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By Rabbi Joshua Kullock,
Comunidad Hebrea de Guadalajara

Translated by Inés Baum - Proofreading by Ellen Zindler

One of the first indicators we have of emerging social groups is their ability to communicate as developed by people throughout time. Due to the possibility of striking up relationships through a specific language, men and women in ancient times could begin to build strong ties which later transformed into societies, where their members worked, lived together, and protected each other. It is thus that, thanks to language and its constant use, we have designed the diverse worlds we inhabit to this day.

In Israel’s tradition, the importance of language goes far beyond that: we can not just trace the origins of civilization to the moment we encounter human beings communicating and defining their own language, but according to what is recounted in the Torah, God Himself used words in order to create the world. It is not by chance that, every morning, we give thanks and recognize His creative work, praying: Baruch sheAmar, “Blessed is the One who spoke, and the universe came into being.” It is in this spirit that our people teach us that our commitment toward the recreation and repairing of the world is also done through the construction of comprising and meaningful spaces, starting as well from the way in which we speak.

Nevertheless, at least regarding human beings, communication and language are not exact sciences. As the philosopher Ortega y Gasset used to affirm, each time we speak, we say more than what we want to say, and less than what we wish to express. And this happens, in part, because words have the property of being polysemous, capable of containing at the same time all kind of different meanings, sometimes including even contradictory meanings. This polysemous property of words allows, in our people and in other cultures and civilizations as well, the tradition of interpretation to never be exhausted, endowing us always with new ways of understanding the verses or words found in our Torah.

In this sense, Parashat Kedoshim offers us one of the most challenging psukim on its correct interpretation. Thus is written in the Torah: And the Lord spoke unto Moses, saying: “Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them: ‘Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy’” (Leviticus 19:1-2). In principle, these verses do not seem so complex: we find ourselves before some sort of moral obligation to be saints merely because our God is saint. And just as we are called upon to imitate His work through our actions, we are also called upon to pursue His holiness by means of our own.

And even then, the main problem lies in the word Kedoshim, or “saints”. That is, what does it mean to be saint? What is the meaning of holiness? And how do we reach such a level?

In our tradition, there were two main sides on the subject of holiness. Those groups may be described as the supporters of intrinsic holiness and the supporters of holiness as a by-product of a bond. Or in other words, analyzing the positions adopted by Jewish groups throughout history, we can find those who, like Rabbi Yehuda haLevi, affirmed that there were people, places or times ontologically or essentially different (or sacred), and those who understood, as Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, that holiness is a property derived from the relationship established between the parties. While the former upheld that Shabbat was sacred, the latter replied by saying that Shabbat is just consecrated if a group of people (in this case, the Jews), consecrate it. While for the former, holiness is a given thing, for the latter it is a horizon we can reach only through work, commitment, and our own action.

And with this sense, even though it would be much easier to adopt the first position, I personally agree and commune: the idea of sanctity as a by-product of a relationship. I believe we, as liberal Jews, are questioned by our tradition on the challenge of consecrating our unions and relations, with what binds us to the community as well as with what concerns society, the world, and God. Because it is just through our actions, that the time and space wherein we live can be consecrated, and it will then be that our days will be full of transcendental meaning.

May we be able, then, to commit to embody every day the ideals of our Torah, joining together in the path towards holiness, and to continue walking on God’s path.

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Forwarded by Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, from Kol Shearith Israel Congregation, Panama.
Translated by Inés Baum and proofread by Ellen Zindler, from B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica.

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