Re'eh/Elul: There is no Middle of the Road

The following concepts are based on Reb Tzadok HaKohen, the Ohr G’Deliyahu and Rav Moshe Shapiro Shlit’a. Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos Kodesh, just please not during Tefilos!

We are on the verge of entering the emotionally charged month of Elul. As we have been taught through the generations, the Torah portions that we are reading always match up to the events on the Jewish calendar. This is called ‘HaKriyah Meoreres Es HaZman’ – the Scripture is awakening the Occasion. This being said, we need to uncover the common denominator between this week’s Parsha of Re’eh and the upcoming days of Elul.

The Passuk in the beginning of the Parsha says as follows: “Re’eh Anochi Nosein Lifneichem Bracha U’Klala” – Behold, for today I set before you (the possibility of either) Blessing or Curse. “Es HaBracha Asher Tishmi’u El HaMitzvos” – The Blessings will come as a result of adhering to the Commandments. “V’HaKlala Im Lo Tishmi’u” – And the curse which will descend upon you by not listening to them.

Says the Sforno, something much bigger than an ultimatum is being set down here. We already know that we get reward for doing the right thing and punishments in the opposite situation, so that cannot be the extent of these verses. Rather, the Chiddush, the new idea, the new concept that is being laid before us is that there is no middle path. It’s either Blessings for the Mitzvos or Curses because of Aveiros: Your Call.

But how can this possibly be? No middle-of-the-road? There are many aspects of my life that are not governed by the strict letter of the law. There are areas of my day-to-day that are not part of the Six-Thirteen! So how can it be that my whole life only has two paths with no intermediate option?

Says the Chovos HaLevavos; my carrying out of a Mitzvah is an expression that I am in tune with Ratzon Hashem. It is a physical statement that declares that I am HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s emissary in the world. I’m here to carry out His Will. The same applies when I refrain from any transgression. This being said, every aspect of my life – no matter how mundane – has the possibility of becoming either a Mitzvah or an Aveirah. There is no longer a middle path. From my morning cup of coffee to the brands of clothing that I wear; if I’m doing it for Hashem then it’s a Mitzvah as real as Honoring One’s Parents or shaking the Lulav. And it goes without saying that the opposite holds just the same.

Let’s momentarily leave these thoughts on the backburner and take an Elul-related detour…

The Kabalistic tradition reveals to us that there are several factors that create the ‘personality’ of every month. The Sefer Yetzirah (attributed to Avraham Avinu) breaks up the letters of the Alef-Beis, human capabilities (walking, digestion, sight etc…) among other factors to correspond to each of the months. (Addressing them all is beyond the current scope of this essay) It’s by reaching the depth of each of the components and how they relate to one another that we will be able to understand the full scope of the month’s significance.

Says the Sefer Yetzirah, this month’s letter is Yud (י) and the human capability of the month is Making/Doing/Creating. At first this seems very random, so let’s try to make some sense of it.

Chazal explain that Yud is a lofty and exalted letter. The Ba’al Shem Tov taught that it represents God’s desire to bestow of His essence. It’s the letter that epitomizes Ratzon Hashem. Rashi in the beginning of the Torah hints to us that Yud is the letter of Chochmah – Wisdom. Because the prefix of Yud in a word makes the word future-tense, Yud comes to manifest that which only exists in thought. The Gemara in Brachos tells us that the World to Come was created with a Yud. The World to Come is - exactly as its name implies – a world of potential.  This is really a reference to the fact that Yud, parallels the Kabalistic Sfira (Divine Emenation) of that name – Chochmah – which is the first and highest of the series of Sfiros. Therefore Yud really is a concentration of God’s all-encompassing Wisdom.

But this leads us to an issue. For if Yud is about Widsom, if it literally hangs above all of the other letters, then what in the world is its connection to the other theme of the month - Ma’aseh – Making? Practical action is so down to earth! Surely it would be more appropriate if the month’s human capability was meditation or contemplation; something better suited for the Chochmah of Yud!

Another question about Ma’aseh:

The Vilna Gaon, otherwise known as the Gra, in his commentary to the Sefer Yetzirah briefly explains why this month is historically connected to ‘making’. It was on the first day of Elul that Moshe Rabbeinu ascended the mountain to receive the Luchos Shniyos (the Second Tablets) forty days after the first ones were destroyed. Therefore the month itself is kicked-off surrounding the theme of Luchos. The Passuk says about the Luchos “V’HaLuchos Ma’aseh Elokim Heimah” – ‘And the Tablets were God’s making.’ So we see a clear connection between Ma’aseh and Elul.

But there is one massive problem with the Gra’s explanation. That Passuk - “V’HaLuchos Ma’aseh Elokim Heimah” – has nothing to do with Moshe’s ascent on the first of Elul to receive the second tablets. Why? Because the biblical statement describing the Tablets as the work of God was said about the first Tablets - not the second ones! That verse is connected to when the first Tablet’s were supposed to be received four months ago in Sivan. It is not an Elul-related verse. So then what is the connection between Ma’aseh and Elul?

