tells us the way a Jew must think of himself. Reb Naftali decided he wants to drink from the holy goblet. He refused to accept that he is too unworthy for it. And when he got the cup, at last, his Rebbe told him: Apparently, you deserved it!
“You shall be holy, because I am holy.” You deserve to be holy, because I am holy, and you are part of Me! Don’t sell yourself for cheap. Don’t give up on yourself, on your holiness, on your royalty, on your majesty, on your G-dliness, on your potential to be holy! You can be just like Me—because you and I are one.
[1] Reb Chaim Shmulevitz once said, that if someone knew Reb Shlmoke Zhviler, he would understand the question of the Midrash.
[2] See the Midrash there (Vayikra Rabah 24:9) who compares it to what Pharaoh told Joseph: You are the viceroy of Egypt, but I remain the king. The Midrash, quite astonishingly, explains the meaning of the words “ki kadosh ani,” by the words of Pharaoh, “ani Pharaoh,” which mean to say, “I remain the Pharaoh, the ultimate authority.
[3] Maor Einayim Kedoshim 47a
[4] See for example, Sichas Shabbos Acharei-Kedoshim 5745 (1985) and 5788 (1988) at length; Sichas Shabbos Tzaria-Metzora 5751 (1991); Sichas Shabbos Acharei-Kedoshim 5749; 5750 (1988, 1990 and 1991). Maamar V’nikdashti 5725 (1965). And many more times. Cf. Likkutei Sichos vol. 7, p. 320-322. See Toras Shmuel 5631.
[5] Quoted in Shaalos Utshuvos Maharash (by Reb Shmuel Engel) vol. 7, Kuntres Shem Mishmuel letter Yud, and in other Chassidic works in the name of the Rhiziner.
[6] The Rizhiner quotes the pasuk in Yeshaya (4:3), “And it will be that those who remain in Zion and those who are left over in Yerushalayim shall be called ‘holy…’” The Rebbe explains that this refers to those who remain Jews at the end of time. It describes our generation. The angels call us, anyone who has managed to retain some semblance of Yiddishkeit despite everything, “holy.”
[7] I heard the story from Rabbi Y.D. Groner himself.
[8] The story was transcribed by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles: https://ascentofsafed.com/Stories/Stories/5760/123-23.html
- Comment
Class Summary:
The opening instruction of Kedoshim may be the most challenging in the entire Torah: “Be holy, for I am holy!”
The reasoning seems strange. “Be holy, because I am holy.” What type of reason is this? Warren Buffet tells you, “become a billionaire because I am a billionaire!” G-d may be very holy, but me? I can’t even be as holy and good as my wife. Now you want me to compare myself to G-d?
When we read the Midrash on the verse it becomes even more confusing. “’You shall be holy.’ You might ask, can you be as holy like Me? Hence the verse continues to say, ‘For I am holy,’ My holiness is far beyond your holiness.”
But who might have imagined on their own that they can be as holy as G-d and needs the Torah to dispel that myth? Who in their right mind would entertain the idea that when G-d says, “you shall be holy,” it is an instruction to be as holy as G-d? Do I need the Torah to state that G-d’s holiness is beyond mine?
There are two ways to understand this Midrash. One is the literal message of the Midrash—trying to sober up people who are delusional. There is another, opposite, interpretation of the Midrash, presented by Reb Nochum Chernobyler and the Degel Machane Ephraim, and expounded upon by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It seems to me that if the first interpretation was vital for the days of yore, it is the second explanation we need to hear today.
It was Der Heiliger Ruzhiner who saw this Midrash not only as an injunction or a prediction, but also a suggestive path to achieve it.
The story of Reb Naftali Ropshitzer who dressed up as a farmer to drink from the holy cup of the Seer of Lublin; the story of what the Rebbe told Rabbi Groner to cast into the Pacific Ocean; the story of why Reb Yisroel of Rhizin was arrested by the Czar, all underscore the same message of the Chassidic masters: The greatest obstacle to you living a wholesome, holy and sanctified life is your belief that you are unholy; that you are tainted, lazy, unworthy, blemished, sinful, lowly, brute, egotistical, and impure. What makes you so distant from G-d is that you think you are distant!
Me and G-d
Yankele was watching his father, a Rabbi, write one of his shabbes speeches.
"How do you know what to say, Daddy?" Yankele asked.
"Why, son, G-d tells me", said the Rabbi.
"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"
The Special Milk
The old scholarly rabbi, a man of great wisdom and erudition, was dying. His son's gathered around his bed, trying to make his last journey comfortable.
They gave him some warm milk to drink but he refused.
One of his son's took the glass back to the kitchen. He had come from Colorado, where marijuana is legal.
He opened a vial of cannabis oil, and mixed a generous amount into the warm milk.
Back at the rabbis bed he held the cup to his father's lips.
The rabbi drank a little, then a little more, and before they knew it he finished the whole glass.
"Father" said the eldest son, "please share some wisdom with us before you go. Give us some perspective and advice.”
The rabbi raised himself up in bed. A sage look came over his face, And then he said, "DO NOT SELL THAT COW".
You Shall Be Holy
The opening instruction of Kedoshim may be the most challenging in the entire Torah:
קדושים יט, א-ב: וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָֹה אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: בדַּבֵּר אֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם קְדשִׁים תִּהְיוּ כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.
“Be holy, for I am holy!”
What does it mean to be holy? Rashi and most commentaries explain that this means to separate yourself all forms of sexual immorality. Most of us spend our entire lives working to achieve this. The 13th century Spanish sage, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, known as Nachmanides or Ramban, maintains that the injunction to by holy is a general principle that one ought not to be overly indulgent and gluttonous; one ought to cultivate a life of refinement, spiritual sensitivity and subtlety. “One can be a degenerate with the permission of the Torah,” he writes. “Therefore, after enumerating the things which it forbids entirely, the Torah declares, 'Be holy.' Discipline yourself also in that which is permitted."
But the reasoning the Torah gives seems strange. “Be holy, because I am holy.” What type of reason is this? Warren Buffet tells you, “become a billionaire because I am a billionaire!” And Buffet is no G-d; he’s just a rich man. G-d says, “Be holy, because I am holy.” G-d may be very holy, but me? I can’t even be as holy and good as my wife, I stopped trying long ago. Now you want me to compare myself to G-d?
When we read the Midrash on the verse it becomes even more confusing.
On the words “You shall be holy, for I, your G-d, am holy," the Midrash states:
מדרש רבה ויקרא כד, ט: קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ, יכול כמוני? תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני! קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם.
The literal translation of this Midrash is this:
“’You shall be holy.’ You might ask, can you be as holy like Me? Hence the verse continues to say, ‘For I am holy,’ My holiness is far beyond your holiness.”
But who might have imagined on their own that they can be as holy as G-d and needs the Torah to dispel that myth? Who in their right mind would entertain the idea that when G-d says, “you shall be holy,” it is an instruction to be as holy as G-d?[1] Do I need the Torah to state that G-d’s holiness is beyond mine?
There are two ways to understand this Midrash. One is the literal message of the Midrash—trying to sober up people who are delusional. There is another, opposite, interpretation of the Midrash, presented by Reb Nochum Chernobyler and the Degel Machane Ephraim, and expounded upon by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It seems to me that if the first interpretation was vital for the days of yore, it is the second explanation we need to hear today.
