SPECIAL SECTION Are We Still a HOLY NATION? Illustration by Caryl by Herzfeld Illustration

When you lived in the rocky cave, there did you acquire your splendor and your beauty (From the poem Bar Yochai by Shimon Lavi).

My Lord, before I was created I was not worthy (Ne’ilah Amidah). All of historical time prior to my birth there was surely no need for me, for if there had been a cosmic purpose for my presence, I would have been created earlier. It must be that the need for me arose just when I was created, for the time has come for me to fulfill something which the cosmos requires for its consummation (Olat Riyah, HaRav Kook).

The Jewish people is in the throes of an ongoing It is therefore all the more essential that we main- dilemma: on the one hand we are enjoined to be a holy tain Jewish standards of proper speech and proper people (Exodus 19:6), which is our very raison d’etre. action to prevent our succumbing to the temptations On the other hand, we live in the midst of a culture of the dominant culture. We need to be more, rather which glorifies actions and values in direct opposition than less scrupulous about halachic standards which to sanctity and modesty. Certainly our life purpose is serve as a bulwark against challenges to our values linked up with our own generation with all its defects. system; we need to combat coarseness with an ever It is inconceivable that we fulfill our purpose by total greater emphasis on refinement. We also need to withdrawal and total segregation from our surround- seize the moments of sanctity and intensify the ings. Surely it is our challenge and obligation to over- moments of withdrawal. Thus, for example, we must come and transform rather than retreat. prepare for the Sabbath with greater care and thus Yet our involvement makes us vulnerable to the derive so much more from the day itself. We need to crudities and temptations of the dominant culture. associate much more with those individuals who Can we remain unaffected by the shocking coarse- themselves reflect sanctity. All of this will enable ness of media speech, the rampant defamation of each of us to experience God in our daily lives and character and slander and the decline of business reach the spiritual core within ourselves. integrity and honesty? The recent question of coed We have asked a group of individuals who are them- dormitories highlighted the precarious quandaries selves involved in bringing the sanctity of to our with which our generation is presented in struggling generation to explore from their different perspectives to maintain its position as a Holy Nation. how we can indeed continue to be a holy nation.

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION Are We Still a HOLY NATION? Shattering the Idols: The Struggle for Holiness in a Secular Age By Jonathan Sacks

The past two centuries have been, for journey, a flight, a relocation, an This has been the way of the classic , a time of trauma for which it escape. We are still strangers to this yeshivot and most Chasidic groups, would be hard to find a precedent since new world. sometimes called “segregationist the days of ancient Rome. They began in To all this, there have been two Orthodoxy.” A holy people in this hope and ended in nightmare. European extreme reactions. One is to say that in sense is one that steps aside from the emancipation and enlightenment her- essence nothing has changed. The rushing stream of history, an intima- alded an era of equality. The rule of rea- Messiah has not come. We are not liv- tion of eternity in the midst of time, a son would conquer ancient prejudice ing in atchalta d’geulah or even sefah nation that, regardless of what is hap- and offer Jews an honored place as citi- d’galut, either the beginning of pening in the world outside, stays zens of Europe. It was a promise unful- redemption or the end of exile. Anti- faithful to its eternal mandate. That is filled. Instead—beginning with the Semitism has not disappeared; it has pogroms that broke out across Russia in merely been transposed from Europe 1881 and culminating in the Shoah— to the Middle East, from Christianity Never have we Jews found themselves subject to a to Islam and from hostility to Jews to hatred that knew no bounds. hostility to a Jewish state. The world been freer to be Then, a mere three years later, the continues on its accustomed path. State of was proclaimed, and Global peace has not broken out since Jews, but rarely with it the enactment of the prophetic the collapse of the Soviet Union. If dream of the return of a people to its anything, the Cold War has been suc- have we faced a land. Tragedy and triumph followed ceeded by a new international instabili- one another with such intensity and ty marked by regional and ethnic con- culture more speed that, to this day, we remain flicts, intractable and fierce. unsure of the meaning of these events. Nor has there been the dawn of a antithetical to Jewish life was dislocated and trans- more spiritual age. The culture of the formed. Hardly a today— liberal democracies of the West is the values of Ashkenazi or Sefardi, in Israel or out- relentless in its secularity. So our task side—has been unaffected. Somewhere today is what, according to this under- …. in most of our family histories, in the standing of Judaism, it always was—to past three generations, is the story of a be holy, meaning to be set apart a position with deep roots in our tra- removed from the culture that sur- dition and it has its own manifest Rabbi Professor Sacks is chief rabbi of rounds us, practicing our ancient voca- integrity. What is more, it works. It the United Hebrew Congregations of tion, keeping mitzvot, learning Torah has been precisely this sector of Jewish Great Britain and the Commonwealth. and sustaining strong communities. life that has most successfully sus- Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION tained itself against the inroads of may turn out to be progress into the assimilation and secularization. abyss. There was, however, another view. Are We Still a Post- is marked by an This argued that something qualitative HOLY awareness of the limits of reason. It is had changed in the Jewish situation. NATION skeptical of the Enlightenment project With the birth of the State of Israel, ? of uncovering rational foundations to the Jewish people had re-entered histo- human knowledge. It is distrustful of ry. They had acquired, to a degree has done quite enough if he saves him- morality, meaning and meta-narrative. unknown in 2,000 years, a capacity for self and at most his own household.” It finds no sense in the word “progress,” collective self-determination. Not only Instead he is “in lively connection with the certainty that some states of affairs had the prophetic dream been fulfilled; everything and everybody,” actively are objectively better than others. the very world in which the prophets engaging with the wider society and These doubts have wrought chaos in worked—the world of politics and providing it with a compelling moral our social life. Marriage is no longer a power—had come to life again, and vision. Or as Rav Kook put it, more socially sanctioned ideal. The stable with it a range of spiritual and ethical mystically and ambitiously, the rays nuclear family is becoming not a norm challenges that had remained dormant emanating from the life of the mitzvot but a rarity. The bonds of community since the days of Malachi. were like tzitzit on the garment of cul- have become attenuated. We prefer, in The Diaspora too had changed, partly ture, bringing to the surface its hidden Robert Putnam’s phrase, to go “bowl- because, having a home in the Robert dimension of holiness. ing alone.” We are living, for the first Frost sense (“the place where, when you It is fair to say that this essentially time in two millennia, in an age of have to go there, they have to let you radical individualism and libertarian- in”) Jews everywhere had the potential Many today ism, the condition that Sefer Shoftim refuge they lacked for so long. Partly too describes as ish hayashar b’einav ya’aseh, the change lay in the nature of contem- rightly feel that “each doing what is right in his own porary liberal democracies. No longer eyes.” This presents Jews with a para- driven by the nineteenth century ideolo- the risk of doxical situation. Never have we been gy of the nation-state as a single culture, freer to be Jews, but rarely have we they became more culturally pluralist exposing faced a culture more antithetical to the and diverse. Jews no longer had to pre- values of Judaism, not superficially but tend to be other than they were. A plu- our children to at its very roots. ralist culture gives us the space to be Under such circumstances, not only ourselves. the Madonna- segregationist Jews feel estranged from The range of responses to this situa- the world around them. So too do tion—broadly labeled “Modern MTV culture is Jews who grew up believing in integra- Orthodoxy”—drew on a variety of tion. In words that resonate with our sources of inspiration, above all on the just too great. time, the Rambam wrote in Hilchot work of Rav Shimshon Raphael Dei’ot: Hirsch, Rav Kook, and Rav Joseph B. optimistic vision reached its heights in It is natural to be influenced, in senti- Soloveitchik. Under the rubric of the 1960s. Since then it has been sig- ments and conduct, by one’s neighbors Torah im Derech Eretz, Torah u’Madda, nificantly muted. Israel has not made and associates, and observe the customs of or Torah v’Avodah, proponents of peace with the Palestinians. It remains one’s fellow citizens…. So, if one lives in Modern Orthodoxy anticipated a new isolated and exposed. Nor did secular a country where the customs are perni- synthesis, or at least a creative tension, culture prove receptive to the moral cious and the inhabitants do not go in between Torah and contemporary cul- message of Judaism. Indeed, the liberal the right way, he should leave for a place ture. Drawing on the prophetic rather democracies of the West have passed where the people are righteous and follow than the priestly sensibility within beyond modernity, with its faith in rea- the ways of the good. If all the countries Judaism, they understood the concept son, science and progress, into post- of which he has personal knowledge, or of a holy people as one that does not modernity, the culture of disillusion- concerning which he hears reports, follow stand aside from its surrounding cul- ment. Reason failed to cure prejudice. a course which is not right—as is the case ture. Instead it seeks to sanctify the Science, far from saving the world, in our times…he should live by himself secular, recasting it in the fires of threatens its very future, whether by in seclusion, as it is said, “Let him live kedushah. As Rav Hirsch put it, a nuclear weaponry, environmental dam- alone and keep silence” (Lam. 3:28). tzaddik b’toch ha'ir, a righteous person age or genetic manipulation. Progress, It was just this conclusion that was within the city, “is not one who keeps as Robert Bellah memorably said, reached by the contemporary non- to his own four walls…who thinks he seems less compelling an ideal when it Jewish philosopher Alasdair MacIntyre