Well, what does the Torah mean when we are told that the Luchos Rishonos were Ma’aseh Elokim? We are taught that Hashem wrote His very Essence into the Torah. The Gemara in Messeches Shabbos reveals that the Torah HaKedoshah is God’s Soul in written form, so to speak.

Therefore, if the Torah is totally Godly, then the vessel onto which it is received needs to be Godly as well – otherwise there is an obvious incompatibility. Thus the Luchos need to be Ma’aseh Elokim in order to receive the Godly letters of Torah that are to be written upon them.

When Moshe smashed the first Tablets we lost that Divine Vessel. But God, after heading to Moshe’s prayers said Psal Lcha Shnei Luchos KaRishonim – Engrave for yourself two new Tablets like the first ones. God was empowering to Moshe to come up with man-made Tablets that reach the level of Ma’aseh Elokim.

The Torah, as it is, is a series of verses that transform into lengthy, fluid concepts. Because of the fact that the Torah is made up of words, I have the ability to speak out Torah concepts. On the other hand, if I take a cowhide and leave it as it is, it’s still not a Torah. It’s a piece of leather. But the moment I take those words of Torah and inscribe them on the parchment that piece of cowhide gets elevated to the holiness of the Torah itself! Amazing! It’s really a profound concept that we have the ability to take mundane parchment and infuse it with God’s innermost Will. Through this we lift it up to indescribable levels of holiness.

On a much bigger scale this is what happened when Moshe Rabbeinu went up on the first day of Elul. He was beginning the new process of being able to elevate that which is man-made into the realm of the Divine. Psal Lcha Shnei Luchos KaRishonim – You can make Luchos that hit the standard of Ma’aseh Elokim.

Therefore the Gra’s explanation makes perfect sense. The entire ascent of Moshe Rabbeinu on Rosh Chodesh Elul was only to craft a man-made Ma’aseh that would be able to reach the levels of Godly Creation. Thus the Second Luchos that we begin Elul with are specifically there to bring us to V’HaLuchos Ma’aseh Elokim Heimah. Elul is where the mundane can transcend into and become the Divine.

This now explains why we learn about Re’eh as we enter Elul. As we mentioned in the very beginning, the first verses of the Parsha - “Re’eh Anochi Nosein Lifneichem Bracha U’Klala, Es HaBracha Asher Tishmi’u El HaMitzvos, V’HaKlala Im Lo Tishmi’u” teach us that there is no middle ground. Nothing is plain. Nothing just is. Every mundane facet of my life, everything that seems to be as physical and coarse as cowhide literally has the potential to be elevated to the status of a Torah. If I drink it for the right reasons then my morning coffee is as holy as any other Mitzvah in the Torah. In Elul I’m Mamesh raising up my whole life. I’m turning my life into Ma’aseh Elokim.

This is why the letter of the month is the lofty Yud and with no contradiction it is the month of commonplace Ma’aseh. In Elul we are taking my ordinary mundane Ma’aseh, the simple things, and we attach them to the Yud, the letter of Chochmah, of Hashem’s innermost Wisdom. Elul is where the mundane can transcend into the Divine.

There is an amazing empowerment entering into the world if we are just ready to be aware of it and let it in. HaKadosh Baruch Hu is giving us a year-end event, a rare opportunity to step up everything that we’ve gotten accustomed to until now. There is no longer a middle path. Every last detail, every nook and cranny – everything is yours to be elevated. There is so much inspiration and motivation to be taken from the fact that our seemingly little, dull, and commonplace actions down here can create such monumental shockwaves in loftier, spiritual realms than we can see.

The practical application starts with simple awareness. If we try more and more to remember the fact that there is no middle path – everything either adds or detracts – then it is obvious that we will see an immediate impact on our decision making and on our Avodas Hashem as a whole.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should bless us with the consciousness and alacrity to continually live through such a lofty and supremely refined perspective that Elul is making available to us. If we can tap into this dynamic there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

The Nine Days: Beneath the Surface

The following concepts have been adapted from and inspired by Reb Tzadok HaKohen. Feel free to print this out to read over Shabbos Kodesh, just please not during Tefilos!

This Shabbos Kodesh is Shabbos Mevarchim Chodesh Menachem Av, meaning that this week we will announce the onset of the new month of Av that will arrive this upcoming Monday.

Chodesh Av is serves as the pinnacle of anguish in the Jewish calendar. The center of our connection to Hashem, the center of the universe as a whole, the Beis HaMikdash was destroyed twice in this month. The repeated demolishment of the universe’s religious center leaves a scar in the fabric of time that we re-enter and re-experience every year in this season. So as we cross the threshold into this difficult stretch of t we need to ask ourselves – what’s the meaning of it all?

We are told that each month has a number of factors that generate the characteristics that form the month’s ‘personality’ so to speak. It is this identity from which all of the events in the month emerge.

The Kabalistic Sources tells us that the month of Av emanates from the letter Tes and the sense of Shmi’a, hearing. A delicate study of each of these factors will hopefully reveal their unifying theme. Let’s discover.