Don’t Be So Holy
One way of understanding the Midrash is this. The Midrash is trying to undo somewhat of the power of this verse and commandment. The Torah says, “Be holy because I am holy.” And the Midrash comes along and says: Well, not really. Don’t think you can be THAT holy. Relax. “I am the really holy one.” My holiness is the real holiness. You can just try and be a little holy.[2]
It is sending a sober message to the delusional man who might think he is too holy.
According to Torah law, the firstborn young of a kosher domestic animal must be brought as an offering in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Even when conditions do not allow this -- as has been the case since the Temple's destruction more than 1900 years ago -- the firstborn animal retains its sacred status, and it is forbidden to eat it or make use of it in any way. In the shtetel, where raising a few head of cattle or a small herd of goats was common practice, these animals would run loose, getting into everything and wreaking general havoc. And since they could not be shorn or groomed, their stench was quite unbearable.
"You're holy, but you stink!" That's what the village children would yell at the bechor (first-born animal) who would often be seen wandering about the shtetel.
The lesson in this is that something holy can also stink. You might be this really pious guy, but if people hold their noses when you walk by, you're doing something wrong. So the Midrash cautions us: Be holy, but never think you are so holy, you can step on other people. Never think you are a G-d.
Four Mitzvos and a Slice of Fish
An anecdote:
In a small town in Eastern Europe, a poor beggar once approached the home of an extremely wealthy but very stingy man. "Sir, I haven't had a morsel of food in more than two days," he said. "Can you please spare something to eat?"
"My home was not made for losers like yourself," the miser replied. "Why don't you go to the synagogue? There they will surely feed you!"
But the poor man pleaded. "Please, I beg you, I have no strength left. If I don't eat something now, I will die. Please, give me any food you have in the home."
The rich man took from the garbage an old, rotten and smelly piece of fish and gave it to the beggar, who consumed it within a few seconds. As the poor man thanked his host and left the home, he collapsed in the street. They rushed him to the local hospital.
That evening, after returning home from the evening services in the synagogue, the wealthy man informed his wife that he would be leaving and return later at night. "The poor man who ate in our home suddenly fell ill, and he was taken to the hospital. I must go visit him and fulfill the great mitzvah of visiting the sick."
The following morning, after returning home from the synagogue's morning service, the man told his wife: "I have a busy day today. In the synagogue they announced that the poor beggar died early this morning, and that his funeral would take place at 2 p.m. I must attend the funeral of this man and perform the extraordinary mitzvah of escorting the dead on their final journey."
That evening, after returning home from synagogue, the wealthy man informed his wife once again that he would be out late. "At the funeral they announced that the deceased beggar was survived by a son. I must go pay him a shivah call and perform the great mitzvah of comforting a person who is in mourning."
When the wealthy man returned that night from the shivah call, his face was beaming with joy. His entire countenance radiated with happiness. The man was simply kvelling.
"What are you so happy about?" his wife asked him. "What was so exciting about visiting an orphan sitting shivah?"
To which the wealthy miser replied: "How could I not be overjoyed when I think of how many tremendous mitzvos I performed with merely one small stinky piece of fish!
"Think about it. With one decayed slice of fish, I achieved four of the most extraordinary mitzvos: hospitality to the poor, visiting the sick, escorting the dead and comforting the mourning. Ah! How happy I feel."
This satirical episode depicts, of course, the profile of a man who may consider himself to be very religious and holy, but who totally doesn't get it; an individual who may technically follow the laws, but who is absolutely alienated from G-d’s truth and from the very definition of holiness; a person for whom religion is merely a self-centered obnoxious ego trip, rather than a challenge to transcend the superficial, base and depraved aspects of the human personality and touch the divine within himself and his fellow human beings.
The Pope
An anecdote:
After putting all of the Pope’s luggage loaded into the limo, (and he doesn't travel lightly), the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb.
'Excuse me, Your Honor,' says the driver, 'Would you please take your seat so we can leave?'
'Well, to tell you the truth,' says the Pope, 'they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and I'd really like to drive today..'
'I'm sorry, dear Peope, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! What if something should happen?' protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.
'Who's going to tell?' says the Pope with a smile.
Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision because, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 125 mph.
'Please slow down, cherished People!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.
'Oh, dear G-d, I'm going to lose my license -- and my job!' moans the driver.
The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.'
I need to talk to the Chief,' he says to the dispatcher.
The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going 125 mph.
'So bust him,' says the Chief.
'I don't think we want to do that, he's really important,' said the cop.
The Chief exclaimed, 'All the more reason!'
'No, I mean really important,' said the cop with a bit of persistence.
The Chief then asked, 'Who do you have there, the mayor?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
Chief: 'A senator?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
Chief: 'The Prime Minister?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
'Well,' said the Chief, 'who is it?'
Cop: 'I think it's G-d!'
The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, 'What makes you think it’s G-d?'
Cop: 'The Pope is His chauffeur!'
Don’t lose perspective, the Midrash is telling us. Be holy, but don’t think your G-d. You may be the Pope, but you are no G-d.
This is an important message. But what always moved me was another explanation—quite an opposite one—in the Midrash. I love the first interpretation, but I am moved by the second. I think we need to hear it today.
The Student of the Baal Shem Tov
Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twerski of Chernobyl, Ukraine (1730-1787) was the founder of the Chernobyl Chassidic dynasty, and one of the greatest disciples of the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) and the Maggid of Mezritch (d. 1772). He published one of the first works of Chassidic thought, Maor Einayim. It was Reb Nochum Chernobyler who presents a beautiful insight into the above verse and into this Midrash.[3] (The Lubavitcher Rebbe frequently quoted and expounded upon this teaching of the Maor Einayim.[4])
Another great Chassidic master was Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov, the son of Rebbetzin Odel, the daughter of the Baal Shem Tov. (He was born in Medzhybizh, Ukraine in 1748 and died there on the 17th of Iyar in 1800). He is known for the work Degel Machaneh Ephraim. There he too follows the same thought process.
מאור עינים פרשת קדושים (מז, א): קדושים תהיו, פירושו שהתורה מבשרת אותנו שבוודאי קדושים תהיו ולא יאבד נפש א' מישראל ח"ו רק וודאי יתוקן ויתעלה. והטעם, כי קדוש אני, ואתם הם חלק אלקי ממעל, וקודשא בריך הוא וישראל כלא חד.
“You be holy, for I am holy.” How do we define the “you?”—that is the question. When the Torah states, “you be holy for I G-d am holy” it is giving us perspective on the very definition of the “you.” You are a “part of me;” your soul is a “fragment of the Divine,” so the “part” is just like “whole,” and you are holy as me. You and I are really one. If I am holy, it means you are holy!
Reb Nochum Chernobyler goes a step further by showing that in Hebrew the words “kedoshim tehyu” can be translated not only as an injunction but as a prediction. Not, “you shall be holy, for I am holy,” but “you WILL be holy for I am holy.” This is not only a commandment but also a promise. Since I am holy and you are part of me, holiness is your most real, natural, innate state; it is your core, your truth, your essence. All other forces ae external to your true essence and being. Your reality will certainly prevail, for such is the nature of reality, of all that is real. If it is real it will emerge sooner or later. You can run from yourself for a while, but at the end you will certainly be holy! It is who you are.
You Can Be Like Me
But then Reb Nochum goes on to see this message in the above Midrash:
מדרש רבה ויקרא כד, ט: קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ, יכול כמוני? תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני! קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם.
The literal translation of this Midrash is this: “’You shall be holy.’ Can you be as holy like Me? Hence the verse continues to say, ‘For I am holy,’ My holiness is far beyond your holiness.”