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION in his great work, After Virtue. Are We Still a visual arts, sport and the cult of the Comparing our time with the decline body. As in ancient Greece, euthanasia, of the Roman Empire and the subse- HOLY abortion and even infanticide (by the quent Dark Ages, he writes: NATION? philosopher Peter Singer) are being A crucial turning point in that earlier openly advocated. Quality of life is history occurred when men and women replacing the sanctity of life as a deci- of good will turned aside from the task readily compatible. The world outside sion-factor in medical ethics. Popular of shoring up the Roman imperium and home, school and shul does not con- entertainment (Star Wars and the like) ceased to identify the continuation of firm, instead it directly challenges, the has moved from the moral seriousness civility and moral community with the constitutive values of Judaism. Jewish of the novels of Dickens and Tolstoy to maintenance of that imperium. What education must go deeper and the the realm of myth. Indeed the meta- they set themselves to achieve instead— experiential dimensions of Judaism physics of post-modernity—the expand- often not recognizing fully what they must become more intense, if we are ing universe, the global economy, the were doing—was the construction of to give our children a moral-spiritual “blind watchmaker” and the “selfish new forms of community within which compass by which to chart their way gene”—is essentially mythological, the moral life could be sustained so that meaning a world governed by multiple, both morality and civility might survive conflicting forces each of which is fun- the coming ages of barbarism and dark- The world damentally indifferent to mankind. In ness. If my account of our moral condi- outside home, such an age it is not surprising that the tion is correct, we ought also to conclude dominant philosophies are hedonism that for some time now we have reached school and shul and stoicism, the archetypal Greek that turning point. What matters at this responses to an essentially tragic world. stage is the construction of local forms of does not confirm, Such an age needs a Jewish voice. I community within which civility and do not believe that Judaism contains a the intellectual and moral life can be instead it directly message for Jews alone. Such a view sustained through the new dark ages runs counter to the statement of which are already upon us. challenges, the Moses: “Observe [these laws] carefully, The traces of this awareness are visible for this is your wisdom and under- throughout contemporary Orthodox constitutive values standing in the eyes of the nations, life. Parents who felt drawn to Modern who will hear about all these decrees Orthodoxy or Religious have of Judaism. and say, ‘Surely this is a wise and begun sending their children to understanding people.’” It conflicts schools and yeshivot of a more segre- in the wilderness of secular time. with the promise, made repeatedly in gationist character. The center no Does this mean, though, that Bereishit, that through the covenantal longer holds. Many today rightly feel Judaism has nothing to say to the people all the families, or nations, of that the risk of exposing our children world outside? Quite the opposite. the earth will be blessed. There is a to the Madonna-MTV culture is just Precisely now are we called on to take mystery here that our age calls on us to too great. Nor is it, as it once was, a up our classic vocation as the counter- decipher. What is the telos, the point of youth or counter-culture. It pervades voice in the conversation of mankind. Jewish existence? What, in a global everything from the great university In 1869 Matthew Arnold published a context, does it mean to be a “king- campuses to the American and Israeli book, Culture and Anarchy. In it he dom of priests and a holy nation”? Supreme Courts. Western civilization identified the two shaping influences Judaism is structurally unique. The has moved from what was once called on , which he called God of Israel is the God of all the the Judeo-Christian ethic to a con- Hebraism and Hellenism, the legacies world, but the faith of Israel is not the sumer-driven, choice-fixated culture respectively of ancient Israel and faith of all the world. Judaism is the without norms, ideals or shared values ancient Greece. In his high Victorian rarest of religious phenomena, a par- beyond the sovereign self, the freedom day he felt that society was leaning too ticularist monotheism. Insufficient to be whatever one chooses, and to do far toward Hebraism. It had too much thought has been given, in our tradi- whatever does not immediately harm moral rectitude, too little room for the tion, to what this might imply for our others. Such a world is not chol but free play of the imagination. relationship with the wider world. chiloni, not secular but secularist. It is Today it would be fair to say that our There is a reason for this: Judaism was impermeable to the values of kedushah. situation is exactly the reverse. Our not and never will be a missionary This must force us to reconsider the post-modern situation is dangerously faith. Jews did not feel impelled to relationship between Judaism and close to that of ancient Greece. The teach their truths to others, nor were Western culture. They are no longer place of religion is being usurped by the they given the chance to do so. For Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION most of our history, our ancestors were person. No civilization has insisted more concerned with more immediate goals, Are We Still a powerfully on the dignity of human life ensuring their own survival, living and the meaningfulness of history as the their way of life and handing it on to HOLY arena of redemption. We must become future generations. Now, however, an NATION? what we were called on to be, God’s opportunity has arisen. In a confused perennial question mark against the con- and chaotic age, the Jewish voice is lis- ventional certainties of the secular mind. tened to, often with immense respect. free to enter any lifestyle but at home in In case anyone should doubt Precisely as the voice of ancient Israel, none, is the human equivalent of chol, the whether this can be done, it can. My which entered the West through person whom describes as “like writings are read, and my broadcasts Puritanism, is being threatened by a chaff blown by the wind.” Society cannot responded to, as much by non-Jews as neo-pagan ethic, we are called on to survive such atomization. No one put this Jews. In the United States last year, a articulate it again, this time not via more eloquently than Edmund Burke in religiously observant Jew was able to Christianity but directly, in the full his Reflections on the Revolution in France. stand as a vice-presidential candidate self-confidence of a faith that has sur- In an anti-traditional culture, he wrote, and win general respect for his strong vived every trial and affirmed life in “The whole chain and continuity of the ethical convictions—again, I suspect, the presence of the angel of death. commonwealth would be broken. No as much from non-Jews as from Jews. The Torah tells a story. Human cul- one generation could link with the The Jewish voice should be heard in ture began in a largely undifferentiated other—and thus the commonwealth itself the public square, speaking what John way. After Babel, however, it split into would, in a few generations, crumble Rawls calls “the language of public rea- a multiplicity of languages, cultures away, be disconnected into the dust and son.” Ralbag (commentary to parshat and faiths. None of these intrinsically powder of individuality, and at length dis- Va’etchanan) is clear on this point: excludes any of the others. None is persed to all the winds of heaven.” “Our Torah is unique among the laws diminished by the existence of the Kedushah in this context means con- and ethics of the nations in that it con- others. Each has something to con- nectedness to the universe beyond the tains nothing that does not flow from tribute to the total project of self, to generations past and future, to a right and reason (hayosher v’habinah). mankind. In this diverse world, the community of meaning, and to a tran- That is why this Divine law draws peo- people Israel is called on to fulfill a scendental reality that links us, ethically ple to it by virtue of its essence so that specific task: to become, in Isaiah’s and existentially, to the totality of being. they behave in accordance with it.” phrase, God’s witnesses, a living exam- Today the liberal democracies of the Let me be clear. I am not advocating ple of what it is to be a nation under West need to hear a Jewish voice speak- the idea of or lagoyim as it was under- the sovereignty of God. From the days ing persuasively of the covenant of mar- stood in the nineteenth century, nor of Avraham and Sarah onward, to be a riage, the sanctity of the family, the Jew is to be an iconoclast, prepared to moral challenge of parenthood. They challenge the idols of the age in every need to hear the Jewish view of commu- ...to be a Jew is age. What might this mean today? nity, collective responsibility, and the The key lies in the word chol. The values of and gemilut chasadim. to be an Hebrew word for “secular” also means We must remind others as well as our- “sand.” Sand is never stable on its own. selves of the importance of education as iconoclast, It shifts and moves; it is swept by the the conversation between the genera- sea and blown by every passing wind. tions, and the school as the citadel of prepared to For chol to be stable it needs vegetation civilization. We should be prepared to challenge the whose roots go deep into the earth and articulate the nuanced, deeply humane whose leaves draw energy from the Jewish view of the sanctity of life and its idols of the sun. That is what kodesh is—our con- implications for medical ethics. We nectedness to the past and our face need to restate our responsibility as age in every age. turned to what is above. Kodesh is the guardians of the natural environment antidote to the rootlessness of chol. for the sake of future generations. as it has often been under- At the heart of contemporary culture is Above all, we must make the case time stood in our day. These phrases were the atomized individual, detached from and again for what ancient Israel heard often interpreted to signify a deracinat- any constitutive commitments to the and what ancient Greece, despite its ed universalism voided of specific con- past, the future, tradition, a set of rela- myriad accomplishments, failed to tent. Judaism is not political correct- tionships, a substantive identity, a sense of understand, namely, the personal reality ness wearing a yarmulke, nor is it binding loyalties. That individual, the of the universe as the work of God in deconstructing our sacred texts so that bearer of rights but not responsibilities, dialogue with His image, the human they coincide with the latest intellectu- Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION al fashion. Nor do I intend a return to authority about community. Only by late a compelling alternative to the pre- Torah im Derech Eretz or Torah intense dedication to can we vailing libertarianism of secular culture. u’Madda if these are taken to imply talk compellingly about education and the It was precisely Abraham, who lived that there is a ready compatibility spiritual significance of the life of the apart from the cities of the plain, who between our faith and the mood and mind. Only by being different can we came to their aid in war and prayer. The mores of the age. There is not. Judaism offer an alternative to the prevailing cul- word Tzion, Zion, meaning something is fundamentally at odds with the tural paradigms. Only by being true to distinctive that stands apart from its sur- assumptions of post-modernity. It is what we are uniquely called on to be, can roundings, is related to the word tziyun, now a counter-culture. we give humanity what only we can give. a signpost, that signals a direction to My argument is nothing less than a To be a Jew is to live particular expressions those who would otherwise be lost. rejection of the paradigm that has domi- of universal truths. Not everyone is called That is our classic vocation; it is now nated Jewish life for two centuries—that on to be a Jew. But everyone is called on our present task. We may succeed, we we are forced to be either universalists to build a social order of justice and com- may fail, but let it not be said that we preaching an ethical message to mankind, passion, freedom and human dignity. As were silent when the West needed to or particularists behind the walls of a self- the Catholic writer Paul Johnson put it, hear our voice. “Whether they listen or imposed ghetto. To the contrary, our par- despite and even because of their different- fail to listen…they will know that a ticularism is our universalism. Only by ness, Jews became “exemplars and epito- prophet has been among them” (Ezekiel creating strong marriages can we argue the mizers of the human condition.” 2:5). A holy people does not fear to case for marriage. Only by sustaining That is why we must both strengthen bring its holiness to the broad shared strong communities can we speak with the institutions of Jewish life and articu- spaces of mankind. JA

