~ Thoughts on the Parsha ~
Parshas Acharei Mos-Kedoshim
American Idol
By: Daniel Listhaus
וַיְדַבֵּר ה' אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר: דַּבֵּר אֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם קְדשִׁים תִּהְיוּ כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי ה' אֱלֹקיכֶם:
“Hashem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for holy am I, Hashem, your G-d.”
-Kedoshim 19:1-2
Rashi[1] comments that Moshe gathered together every single individual of Klal Yisroel and commanded them to be holy. Ultimate kedusha (holiness) refers to a complete separation from physicality. We declare ein kadosh ka'Hashem (there is no one holy like Hashem) as well as announce what the malachim (angels) praise: “Holy, holy, holy, is Hashem Master of Legions...”[2] If we stop and think about this commandment for a moment it seems completely unachievable. How is it even possible that we could have a commandment to be the same as how we and the melachim praise Hashem?
The Mesillas Yesharim[3] describes at length what it means for man to achieve a level of kedusha, and the steps one must first accomplish before finding oneself there. He writes that unlike p'rishus, which is the complete separation of physical pleasures, kedusha is the level at which a person could identify the true reason for things being created and utilize them in those ways alone.
Kedusha is tapping into the same exact physical resources, which everyone has at their disposable, but instead of misusing them like the majority of the population, to instead use them to attach oneself to the spiritual world.
In many places where we find physical pleasures we find warnings to stay away and instead be holy. Yet, ironically, we also find that when doing the same activities, albeit in a different manner, we find the word kedusha actually associated closely with them. For example, Rashi[4] states that the first usage of the word kedoshim in the opening of this week's parsha refers to the necessity to stay far removed from arayos (illicit relations). Rashi then continues to explain his interpretation that wherever you find a restriction of promiscuity you find kedusha. However, as true as that is, it is interesting to note that despite this, it is no mistake that the first stage of a halachik marriage is called the “kedushin”. Also, regarding eating and drinking too much – plunging into physical pleasures we find that there is a time to eat in a holy manner and eat a meal of hekdesh. Also, of course, we recite kiddush before eating our Shabbos and Yom Tov meals. Additionally, the starkest contrast is obviously between avodas Hashem and worshiping avodah zarrah, which is also referred to as the opposite of kedushah.
Avodah zarrah, sh'fichas damim and giluy arayos are known as the three cardinal aveiros for they shake the fundamentals of Judaism by denying G-d, having no care for life, and living with pure selfishness. Yet, the drives themselves are ones which could sustain the world; for example, by using one's enthusiasm to serve Hashem, one's ability of strong emotions to love people and do chesed (acts of kindness), and using ones desire to marry and live a life of caring for someone else and giving birth to the next generation in an atmosphere of peace and loyalty. It is in these ways that the level of kedusha is exponentially greater than that of p'rishus. P'rishus is merely staying far away from mundane physical matters altogether whereas kedusha taps into the elements which could be utilized purposefully and direct them in order to achieve levels of ruchniyus and kedusha.
Let us focus for a moment, though, on avodah zarrah. The Torah[5] commands us, “Do not turn to the idols, and molten gods you shall not make for yourselves – I am Hashem, your G-d.” Rashi[6] comments that although the passuk (verse) only says that one cannot make an idol for oneself, it is equally forbidden for one to make an idol for someone else or worship an idol which someone else made for you. Rashi continues to prove this from the passuk[7] which says, “There shall not be to you gods of others....” We learn from here that one is not to have idols of any sort whether they be your own or from someone else.
This Rashi is ludicrous. Anyone who could understand that one is forbidden to make an idol for himself should be able to easily conclude that making one for someone else would be assur (forbidden) as well, based on lifnei iver (putting a proverbial stumbling block in front of a blind person), and that once the Torah made avodah zarrah assur, it no longer matters if one would decide to worship his own avodah zarrah or someone else's, both are equally forbidden. Imagine someone who knows and understands that the Torah forbids cooking milk and meat together. Would there be any doubt that perhaps if a friend does it that it should be suddenly be mutar (permitted) to eat? Of course not! So why does Rashi feel it necessary to make this comment? And why is one passuk not enough as a commandment not to serve avodah zarrah?
Later in the parsha we find a very similar difficulty. The Torah[8] warns us not to give our children over to the avodah zarrah – molech. Rashi[9] comments that even though the Torah[10] mentions the severe punishment of the person who gives his children to molech, one should not think that it is not just as serious to give over one's grandchildren. Both are equally assur. Rashi then again continues to offer various proofs from different passukim demonstrating that to give over various types of children to avodah zarrah are all assur. Again, why is this Rashi necessary? Is it not obvious that if the Torah commands us not to give over children to molech that it does not matter if the kid is a boy, girl, child, or grandchild? Avodah zarrah is avodah zarrah. Period. Why does Rashi, and really the Torah, feel it necessary to have so many seemingly redundant passukim to explicitly warn against every combination and form of avodah zarrah?
