Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim

A well-known quote of the poet H.N. Bialek says, “Reading the Bible in translation is like kissing your new bride through a veil.” This idea, whether Bialek was the originator or not, is a powerful concept to keep in mind when studying Torah. How does it pertain to the weekly Torah portion?

This week we read the double parashah Acharei Mot-Kedoshim. Acharei Mot describes life after the death of two of Aharon’s four sons, and then the Torah turns its gaze to Kedoshim, which is a “holiness code” – a series of laws that ensures the people will be holy. Among its beautiful injunctions, we are commanded:

 

“קדושים תהיו, כי קדוש אני ה’”

Alternatively: “You shall be holy,” “You must be holy,” or “Be holy!”

Each of these translations is meaningfully different. “You shall” – regardless of our actions? “You must” – a demand, an aspiration. “Be holy!” – a plea; and do so “because I, Hashem, am holy.”

Logistically, we are left wondering, how can a human be holy? And importantly, what does it mean to be like God?

Each morning we begin our Shacharit Tefilah with a warm-up, such as Mah Tovu, and then begin in earnest with Birkot Hashachar (The Morning Blessings), which features a list of more than a dozen points that we grant to God and identify God as being ברוך (Blessed) for having done them/doing them. Among this august list: lifting up the downtrodden, freeing the captives, clothing the naked, and providing Israel with bravery. 

The Talmud, in Sota 14b, clarifies: We are then meant to follow in God’s paths, mimicking the divine to become better people. Following God’s example, we can clothe the naked, as God did for Adam and Eve in the garden of Eden. Similarly, we can/should/must visit the sick, as God did for Avraham. The Gemara outlines several such instances wherein we are called upon to be “like God” and, in doing so, make the world a better place and ourselves better people.

אמר רבי חמא ברבי חנינא: מאי דכתיב (דברים יג: ה) 

אחרי יי אלהיכם תלכו וכי אפשר לו לאדם להלך אחר שכינה?

אלא להלך אחר מדותיו של הקב”ה.  

Rabbi Hama said in the name of Rabbi Hanina
Is it possible to walk with God?
Rather, what is meant is to follow God’s example. 

This week, I had the pleasure of leading tefilah in the fifth grade. I began each day by asking fifth-grade students to finish the following sentence: “Because I am like God (בצלם אלו-קים) I can…” and asked them to refer to Birkot Hashachar to see what we say about God. Impressively, students readily identified “freeing the captives” and “giving clothes to the naked” as tasks that are upon us. Why then do we start our day by identifying these tasks? As one student shared, “It’s a to-do list.”

 

Rabbi Heschel z”l is quoted as saying, “Prayer may not save us. But prayer may make us worthy of being saved.” What then is the purpose of Birkot Hashachar? To orient our lives to making the world a better place through our actions. 

And how does one go about fulfilling the commandment of being holy or striving for holiness? Engagement. It is incumbent on every person to consider the power available to them, and, with all of their time, energy, and resources, to lift up others.

Shabbat Shalom.