מאור עינים קדושים מז, ב: יכול כמוני בניחותא! תהא יכול לברוא עולמות כמוני, כאמור על ידי ההתעוררות שלך. תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני ה', קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם, פירוש כי קדושתי למעלה מה שנשפע מקדושתי למעלה בעולמות עליונים, היא מקדושתכם כשאתם מתקדשים את עצמכם בראשונה...
דגל מחנה אפרים קדושים: ירמוז בזה, יכול כמוני. היינו, כל אדם יכול להיות קדוש כמו השם ברוך הוא כביכול. כי הנשמה הוא חלק אלוה ממעל ויכול להיות החלק ככולו שזהו התכלית הגמור. ומנא לן זה, תלמוד לומר אני ד', קדושתי למעלה, היינו מה שקדושתי נתעלה למעלה הוא רק מקדושתכם, שכביכול ישראל במעשיהם הטובים נותנים כח וקדושה בפמליא של מעלה, והוא שאמר הפסוק אני ד', היינו מה שאני ד' הוא מחמת אלקיכם שהוא אלקיכם אלקי ישראל. והמשכיל יבין כי יש בזה דברים עמוקים ונסתרים.
Perhaps, says Reb Nachum, we have to read the Midrash not with a question mark, but with an exclamation point! Not “Can you be as holy like me,” But “you can be as holy as Me!”
קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ. יכול כמוני! תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני. קדושתי למעלה [באה ונמשכת] מקדושתכם.
G-d says, “Tell the community of Israel, You shall be holy for I, G-d your G-d, I am holy.” Says the Midrash: You can be just like Me! You can be as holy as Me. Yachol Kamoni! When I tell you to be holy I mean that you can be as holy as I! Why? How? “For I am holy.” Since I am holy, and you are a “part of me,” your soul is a “fragment of the Divine,” so the “part” can be like the “whole,” and you can be holy as me. You and I are really one. If I am holy, it means you are holy!
My Holiness Depends on You
But then Reb Nachum adds the explanation of the final words of the Midrash:
קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ. יכול כמוני! תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני. קדושתי למעלה [באה ונמשכת] מקדושתכם.
“That is why the verse concluded, ‘for I am holy, G-d, your G-d.’ The reason I am holy, what makes me G-d, is that I am your G-d. Since you make me your G-d, I become G-d. My holiness depends on you. When you are holy, when you make me your G-d, I am G-d.
This is a most daring, romantic, and stupendous Chassidic comments. It suggests that man and G-d are united in the profoundest way imaginable. My life, your life and every moment of it, have extraordinary significance. What I do or don't do has an eternal impact on the entire Jewish people, on the entire universe, on the eternity of history and on G-d Himself, as it were. He is holy because I am holy. Our life here below, our holiness here below, have the power to effect G-d. If He is holy it only underscores how holy we really are!
But How?
Nice, flowery and fluffy words. But what does all of this this mean? You and me can be as holy as G-d? Is this a joke? A dream? A delusion? I know myself! You know yourself! Is it really sensible to tell someone, “be holy, for G-d is holy,” and you and G-d are one? We don’t experience ourselves as such by the furthest stretch of the imagination.
It was the great Chassidic master, a grandson of Reb Nochum of Chernobyl, Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Rhizin, Ukraine (1796-1850), also known as Der Heiliger Ruzhiner ("The holy one from Ruzhyn"), who presented a remarkable and practical insight. [5] (Reb Yisroel Rhiziner was the great-grandson of the Maggid of Mezritch, the grandson of Rabbi Avrohom HaMalach (1740–1777), and the son of Rabbi Sholom Shachne, Rebbe of Prohobisht (1769–1802). His maternal grandfather was Rabbi Nochum of Chernobyl.)
Der Heiliger Ruzhiner saw this Midrash not only as an injunction or a prediction, but also a suggestive path to achieve it.
The literal understanding of the Midrash is: “יכול כמוני, Do you think you can be holy like Me? תלמוד לומר, the verse therefore teaches, כי קדוש אני, for I am holy.”
But the Rizhiner reads the Midrash as follows: “יכול כמוני, You wonder how you can be holy like me? You wonder how can I ask you to be holy because I am holy? How in the world can you I ask you to be holy like Me? תלמוד לומר, teach yourself to say, ‘because I am holy [כי קדוש אני]!’” You must repeat the phrase “I am holy” in order to remind yourself who and what you truly are.
Declare “I am Holy
The greatest obstacle to you living a wholesome, holy and sanctified life is your belief that you are unholy; that you are tainted, lazy, unworthy, blemished, sinful, lowly, brute, egotistical, and impure. What makes you so distant from G-d is that you think you are distant!
So the Rizhiner advises us: Say “I am holy! I am holy!” Tell yourself the truth about yourself. You are holy! You are awesome! You are as holy as G-d—not because you are delusional, but because G-d Himself declared that you are part of Him. G-d is not corrupt, brute, profane, and lowly; so you—who is a “fragment of G-d,” can also not be anything but sacred and spiritually beautiful.[6]
Have you made mistakes? Of course. Have you, perhaps, made big mistakes? Probably. (I would not know, but you can ask your mother in law. I am sure she can help you with that one). Have you hurt yourself? Perhaps. Have you hurt others? Perhaps. Have you always been good? Maybe not. But you know why you made all of these mistakes? Not because you are not as holy as G-d, but because you didn’t realize how holy you are, how good you are, how powerful you are, how sacred you are, how beautiful you are, how Divine you are. Your sin came from weakness, from mediocrity, from a sense of smallness. Or, in other words, your greatest sin in life is the belief that you are essentially a sinner and incapable of holiness.
By stating “I am holy!” “I am holy” we can counteract the voice within us which denies the power of the infinite G‑d within each and every one of us. We have the power to say “No!” to the temptations, images, and electronic devices around us. We have the potency to apologize to those we might have hurt; we have the infinite capabilities to construct a happy and meaningful life for ourselves and those around us.
How characteristic of the Rhiziner to share this teaching. Reb Yisroel Rhiziner conducted his court with regal splendor. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, who was said to be jealous of the Rebbe's and influence, had the Rebbe imprisoned for nearly two years on an unsubstantiated murder charge. After his release, the Rebbe fled to Austria, where he re-established his court in Sadigura, Bukovina (Carpathian Mountains), attracted thousands of Hasidim, and built a powerful dynasty. He believed that a Jew was a king and must live like a king, spiritually, physically and emotionally.
In the Pacific!
Rabbi Yitzchak David Groner was the Ambassador of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Melbourne. He has built dozens of Jewish educational and social institutions and sustained them for many decades.
Yet he also struggled internally with difficult emotions.
Once, on a visit to New York, he was in an audience with the Rebbe. Before he departed from the office, the Rebbe said to him:
אז דו פארסט צוריק אין אוסטראליע זאלסטו אריינווארפן דיין מרה שחורה אין דעם פאסיפיק...
As you travel back to Australia over the Pacific Ocean, cast away into the Pacific your insecurities, your negative self-image, and your depression![7]
This, in my mind, was not a charming farewell. There was a profound message for life. Our insecurities are not who we are. Our fears and negative thoughts and do not constitute our core being. They are like an extra suitcase stuck in our brain, and we need to drop that suitcase out the window, and focus on our mission in this world.
The Onion Plot
A story:
Blizzards and storm winds had pounded Lublin and the surrounding countryside for several weeks. The roads were piled so high with snow that no one was able to go anywhere. This meant that the farmers weren't able to reach the city with their produce and food supplies were dwindling rapidly.