Are We Still a HOLY NATION? Too Distracted: Understanding the Lack of Kedushah in Our Lives By Lawrence Kelemen

At Mount Sinai, when God first lives as generally “joyous” or “fulfill- Defining Kedushah and Tumah hinted to us what it would be like to ing.” A tiny minority might go so far What exactly is kedushah? A superficial live Torah lives, He promised: “You as to say that their lives are often survey of Talmudic sources lends the will be a kingdom of priests and a goy “moral” or even “heroic.” But how impression that kedushah is the opposite kadosh—a holy nation.”1 Now, 3,300 many of us feel that significant chunks of tumah. However, this does not clarify years later, what adjectives most accu- of our existence are kadosh—holy? Is it matters much since it is difficult to define rately describe our daily experience? possible that we unknowingly live lives tumah in concrete or practical terms. Many might sum up their existential of kedushah, or are we a generation that offers an extremely helpful clue to reality with terms like “harried” and has begun to lose contact with the very define both terms. In his commentary on “pressured.” A few might describe their essence of what it means to be a Jew? the Torah2, Rashi reveals that God spoke

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION to the gentile prophets using lashon Achieving kedushah seems to be a two- tumah (impure language) but He spoke Are We Still a step process, however. Ramchal explains: to Moses using lashon chibah (affectionate HOLY “Its beginning is labor and its end language). Both chibah (affection) and reward; its beginning is exertion and its kedushah are the opposite of tumah. NATION? end a gift. It begins with one sanctifying Therefore affection and kedushah must be himself and ends with his being sancti- related. Perhaps kedushah is some sort of fied.”12 By actively removing distractions, closeness or intimacy. cation.4 Whenever a human ovum or we create a space in our lives for real inti- Describing the ideal relationship with sperm is discharged separately, instead macy. All we can do is prepare the God, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto of coming together to form a new ground. The closeness that is kedushah— (Ramchal) reinforces this impression. unity, there is tumah.5 When body and be it between man and God, between Writing in the 26th chapter of Messilat soul part, there is tumah.6 human beings, or between body and Yesharim, Ramchal defines kedushah as In a comment far deeper than we soul—is a gift from the Holy One. a state in which a person, “even in the are likely to comprehend, Rabbi midst of performing those physical acts Shlomo Wolbe writes, “Kedushah is the Making Room for a Beloved necessary to sustain his body, never preservation of the unity of the worlds, It is beginning to become apparent strays from the highest intimacy.” and tumah is the ‘troublemaker who why we might feel a lack of kedushah According to Ramchal, kedushah is a separates close-ones.’”7 The reference in our lives. There is not a lot of space state in which there are no distractions. to a “troublemaker who separates for intimacy. There is not a lot of room It is an experience in which a person close-ones” is borrowed from Mishlei,8 for closeness. Never has a generation becomes so fully united with God that and classical commentaries offer vari- been more bombarded with distrac- ous interpretations: according to tions, with troublemakers who separate How many of us Rashi, the “troublemaker” is a gossiper close-ones, in a word, with tumah. who separates himself from God; Sometimes we allow technology to get feel that according to Rabbi Avraham Ibn Ezra, in the way of kedushah. Once upon a time it is men who inspire violence and women only had to battle the television significant cause a breakdown in all social rela- and newspaper for their husbands’ atten- tions; and according to the Vilna tion, and no one would dream of listening Gaon, it is one who destroys a rela- chunks of our to the radio during the chazzan’s repetition. tionship between a man and his wife. Today the Internet holds the attention of existence are According to all, the “troublemaker”— all but the most devoted husbands (and what Rabbi Wolbe defines as tumah— wives), and worshippers routinely scan the kadosh? is distance; implying that its opposite, stocks and headlines on their Palm Pilots kedushah, is closeness. between Kedushah and Kaddish. Cell phones and pagers, ostensibly created to all else is irrelevant. It is the state Creating Intimacy enhance connectivity, follow us into the described by David HaMelech, “My Paradoxically, creating intimacy requires shul, beit , and most private quar- soul clings to You.”3 separation. First we must remove all that If kedushah is intimacy, then its can come between us and our beloved. In ters of our homes, shattering the intimate opposite, tumah, would be distance parshat Kedoshim9 God proposes, “Be my moments that make life worth living. and disconnection. Lashon hara— kedoshim,” and Rashi explains the offer: Sometimes we allow food to get in speech that destroys relationships—is “If you separate yourselves from the other the way of kedushah. We love sweet inherently tamei and during Biblical peoples, then you will be mine.” things; we love fattening things. We use times produced visible leprous lesions Similarly, a man draws a woman close that word without realizing the fright- requiring quarantine and ritual purifi- through kiddushin, a process which for- ening truth it conveys. Too often we bids her to all other suitors.10 According are so distracted by the chocolate chip Rabbi Kelemen’s latest book is To Kindle a to Ramchal,11 we take the first step cookies, that we don’t notice the spouse Soul: Ancient Wisdom for Modern towards personal kedushah by separating who made them for us. Too often we Parents and Teachers (/Feldheim). He ourselves from those physical indulgences are so distracted by the myriad kosher is also the author of Permission to Believe that would distract us from the One we restaurants and products available to and Permission to Receive, translator of love. The common theme in all these ini- us—and the gustatory experience they Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe’s Planting and tial steps towards kedushah is the removal promise—that we don’t notice the real Building: To Raise a Jewish Child, and a of distractions and elimination of interfer- Mashgiach behind the banquet. If only teacher at Women’s ence. Absolute connection requires two we studied the bencher with as much College of Jewish Studies in . surgically sterile surfaces. kavanah as we study the menu.