Let’s begin with the letter of the month – Tes. The Gemara in the ninth Perek of Brachos says that he who sees a Tes in his dream should expect Tov, good things, to occur in his life. Why does Tes signify Tov? The answer is that the first time that the letter Tes appears in the Torah it forms the word Tov. “VaYar Elokim Es HaOr Ki Tov.” ‘And Hashem saw the light, for it was Tov – it was Good.’ Because we know that the first appearance of something in the Torah defines its nature, Tes is forever the symbol of Tov.

Chazal revealed to us that before the creation of the world the letters of the Alef-Beis approached one by one and requested from God be the letter with which the world was created. When Tes steps up – I’m Tov! Create the world with me! God says that although Tes is the manifestation of Tov, it’s not designed for this world. True Tov is saved for the next world, as the Passuk says in Tehilim, “Mah Rav Tuvcha Asher Tzafanta L’Yreiecha” ‘How abundant is Your good that You have treasured away for those who fear You.’ Hashem declared that Tov in its very nature has to be stored away; it is waiting to be revealed in the proper time.

This is the reason that Chazal explain that the Or Ki Tov, the Light of Goodness was immediately stored away after its creation. It was Tzafun LaTzadikim, treasured away for the righteous in Times to Come. Why? Because Tov, by the very spirit of its existence, is meant to be veiled.

We learn from Tes that true Tov is only experienced via existing in universe devoid of it. Taking the world at surface value is missing the point. Those who are aware that the darkness of the universe is merely a mask are the unique few who will merit to recieve the Light at the end of the tunnel of history. Tes is not merely Tov, it is the existential Good that is discovered by penetrating past reality’s dark mask.

It is Chodesh Av brings darkness to the world. The Beis HaMikdash is called Oro Shel Olam, the light of the world. From it shined forth God-consciousness. Its destruction was the extinguishing of that Light. Therefore the tragedies of Av generate the darkness of our lives. Without the Beis HaMikdash perceiving God becomes exponentially more difficult. That destruction creates a mask in the world.

Obviously, in darkness our sense of sight is taken from us. But as we have experienced in our own lives, when we take a frightening walk in a pitch-black forest, in those moments when our sight is robbed from us another sense heightens in its place. When we can’t use our eyes our hearing sharpens. Perhaps on a different level we have surely felt that to truly vibe with the song playing in our headphones we need to close our eyes as to shut out visually perceived world.

Our eyes only have skin-deep perception. The nature of sight is that it is surface level. That, on the other hand is contrasted by hearing. When a person speaks he is emitting nothing from the external levels of his presence. The breath is channeled from inside. The sound is formed inside. The thought being expressed is coming from inside. Therefore, when you listen to a person’s words you begin to relate to their internal world. When it comes to communicating, seeing a person’s face and lip-reading is a far more difficult task than not seeing them but being able to listen. This is because the sounds coming from within a person are a much more honest revelation of his essence than his body is. Shmi’a is intrinsically deeper.

This is not only the physical level of sight versus hearing. It applies on the spiritual level as well.

The Geulah Asida is ultimately dependant on spiritual Shmi’a. The Passuk asks, ‘When is Mashiach coming? He’s coming HaYom – today.’ Today? Yes, Today. “HaYom Im B’Kolo Sishma’u” Mashiach comes today if you listen to Hashem’s Voice. Now we understand that by Hashem’s ‘Voice’ we mean His internal will and ‘hearing’ means to sense it beneath the surface. Geulah means becoming aware and sensitive to the makeup of reality. Geulah comes by perceiving, understanding and ultimately revealing that which is hidden beneath the surface – spiritual Shmi’a.

But when we say redemption what do we mean? We mean that the Tov becomes revealed again! It means that the light of God-consciousness is restored to the world. Thus at this stage we understand why Tes correlates to Shmi’a. If true good is only beneath the surface then only one sense truly gets us to that level.

The Passuk in the beginning of Bereishis describes the terrible state of the universe before the creation fully came into form. V’HaAretz Haisa Tohu VaVohu V’Choshech Al Pnei Tehom – And the land was Chaotic and Desolate and Dark upon the surface of the Abyss.  Say Chazal in the Midrash, these four descriptions: Chaotic, Desolate, Dark and Abyss are references to the four agonizing exiles that the Jews will undergo. Those negative energies are weaved into the fabric of reality. But the Passuk doesn’t end there, “V’Ruach Elokim Mirachefes Al Pinei HaMayim” – And the Spirit of Hashem was hovering upon the surface of the waters. Continue Chazal – this fifth component of Ruach Elokim that follows the first four is a reference to Rucho Shel Mashiach, the redemptive spirit of the Messiah. The depth of it is as such; Specifically through the process of entering and overcoming Tohu, Vohu, Choshech and Tehom can one fully experience Rucho Shel Mashiach.