Many items were completely lacking, such as onions. There weren't even any onions to use in the tasty foods prepared in honor of Shabbat. This fact constituted a near tragedy, because in Lublin, the mixture of chopped eggs and onions, known in Yiddish as eiyr-un-tzibelech, was considered a nearly indispensable ingredient of the holy day. The Jews of Lublin could remember occasions when there was no meat, or no fish, but whoever heard of being without onions?
The household of the famous tzadik, the Seer of Lublin, was particularly distraught. After all, many Chasidic traditions attaches great significance to this humble dish. They tried to secure some onions by every means they could think of, but to no avail. Someone even managed to plod his way through the snowdrifts to a few of the local farmers, but they didn't have any onions either.
On Friday morning, one of the leading disciples of the Seer, Rabbi Naftali of Rofshitz (who yartzeit is 11 Iyar), rose early as usual to make his way to the Rebbe's shul and pour out his heart in prayer to the Creator. On his way home afterwards he passed through the marketplace, where he unexpectedly came upon a peasant farmer with a sack filled with onions!
"Wow!" said Reb Naftoli to himself, struck by a bold idea. "This is exactly the opportunity I've been waiting for! Baruch HaShem." He approached the gentile and offered to buy the entire sack. The farmer knew very well the value of his precious merchandise and had been looking forward to making a tidy profit. He wasn't going to compromise now. No wholesale discounts! He stated an outrageously high price. To his great surprise, R. Naftoli instantly agreed and handed him the money.
But that wasn't the end of the surprises. "I'd like to buy your fur coat and hat too," the Rofshitzer added. The farmer couldn't believe his ears. Astonished, he refused. How could he possibly return home in the freezing cold without his coat and hat? But the thick wad of bills in his customer's outthrust hand argued persuasively, and the second deal was also quickly struck. Reb Naftoli strode home with his sack of onions and unusual new items of apparel.
A “Farmer” Shows Up
Later that day, a farmer appeared outside the Seer's door. He was clothed in furs, peasant-style, with a huge hat covering his forehead and upper face and boots covered with mud. In the language and intonation of a gentile farmer he called out, "Onions! Onions for sale!"
Chassidim came pouring from every direction. Everyone wanted onions in honor of the holy Shabbat. They crowded around the onion-seller, attempting to bargain with him. He refused to budge from his price. Then, suddenly, he announced that he was stopping for the day. No more onions!
The Chassidim pleaded with him. "But we still have to get some for the Rebbe. He is a great, holy man. Blessings will shower upon you, if only you will allow us to buy onions for him."
"If he is as special as you say, I'll do it," rejoined the farmer, "but only if I can sell them to the holy man directly, in person, face-to-face."
The Chassidim were shaken. How could they bring such an unrefined character to the Rebbe? After a few moments of confusion, they realized they had no choice. A solemn delegation led the onion-laden farmer to the Seer's house.
When they came in, the Seer was busy polishing his unique kidush cup, as he did every Friday before Shabbat. This was an extraordinary chalice, exquisitely crafted of pure gold, with intricate engravings depicting famous sites in the Holy Land, such as the Western Wall, the Tower of David, and the Mount of Olives.
Many rumors surrounded this kidush cup and its history. It was said that the Seer had inherited it from one of the greatest and holiest Chassidic masters of the previous generation, and that it contained deep spiritual energy. Chassidim would say that whoever was privileged to make a blessing over its contents and drink from it could achieve great spiritual gifts. Yet the Seer did not allow anyone else to use it or even touch it. He felt it was too sensitive; that someone who was unworthy could be hurt if he used the cup. The whole week it stood in a locked cabinet until Friday, when he would work on it until it glistened and sparkled on the white Shabbat tablecloth.
When his Chassidim brought in the gentile with his sack, the Seer understood the reason at once. "How much do you want for your onions?" he queried the farmer.
"One moment. Not so fast," the farmer replied coarsely, holding up his hand as if to ward off the Rebbe's offer. "I'm frozen stiff. I need a proper drink to warm me up."
It was clear that such a person didn't have in mind a cup of tea. The Seer instructed his attendant to serve the man some whisky and a brimming shot glass was quickly set down in front of the farmer.
"That's all?" cried out the farmer, as if insulted. Just this little cup?"
"Give him the whole bottle and let him do as he likes," said the Rebbe, turning away.
Now the onion seller seemed mortally offended. "What! You think I'm a drunkard?" he shouted angrily. "I'll show you! I'll go home. I won't sell you anything!" He tied up the sack and fastened his garments, as if preparing to leave.
The Chassidim hurriedly attempted to soothe him, anxiously muttering words of appeasement. Finally he calmed down. Then he smirked. "I tell you what," he offered.
I'll sell you my onions if, and only if, you fill this goblet with whisky for me to drink." He pointed at the Rebbe's golden cup shining on the table.
The Chassidim drew back, aghast. From this holy kidush cup which no one dared touch except the tzadik, this uncircumcised drunken peasant should imbibe his crude booze? They offered him other cups and glasses, bigger ones, singly and in combination, but he was stubborn. "Only from this one, like I told you. Otherwise I go home."
They tried again to dissuade him, but nothing worked. He simply refused to budge. With trembling hands and heavy heart, the Seer himself filled the precious vessel with the coarse fluid and, with a helpless shrug, presented it to the farmer. The latter lifted it with his right hand, squeezed his eyes shut, and with great concentration and intensity called out, "Boruch atah Hashem Elokanu Melech Haolam shehakol neyeh bidvaro."
Everyone was shocked speechless. Only the Seer, after a quick stare, realized what had taken place. A broad smile spread across his face. "L'chaim, Reb Naftali! You are so clever; it must be that you deserve to drink from this cup. L'chaim u'livracha! - May it be for life and for blessing."[8]
This Chassidic tale tells us the way a Jew must think of himself. Reb Naftali decided he wants to drink from the holy goblet. He refused to accept that he is too unworthy for it. And when he got the cup, at last, his Rebbe told him: Apparently, you deserved it!
“You shall be holy, because I am holy.” You deserve to be holy, because I am holy, and you are part of Me! Don’t sell yourself for cheap. Don’t give up on yourself, on your holiness, on your royalty, on your majesty, on your G-dliness, on your potential to be holy! You can be just like Me—because you and I are one.
[1] Reb Chaim Shmulevitz once said, that if someone knew Reb Shlmoke Zhviler, he would understand the question of the Midrash.
[2] See the Midrash there (Vayikra Rabah 24:9) who compares it to what Pharaoh told Joseph: You are the viceroy of Egypt, but I remain the king. The Midrash, quite astonishingly, explains the meaning of the words “ki kadosh ani,” by the words of Pharaoh, “ani Pharaoh,” which mean to say, “I remain the Pharaoh, the ultimate authority.
[3] Maor Einayim Kedoshim 47a
[4] See for example, Sichas Shabbos Acharei-Kedoshim 5745 (1985) and 5788 (1988) at length; Sichas Shabbos Tzaria-Metzora 5751 (1991); Sichas Shabbos Acharei-Kedoshim 5749; 5750 (1988, 1990 and 1991). Maamar V’nikdashti 5725 (1965). And many more times. Cf. Likkutei Sichos vol. 7, p. 320-322. See Toras Shmuel 5631.
[5] Quoted in Shaalos Utshuvos Maharash (by Reb Shmuel Engel) vol. 7, Kuntres Shem Mishmuel letter Yud, and in other Chassidic works in the name of the Rhiziner.