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION Often we allow clothing, housing, in tiny but consistent steps forward. , this Jewish woman had career, and an endless list of other trou- But we cannot allow ourselves to be never seen kedushah, and it shook her. blemakers to come between us and real distracted by the onslaught of diver- The truth is that virtually every intimacy. Perhaps a normal Jew living in sions we are exposed to throughout our Orthodox Jew has real kedushah in his waking hours and expect to focus the twenty-first century can only experi- or her life. We have . We have simultaneously on a significant other. ence kedushah by stepping back from The pursuit of kedushah doesn’t these distractions. It is possible that the demand that we rid ourselves of cell If only we studied ancient formula for achieving connec- phones and pagers, although it might tion—“Kedoshim tihiyu—Prushim require that we turn them off during 13 the bencher with tihiyu” —never deserved more attention certain crucial hours every day. Used than in this most modern of generations. intelligently, certain technologies, like as much kavanah answering machines and voice-mail ser- A Practical Plan for Achieving vices, can even help create the privacy as we study Kedushah and quiet necessary for kedushah to The sober reality is that we cannot flourish. Breaking our food fascination the menu. have the best of both worlds. Selfish doesn’t require abandoning Chinese cui- indulgence raised to the level of addic- sine or Ben and Jerry’s, but it might help chaggim. During these special times, we tion interferes with closeness. Those to limit such indulgences to Shabbat, withdraw from distractions and try to involved in the treatment of alcoholics, focus more on God and family. narcotics addicts, and compulsive chaggim, and other smachot that help us focus less on the repast and more on limits our culinary indul- overeaters have long known this. We gences, just as shatnez limits the sort of need to create more space and time for God and our loved ones. Many Jews clothing we can purchase. The intricate those whom we want to love. We need already concentrate their clothing pur- to break modernity’s mesmerizing chases in the periods around the halachic systems that we allow to struc- stranglehold so that we can refocus on chaggim; more rigorous adherence to this ture our lives create some time and regimen would free us from ritual put- space for closeness. God told us “You tering around the mall and chronic will be a kingdom of priests and a goy Cell phones and rifling through clothing catalogs and kadosh,” and we often experience the advertising supplements during the fulfillment of that promise. We would pagers, ostensibly interim months. Although we don’t need just like to experience it a bit more. If created to enhance to walk away from a successful career in we make a courageous commitment order to live a life of kedushah, we might today, perhaps next Rosh Hashanah we connectivity, need to make room in our professional will look back on this year and declare: schedules for Shacharit, Minchah, and “Its beginning was labor and its end follow us into the Maariv, daily Torah learning, and per- reward; its beginning was exertion and haps even dinner with the kids. its end a gift. It began with our sancti- shul, beit midrash, This is not an exhaustive or universal- fying ourselves and ended with us ly applicable list of recommendations; being sanctified.” JA and the most nor can all of these be instituted at once. But we could make it a family Notes private quarters to take one small, practical step 1. Shemot 19:6. towards kedushah every Rosh Hashanah. 2. Vayikra 1:1. of our home, The effects of such a minhag over a five 3. Tehillim 69:3. or ten year period are probably beyond 4. Vayikra 13. shattering the anything we can imagine. 5. Vayikra 15. A man becomes tamei even when conception occurs, since most of his sperm is still intimate moments A Holy Nation discharged in a state of “separation.” Several years ago, a secular single 6. Bamidbar 19. that make life woman joined my family for the Shabbat 7. Olam HaYedidut, p. 37, based on com- meal on Friday night. She sat very quietly mentary of Rabbi Menachem Recanati on Shemot 20:14. watching us talk, laugh, and sing. At the worth living. 8. 16:28. end of the evening, she turned to me and 9. Vayikra 20:26. relationships. We don’t necessarily have with burning seriousness asked how I to make sweeping changes in our lifestyle 10. Kiddushin 2b. managed to have such warm relation- 11. Messilat Yesharim, chapter 26. tomorrow. Indeed, almost without ships with my wife and children. Like exception, real spiritual progress happens 12. Ibid. many people growing up at this point in 13.Midrash Torat Cohanim on Vayikra 19:2.

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION Are We Still a HOLY NATION? A Modest Proposal: How Liberates and Enriches By Chana Sosevsky

A sad and poignant commentary on the state of society today is the popu- larity and acclaim of two books regarding the sexualization of society and the objectification of women. In Reviving Ophelia,1 a study about the growing emotional problems of adoles- cent girls today, psychologist Mary Pipher decries the threat to our young- sters based on the spread of what she terms “lookism,” the evaluation of a person on the basis of appearance. Pipher describes how in many American communities, girls are pressured to wear designer clothes, have straight where New Year resolutions in a typical white teeth, beautiful hair and fit into diary in the 1990s could so differ from a size four. Then they read teenage one written in 1890. “Resolved,” writes magazines which tell them, “Don’t a young woman of days gone by, “to worry about feeling good or being think before speaking. To work more good, worry about looking good”(40). seriously. To be self restrained in con- Pipher mourns that “adolescence is versations and actions. Not to let my women from exactly these social pres- when girls experience social pressure to thoughts wander. To be dignified. sures and constraints.3 The halachah is put aside their authentic selves and to Interest myself more in others.” Her designed to make the world relate to a display only a small portion of their more modern sister writes, “I will try to woman as a person and not soley as a gifts” (22). make myself better in any way I possi- female. The laws regarding length of In her book, A Return to Modesty,2 bly can. I will lose weight, get new lens- skirts and sleeves, etc. are a set of Wendy Shalit, a young Williams es, already got new haircut, good make- guidelines which limit the exposure of College graduate, describes similar up, new clothes and accessories” (142). woman’s body, and should serve as a trends on the college campus and in the Let us not delude ourselves that this reminder to her as to how to comport career world. Shalit laments a society phenomenon is limited to secular soci- herself with dignity. ety; we too are affected and influenced Women who see tzniut as an injunc- Dr. Sosevsky teaches in Michlala and by these trends. tion to cover up and hide themselves and is the resident direc- One of the purposes of tzniut (mod- miss the point entirely. Tzniut is tor of Touro College Israel Option. esty) in Jewish society is to liberate meant to de-emphasize the physical in