And this is depth of what the Gemara means when it says that Mashiach is born on Tisha B’Av. If Av’s letter is Tes whose numerical value is nine, then it serves logic to say that the month’s theme expresses itself most boldly on the Tes, the ninth of the month. That day is Tisha, the ninth of Av. That means that Tisha B’Av, the most tragic and darkest day of the year is specifically the day from which the most Tov and most light will sprout. When Am Yisrael pays attention to the Tohu, Vohu, Choshech and Tehom of Tisha B’Av, a little bit more of Rucho Shel Mashiach is born into the universe.

When we keep our perceptions shallow we rob ourselves of pleasure in this world and the next. We can’t enjoy this world because we are consumed and distracted by our day-to-day bothers, and we can’t enjoy the next world because we will have missed out on the opportunity to become sensitive to godliness.

But when we begin to see world in a deep way, when we choose to realize that the difficult moments are there to be entered into and overcome then we place ourselves on a path to achieve greatness. The darker the situation the more Tov must be potentially possible to attain. When we begin to listen to the vibrations of the universe in this way we not only refine ourselves to but we also push history in direction that it should be moving.

Av affords us the opportunity to enter into the darkest depths, to perceive that which is hidden beyond the surface. We can either get lost in our sorrows or we can take a moment to use the difficulty of the situation to push us to achieve further in our Avodas Hashem. Hashem should give us the strength and the inspiration that we need to take full advantage of this most profound of moments. For if we can there is no doubt that we will live lives full of Tov and Shleimus, moving closer to the Ribono Shel Olam and ultimately we will be meritorious to experience Rucho Shel Mashiach!

BaMidbar: Desertminded

Feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos, just please not during Tefilos!

This week, we begin to read from Sefer BaMidbar. As we set out in the beginning of the Sefer the Jews are counted, placed in formation and begin to travel towards Eretz Yisrael. The whole book details these journeys.

The first Passuk says, “Va’Yidaber Hashem El Moshe B’Midbar Sinai” – ‘And God spoke to Moshe Rabbeinu in the Sinai Desert’. Chazal come and focus in on the specificity of the location. Why does the Torah HaKedosha find a need to frame this communication between HaKadosh Baruch Hu and Moshe Rabbeinu within the context of Midbar Sinai?

In response to this, the Midrash lays down a fundamental concept in spiritual growth. Communication with the Divine only comes in the desert. More expressly, depth and connection to the spiritual are only made available to those who make themselves Hefker, uncontrolled and unowned like a desert. A desert is a free, non-dominated place, and only a person who maintains such a headspace will enter into spiritual greatness.

This is not just a spiritual reality; it’s physical as well. Says the Rambam, when a person is feeling subjugated and overwhelmed by his surroundings, when the culture is preventing one from attaining purity and holiness – the place to escape to is the desert. There he will find the opportunity to really develop.

We know that the name of any given object, anywhere and anything in the universe, is completely defined by its name. An object’s title characterizes its essence. Based on this, and in light of the above, we should walk away with pretty good feelings as to what the Midbar, and therefore Sefer BaMidbar represents.

But there is another side to the story. Because when we look through the stories of Sefer BaMidbar we only see failures. Korach, the spies, the harlots of Midyan among many other shortcomings poke out their ugly heads specifically in Sefer BaMidbar. What happened?! What happened to all of the idealistic symbolism that the Midbar represented? The liberated thinking, the being Hefker that creates inspiration in the mind and heart – shouldn’t the Jewish people only get it right during their journeys there?

In order to answer in one possible way, we need to gain a deeper insight into exactly what it is that drives us to make mistakes and fall prey to the pitfalls laid for us by the Yetzer HaRa, the Evil Inclination.

Let’s work backwards. By understanding how we are taught to deal with the Yetzer HaRa, we will be able to retroactively shed light on what exactly it is that we’re up against. For this we have the famous words of Chazal. Hashem says, Barasi Yetzer HaRa, Barasi Torah Tavlin - I have created the evil inclination, and I’ have created the Torah as its spice.

The learning of Torah, the dissemination of the will of Hashem from an abstract concept into part of my very being, learning that which I need to make Avodas HaBoreih a real part of my life… that’s the remedy to the snares of the Yetzer HaRa. The adaptation of my desires to His will be the only way to not lose that battle.

But if this is so, then why is the term for the Torah’s role a Tavlin, a spice to the Yetzer Hara? Hashem created the Torah HaKedosha as a means of spicing up my baser drives? That’ the purpose? The line shouldn’t use Tavlin, rather we would expect to hear radically different terminology. ‘I created the Evil Inclination and I created Torah to vanquish, kill, destroy – take your pick – behead it. What in the world are we being told when Chazal say that Torah is the spice to the Yetzer HaRa. A spice makes things more palatable, not non-existent!

The following answer was given over by Rav Michael Hershkovitz Shlit’a in the name of Rav Tzadok HaKohen MiLublin.

