Acharei Mos/Kedoshim
Somehow it is fashionable in the current day Jewish world to associate
holiness and spirituality with the mystic, the supernatural, the
irrational, the unknown and the not understandable. The plethora of books
being written and published about Kabbalah, most of them of dubious content
and scholarship, is one manifestation of this current trend. Another
example of this trend is the ascent of "holy men" who dispense blessings or
amulets, and their popularity amongst the masses. With all due respect to
those involved in this spiritual quest, I find the definition of holiness
as expressed in the Torah reading of this week, to be incompatible with
these mystical forays. The Torah defines holiness in concrete, easily
understood, human terms. The definition of holiness in Jewish life is
always expressed in terms of self-discipline. Self-discipline, control of
behavior, speech and actions are the ingredients of holiness as the Torah
sees it. Now, I will admit that this is unexciting holiness. It is much
more glamorous to receive a blessing from a holy man at three AM in the
morning, or to engage in meditation, transcendental or otherwise, or to
dance in the aisle during a prayer service or create a more spiritual
prayer service than the tired, old-fashioned traditional fashion of prayer,
than to refrain from slander, sexual promiscuity or dishonest monetary
behavior.
It is obvious to all that people love "spooks." Life is so uncertain and
things occur so unexpectedly and unpredictably that there is no complete
rational answer for our problems. Yet, the Torah demanded of us a certain
sense of rationality in our lives, behavior and beliefs. The famous axiom
of Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon that one must investigate the Torah and Judaism
to the limit of one's rational powers and only then begin to rely upon
faith has been sorely neglected in our modern Jewish world. And even when
faith is one's own only answer to life's difficulties, it not to be
confused with irrational spirituality and the pursuit of holiness through
non-Torah means. The study of kabbalah was always meant to be limited and
secret and not public, popular and superficial. Everyone is into
spirituality these days. But the Torah has only long lost lists of do's and
don'ts of behavior, of commandments and moral principles as guideposts on
its road to holiness. As the Talmud itself states in commenting upon the
words of the prophet Yirmiyahu, who said: "They (the people of Israel) have
forsaken Me (God)," "Would that they forsake Me (in their futile pursuit of
theology, philosophy or spirituality) and simply observe the commandments
of My Torah!" God Himself states: "Forsake Me!" do not pursue illusory
spirituality, do not fall prey to supernaturalism, to unreality, to false
messianism, to the ecstasy of chants and guitars, to all of the false
mirages that have caused so much damage to our people in our past history.
Holiness, spirituality, comes from Torah observance, from the
self-restraint that was always been part of the nature of the Jew but that
in our time has become passe' and outmoded.
The Torah places a great emphasis on honesty. Honesty in money matters is
at the top of the list of the Torah's requirements for holiness. Current
forms of spirituality do not deal with this hard practical matter.
Unfortunately, we are currently witness to Jews here in Israel and in the
United States who were found guilty of severe monetary crimes. The fact
that the monies they stole were used to help Torah institutions survive and
even prosper, should in no way mitigate their behavior. In fact, in my
opinion, it makes the dishonesty even more culpable. Stealing for Torah
places spirituality above the halacha, it assumes that man knows better
than God what is right and good and what is not. It demeans Torah and
everything that Torah stands for. One of the great problems of the pursuit
of spirituality in our time is the arrogance of "holy" people in
substituting their judgment and opinion for the explicit decisions of the
Torah. The Torah reading of this week is very plain in its meaning and
instructions as to the achievement of holiness. It needs no spiritual
inflation or interpretation. It only requires obedience, discipline,
patience, optimism and an abiding sense of reality and of the real world in
which we all live. We are bidden to be a "holy nation." A holy nation must
have a program of behavior, not of ecstatic feelings and feel-good faith. A
careful reading of this week's Torah reading leads me to this unavoidable
conclusion.
Shabat Shalom.
Rabbi Berel Wein
Text Copyright © 2000 Rabbi Berel Wein and
Project Genesis, Inc.