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION Unfortunately, while many educa- tors stress the benefits of tzniut for a woman vis-à-vis society, they tend to overlook the rewards tzniut brings for a woman vis-à-vis herself. Recently, a student of mine mentioned how impressed she was when one of her teachers taught an entire course on modesty without mentioning men even once. Instead, the teacher focused on modesty as a vehicle for self-respect and a healthy development of a sense of self, avoiding all mention of what many of my students cynical- ly call the “Men Problem.” And yet, how we are seen and treat- ed by members of the opposite sex is important as well. In a recently broad- cast call-in radio program in Israel, a Pipher speaks of guest psychologist and career counselor discussed the frivolous attitude busi- a "protected nessmen generally have towards their female coworkers. The female callers space" in which complained that during crucial busi- women can grow ness meetings male customers would regularly ignore the business agenda and develop a and ask them out. The program hosts repeatedly asked these callers to strong sense of describe in detail the outfit, hairdo and makeup they wore to work. They then self. Halachah advised these women to wear less provocative clothing in order to be seen provides just as business colleagues and not as prospective dates. In the US, where that space. professional dress codes are more con- servative than in Israel, male-female interaction at work tends to be more professional and less sexualized. Interestingly, the guidelines for proper professional attire are very similar to those of tzniut. The one very signifi- order to allow the intellectual and spir- ly relevant in this context. A woman, or cant distinction between the profes- itual aspects of oneself to shine man, for that matter, who dresses sional and Jewish worlds, however, is through. Once women understand appropriately usually acts appropriately. that in the Jewish tradition a woman is this, tzniut becomes a tool and an As a teacher in various women’s seminaries always to be treated with respect. She is advantage, rather than a restrictive ele- in Israel, I’ve often heard my students to be regarded as a personality and a ment in their lives. Pipher speaks of a say that when they used to conform to neshamah, and not as a body. With the “protected space” in which women can the dress codes of their religious high exception of the marriage relationship, grow and develop a strong sense of self schools, they felt restricted; since they halachah strives to de-emphasize the (241). Halachah provides just that were dressing like bnot yisrael, they felt physical side of men and women in space. compelled to act less free and more dig- order to allow for the full expression of The famous injunction of the Sefer nified. Indeed, such dress codes give the human personality. Hachinuch, “Acharei hama'asim young women a more authentic freedom: However, modesty also serves another nimshachim halevavot”4 (our hearts are the freedom to focus on their spiritual purpose. The halachic Jew—man or influenced by our actions) is particular- rather than their superficial selves. woman—is not only concerned with his Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION place within society; he is concerned dress is far more marriageable than with his relationship with God as well. Are We Still a her less slender friend, does that not Modesty is essential to both spheres. HOLY mean that we, the parents, have edu- The most important halachic source for cated our sons to be just that shallow? the laws of modesty is derived from the NATION? Why are we shocked that eating dis- Torah injunction5 “Vehaya machanecha orders are becoming a problem in our kadosh velo yeraeh becha ervat davar community? If our attitudes mirror veshav meachorecha,” (therefore shall thy demanding and that we don’t relin- those of the secular world, so will our camp be holy, that He see no licentious quish certain positive experiences in children’s problems. thing in thee and turn away from the process. Rav Kook, zt”l, in Middot Secondly, it is worthwhile to study the thee).6 Sifri adds, “From here we learn Haraya, provides for a realistic way to philosophy of this so that we can that licentiousness banishes the Divine view the issue: educate our sons and daughters to appreciate Presence.” Similarly, in parshat The attribute of tzniut causes much that tzniut refers to matters that are more Kedoshim (Leviticus 19:1) we find that good in this world, and because of that it than skin deep. A positive attitude towards Rashi links holiness to the absence of is permitted to push away many things these halachot will go a long way in helping forbidden sexuality. Obviously, those in that would have been worthwhile in and us attain halachic correctness with less dis- our community who pursue true holi- of themselves, because man’s weaknesses comfort. I’m always impressed with my stu- ness will be strict in their standards of would cause him to cross the boundaries dents’ happy surprise when we study the modesty. One can therefore understand of tzniut which uphold the existence of responsa in the Igrot Moshe where Rav Kimchit,7 of hair covering fame, who the spiritual and material world. The Moshe Feinstein, zt”l, mentions that hair when asked why she merited having attributes of love and friendship in all its covering is a positive rather than negative seven sons attain the high priesthood, comfortable actions and conversations, commandment for women.9 Perhaps this replied that the hair of her head had should have been equal between the sexes, subtle point in Rav Feinstein’s approach never been exposed before even the but it is because of the great value of should tell us that when it comes to tzniut, walls of her house. Did Kimchit arbi- tzniut that derech eretz is sometimes we should not focus on the negative but trarily choose to excel in modesty and [sic] pushed aside so much so that one rather on the positive and enriching aspects was therefore rewarded with such holy doesn’t even ask about the welfare of a of this mitzvah. JA sons? Or, perhaps she acted so modestly woman. The tzanua person knows that it because she saw herself continually in is not because of the derision of the oppo- Notes the presence of the Divine? Thus, even site sex that he keeps his distance and 1. NY: Ballantine Books, 1994. while caring for her children, preparing erects barriers, but because of the greater 2. NY: Free Press, 1999. 3. Almost any contemporary article or book food or being otherwise involved in goals of tzniut [translation mine]. on tzniut will invariably begin with the dis- mundane tasks, she sensed God’s near- As the Yomim Noraim approach, we should perhaps pause and consider claimer that tzniut is not for women alone ness and as a result, her children grew to and that in its essence it does not deal with some new and different approaches to be unique in their spiritual sensitivity. dress code. The two verses in Tanach which As explained above, modesty is a tzniut. In practical terms, what can refer to tzniut are: “He has told you, man, vehicle for keeping the Shechinah in we do? Firstly, let us keep “lookism” what is good and what the Lord seeks from our midst. Thus, there are those in the at bay in our households. Shalit you, only to act justly, love kindness and walk contemporary Jewish world who are quotes a mother pressuring her 16 modestly (hatzneh lechet) before your Lord” very stringent in their observance of year-old actress daughter, “I wish you (Micha 6:8), and “Those who are private modesty not only to avoid objectifying were more outgoing in the way you (tznuim) will achieve wisdom” (Mishlei, either of the sexes, but more impor- dress” (67). Daniel Goldman, in his 11:2). These verses very obviously do not tantly, to preserve the presence of the popular work, Emotional Intelligence,8 refer to the concept of dress. Moreover, they Shechinah and enhance the overall squarely lays the responsibility on are directed to men and women alike. kedushah of the community. parents to develop empathy in their However, this article focuses on the dress And yet, while tzniut protects and young children by modeling empa- code aspect of tzniut for women. 4. Mitzvah 20. santifies us, it is not an easy mitzvah to thetic responses when the occasions 5. While the halachic parameters of tzniut are keep. Can we honestly say that we do arise. Similarly, in our homes, if we comment on the external appearance based on this verse, Rabbi Pesach Eliyahu not lose out on some aspects of our Falk in Oz Vehadar Levusha (NY: Feldheim, of our family members and friends, self-expression and that we do not sac- 1998) mentions other verses which impact how are children to know that people rifice worthwhile and innocent friend- on different dimensions of tzniut. ships when we adhere to strict halachic are not to be measured and judged by 6. Deuteronomy 23:15. standards of modesty? I think we the way they look? If shadchanim in 7. Cited in Yuma 47a. would be deluding ourselves to think New York and Yerushalayim report 8. London: Bloomsbury Books, 1999. that the laws of tzniut are not that the girl wearing the size four 9. Even Haezer 58.