We are born small and we grow up to become bigger. We come bigger physically and emotionally. In a different way we also become bigger spiritually. Hashem makes a space between us and Him. He pulls back in such a way that we don’t see Him openly. We look around and His presence is not obvious to the naked eye. Why? It’s because God wants us to take this ‘empty space’ and do something amazing. He gives us wiggle-room so that we can grow. By making Himself less obvious we can work on our Emunah and we can be Mekadesh this world, make it more holy by bringing His Message and His Pressence into that space. He pulls back so that we can make something of ourselves… He pulls back so that we can become big.

But the Yetzer HaRa’s job is to convince us to misuse that space. He wants us to get really big too. Bloated. Inflated. It can be our stomachs or our personalities. With this gap made by God, we can be tricked into forgetting Him altogether - making ourselves ‘big’ in lots of other ways. We expand our egos; we allow our lowly desires to run totally amuck. We get really big. God gives us an open playing field – namely this world - and we can either make it or break it. With the empty space given to us it’s a simple fact that we will grow. The question then becomes which part of us will be developed. Will we go out of our way to increase our purity? Will we try to become massive Tzadikim and Gedolei HaDor? To become Something bigger than our earthly bodies? Or will we become, Chas V’Shalom victims of the Yetzer HaRa and make ourselves bigger in less ideal ways.

This is where the Torah comes in. We all feel that natural tendency to become big in a selfish way. This is, as we explained, is the tactic of our evil inclination. The Torah comes as a Tavlin, a spice to slightly rectify, to take that desire to grow and make it more palatable, make it sweeter. It’s simply a nuanced redirection. To take my ego’s desire to take advantage of that empty wiggle room, that open field, and channel it to something higher, something loftier and more refined. This is why Torah is a spice to the evil inclination and not a deathblow. We are taking an inherently powerful tool (the desire to grow) and putting it in its proper place.

The Midbar is that concept of empty space taken to the extreme. The desert, very much like the mind of a person is a Tabula Rasa - a blank slate, an absence of preconceived ideas or predetermined goals, just blankness for as far as the eye can see. The ability to plumb the depth of the significance of the Divine-wiggle-room that makes us or breaks us is most accentuated in the context of the Midbar. It itself is that space.

It is specifically here that the Rambam sends a person to go to recreate and reinvent himself. The clean backdrop of the desert comes to give a person the option to reanalyze what to do with the wiggle-room that God gave him. And thus a person who makes himself Hefker like the Midbar - meaning he takes no personal, no biased, tainted claim over that space, rather he lets the presence of He who truly owns everything enter in and direct his growth - “La’Hashem HaAretz Umlo’ah”, To Hashem does the land all and that fills it belong – only that person has the gates of growth, depth, spiritually and (most importantly for this discussion) greatness opened to him.

But as the potential for growth exponentially increases in the desert – so does it’s capability for that power going awry dangerously increase as well. And lo and behold, we see the Jews time and time again make these mistakes throughout Sefer Bamidbar. All the problems that we are going to encounter over the course of the following Parshios come as a result of the inherit dangers that the Midbar offers. For as the gap between us and Him grows – our ability to fill it with our egos grows as well.

We don’t have to look around to far to see many, many people who may have fallen into this trap. God lays out the world in front of us and says that it’s ours for the taking. HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, ‘There’s nothing that’s out of your reach. Pretend like I’m not here. In fact, I’ll hide to make that easier. Okay, now it surely feels like there is no one over your shoulder – whatcha gonna do?”

And so, people take their lives, lives latent with potential and bring it to a world ready for the taking – and then, unfortunately, make all that growth self-oriented - without ever considering a higher cause.

But we are not such people and we need not fall into such a trap. We, the attuned, choose to be aware. We see past the façade of this desert-world of ours. We know that there is a reason that Hashem has given us so much to work with. We have learned before, and will review again the multitude of mistakes that desert-thinking has caused, and we will take from those lessons as to not fall pray to those same mistakes ourselves. It takes time and patience to internalize, but it’s clear – and getting clearer all the time – that this world we live in was built to make us big. Not big in the sense of stomachs and egos rather immense in stature. As Rav Kagan put it so beautifully, ‘We are not responsible for the fact that we are, but we are fully responsible for who we become.’ And with Hashem’s help we’ll become tremendous.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha of overflowing inspiration to channel our potentials to only the best of uses. If we all as individuals commit ourselves to the highest, loftiest, holiest use of all that Hashem gave us there is no doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Sheleimus moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Kedoshim: Help Me Help You

The following is based on the Sfas Emes and Reb Tzadok HaKohen. Please feel free to print this out and read it over Shabbos, just not during Tefilos! :)

This week’s Parsha, Parshas Kedoshim deals with an array of Mitzvos Bein Adam L’Chaveiro - Commandments which apply between man and his neighbor, the regulations of interpersonal relationships. Honest business, honoring one’s parents, being kind to the disabled and generous to the poor; and most famously V’Ahavta L’Reiacha Kamocha, love your fellow as you love yourself – among many other similarly categorized Mitzvos are mentioned.

