You’ve heard the story of the man who approached our sages, and challenged them to teach him the whole Torah while standing on one foot. Well, if you were asked to explain the essence of Judaism while standing on one foot, what would you say? Hillel answered like this: “What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. All the rest is commentary. Now go and learn.”
As Ariana taught us, the Golden Rule is found in our Torah portion: Love your neighbor as yourself. Another of our great sages, Rabbi Akiva, said that this is Clal Gadol BaTorah, the great principle of the Torah. It’s the centerpiece of really the center of the Torah, what bible scholars call the Holiness Code and see as a distinct unit, which we read today. And this code is about, well, being holy: Loving our neighbor, loving the stranger, honoring our parents, leaving the corner of our field for the poor, respecting our elderly, treating fairly our workers, respecting those with disabilities, and having appropriate boundaries in our sexual relationships, etc. It’s the central, basic stuff of being a mensch, of being a good person. It’s Judaism on one foot.
But what’s interesting about this section that says Kedoshim Tehiyu, Be Holy, is that it’s a double portion. It begins with Acharei Mot, which is After the Death – that is, after the deaths of the two sons of Aaron who died when they drew too close to God. What this refers to is something that actually happened a few weeks ago – the deaths of Aaron’s sons, Nadav and Avihu, priests who are killed at the altar for offering strange fire. We never understand exactly why they are killed, but we are reminded of their deaths here at the beginning of our code about how to be holy.
The Torah doesn’t just jump right in with: be holy and love your neighbor, etc. Rather Kedoshim Tehiyu, Be holy, is paired with Acharei Mot, after the death. In other words, death is the backdrop for the Torah’s code of how to be holy.
Why is this? Torah Scholar Avivah Zornberg teaches that the reason that Aaron’s sons Nadav and Avihu offered strange fire is that when they were doing their service at the tabernacle, the Presence of God didn’t appear right away at the altar. These two priests were intoxicated with God, they needed ecstasy, and they couldn’t endure a time of doubt and waiting. They needed a quick fix and so they tried to force God to be present by pushing a magic button. Indeed there’s a midrash that actually says they were drunk.
But the Torah seems to be saying that strange fires don’t work; you can’t push a magic button. God’s Presence can’t always be felt, and life is not always intoxicating. There is suffering and disappointment and death – And THOSE are the very conditions from which we must pursue holiness. It’s easy to say Kedoshim Tehiyu – be holy, love your neighbor, “kumbaya my lord,” and all that … when life is good and easy and peaceful, when you’re intoxicated with life and high on God and you’ve got it all going for you. But to say it Acharei Mot, after the deaths, after mysterious, unexplainable deaths, then it really means something.
It’s Acharei Mot, after the deaths, that we need Kedoshim Tehiyu, be holy.
It’s when God seems distant or when our hopes have been shattered, it’s when we face loss – whether of life or love or financial security or our dreams or our sense of trust - that’s when we most need to reach out in love, that’s when we most need these commandments.
And that’s what Judaism requires of us -
When someone is ill, we’re commanded to visit the sick
When someone is grieving, we’re commanded to provide comfort
When someone is hurting, we’re required to reach out
The Jewish French philosopher Emmanuel Levinas, whose work centered on the ethics of encountering the Other, explains that suffering only makes any sense when it makes an opening, when a cry slips through that opening and is heard by another person, and then that other person acts on the responsibility to reach out to the one who is suffering – in this way, suffering can even allow for salvation and healing.
And that’s the “being holy” we try to do as a community. I hear again and again how moving and healing it is for people when they receive so much love and support from you all in this community when they’re dealing with a loss. A shiva house can be a holy place. A hospital room can be a holy place when there are people there to enact Kedoshim Tehiyu after Acharei Mot.
It’s interesting that the rabbis generally understand the command to be holy as: Perushim Tehiyu, be separate. But it seems that being holy also has another meaning – be connected. We’re already so separate, and in one way or another, our lives are Acharei Mot, filled with loss and disconnection. And because of that, we need Kedoshim Tehiyu, to be holy, to love our neighbor and the stranger and the worker and the elderly and our parents and everyone who is mentioned in this double parasha, and to find connection. Because in this world of separation, that’s what creates holiness.
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