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION Are We Still a HOLY NATION? An All-Embracing Kedushah By Mayer Schiller

We are repeatedly summoned in the mitzvot is but one aspect of, or con- to the Divine, the ultimate goal of all Torah “to be holy.” The exhortation tributing factor to, our pursuit of holi- our spiritual strivings. features prominently at the begin- ness. From other sources it seems that ning of parshat Kedoshim where it is there is an important negative compo- Kedushah and the World based upon the Creator’s own holiness. nent to this Divine injunction as well. Is this aspiration realistic for the Jew We are to be “holy” for He is “holy.”1 In a well-known disagreement, Rashi who is not immersed in full time Torah In addition to this bold imperative, we and Ramban offer two definitions of study? Can he too escape “desire” and are also informed by the Torat Kohanim kedushah that point us in the direction cleave to the Creator? Most important- that “by making ourselves holy it is of this other factor. The former sees it ly for many of our readers, what is the considered as if we have rendered the primarily as the avoidance of lust and pursuit of holiness to those who value Creator holy.”2 Indeed, the final sexual sin. The latter broadens the com- the totality of creation as it reveals itself expression of this concept in the mandment to forbid luxury and excess in knowledge, beauty and human expe- parshah 3 links the pursuit of holiness of any kind and demands that we do rience and who see work as possessing to the division between the Jewish this in order that “we be worthy to other than functional value? In sum, is nation and the rest of mankind: “And attach ourselves to Him when we are there a contradiction between the pur- you shall be to Me holy for I, Hashem, holy.” What emerges from the forego- suit of holiness—involving as it does a am holy; And I will separate you from ing is that both the meticulous obser- strenuous shunning, not only of the the nations to be for Me.” Thus, we are vance of halachah and the shunning of explicitly evil, but the sensual, needless first to sanctify ourselves. By so doing, this-worldly desires, (certainly those and frivolous as well—and the notions we attach ourselves as a people to the forbidden but extending even to the of Torah im Derech Eretz and Torah Creator who, in some manner, is ren- permissible if pursued with inappropri- u’Madda, tikkun olam and active dered sacred by the process. ate and distasteful zeal) create kedushah. engagement with the marketplace in This is the formulation of Rav Elyahu pursuit of a dignified living? (Our con- Definition of Holiness Vedesh in Reishit Chochmah where he cern is, at present, only with those What is this oft cited, but seldom explains at length that fleeing evil and whose Torah commitment is firm in all defined, quality (kedushah) that figures doing good creates within us the ability four volumes of the so centrally in our Jewish spiritual to receive holiness from Above. It is a and follow its strictures even when they agenda? How can we, physical crea- Divine response to our actions. conflict with comfortable citizenship in tures living in this world, in a decided- Holiness is a Divine quality of soul the secular cities of modernity.) Must ly intolerant, secular age (at least in which people are granted in proportion the practitioners of these broader paths and North America), to their devotion to the above dual in God’s service exhibit less zeal for the achieve, what seems to be, a most lofty agenda.4 Thus, kedushah cannot be holiness-agendas outlined in Reishit ideal? In parshat tzitzit we are told that achieved if we are to be lax in the prac- Chochmah, Chareidim, Shaarei “remembering” and “performing” the tice of any area of Torah, regardless of Kedushah, Shelah and earlier and later Divine commandments yield some that area’s importance in our own partic- works? On the contrary, it seems that standard of holiness. Yet, surely even ular version of Orthodoxy. The kadosh is the reverse need be true. These paths, the most punctilious observance of focused on God, not communal accep- by virtue of their engagement with the tance. In Rav ’s non-explicitly spiritual manifestations Rabbi Schiller is a maggid at formulation, the kadosh is seeking an of existence, create the need for more University High School for Boys “attribute of My essence.”5 The result powerful spiritual filter systems and far in Manhattan. of the pursuit of kedushah is attachment greater discipline of mind and soul

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION than do those of the Torah-only inkling of the demanding task of the and evil. To pursue the good, or to worlds, if they are to realize the goal of servant of God who seeks to pursue uplift the neutral in existence, requires kedushah. Those who venture along Him, who seeks kedushah, even outside constant attention to filtering out the these paths need a clear and unyielding of the confines of the beit midrash. bad. The lust and luxury that Rashi commitment to avoid the occasion of Is all this way beyond the reach of and Ramban see as holiness’ primary sin, impurity and heresy, while coinci- the “average Jew”? Actually, Rav Moshe enemies, must be fearlessly defined and dentally seeking that which uplifts and Isserles makes it the very basis of the ruthlessly defeated before higher levels can be uplifted from the world. Code of Jewish Law, when he quotes may be aspired to. This demands the extensively from the conclusion of ability to say “no,” even when that Kedushah-Consciousness of the Rambam’s Moreh Nevuchim in his “no” leads to social opprobrium. Divine opening paragraph: “We are to con- Indeed, it is the same Rambam who The Nefesh haChayim points in the direction of this greater devotion when he posits6 that the exemption from devakut granted during Torah study doesn’t extend to the pursuit of one’s liveli- hood. There the mind should allow for the mingling of “work thoughts” with those of Torah and holiness. As Rambam writes:7 “The intellect which emanates from God is the link that joins us to God. You have it in your power to strengthen that bond if you choose to do so or weaken it.” This focus on the Divine is achieved, continues the Morning Light by Ferenc Flamm* Rambam, by absolute concentration, during Torah study and prayer, upon the stantly think about being in God’s pursued God through the philosophi- meaning of the words we speak. Then, presence.” This awareness should cause cal and scholarly speculations of his after having linked ourselves to these us to be overwhelmed with “humility” generation who is the most adamant twin sources of spiritual sustenance we and “fear [of Him].”All this is probably about the need to flee the negative are to occupy our minds during free more easily achieved within the con- influence of cultures, individuals and moments “when alone by oneself or fines of Torah only-ism. However, it is even family members who embrace awake on your couch with the intellec- the belief of many, this writer included, evil.9 Thus, there would seem to be lit- tual worship of God to approach Him that given the bounty and beauty of tle room on the agenda of the Torah and serve Him.” Eventually, devoted creation, the diversity of mankind and u’Madda or Torah im Derech Eretz oved study and prayer and occupying one’s the insights and marvels of man’s cre- for almost all of contemporary popular mind during “free moments” with ativity, that the Torah-only approach culture. Obviously there are exceptions. thoughts of love, fear of and attach- does not lead to a kedushah that is l’me- Our concern is with the norm. The ment to God will enable a man to real- hadrin. It denies far too much of the foundation stone of God’s service is the ize a stage when “while speaking with Creator’s handiwork. How then to pur- truth of Torah. The seeker of kedushah others, or attending to our bodily sue God’s world given its disfigurement would have no tolerance for the assort- wants, our mind is all that time with at the hands of so many, Jews and ed Jewish heresies that today confuse so God; when our heart is constantly near Gentiles, over recent centuries? First, many of our people. Nevertheless, he God, even while our body is in the one must clearly understand the para- would have love for those of our society of men.”8 This, then, is an meters of faith and heresy, and of good brethren captured by toxic doctrines.