Chazal tell us that Moshe Rabbeinu conducted a Hakel - a mass gathering of all the Jew, to teach, of all things, Parshas Kedoshim. When we have all the Jews together, why read this? When we have the attention of all the Jewish people, we tell them to be nice? Why couldn’t he just write it down like any other part of the Torah? To answer this question we need to ask another, and get deeper into what is Kedoshim really all about.

Unlike most of the Parsha, the first verse calls for a very general spiritual requirement of every Jew. Kedoshim Tihiyu – Ki Kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem - “You shall be holy, for I, Your God am Holy.” But what exactly does this mean?

The Rishonim offer two possibilities, the first, given by Rashi is that in order to be holy we need to distance ourselves from all Aveiros (sins) that have to do with Arayos (prohibited sexuality). To be Kadosh means to elevate above our baser desires to a loftier state of control.

The Ramban offers an alternative understanding. To be holy means not just control ourselves in the realm of that which is not allowed, but it means to become more refined in regards to that which is allowed. For example, there is no prohibition in the Torah against eating Kosher meat and drinking Kosher wine. But that doesn’t mean it is the path of the devout and righteous to gorge on burgers and get trashed all day either – can you picture your favorite Rabbi doing that? Something’s not right. In this view, to be Kadosh means to become diginified, even within what is permitted.

Either way you look at it, Kedoshim Tihiyu is about overcoming the physical as means to achieve more spirituality. Kedoshim teaches us to strive for greater levels of purity. But in this context, this topic is out of place. Let’s explain.

We are taught that titles in Torah-literature carry tremendous significance. The goal of any given title is to encapsulate as much of the content as possible. If this is so, what does Kedoshim’s name have to do with the content of the rest of the Parsha. Bein Adam LeChaveiro is one thing, and my personal Avodas Hashem is another? And even we want to say that they are connected – being as Hashem told us about both – why name a whole Parsha about man and his fellow man after a commandment between man and his Maker?

Perhaps the connection between Bein Adam LeChaveiro and Bein Adam LeMakom is deeper than we thought…

We know that Am Yisrael as a unit achieves a collective Kedusha that is greater than the sum of the maximum potential of each individual. As the Midrash tells us, had one Jew been missing, the Torah would have not been able to be given. Matan Torah (our standing at Mount Sinai) was totally dependant on Achdus (national unity). We needed that one last Jew to push the whole nation over the edge. That’s why the Torah HaKedosha can only be given when Am Yisrael is in a state of K’Ish Echad B’Lev Echad (A whole nation standing unified as a single body with one heart). The word Yisrael is an acronym for the term Yesh Shishim Ruba Osios LaTorah – ‘There are Six Hundred Thousand (root) letter in the makeup of the Torah.’ And while each letter, each verse, each concept carries intrinsic holiness – it’s not considered a valid Torah scroll until every single letter is present. When it comes to the holiness of Jews, as the saying goes: “The total is greater than the sum of the parts.”

Therefore it follows that in as much as a person is connected to the Achdus of Am Yisrael he will be able to achieve higher and higher levels of personal spiritual achievement.

The perfect example is Aharon HaKohen. Aharon, the Kohen Gadol is synonymous for the apex of our discussion, namely Kedusha. He is the only one allowed into, and also synonymous with the Kodesh HaKodashim, the sacred inner sanctum of the Mishkan, the Holy of Holies. And yet, what does Chazal say about him? He was busy all day creating peace in the home. By intensifying his relationship with other Jews, his relationship with God strengthened automatically. The Mishna which tells how to be (in principle) a student of Aharon tells us, to be Ohev Es HaBrios U’MeKarvam LaTorah, ‘Love all the creation and bring them close to the Torah.’

And now we understand the depth of it: only when is via a path of love to all creations can a closeness with the Torah be generated.

With this we also understand the teaching of Chazal that when one is Noach LaBrios (sweet to the creations) it is a sign that he is also Noach L’Boro (sweet in the eyes of his Creator).

The same concept explains the Midrash that tells us how to be like Hashem. The Passuk that we started with tells us, Kedoshim Tihiyu – Ki Kadosh Ani Hashem Elokeichem - “You shall be holy, for I, Your God am Holy.” But what is God’s holiness, and how do we imitate it. With this Chazal say Ma Hu Rachum Af Atah Rachum, Ma Hu Chanun Af Atah Chanun - ‘Just like He is Merciful, so too shall you be merciful. Just as He is Gracious, so too shall you be gracious.’ Merciful and gracious are attributes that fall under the category of Bein Adam LeChaveriro! The Torah is telling us that closeness to God is dependant on closeness to our fellow Jew.

And to drive it home, Rav Moshe Wolfson brings down that the Gematria (numerical value) of the phrase V’Ahavta Es Hashem Elokecha ‘And you shall love Hashem your God’ (511), is the same as Passuk in this week’s Parsha, V’Ahavta L’Reiacha KaMocha Ani Hashem ‘Love your fellow as you love yourself, I am God’ (also 511).

Now we can understand why Kedoshim Tihiyu is read at Hakel, and why a Parsha about Bein Adam LeChaveiro is named after a Mitzvah which is Bein Adam LeMakom.