[6] The Rizhiner quotes the pasuk in Yeshaya (4:3), “And it will be that those who remain in Zion and those who are left over in Yerushalayim shall be called ‘holy…’” The Rebbe explains that this refers to those who remain Jews at the end of time. It describes our generation. The angels call us, anyone who has managed to retain some semblance of Yiddishkeit despite everything, “holy.”
[7] I heard the story from Rabbi Y.D. Groner himself.
[8] The story was transcribed by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles: https://ascentofsafed.com/Stories/Stories/5760/123-23.html
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Parshas Kedoshim 5775
Rabbi YY Jacobson
- May 1, 2015
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- 12 Iyyar 5775
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Kedoshim: You Can Be Like Me!
On the Limits and Possibilities of Human Holiness
Rabbi YY Jacobson
- May 1, 2015
Me and G-d
Yankele was watching his father, a Rabbi, write one of his shabbes speeches.
"How do you know what to say, Daddy?" Yankele asked.
"Why, son, G-d tells me", said the Rabbi.
"Oh, then why do you keep crossing things out?"
The Special Milk
The old scholarly rabbi, a man of great wisdom and erudition, was dying. His son's gathered around his bed, trying to make his last journey comfortable.
They gave him some warm milk to drink but he refused.
One of his son's took the glass back to the kitchen. He had come from Colorado, where marijuana is legal.
He opened a vial of cannabis oil, and mixed a generous amount into the warm milk.
Back at the rabbis bed he held the cup to his father's lips.
The rabbi drank a little, then a little more, and before they knew it he finished the whole glass.
"Father" said the eldest son, "please share some wisdom with us before you go. Give us some perspective and advice.”
The rabbi raised himself up in bed. A sage look came over his face, And then he said, "DO NOT SELL THAT COW".
You Shall Be Holy
The opening instruction of Kedoshim may be the most challenging in the entire Torah:
קדושים יט, א-ב: וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָֹה אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: בדַּבֵּר אֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם קְדשִׁים תִּהְיוּ כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם:
And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, Speak to the entire congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, You shall be holy, for I, the Lord, your God, am holy.
“Be holy, for I am holy!”
What does it mean to be holy? Rashi and most commentaries explain that this means to separate yourself all forms of sexual immorality. Most of us spend our entire lives working to achieve this. The 13th century Spanish sage, Rabbi Moses ben Nachman, known as Nachmanides or Ramban, maintains that the injunction to by holy is a general principle that one ought not to be overly indulgent and gluttonous; one ought to cultivate a life of refinement, spiritual sensitivity and subtlety. “One can be a degenerate with the permission of the Torah,” he writes. “Therefore, after enumerating the things which it forbids entirely, the Torah declares, 'Be holy.' Discipline yourself also in that which is permitted."
But the reasoning the Torah gives seems strange. “Be holy, because I am holy.” What type of reason is this? Warren Buffet tells you, “become a billionaire because I am a billionaire!” And Buffet is no G-d; he’s just a rich man. G-d says, “Be holy, because I am holy.” G-d may be very holy, but me? I can’t even be as holy and good as my wife, I stopped trying long ago. Now you want me to compare myself to G-d?
When we read the Midrash on the verse it becomes even more confusing.
On the words “You shall be holy, for I, your G-d, am holy," the Midrash states:
מדרש רבה ויקרא כד, ט: קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ, יכול כמוני? תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני! קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם.
The literal translation of this Midrash is this:
“’You shall be holy.’ You might ask, can you be as holy like Me? Hence the verse continues to say, ‘For I am holy,’ My holiness is far beyond your holiness.”
But who might have imagined on their own that they can be as holy as G-d and needs the Torah to dispel that myth? Who in their right mind would entertain the idea that when G-d says, “you shall be holy,” it is an instruction to be as holy as G-d?[1] Do I need the Torah to state that G-d’s holiness is beyond mine?
There are two ways to understand this Midrash. One is the literal message of the Midrash—trying to sober up people who are delusional. There is another, opposite, interpretation of the Midrash, presented by Reb Nochum Chernobyler and the Degel Machane Ephraim, and expounded upon by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It seems to me that if the first interpretation was vital for the days of yore, it is the second explanation we need to hear today.
Don’t Be So Holy
One way of understanding the Midrash is this. The Midrash is trying to undo somewhat of the power of this verse and commandment. The Torah says, “Be holy because I am holy.” And the Midrash comes along and says: Well, not really. Don’t think you can be THAT holy. Relax. “I am the really holy one.” My holiness is the real holiness. You can just try and be a little holy.[2]
It is sending a sober message to the delusional man who might think he is too holy.
According to Torah law, the firstborn young of a kosher domestic animal must be brought as an offering in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Even when conditions do not allow this -- as has been the case since the Temple's destruction more than 1900 years ago -- the firstborn animal retains its sacred status, and it is forbidden to eat it or make use of it in any way. In the shtetel, where raising a few head of cattle or a small herd of goats was common practice, these animals would run loose, getting into everything and wreaking general havoc. And since they could not be shorn or groomed, their stench was quite unbearable.
"You're holy, but you stink!" That's what the village children would yell at the bechor (first-born animal) who would often be seen wandering about the shtetel.
The lesson in this is that something holy can also stink. You might be this really pious guy, but if people hold their noses when you walk by, you're doing something wrong. So the Midrash cautions us: Be holy, but never think you are so holy, you can step on other people. Never think you are a G-d.
Four Mitzvos and a Slice of Fish
An anecdote:
In a small town in Eastern Europe, a poor beggar once approached the home of an extremely wealthy but very stingy man. "Sir, I haven't had a morsel of food in more than two days," he said. "Can you please spare something to eat?"
"My home was not made for losers like yourself," the miser replied. "Why don't you go to the synagogue? There they will surely feed you!"
But the poor man pleaded. "Please, I beg you, I have no strength left. If I don't eat something now, I will die. Please, give me any food you have in the home."
The rich man took from the garbage an old, rotten and smelly piece of fish and gave it to the beggar, who consumed it within a few seconds. As the poor man thanked his host and left the home, he collapsed in the street. They rushed him to the local hospital.
That evening, after returning home from the evening services in the synagogue, the wealthy man informed his wife that he would be leaving and return later at night. "The poor man who ate in our home suddenly fell ill, and he was taken to the hospital. I must go visit him and fulfill the great mitzvah of visiting the sick."
The following morning, after returning home from the synagogue's morning service, the man told his wife: "I have a busy day today. In the synagogue they announced that the poor beggar died early this morning, and that his funeral would take place at 2 p.m. I must attend the funeral of this man and perform the extraordinary mitzvah of escorting the dead on their final journey."
That evening, after returning home from synagogue, the wealthy man informed his wife once again that he would be out late. "At the funeral they announced that the deceased beggar was survived by a son. I must go pay him a shivah call and perform the great mitzvah of comforting a person who is in mourning."
When the wealthy man returned that night from the shivah call, his face was beaming with joy. His entire countenance radiated with happiness. The man was simply kvelling.
"What are you so happy about?" his wife asked him. "What was so exciting about visiting an orphan sitting shivah?"
To which the wealthy miser replied: "How could I not be overjoyed when I think of how many tremendous mitzvos I performed with merely one small stinky piece of fish!
"Think about it. With one decayed slice of fish, I achieved four of the most extraordinary mitzvos: hospitality to the poor, visiting the sick, escorting the dead and comforting the mourning. Ah! How happy I feel."