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION Tikkun Olam Rambam has it in Sefer haMitzvot, “to qualities, should work on his inner Yet, we are summoned to spread the publicize the faith of God in the self; and he should train quietly in a boundaries of kedushah beyond our- world.”10 Among his natural allies manner known only to himself.”11 selves. Indeed, as we recite three times would be like-minded Gentiles of all However, the impact of kedushah is daily in Alenu, we must “repair the cultures, whether or not they be felt by all who encounter it. This path world with the Kingdom of God.” socially acceptable. And, in all his sal- may not be well trod in our age but its Thus, the Torah Jew who seeks the lies forth under the banner of serene, God-centered dignity, integrity spread of kedushah via tikkun olam kedushah he would be imbued with and purity beckon us all. JA would have much to say to Western and exude the “fear” and “humility” nations stripped of soul, memory and of which the Rambam speaks. Thus, *Courtesy of Judaica Art Is...Ltd., 80 faith by secularist intellectuals, educa- before, during, and after his non- Surrey Place, Jamaica Estates, N.Y. 11432 tors, politicians and courts. The ideo- explicitly holy pursuits he would focus Notes logical assumptions of contemporary his mind on the Creator and how the 1. Vayikra 19:2. Western elites would be firmly abjured activity at hand is to bring him closer 2. Kedoshim 1:1. by the kadosh—not despite his Torah to God. The exact division of day of 3. Vayikra 20:26. im Derech Eretz or Torah u’Madda the kedushah-seeker would vary. But, 4. Reishit Chochmah, Shaar Kedushah 1. beliefs but precisely because of them. always he would subject his schedule 5. Commentary, Vayikra 1:2. He would find no solace or pride in to one criteria—Is this the best path I 6. 1:8. public Jews embracing the legitimiza- have to God? There are no answers to 7. Moreh Nevuchim 3:51. tion of sodomy, feticide, or rejecting this question that will fit all men. But 8. Ibid. the God-ordained distinctions always it is the call of kedushah that 9. See his Epistle to Yemen where this between men and women. His every motivates, demands and measures. topic is expanded far beyond its exposi- engagement with mankind would be The avodah of the kadosh is primarily tion in Hilchot De'iot 6:1. an attempt to protect and proclaim internal, as Rav Hirsch writes, “each 10. Positive Commandments: 60. Divine truths among men, as person, according to his own unique 11. Commentary, Vayikra 1:2.

Are We Still a HOLY NATION? Judaism and Contemporary Spirituality By Moshe Meiselman

The confrontation between Jewish generation. At times, the conflict was Maccabean days, with Greek ideas and life and values and the surrounding cul- practical, as it was in the American values during the Golden Age of Spain ture takes many forms and the ensuing experience a century ago, when there and with western ideas and values fol- conflicts have varied from generation to were almost insurmountable obstacles lowing the Enlightenment have all pro- to observing Shabbat and kashrut. At vided serious challenges to the continu- Rabbi Meiselman is rosh yeshivah of times, the issues have been cultural. ity of Jewish life. Toras Moshe in Jerusalem and The confrontation of Jewish ideas and However, western life at the begin- author of Jewish Women in Jewish Law. values with Hellenism during the ning of the twentieth-first century is

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION not marked by an overwhelming series being. To heighten one’s sense of spiri- of new ideas. Contemporary western Are We Still a tual self-awareness, we were command- life is decidedly non-intellectual. We HOLY ed at that juncture, with the obligation live in an era where many pursue NATION? of tzniut—clothing one’s self. Tzniut is unbridled materialism and physical a necessary component of kedushah. It pleasures. According to the Biblical is the means to experience ourselves as description, the dor hamabul pursued fulfillment in India. They look to fill spiritual human beings and to project pleasure mikol asher bacharu1—with- the spiritual void in their lives while that image to others. out limitation. With the birth of enjoying the licentiousness and drug We are required to become a mam- Noach, an unprecedented prosperity culture that India offers. Unwilling to lechet kohanim vegoy kadosh6–a king- came to the world.2 Man, devoid of give up the materialistic focus of their dom of priests and a holy nation—and spiritual goals and freed from the lives, they can only experience the fan- to achieve personal holiness with the arduous task of providing for his daily tasy of spiritual fulfillment in such a command of kedoshim tihiyu.7 The Or material needs, was free to turn his context. HaChaim points out8 that this is not attention to fulfilling all of his natural But Judaism has always been suspi- merely a suggestion or lofty ideal, but physical desires and thereafter, creating cious of such accommodation. Man’s an absolute command applicable to all new desires to pursue and fulfill. Jews, no different from other mitzvot, However, it would not be accurate such as Shabbat and kashrut. He fur- to say that ancient pagan life was ther points out9 that the Torah specifi- devoid of spiritual content.3 Idolatry Western life at cally tells us that the exigencies of our provided the ancient world with a own specific social milieu do not pro- spiritual dimension that could coexist the beginning vide us with an excuse to opt out of with unbridled hedonism. The this mitzvah. The Torah tells us that tells us4 that this is what attracted the of the twenty- we are not to follow the immoral prac- Jewish people to idolatry. The Torah tices of Egypt and Canaan. It singles viewed man’s quest for spirituality as first century is out Egypt,10 where you have lived, being in conflict with his pleasure and Canaan, where you are going to drive. Pagan culture attracted Jews as a not marked by live, as a way of underscoring that the way of accommodating both. Thus, demands of kedoshim tihiyu are absolute, the daughters of Moab and Midian5 an overwhelm- irrespective of one’s specific social con- attracted Jewish men to simultaneous- text. ly worship Peor (idolatry) and engage ing series of However, the command of kedoshim in immorality. tihiyu does not mean the simple pur- Similarly, the contemporary pursuit new ideas. suit of spirituality, but rather the pur- of happiness and pleasure has not been suit of spirituality at the expense of the at the total expense of the human Contemporary pursuit of physical pleasure. Spirituality yearning for spirituality. Human cre- comes with limitation. The Ramban ativity enables man to create gods in western life is writes11 that the mitzvah of kedoshim his own image to satisfy both his drive decidedly tihiyu12 comes to fill a major gap in for spirituality and his drive for plea- the Torah. It forbids setting up of sure. This dual drive has a deep influ- non-intellectual. physical pleasure as a life goal. It ence on many in the modern obser- means that we—in our lifestyle and vant community who seek to accom- approach to life—must strive toward modate the pleasures and materialism kedushah and eschew the gross materi- of western life with a commitment to self definition as a spiritual being— alism of the world around us. Without Torah. This is nowhere more evident whose life goal is spiritual develop- this mitzvah, it would be possible for a than in the gross materialism rampant ment—is vitiated by his preoccupation Jew to be a menuval—a low life— in many sectors of the observant com- with his physical self. With the eating within Torah parameters. Nothing in munity. of the fruit of the etz hada’at, the Torah prohibits a person from get- For those in the non-observant com- and Eve became aware of their physical ting drunk and rolling in the gutter, munity, and in western society as a identity as distinct from their spiritual except kedoshim tihiyu. whole, the need for spirituality has led identity. Consequently, human beings These issues are described in great to the current fascination with Eastern were required to wear clothing. The detail in the story of . The story sects and mysticism. Tens of thousands unclothed human being experiences begins with the lavish feast of of secular Israeli youth seek spiritual himself overwhelmingly as a physical Achashverosh. The Talmud tells us13

