This week we will read two parshiot, Acharei-Mot and Kedoshim. Acharei Mot begins in the aftermath of Nadav and Avihu's tragic deaths, after their attempt to enter the Holy of Holies in an inappropriate, forbidden way. After that fiasco, although their intentions were presumably noble, Hashem tells Moshe to teach Aharon that בזאת יבוא אהרון אל הקודש, in this way Aharon may enter the Holy of Holies. Not his sons, and not just any day of the week. Hashem proceeds to instruct the Jewish people about Yom Kippur and the special avodah on that one special day each year, which allows Aharon (and any future כהן גדול) to enter the innermost sanctuary of the Mishkan and, later on, the Beit haMikdash.
We then move into Parshat Kedoshim and learn 51 commandments (8% of the 613), from leaving a corner of your field for the needy to judging someone favorably to not stealing money or swearing falsely or getting a tattoo. Mitzvot that are all so different from each other, mitzvot from all walks of life, mitzvot that apply to everyone and anyone. How does this parsha flow naturally from the one before?
I think the opening line of the parsha explains it: קדושים תהיו כי קדוש אני ה' אלוקיכם – Be holy because I, your G-d, am holy. How is this a great introduction to the myriad mitzvot that will follow? It seems to be telling us that we must not think, after hearing about the High Priest on Yom Kippur, that we are excluded from intimacy with G-d, that the כהן גדול has the ability to access holiness and we don't. Of course that is not true! We are all holy and can emulate G-d with a kind of kedusha. There is a time and a place and a way and a day for the כהן גדול, but we spoke about that already, and now comes the way we can all be close and exercise that holiness. Here are 50 mitzvot that you can do daily! All of us! Throughout the day: In the field, at work, at home, with friends, with family. There is an intensity to Yom Kippur, but this relationship is available to all of us at any time. Respect everyone's role and follow the rules, and then we are all like כהנים in this nation aptly nicknamed a ממלכת כהנים, a kingdom of priests (Shemot 19:6).
When I reflect back on my 14 years at Maimonides (Pre-K through 12th grade), one of the many lessons I take with me daily, and mention to current students often, is that Rav Soloveitchik zt”l called the subjects we learned limudei kodesh, Jewish studies, and… not secular studies, but rather general studies. We studied Chumash and Talmud as well as biology and history. And we went back and forth between the two seamlessly throughout the day. We did not have half a day of religious subjects and then half a day of the "English" ones, as some of my summer camp friends' schools had. That intentional schedule left a very deep impression on me. I understood then, and continue to believe now, that my whole day was about limudei kodesh. I was learning all about Hashem's world – some of it in a gemara, some of it in a chumash, and some of it under a microscope or in the beauty of poetry or through the mathematical truths of the world. All of it was kadosh, holy, and we were all holy due to our studying it from 9:10-5:43, or even 6:30 if you took chemistry sophomore year!
While living in Medinat Yisrael these past 17 years, that feeling of bringing kedusha – a connection to Hashem– into the mundane through the many daily mitzvot we observe has only strengthened and deepened for me. My drive to work, my grocery shopping, my coffee date with a friend, are all part of a life dedicated to serving my creator in a land through which we can bring about a kiddush Hashem, a sanctification of G-d's name, to the nations around us as we try to be an ohr l'goyim, a light unto the nations. May we treasure the mitzvot as opportunities to connect with Hashem and bring His presence into the hours and minutes of our days. | 