From: Netvort@aol.com
Sent: Friday, May 06, 2005 2:07 AM
To: JoshHoff@aol.com
Subject: Netvort : parshas Kedoshim, 5765




                               
                                                       No End
                  
                 By Rabbi Joshua (endlessly known as The Hoffer) Hoffman



This week's parsha, Kedoshim, begins with God telling Moshe, "speak to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them: 'You shall be holy, for holy am I, God, your Lord.' "(Vayikra 19:2). Rashi, citing the midrash, notes that from the fact that God told Moshe to address his remarks to the entire assembly of the people, we learn that this parsha was said at a gathering of the entire assembly of Israel, because most of the essentials of the Torah depend upon it. We need to understand what the midrash means by saying that most of the essentials of the Torah are included in this parsha, and why, because of this, it needed to be delivered before the entire nation.

Rabbi Gedalyohu Schorr, in his commentary Ohr Gedalyohu to parshas Kedoshim, cites the midrash as saying that parshas Kedoshim is a restatement, of the Decalogue - the Aseres Hadibros - known popularly as the Ten Commandments. For example, in the Decalogue we are told of our obligation to honor our parents, and in parshas Kedoshim we are told to fear our parents. The medieval commentator Chizkuni demonstrates how each of the mitzvos in the Decalogue is mentioned in parshas Kedoshim. According to Rabbi Schorr, the midrash is not only a restatement of the Decalogue, but an expansion of the mitzvos it contains. Just as the mitzvoh of fearing one's parents reveals that our obligation to our parents entails more than giving them honor, as was stated in the Decalogue, so too is this true of all the other mitzvos which it includes. Rav Saadia Gaon, as cited by Rashi to parshas Mishpotim (Shemos 23:12), writes - reflecting a statement of the rabbis in the Midrash Rabbah to parshas Naso - that, in fact, all of the six hundred thirteen mitzvos of the Torah are included in the Aseres Hadibros.

Rabbi Schorr, however, goes further and writes that this kind of expansion of scope of the mitzvos is characteristic not only of those mitzvos included in the Decalogue, but, on a broader level, it is characteristic of all the mitzvos of the Torah. This is so, he writes, because the parsha begins with a charge to the people to be holy, as God is holy. Ramban explains the term 'holy' as a need to add precautions in our observance of the mitzvos, separating ourselves even from items which, according to the strict letter of the law, are seemingly permitted. In short, we need to sanctify ourselves through that which is, strictly speaking, permitted. It is because the parsha begins with this mitzvoh, writes Rabbi Schorr, that it goes on to restate the Aseres Hadibros, thus showing that just as the Aseres Hadibros expand into other mitzvos, so must we expand each individual mitzvoh, in terms of our observance, in order to attain holiness.

The idea propounded by Rabbi Schorr, based on the Ramban, that we need to expand the scope of all the mitzvos, may reflect a response that the Rambam sent to a student, who wrote to him that he did not understand how he could recite, on Yom HaKippurim, the standard from of vidui, or 'confession,' since it includes many sins which he knows for a fact that he did not transgress. The Rambam answered his student that if he would truly understand what our obligation to God is, he would understand that he does, indeed, need to recite the full text of the vidui. This response of the Rambam reflects, in turn, a story told of Rav Saadia Gaon, who once visited a town, where he stayed overnight at an inn. The innkeeper, not knowing the identity of his guest, treated him very roughly. The next day, there was an announcement that Rav Saadia Gaon was in town and would be delivering a Torah lecture, or a shiur. The innkeeper attended the shiur, and thereby discovered the true identity of the man he had treated so discourteously. After the shiur, he went over to Rav Saadia Gaon and asked forgiveness, saying that had he known the day before what he knows now, he would have acted much differently. When Rav Saadia returned to his home, he reflected on the words of the innkeeper, and began to cry. He realized that his knowledge of Torah and his relationship with God expands each day, and with that expansion of knowledge comes an awareness that his previous service of God was not adequate, and, therefore, he needed to repent for it. Rav Saadia, in effect, was saying that there is never any end to the level of growth we much strive for in our observance of the mitzvos and our relationship with God.


Based on the comments of Rabbi Schorr, the Rambam and Rav Saadia Gaon, we can now understand the comment of the midrash cited by Rashi. Parshas Kedoshim contains within it most of the essentials of the Torah in that it demonstrates to us the fact that the quest for holiness requires us to be aware that there is no end to our obligations to God. New situations generate new opportunities to expand our service and devotion to Him. This is true on the individual level, but even more so on the collective level. The task of the Jewish nation, as it was charged at Mt. Sinai before receiving the Torah, is to be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation (Shemos 19:6). We have mentioned many times Rav Kook's explanation of this charge, that the Jewish nation needs to demonstrate holiness within the context of a nation, with all the political, economic and social elements that are involved in the dynamics of a nation. This national setting provides a much wider range of challenges and opportunities in our service of God, and we need to explore all of the ramifications that such a setting has in terms of Torah observance and our relationship with God. For this reason, parshas Kedoshim needed to be given to the nation as a whole.



Please address all correspondence to the author (Rabbi Hoffman) with the following address - JoshHoff @ AOL.com.

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