Parashat K’doshim: The Holiness Mirror
delivered by Student Rabbi Maayan Lev on Saturday, May 7, 2022
We just finished reading this week’s Torah portion, K’doshim. K’doshim is about holiness. Its passages form the core of what is referred to as the Holiness Code.
K’doshim begins, “You shall be holy, for I, HaShem your G!d, am holy.”[1] The parashah then continues to describe certain standards that must be upheld in order to be holy.
But if every person is created differently, with their own strengths and weaknesses, and shine in unique ways, should there really be only one formula for holiness? And if G!d is only communicating these standards to the Israelites alone, does that mean non-Jews cannot be holy? Do Jews have this special relationship with G!d that other peoples cannot emulate? Does that make us G-d’s chosen people?
I admit I have always gotten queasy by the idea of being a chosen people. I know I am not alone. For those who feel similarly, we need look no further for textual support than this week’s haftarah selection, Amos 9:7-15. The passage, a message from Amos to the Israelites, opens with a bang:
To Me, O Israelites, you are just like the Cushites,” declares HaShem. “True, I brought Israel up From the land of Egypt, but also the Philistines from Caphtor, and the Arameans from Kir.[2]
Many would object to the idea of the Israelites being the same as the Cushites, or the Philistines, or the Arameans. But in essence, are we not all created by G!d? Yes, we have a special culture, but don’t all peoples? And while monotheism was relatively new at the time, it certainly isn’t new anymore! What separates Jews from other cultures today? The answer of course, is plenty. But do those differences make us superior?
The Philistines were among the Israelites greatest enemies, and yet here HaShem compares us to them as if we are equal. Remember, there are at least two sides to every story. We praise HaShem for bringing us out of Egypt, but it’s not as though we were the only people who ever had to overcome oppressive forces. The Philistines were not perfect, but G-d still loved them. And the Israelites were certainly not perfect either. The Dark Knight, Christopher Nolan‘s 2008 Batman movie, offered: “You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”
Indeed, the Philistines once needed saving, but they still ended up doing terrible things to the Israelites. As for the Israelites, they, too, ended up going astray. And we were not protected from punishment, either! Today’s Amos reading continues:
I will wipe [the Israelites] off the face of the earth…All the sinners of My people who boast “Never shall the evil overtake us or come near us,” shall perish by sword![3]
If G!d loves us so much, why would G!d punish us? Well, another superhero franchise, Spiderman, claims: “With great power comes great responsibility.” When someone does something wrong, even if you love them, they should not be beyond punishment. King David, who refused to properly hold his son Absalom accountable for his crimes, showed the danger of that.
The verses above make it seem as though the Israelites felt their special relationship with G!d protected them from ruin. It is a fair question, but then again, why does G!d love us in the first place? Didn’t our covenant have conditions? Weren’t we supposed to uphold the commandments? And commandments aside, weren’t we supposed to stay humble?
Some Jews would read this and say, perhaps we strayed so far from the reasons G!d loved us, that we ended up losing that special relationship, that special protection. Nobody human is beyond folly, and nobody is invincible. The moment we feel that way is the moment that our fate is sealed, at least until we return to humility.
The verses above also indicate that the Israelites are still G!d’s people. But then again, is our position as a chosen people mutually exclusive? How can it be? G!d loves all of humanity, for G!d created all us out of love. Did the reading not already say that G!d has a special relationship and place in G!d’s heart for all people?
As humans, naturally we sometimes fail. But that also means we also sometimes succeed, or find redemption. G!d has faith that we will right the ship, and when we do, G!d says that we shall return to Israel:
“In that day, I will set up again the fallen booth of David. I will mend its breaches
and set up its ruins anew. I will build it firm as in the days of old, so that they shall
possess the rest of Edom and all the nations once attached to My name,”
declares HaShem who will bring this to pass.[4]
Unfortunately, this beautiful passage is also problematic, because it talks about us conquering other nations, nations that G!d admits were once attached to HaShem’s name. Does G!d choose a new people based on who is most righteous at the time? If so, it is rather bold of us to assume that we Jews are capable of restoration to G!d’s favor, and other peoples are not. This is not how I want to think of G!d, or of Jews.
In order to truly understand this passage, one must remember that this was written in the Tanach, a work addressed to Jews. What is the context of an Israelite in the Tanach? And for that matter, what is the context of an Edomite?
We will likely always remember the Edomites as our enemies, people who have wronged us, or people who are undeserving. But this reading reminds us right at the start, that our enemies are not universally bad, and that there are good and bad people in every nation.
Correspondingly, an Israelite is seen by Jews as someone who is good, someone who follows the holiness code listed in K’doshim. But Amos, like other prophets, reminds us that we are not so perfect ourselves. If we measure the quality of a person based on their deeds, rather than the family they were born into, then any Israelite has the potential to be cast out like the Edomites, and any Edomite has the potential to be rewarded for good deeds the way G!d rewarded the Israelites.
Yes, we are talking about two separate nations, but in the context of this reading, one is seen as “the good guy,” and the other is seen as “the bad guy.” It’s not so cut-and-dry.
There will always be a cycle of goodness and sin, not just over the course of generations, but even in an individual’s lifetime. But no matter who we are, where we come from, or how far we have fallen, G-d is always waiting for the day when we find the best version of ourselves, or return to it.
But that begs an important question. As Jews, can we truly be living as the best version of ourselves, when the land of Israel is in our control, and we do not choose to live there? Is that not a rejection of the gift that G!d offered us in the Tanach?
As Jews who willingly choose to live in America rather than Israel, we can still love Israel while acknowledging that we can live wonderful holy lives even in the Diaspora. Yes, G!d blessed the land of Israel, and it is a blessing to be able to live in the land of our ancestors. But Jews have still been in America for centuries. Our ancestors have lived on this land as well. And if G!d loves all people, why should G!d not also love all lands?
Israel is holy to the Jews, but it is also holy to other peoples. America, in turn, is also a cultural melting pot. Israel is unique, and it is a blessed land. But America is also blessed. When righteous Americans work together, this too can be a holy land. It would be a different kind of holy land though. I like to think that G-d has a special relationship with America, just as G-d has a special relationship with all countries, and as Amos said, all peoples.
What is holiness? According to Hillel, and also this week’s Torah portion, it means loving your fellow as yourself.[5] If this is true, then that also means that we must acknowledge the holiness in others the same way we acknowledge the holiness in ourselves.
If G!d loves all people, and all nations are chosen nations in their own way, then if we all find our best selves, the number of holy people on this planet can potentially be as numerous as the stars in the heavens, and the grains of sand on the seashore.[6]
Alevai!
Shabbat shalom.
[1] Leviticus 19:2.
[2] Amos 9:7.
[3] Amos 9:8, 10.
[4] Amos 9:11-12.
[5] Leviticus 19:18
[6] A reference to, and an expansion of, Genesis 22:17.