This satirical episode depicts, of course, the profile of a man who may consider himself to be very religious and holy, but who totally doesn't get it; an individual who may technically follow the laws, but who is absolutely alienated from G-d’s truth and from the very definition of holiness; a person for whom religion is merely a self-centered obnoxious ego trip, rather than a challenge to transcend the superficial, base and depraved aspects of the human personality and touch the divine within himself and his fellow human beings.
The Pope
An anecdote:
After putting all of the Pope’s luggage loaded into the limo, (and he doesn't travel lightly), the driver notices the Pope is still standing on the curb.
'Excuse me, Your Honor,' says the driver, 'Would you please take your seat so we can leave?'
'Well, to tell you the truth,' says the Pope, 'they never let me drive at the Vatican when I was a cardinal, and I'd really like to drive today..'
'I'm sorry, dear Peope, but I cannot let you do that. I'd lose my job! What if something should happen?' protests the driver, wishing he'd never gone to work that morning.
'Who's going to tell?' says the Pope with a smile.
Reluctantly, the driver gets in the back as the Pope climbs in behind the wheel. The driver quickly regrets his decision because, after exiting the airport, the Pontiff floors it, accelerating the limo to 125 mph.
'Please slow down, cherished People!' pleads the worried driver, but the Pope keeps the pedal to the metal until they hear sirens.
'Oh, dear G-d, I'm going to lose my license -- and my job!' moans the driver.
The Pope pulls over and rolls down the window as the cop approaches, but the cop takes one look at him, goes back to his motorcycle, and gets on the radio.'
I need to talk to the Chief,' he says to the dispatcher.
The Chief gets on the radio and the cop tells him that he's stopped a limo going 125 mph.
'So bust him,' says the Chief.
'I don't think we want to do that, he's really important,' said the cop.
The Chief exclaimed, 'All the more reason!'
'No, I mean really important,' said the cop with a bit of persistence.
The Chief then asked, 'Who do you have there, the mayor?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
Chief: 'A senator?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
Chief: 'The Prime Minister?'
Cop: 'Bigger.'
'Well,' said the Chief, 'who is it?'
Cop: 'I think it's G-d!'
The Chief is even more puzzled and curious, 'What makes you think it’s G-d?'
Cop: 'The Pope is His chauffeur!'
Don’t lose perspective, the Midrash is telling us. Be holy, but don’t think your G-d. You may be the Pope, but you are no G-d.
This is an important message. But what always moved me was another explanation—quite an opposite one—in the Midrash. I love the first interpretation, but I am moved by the second. I think we need to hear it today.
The Student of the Baal Shem Tov
Rabbi Menachem Nochum Twerski of Chernobyl, Ukraine (1730-1787) was the founder of the Chernobyl Chassidic dynasty, and one of the greatest disciples of the Baal Shem Tov (1698-1760) and the Maggid of Mezritch (d. 1772). He published one of the first works of Chassidic thought, Maor Einayim. It was Reb Nochum Chernobyler who presents a beautiful insight into the above verse and into this Midrash.[3] (The Lubavitcher Rebbe frequently quoted and expounded upon this teaching of the Maor Einayim.[4])
Another great Chassidic master was Rabbi Moshe Chaim Ephraim of Sudilkov, the son of Rebbetzin Odel, the daughter of the Baal Shem Tov. (He was born in Medzhybizh, Ukraine in 1748 and died there on the 17th of Iyar in 1800). He is known for the work Degel Machaneh Ephraim. There he too follows the same thought process.
מאור עינים פרשת קדושים (מז, א): קדושים תהיו, פירושו שהתורה מבשרת אותנו שבוודאי קדושים תהיו ולא יאבד נפש א' מישראל ח"ו רק וודאי יתוקן ויתעלה. והטעם, כי קדוש אני, ואתם הם חלק אלקי ממעל, וקודשא בריך הוא וישראל כלא חד.
“You be holy, for I am holy.” How do we define the “you?”—that is the question. When the Torah states, “you be holy for I G-d am holy” it is giving us perspective on the very definition of the “you.” You are a “part of me;” your soul is a “fragment of the Divine,” so the “part” is just like “whole,” and you are holy as me. You and I are really one. If I am holy, it means you are holy!
Reb Nochum Chernobyler goes a step further by showing that in Hebrew the words “kedoshim tehyu” can be translated not only as an injunction but as a prediction. Not, “you shall be holy, for I am holy,” but “you WILL be holy for I am holy.” This is not only a commandment but also a promise. Since I am holy and you are part of me, holiness is your most real, natural, innate state; it is your core, your truth, your essence. All other forces ae external to your true essence and being. Your reality will certainly prevail, for such is the nature of reality, of all that is real. If it is real it will emerge sooner or later. You can run from yourself for a while, but at the end you will certainly be holy! It is who you are.
You Can Be Like Me
But then Reb Nochum goes on to see this message in the above Midrash:
מדרש רבה ויקרא כד, ט: קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ, יכול כמוני? תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני! קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם.
The literal translation of this Midrash is this: “’You shall be holy.’ Can you be as holy like Me? Hence the verse continues to say, ‘For I am holy,’ My holiness is far beyond your holiness.”
מאור עינים קדושים מז, ב: יכול כמוני בניחותא! תהא יכול לברוא עולמות כמוני, כאמור על ידי ההתעוררות שלך. תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני ה', קדושתי למעלה מקדושתכם, פירוש כי קדושתי למעלה מה שנשפע מקדושתי למעלה בעולמות עליונים, היא מקדושתכם כשאתם מתקדשים את עצמכם בראשונה...
דגל מחנה אפרים קדושים: ירמוז בזה, יכול כמוני. היינו, כל אדם יכול להיות קדוש כמו השם ברוך הוא כביכול. כי הנשמה הוא חלק אלוה ממעל ויכול להיות החלק ככולו שזהו התכלית הגמור. ומנא לן זה, תלמוד לומר אני ד', קדושתי למעלה, היינו מה שקדושתי נתעלה למעלה הוא רק מקדושתכם, שכביכול ישראל במעשיהם הטובים נותנים כח וקדושה בפמליא של מעלה, והוא שאמר הפסוק אני ד', היינו מה שאני ד' הוא מחמת אלקיכם שהוא אלקיכם אלקי ישראל. והמשכיל יבין כי יש בזה דברים עמוקים ונסתרים.
Perhaps, says Reb Nachum, we have to read the Midrash not with a question mark, but with an exclamation point! Not “Can you be as holy like me,” But “you can be as holy as Me!”
קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ. יכול כמוני! תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני. קדושתי למעלה [באה ונמשכת] מקדושתכם.
G-d says, “Tell the community of Israel, You shall be holy for I, G-d your G-d, I am holy.” Says the Midrash: You can be just like Me! You can be as holy as Me. Yachol Kamoni! When I tell you to be holy I mean that you can be as holy as I! Why? How? “For I am holy.” Since I am holy, and you are a “part of me,” your soul is a “fragment of the Divine,” so the “part” can be like the “whole,” and you can be holy as me. You and I are really one. If I am holy, it means you are holy!
My Holiness Depends on You
But then Reb Nachum adds the explanation of the final words of the Midrash:
קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ. יכול כמוני! תלמוד לומר כי קדוש אני. קדושתי למעלה [באה ונמשכת] מקדושתכם.
“That is why the verse concluded, ‘for I am holy, G-d, your G-d.’ The reason I am holy, what makes me G-d, is that I am your G-d. Since you make me your G-d, I become G-d. My holiness depends on you. When you are holy, when you make me your G-d, I am G-d.