At the beginning of the parsha, Rashi[11] comments that the word the Torah uses here for idols is “elilim” – which comes from the root word “al”, meaning “not”, because an idol is considered as a non-entity. After all, as we say in Hallel, “Their (idols) fingers are made of silver and gold, the creations of man. They have a mouth but cannot speak, have eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, a nose but cannot smell, hands but cannot feel, feet but cannot walk...”[12] Indeed, with such a description it is hard for us to fathom what it would mean to want to bow down to idols. It seems like a foreign stupidity. Who wakes up one morning and says to himself, “Today I would like to bow down to an idol and serve it food and sacrifice things for it to eat”?
However, perhaps we could relate to a different type of avodah zarrah. No one wakes up one morning and decides to be an alcoholic. No one wakes up one morning and decides to start smoking. No one wakes up one morning and decides to start using drugs. No one wakes up one morning and decides to stop keeping Shabbos. Rather, these are points which are reached from any number of causes. Perhaps there is a high level of tension in one's home or work. Perhaps one is not comfortable with oneself and is trying to find the right crowd of people who will appreciate him to fit in with. Perhaps one has fully absorbed himself with technology in harmful ways. Perhaps one is trying to prove something to himself, his family, or rabbeim. Perhaps one has trouble believing the essentials of Judaism but is too afraid, too uncomfortable, or does not care enough to ask. Perhaps one is just angry at life. Any number of reasons could be the primary, secondary, or subconscious causes of various addictions, behavior changes, insecurity, or going off the “derech”.
Although we have a lot of difficulty understanding how one could do horrible aveiros in the name of avodah zarrah, we could perhaps understand the person who does horrible aveiros in the name of personal, psychological, emotional, or theological complexities and hardships.
However as bad as doing various aveiros or getting stuck in various addictions is, it is exponentially worse and much more dangerous when the line between still knowing that what was done was wrong and completely rationalizing one’s actions gets crossed. That is the most dangerous step one takes because after that point there is added depression and despair and it could chas v’shalom becomes a point of no return.
In the early 1970's, a fellow by the name of Marshall Applewhite started a religion known as Heaven's Gate. The religion was short-lived, coming to an immediate end when 39 of the most religious members committed mass suicide in order to leave this world and transport onto their awaiting alien space craft. The scariest part of the story, though, is that although some of the members did have some emotional issues most of them were normal business men, fathers, mothers, and students. Yet, they connected on some level of desperately seeking spiritual meaning and were willing to kill themselves to achieve this hope.
If it is possible for “normal” people to be convinced to commit suicide to be lifted to an alien space ship in order to try to live a life of higher meaning, one could also imagine how far people's desires could drive them to do things in the name of an avodah zarrah which allows for it. The various avodah zarrah's that people used to do were all in order to rationalize doing things that people wanted to do. Want to steal what belongs to others? Make a religion for it. Want to marry whoever you want? Make a religion that allows for it. Want to kill people? Start a religion which proclaims jihads and crusades. Many causes and religions have been started as facades in order for its founders and followers to be able to fulfill whatever desires the wanted.
Perhaps with this idea we could return to answer our question. Granted, we could simply understand the reason for redundancy in the Torah and Rashi regarding the issurim of avodah zarrah based on the severity of the aveira. However, the reason why it is necessary to explicitly teach even the obvious laws which would have been just as easily understood implicitly, is because when people are being driven to follow their desires, all logic is out of the picture. If a person has had enough and is ready to worship idols but he is still religious enough that the fact that the Torah says it is a severe aveirah scares him off a bit, he will find the non-existent loophole and rationalize it to be permitted to worship someone else's idol even though logic would dictate there is no difference. Similarly the person teetering on the edge of going off the derech or sinking lower into an addiction with despair will find some fake loophole or rationalization to make the first breach comfortable before ultimately crossing that line and making it much harder to return. Even the most obvious and logical deductions and known facts will be rationalized and turned into blurry gray areas until the person could convince himself that there is a loophole for what he is doing. Therefore the Torah and Rashi take the time and spend the ink to make very clear to the person who is about to cross the line and looking for even the stupidest arguments to rationalize his or her actions, that no it is not okay to offer your grandchildren even though the Torah only says child, and no, it is not okay to use someone elses's avodah zarrah even though the Torah here only says not to make your own.
In our times, there are so many issues plaguing the world and many have seeped into even the most secluded frum communities. May Hashem help us and those who feel lost, those absorbed in addictions, and those going off the derech realize that at times when we have ulterior motives and emotions and difficulties controlling our decisions, we cannot trust our logic and need to take a step back and have even the most obvious facts said explicitly to us in order to secure ourselves before making the breach through the last wall.
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