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION that the Jews were threatened with of a mitzvah, as a way of serving God. destruction because they participated Are We Still a He must be uplifted by it rather than in that feast—despite the fact that it HOLY be degraded and debased. The essence was completely kosher. of gross materialism, the essence of the Achashverosh lived a life of luxury NATION? yetzer hara, is when one focuses on me, and gross materialism. His non-stop me and me. 187-day feast was consistent with that of the Beit Hamikdash.15 Achashverosh In this sense, Jewish spirituality is at lifestyle. Wanting to curry favor with rejoiced in the fact that his calculation great variance with Eastern spirituality. the people and nations that he ruled, showed that 70 years had passed since Eastern spirituality demands self- he invited them to join him. However, the Exile had begun, and according to involvement, focusing on one’s own participation in the feast was a contra- Jeremiah’s prophecy the Exile should being and blocking out the world, diction to the Torah’s message. have ended. He fantasized that he did especially other human beings. Eastern Certainly, the Jews in attendance made not have to worry about God any meditation, with its ultimate goal of sure that it was kosher lemehadrin.14 more. To celebrate, he drank from the self-transcendence and self-abnegation,16 While they did not violate the 612 kelim of the Beit Hamikdash. The Jews is preoccupied with the self. Before other mitzvot, they did violate the were sitting there and drinking too. one transcends or denies one’s self, one mitzvah of kedoshim tihiyu and there- How could they be so insensitive to must be absorbed with the self. Thus, by, the entire purpose of the Torah. Achashverosh’s getting drunk on wine it is not surprising that many eastern Kedoshim tihiyu is especially relevant that he was drinking from the kelim of spiritual texts are concerned with when Jews are involved in and become the Beit Hamikdash? The answer is that intensifying the pleasure experience. In part of a non-Jewish lifestyle, the once one gets involved in a lifestyle fact, heightening the pleasure experi- essence of which is to continually sat- that is devoid of any kedushah, ence is a recurring theme in many isfy all human desires, without limit. kedushah simply ceases to exist. Such Hindu texts. Being self-centered and This lifestyle becomes the entire focus an incredible desecration of kedushah the pursuit of pleasure go hand in of one’s existence. When Jews embrace lost any meaning. The Jews were total- hand. such values, they often justify it by ly insensitive to the desecration of Jewish spirituality, on the other asserting that “the food is kosher and kedushah. The experience was too hand, is achieved in a number of has the right hashgachah.” The food enjoyable to notice context. ways—through chesed,17 mitzvot, may be kosher, the aveirah is the Ideally, the Jewish people’s unique prayer and the study of Torah. But lifestyle. lifestyle should serve as an example for most importantly, Jewish spirituality the nations. Our mission is to show comes in response to the Divine com- the world how to live an uplifted life mand. It is initiated by God’s call, not and not sink to it's depths. However, by man. The first step to kedushah is Jewish tragically, we are so overwhelmed by through chesed. When one focuses on the nations around us that their others and forgets about one’s self, the spirituality... lifestyle becomes very attractive. While path towards kedushah has begun. it is “a lot of fun” out there, we pay a When one disciplines one’s self is achieved in a big price for that fun. through mitzvot and is preoccupied The national purpose of the Jewish with the service of God, one moves number of ways- people is to be a spiritual nation whose further on the path to kedushah. One through chesed, goal is kedushah. This lesson is so who works hard on kavanah during important it was made an integral part tefillah and on the learning of Torah mitzvot, prayer of the Jewish calendar through Purim. and one whose mind is focused on the Every year we repeat this lesson again so Divine moves even further on that and the study of as never to lose focus of who the Jewish path. However, kedoshim tihiyu tells us people are supposed to be and on what that this will lead to spirituality only if Torah. level they are supposed to live their lives. we discipline our physical selves. There Purim teaches us to eat and drink as is no spirituality without physical the servants of God, not in a selfish, denial and discipline. There is an interesting custom, self-seeking manner. We make sure that There are two types of religious familiar to all who listen to the a poor person has matanot le’evyonim. service: those mitzvot that we do Megillah. The phrase vekelim mikelim We share our food with our friends. If physically—which are our primary shonim (and vessels were of different one sits down to eat, he must ensure form of Divine service—and those types) is sung to the tune of Eichah. that the next person can also eat. If one mitzvot that are exclusively spiritual, Chazal tell us that these were the kelim eats, he must do it within the context such as praying and learning of

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION Torah. Why do we need mitzvot? reserved for those who had achieved a the fact that the Midrash Rabbah and Why can’t we serve God by just high level of Jewish spirituality Targum on Esther 1:8 say that special learning Torah and praying? through a deep understanding of all provision was made for the Jews. In God created the world in a dual basic Jewish learning, and had imple- addition, the Talmud (Megillah 12a) manner—physical and spiritual. mented all of this learning into their according to Rashi’s comments and the daily life. then provided a on Esther 1:8, says that conduit to higher levels of spirituality. Mordechai managed part of the feast. In this generation, where people want See for example, among countless oth- There is no the fast lane to spirituality with few ers, Or Yahel vol. 2 p.79. limits on their daily life, popular kab- 15. Esther Rabbah 2:11. spirituality balah provides a “quick fix.” However, 16. While self-abnegation and preocu- this route is often at serious odds with pation with self seem to contradict without physical classic Jewish spirituality and vitiates each other, in reality the process of our goal of being a mamlechet kohanim making the ego disappear requires one denial vegoy kadosh. to focus on one’s ego. The process Jewish spirituality is achieved and discipline. through our response to the Divine command as embodied in the mitzvot In this and the self-discipline involved, as we Throughout creation there is a dichoto- say “who has sanctified us through His generation, my between the two. The human mitzvot.” It demands that we focus on being stands astride both parts of cre- others and not be preoccupied with where people ation. We are unique in creation in ourselves. It demands that we involve that we are both physical and spiritu- ourselves in prayer and the learning of want the fast al, and have to serve God, not as Torah. However, in order for all this to angels, but as human beings, using be effective, our lives must be focused lane to both our physical and spiritual selves. on spiritual rather than materialistic This is what it means to be a true goals. This will enable us to be a true spirituality human being. At the same time, we “light unto the nations.” JA recognize that as human beings we with few have physical needs. The Torah does Notes not denigrate physicality, but 1.Genesis 6:2. limits demands that we use it for spiritual 2. Bereishit Rabbah. growth. This is the nature of the 3. Spiritual content can exist without on their daily Divine challenge. This is the required spiritual goals. human response. Otherwise, the Jew 4. 63b. life, popular cannot achieve spirituality. 5. See Numbers 31:16. The present day attempt to achieve 6. Exodus 19:6. kabbalah spirituality, while simultaneously 7. Leviticus 19:2. provides a enjoying the unlimited materialism of 8. Commentary to Leviticus 19:2. contemporary culture, is at odds with 9. Commentary to Leviticus 18:2. “quick fix.” the basic message of Jewish spirituality. 10. Leviticus 18:2. A lifestyle devoted to the pursuit of 11. Commentary to Leviticus 19:2. happiness and pleasure contradicts the 12. in Sefer haMitzvot Jewish concept of spirituality. disagrees with the inclusion of requires self involvement despite the The contemporary search for spiri- kedoshim tihiyu as a separate mitzvah. goal. This is also true in the Hindu tuality has drawn many people to the Kedoshim tihiyu demands that we pur- preoccupation with pleasure that they study of kabbalah. Kabbalah learning sue spirituality through the perfor- claim leads to a higher spiritual rein- by the uninitiated does not seem to mance of all of the mitzvot. However, carnation in a later life. The Jewish demand the change in behavior that is the prohibition of lo sasuru acharei attitude is that the process itself conta- immediately demanded by the other eineichem forbids the pursuit of plea- minates. areas of Jewish learning. However, sure in an unlimited manner. 17. See Maimonides, Hilchot Megillah nothing could be a greater violation of 13. Megillah 12a. 2:17 “For the one who gladdens the the concept of Jewish spirituality. 14. This is a common theme in all heart of the downtrodden is likened to Classically, the study of kabbalah was sifrei mussar vedrush. This is based on the Shechinah.”

Fall 5762/2001 JEWISH ACTION