This is a most daring, romantic, and stupendous Chassidic comments. It suggests that man and G-d are united in the profoundest way imaginable. My life, your life and every moment of it, have extraordinary significance. What I do or don't do has an eternal impact on the entire Jewish people, on the entire universe, on the eternity of history and on G-d Himself, as it were. He is holy because I am holy. Our life here below, our holiness here below, have the power to effect G-d. If He is holy it only underscores how holy we really are!
But How?
Nice, flowery and fluffy words. But what does all of this this mean? You and me can be as holy as G-d? Is this a joke? A dream? A delusion? I know myself! You know yourself! Is it really sensible to tell someone, “be holy, for G-d is holy,” and you and G-d are one? We don’t experience ourselves as such by the furthest stretch of the imagination.
It was the great Chassidic master, a grandson of Reb Nochum of Chernobyl, Rabbi Yisroel Friedman of Rhizin, Ukraine (1796-1850), also known as Der Heiliger Ruzhiner ("The holy one from Ruzhyn"), who presented a remarkable and practical insight. [5] (Reb Yisroel Rhiziner was the great-grandson of the Maggid of Mezritch, the grandson of Rabbi Avrohom HaMalach (1740–1777), and the son of Rabbi Sholom Shachne, Rebbe of Prohobisht (1769–1802). His maternal grandfather was Rabbi Nochum of Chernobyl.)
Der Heiliger Ruzhiner saw this Midrash not only as an injunction or a prediction, but also a suggestive path to achieve it.
The literal understanding of the Midrash is: “יכול כמוני, Do you think you can be holy like Me? תלמוד לומר, the verse therefore teaches, כי קדוש אני, for I am holy.”
But the Rizhiner reads the Midrash as follows: “יכול כמוני, You wonder how you can be holy like me? You wonder how can I ask you to be holy because I am holy? How in the world can you I ask you to be holy like Me? תלמוד לומר, teach yourself to say, ‘because I am holy [כי קדוש אני]!’” You must repeat the phrase “I am holy” in order to remind yourself who and what you truly are.
Declare “I am Holy
The greatest obstacle to you living a wholesome, holy and sanctified life is your belief that you are unholy; that you are tainted, lazy, unworthy, blemished, sinful, lowly, brute, egotistical, and impure. What makes you so distant from G-d is that you think you are distant!
So the Rizhiner advises us: Say “I am holy! I am holy!” Tell yourself the truth about yourself. You are holy! You are awesome! You are as holy as G-d—not because you are delusional, but because G-d Himself declared that you are part of Him. G-d is not corrupt, brute, profane, and lowly; so you—who is a “fragment of G-d,” can also not be anything but sacred and spiritually beautiful.[6]
Have you made mistakes? Of course. Have you, perhaps, made big mistakes? Probably. (I would not know, but you can ask your mother in law. I am sure she can help you with that one). Have you hurt yourself? Perhaps. Have you hurt others? Perhaps. Have you always been good? Maybe not. But you know why you made all of these mistakes? Not because you are not as holy as G-d, but because you didn’t realize how holy you are, how good you are, how powerful you are, how sacred you are, how beautiful you are, how Divine you are. Your sin came from weakness, from mediocrity, from a sense of smallness. Or, in other words, your greatest sin in life is the belief that you are essentially a sinner and incapable of holiness.
By stating “I am holy!” “I am holy” we can counteract the voice within us which denies the power of the infinite G‑d within each and every one of us. We have the power to say “No!” to the temptations, images, and electronic devices around us. We have the potency to apologize to those we might have hurt; we have the infinite capabilities to construct a happy and meaningful life for ourselves and those around us.
How characteristic of the Rhiziner to share this teaching. Reb Yisroel Rhiziner conducted his court with regal splendor. Tsar Nicholas I of Russia, who was said to be jealous of the Rebbe's and influence, had the Rebbe imprisoned for nearly two years on an unsubstantiated murder charge. After his release, the Rebbe fled to Austria, where he re-established his court in Sadigura, Bukovina (Carpathian Mountains), attracted thousands of Hasidim, and built a powerful dynasty. He believed that a Jew was a king and must live like a king, spiritually, physically and emotionally.
In the Pacific!
Rabbi Yitzchak David Groner was the Ambassador of the Lubavitcher Rebbe to Melbourne. He has built dozens of Jewish educational and social institutions and sustained them for many decades.
Yet he also struggled internally with difficult emotions.
Once, on a visit to New York, he was in an audience with the Rebbe. Before he departed from the office, the Rebbe said to him:
אז דו פארסט צוריק אין אוסטראליע זאלסטו אריינווארפן דיין מרה שחורה אין דעם פאסיפיק...
As you travel back to Australia over the Pacific Ocean, cast away into the Pacific your insecurities, your negative self-image, and your depression![7]
This, in my mind, was not a charming farewell. There was a profound message for life. Our insecurities are not who we are. Our fears and negative thoughts and do not constitute our core being. They are like an extra suitcase stuck in our brain, and we need to drop that suitcase out the window, and focus on our mission in this world.
The Onion Plot
A story:
Blizzards and storm winds had pounded Lublin and the surrounding countryside for several weeks. The roads were piled so high with snow that no one was able to go anywhere. This meant that the farmers weren't able to reach the city with their produce and food supplies were dwindling rapidly.
Many items were completely lacking, such as onions. There weren't even any onions to use in the tasty foods prepared in honor of Shabbat. This fact constituted a near tragedy, because in Lublin, the mixture of chopped eggs and onions, known in Yiddish as eiyr-un-tzibelech, was considered a nearly indispensable ingredient of the holy day. The Jews of Lublin could remember occasions when there was no meat, or no fish, but whoever heard of being without onions?
The household of the famous tzadik, the Seer of Lublin, was particularly distraught. After all, many Chasidic traditions attaches great significance to this humble dish. They tried to secure some onions by every means they could think of, but to no avail. Someone even managed to plod his way through the snowdrifts to a few of the local farmers, but they didn't have any onions either.
On Friday morning, one of the leading disciples of the Seer, Rabbi Naftali of Rofshitz (who yartzeit is 11 Iyar), rose early as usual to make his way to the Rebbe's shul and pour out his heart in prayer to the Creator. On his way home afterwards he passed through the marketplace, where he unexpectedly came upon a peasant farmer with a sack filled with onions!
"Wow!" said Reb Naftoli to himself, struck by a bold idea. "This is exactly the opportunity I've been waiting for! Baruch HaShem." He approached the gentile and offered to buy the entire sack. The farmer knew very well the value of his precious merchandise and had been looking forward to making a tidy profit. He wasn't going to compromise now. No wholesale discounts! He stated an outrageously high price. To his great surprise, R. Naftoli instantly agreed and handed him the money.
But that wasn't the end of the surprises. "I'd like to buy your fur coat and hat too," the Rofshitzer added. The farmer couldn't believe his ears. Astonished, he refused. How could he possibly return home in the freezing cold without his coat and hat? But the thick wad of bills in his customer's outthrust hand argued persuasively, and the second deal was also quickly struck. Reb Naftoli strode home with his sack of onions and unusual new items of apparel.
A “Farmer” Shows Up
Later that day, a farmer appeared outside the Seer's door. He was clothed in furs, peasant-style, with a huge hat covering his forehead and upper face and boots covered with mud. In the language and intonation of a gentile farmer he called out, "Onions! Onions for sale!"
Chassidim came pouring from every direction. Everyone wanted onions in honor of the holy Shabbat. They crowded around the onion-seller, attempting to bargain with him. He refused to budge from his price. Then, suddenly, he announced that he was stopping for the day. No more onions!