It’s now clear that the most opportune time to read Kedoshim , to learn about what Rashi and the Ramban said above is when we have all of the Jews in one place. A moment with such an atmosphere of K’Ish Echad is the time that we learn on an intrinsically deeper level about how to be closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu.

It is only through devotion to Klal Yisrael that a person will succeed as an individual. Many Mitzvos are proceeded with the small prayer entitled L’Sheim Yichud - that they will be accepted and accomplish the various spiritual tasks that they are meant to do. Every L’Sheim Yishud ends the same way, “B’Sheim Kol Yisrael” – and I’m doing this in the name of all Jews. Because when my Mitzvah has the whole Jewish nation standing behind it, it’s infinitely more powerful.

HaKadosh Baruch Hu should give us a Bracha that our hearts are filled with nothing but love for other Jews and the world at large. He should energize us with the excitement that we need to jump at the opportunity to help some out. When we tap into a mindstate the pushes us to connect to other Jews, it will inevitably lead to a stronger connection to Hashem. If we can do this there is ono doubt that we will live lives of Simcha and Shleimus, moving closer to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!

Terumah: Monkey See, Monkey Do

The Ari’Zal teaches us that the first six weeks of Sefer Shemos are specifically infused with energy and inspiration that bring a person to Teshuva. The Passuk says - Shuvu Banim Shovavim! - Repent you sons, you wild-ones! The Hebrew word for ‘wild-ones’ is Shovavim, which serves as the Rashei Teivos, an acrostic for titles of the first six Parshios of Sefer Shemos. Shemos Vaera Bo Beshalach Yisro Mishpatim.

But this year, things are a little bit different. This year is a Shana Me’uberes, a year with a double-Adar (This Shabbos Kodesh we enter into the first of them). Beis Din set up a system in which every few years an extra month is added into the calendar to ensure that solar, seasonal calendar matches up with the series of months, as the are enumerated by the lunar calendar.

In a year which is a Shana Me’uberes, and has in it an extra Adar, two more weeks are added into Shovivim, turning it into Shovivim-Tat. ‘Tat’ stands for Terumah-Tetzaveh which are the names of the two weeks which are added.

But why? Why do we need to add two weeks to Shovivim just because the year is a little longer? The answer is brought to us by the Heilige Reb Tzadok HaKohen Mi’Lublin.

Why do we need to insert the extra month in order to fix the calendar in the first place? Why didn’t Hashem just line them up from the start? The answer is that He did, but as the Midrash tells us, in the start of creation the moon was out of line and so it was decreased in size, thus decreasing what it could accomplish in the course of twelve months, making it lag behind its greater, more powerful counterpart – the sun. Every few years the moon falls so far behind that it risks throwing the whole cycle off. For this reason we add more strength to the moon – we add a month to its cycle – in order to match it up with the sun.

Says Reb Tzadok, a year where such a thing occurs contains within it a taste of the word to come, when the moon will be restored, and the two cycles – lunar and solar – will line up once again. This added strength is a symbol of the Teshuva that moon is doing over the course of history in order to overcome its original limitation. Thus a Shana-Me’uberes is a year which is naturally filled with a greater potential for Teshuva overall, and therefore it is very fitting that Shovivim be extended.

But why extend Shovivim specifically into Chodesh Adar? And why specifically into the Parshios that deal wit the building of the Mishkan? What about this month, and these Parshios makes it an extra special occasion to make tremendous leaps of growth in our Avodas Hashem?

Let’s explore.

We are taught that every month has a specific letter from which it is emanating from. The spiritual potential of any given month is being formed from the essence of the letter which is appointed over it. The letter of Chodesh Adar is Kuf.

The Zohar does not have positive things to say about Kuf. Says the Zohar, the letter Hei represents the Shechina, which is compared to an Eishes Chayil, a Woman of Valor. And what is Kuf? Kuf is a cheap counterfeit. A Harlot. She dresses pretty, she’s got the moves but she lacks class. If Hei represents the Shechina, which is all the good vibes and energies in one place, the Kuf is the Sitra Achra, the Yetzer HaRa, the center of all impure and negative energy in the universe.

Why does Kuf represent the cheap imitation? The Zohar goes on to tell us that Kuf comes from the language of the word Kof, which means monkey. You can take an elaborate dance routine and more or less teach it to monkey. But what are you going to get? Are you going to get a sharp, exacting run-through of the moves? No. It’s going to be a sloppy, dumbed down version of the original plan.

Says the Sfas Emes, this ‘monkey-see monkey-do’ trick is how the Yetzer HaRa gets me to mess up. My soul desires greatness. I’m destined for big things, to make waves. But my Yetzer HaRa takes that very desire for greatness in the realm of holiness and ruins it. So in the end I just have an ego. My soul desires a personal intimate relationship with HaKadosh Baruch Hu. This desire for closeness, this longing for relationship gets Kof’ed-out by the Yetzer HaRa and I end up with all of my lustful desires. In essence all of my bad traits are rooted in a good place, but the power of Kof takes them, twists them and serves them back to me as negative, temping urges.