The Chassidim pleaded with him. "But we still have to get some for the Rebbe. He is a great, holy man. Blessings will shower upon you, if only you will allow us to buy onions for him."
"If he is as special as you say, I'll do it," rejoined the farmer, "but only if I can sell them to the holy man directly, in person, face-to-face."
The Chassidim were shaken. How could they bring such an unrefined character to the Rebbe? After a few moments of confusion, they realized they had no choice. A solemn delegation led the onion-laden farmer to the Seer's house.
When they came in, the Seer was busy polishing his unique kidush cup, as he did every Friday before Shabbat. This was an extraordinary chalice, exquisitely crafted of pure gold, with intricate engravings depicting famous sites in the Holy Land, such as the Western Wall, the Tower of David, and the Mount of Olives.
Many rumors surrounded this kidush cup and its history. It was said that the Seer had inherited it from one of the greatest and holiest Chassidic masters of the previous generation, and that it contained deep spiritual energy. Chassidim would say that whoever was privileged to make a blessing over its contents and drink from it could achieve great spiritual gifts. Yet the Seer did not allow anyone else to use it or even touch it. He felt it was too sensitive; that someone who was unworthy could be hurt if he used the cup. The whole week it stood in a locked cabinet until Friday, when he would work on it until it glistened and sparkled on the white Shabbat tablecloth.
When his Chassidim brought in the gentile with his sack, the Seer understood the reason at once. "How much do you want for your onions?" he queried the farmer.
"One moment. Not so fast," the farmer replied coarsely, holding up his hand as if to ward off the Rebbe's offer. "I'm frozen stiff. I need a proper drink to warm me up."
It was clear that such a person didn't have in mind a cup of tea. The Seer instructed his attendant to serve the man some whisky and a brimming shot glass was quickly set down in front of the farmer.
"That's all?" cried out the farmer, as if insulted. Just this little cup?"
"Give him the whole bottle and let him do as he likes," said the Rebbe, turning away.
Now the onion seller seemed mortally offended. "What! You think I'm a drunkard?" he shouted angrily. "I'll show you! I'll go home. I won't sell you anything!" He tied up the sack and fastened his garments, as if preparing to leave.
The Chassidim hurriedly attempted to soothe him, anxiously muttering words of appeasement. Finally he calmed down. Then he smirked. "I tell you what," he offered.
I'll sell you my onions if, and only if, you fill this goblet with whisky for me to drink." He pointed at the Rebbe's golden cup shining on the table.
The Chassidim drew back, aghast. From this holy kidush cup which no one dared touch except the tzadik, this uncircumcised drunken peasant should imbibe his crude booze? They offered him other cups and glasses, bigger ones, singly and in combination, but he was stubborn. "Only from this one, like I told you. Otherwise I go home."
They tried again to dissuade him, but nothing worked. He simply refused to budge. With trembling hands and heavy heart, the Seer himself filled the precious vessel with the coarse fluid and, with a helpless shrug, presented it to the farmer. The latter lifted it with his right hand, squeezed his eyes shut, and with great concentration and intensity called out, "Boruch atah Hashem Elokanu Melech Haolam shehakol neyeh bidvaro."
Everyone was shocked speechless. Only the Seer, after a quick stare, realized what had taken place. A broad smile spread across his face. "L'chaim, Reb Naftali! You are so clever; it must be that you deserve to drink from this cup. L'chaim u'livracha! - May it be for life and for blessing."[8]
This Chassidic tale tells us the way a Jew must think of himself. Reb Naftali decided he wants to drink from the holy goblet. He refused to accept that he is too unworthy for it. And when he got the cup, at last, his Rebbe told him: Apparently, you deserved it!
“You shall be holy, because I am holy.” You deserve to be holy, because I am holy, and you are part of Me! Don’t sell yourself for cheap. Don’t give up on yourself, on your holiness, on your royalty, on your majesty, on your G-dliness, on your potential to be holy! You can be just like Me—because you and I are one.
[1] Reb Chaim Shmulevitz once said, that if someone knew Reb Shlmoke Zhviler, he would understand the question of the Midrash.
[2] See the Midrash there (Vayikra Rabah 24:9) who compares it to what Pharaoh told Joseph: You are the viceroy of Egypt, but I remain the king. The Midrash, quite astonishingly, explains the meaning of the words “ki kadosh ani,” by the words of Pharaoh, “ani Pharaoh,” which mean to say, “I remain the Pharaoh, the ultimate authority.
[3] Maor Einayim Kedoshim 47a
[4] See for example, Sichas Shabbos Acharei-Kedoshim 5745 (1985) and 5788 (1988) at length; Sichas Shabbos Tzaria-Metzora 5751 (1991); Sichas Shabbos Acharei-Kedoshim 5749; 5750 (1988, 1990 and 1991). Maamar V’nikdashti 5725 (1965). And many more times. Cf. Likkutei Sichos vol. 7, p. 320-322. See Toras Shmuel 5631.
[5] Quoted in Shaalos Utshuvos Maharash (by Reb Shmuel Engel) vol. 7, Kuntres Shem Mishmuel letter Yud, and in other Chassidic works in the name of the Rhiziner.
[6] The Rizhiner quotes the pasuk in Yeshaya (4:3), “And it will be that those who remain in Zion and those who are left over in Yerushalayim shall be called ‘holy…’” The Rebbe explains that this refers to those who remain Jews at the end of time. It describes our generation. The angels call us, anyone who has managed to retain some semblance of Yiddishkeit despite everything, “holy.”
[7] I heard the story from Rabbi Y.D. Groner himself.
[8] The story was transcribed by Rabbi Yerachmiel Tilles: https://ascentofsafed.com/Stories/Stories/5760/123-23.html
- Comment
Class Summary:
The opening instruction of Kedoshim may be the most challenging in the entire Torah: “Be holy, for I am holy!”
The reasoning seems strange. “Be holy, because I am holy.” What type of reason is this? Warren Buffet tells you, “become a billionaire because I am a billionaire!” G-d may be very holy, but me? I can’t even be as holy and good as my wife. Now you want me to compare myself to G-d?
When we read the Midrash on the verse it becomes even more confusing. “’You shall be holy.’ You might ask, can you be as holy like Me? Hence the verse continues to say, ‘For I am holy,’ My holiness is far beyond your holiness.”
But who might have imagined on their own that they can be as holy as G-d and needs the Torah to dispel that myth? Who in their right mind would entertain the idea that when G-d says, “you shall be holy,” it is an instruction to be as holy as G-d? Do I need the Torah to state that G-d’s holiness is beyond mine?
There are two ways to understand this Midrash. One is the literal message of the Midrash—trying to sober up people who are delusional. There is another, opposite, interpretation of the Midrash, presented by Reb Nochum Chernobyler and the Degel Machane Ephraim, and expounded upon by the Lubavitcher Rebbe. It seems to me that if the first interpretation was vital for the days of yore, it is the second explanation we need to hear today.
It was Der Heiliger Ruzhiner who saw this Midrash not only as an injunction or a prediction, but also a suggestive path to achieve it.
The story of Reb Naftali Ropshitzer who dressed up as a farmer to drink from the holy cup of the Seer of Lublin; the story of what the Rebbe told Rabbi Groner to cast into the Pacific Ocean; the story of why Reb Yisroel of Rhizin was arrested by the Czar, all underscore the same message of the Chassidic masters: The greatest obstacle to you living a wholesome, holy and sanctified life is your belief that you are unholy; that you are tainted, lazy, unworthy, blemished, sinful, lowly, brute, egotistical, and impure. What makes you so distant from G-d is that you think you are distant!
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