But there is a Kof, the power of imitation, that is rooted in a very holy place as well. And in truth, it is the aimof all of Teshuva and the goal of all Avodas Hashem. It’s brought down that Every time I do a Mitzvah I’m really doing two Mitzvos. Why? Because every time a Mitzvah is done, I’m also doing the Mitzvah of ‘V’Halachta B’Drachav’ – to imitate God’s ways. Every Mitzvah is another piece of advice how to be more godly. We say this in many ways. Chazal tell us ‘Mah Hu Rachum, Af Atah Rachum.’ – Just as He is merciful, so too shall you be merciful. ‘Mah Hu Chanun, Af Atah Chanun’ – Just as He is gracious, so too shall you be gracious. We are playing copy-cat with God!

Just like the Passuk says in Parshas Kedoshim, “Kedoshim Tihiyu, Ki Kodesh Ani Hashem Elokeichem” - ‘You shall be holy, for I your God, am holy.’ What’s the motivation for being holier? Ki Kadosh Ani! Be holy because it makes you more like God!

And it’s all summed up by the Gemara in Bava Basra (58:a) which says that ‘Adam B’Fnei Shechina? K’Kof B’Fnei Adam. What does man look like in front of the Shechina? He looks like a monkey who stands before a man. We are trying to imitate all that which is holy, because that brings holiness into our very being.

The Ohr HaGanuz explains how the building of the Mishkan embodies this idea.

The Parsha opens up by Hashem listing off all the materials need to building the Mishkan. ‘I want your gold, silver, bronze. I need wood. Lots of wood. Cloth, dyes, and hides. We’re building something amazing here.’ Moshe looks at the list and God finishes off by saying, ‘Take a look at all this stuff, because with this - Va’Asu Li Mikdash V’Shachanti B’Socham - through the building of the Mishkan I will come to dwell in the very beings that make up the Jewish people.

But then, between the lines of the Psukim, Moshe Rabbeinu asks a question to Hashem: How is this stuff going to make you dwell in the Jewish people, in the essence of every single Jew?

So God answers back with another question, “I have a better question. Instead of asking how I’ll make Myself fit into the heart of every Jew, ask how I can fit My presence into the Mishkan! You can ask an ever better question. I’m infinite. Nothing else is infinite. How I do I fit in the heavens? How I do I cram myself into any of the levels of any of the spiritual universes! Nothing is big enough to contain Infinite! The answer is a constrict Myself, I hold back infinitude because I want to be with you. And if I can crunch Myself down through the supernal dimensions. I can also cram Myself into the heavens, and I can bring my presence into the world, and I can concentrate My Presence into a building.” And so the Passuk says, “K’Chol Asher Ani Ar’eh Oscha” – Just like I will show you – “Eis Tavnis HaMishkan, V’Eis Tavnis Kol Keilav - The structure of the dwelling place. Which one? Shochen Bamromim! – I’ll show you that if I can fit in there, in all of those worlds. - V’Chein Ta’asu - That’s how you’ll do it. That’s how you’ll fit my presence into the small physical space called the Mishkan. If I can do that, it’s no big leap to believe - V’Shachanti B’Socham, B’Chol Echad V’Echad.
that I can bring my presence into to bodies of the Jewish people as well.

And so building the Mishkan shows us that God can bring His presence, He can influence any space that invites Him in. This is how my Rebbe Rav Yoel Rackovsky Shlita understands the Passuk in Shir HaShirim. The Passuk says ‘Mashcheini Acharecha Narutzah’ – The Jewish people ask Hashem, Mashcheini - Pull us after You and we’ll come running! Says my Rebbe, Mashcheini can be interpreted to mean ‘Turn me into a Mishkan!’ Infuse me with Hashem’s presence!

This is what Chodesh Adar is all about! Adar’s whole essence is about bringing Hashem’s presence into our lives. To become influence by Him. To become more Godly ourselves. Adar is coming from the term Adir BaMarom Hashem - Hashem is awesome in the highest places. But He takes all that awe and brings it down. Adar spells out the phrase ‘Alef-Dar’ – The Alef dwells. Who is the Alef? Alufo Shel Olam! The Commander of the universe, Hashem! In Adar Hashem comes down, now more that ever, to come and infuse us, to enrich our lives with godliness.

We are striving to be more like Hashem. To be holy, to sanctified, to be actively bringing the world to a better place. This is what godliness is. This is what the Mishkan is all about. This is what Adar is all about. This is nothing less dramatic than what the goal of all Avodas Hashem is about. So in a year like a Shana Me’uberes, a year laden with such potential, is it not fitting to pull Shovivim into themes like this?!

Hashem should give us a Bracha that we should be able to take advantage of the tremendous opportunity that is upon us right now. We should be Zoche to truly maximize ourselves, to become Godly people - V’Shachanti B’Socham, B’Chol Echad V’Echad. Because if we can do that there is no doubt that we live lives of Simcha and Shleimus moving closer to the Creator and ultimately the Geulah Sheleimah!