דבר אל כל עדת בני ישראל ואמרת אלהם קדשים תהיו כי קדוש אני ד' אלוקיכם(יט:ב
Speak to the entire congregation of the Bnai Yisroel, and say to them, You shall be holy(19:2)
Parshas Kedoshim begins with HaShem telling Moshe to convey the message that we must be holy. We are an exalted People, and as such, we must act that way. Part of what makes/keeps us holy is the mitzvos that we do and the aveiros that we stay away from.
Even if at times, a person may not be “feeling that spiritual high”, by no means should this cause a person not to feel content with his avoda. The Torah doesn’t say קדושים תרגישו that you should feel holy, but rather, קדושים תהיו that you should be holy. By doing what the Torah says to do, that is how we maintain our holiness.
The world of hergesh/feelings can be a very slippery slope. Of course, if one feels a natural pull towards a certain mitzvah (as the seforim hakedoshim tell us), on his own personal level, he should exert himself even more towards it. But this does not mean that that particular mitzvah is more important than another.
But what about the negative aspects of hergesh? Hergesh can be very dangerous if it is wrongly developed. There is a well-known story of a woman that approached Rabbi J.B. Soloveichik z’l (Boston) asking for permission to wear a tallis. The Rav responded that in Judaism we do things slowly, not just jumping in. He suggested that for a few weeks, the woman should don the tallis without any strings attached, and then return with her report on how she was spiritually feeling at that point before moving to the next step. Sure enough, the woman returned explaining, almost teary eyed, how she had never felt that spiritually connected to G-d. She felt most definitely ready for the next step. With a grin, the Rav explained that the spiritual feeling that she was experiencing in actuality was nothing; it was all in her head. There was absolutely nothing spiritual about a tallis without strings. In fact, if it would have been a man wearing it, not only would it not have been spiritual, on the contrary, it would have been a terrible transgression. In conclusion, he explained to her that women do not have the mitzvah of wearing tzitzis, and instead of trying to find feelings of spirituality from “other” sources, one should focus on the mitzvos that were given to them.
But at the end of the day, this lady did in fact feel spiritual, so where does this come from? The possuk says אל תפנו אל האלילם ואלהי מסכה לא תעשו לכם - You shall not turn to the worthless idols, nor shall you make molten gods for yourselves. Rashi explains that the word for idol- אליל- contains the syllable אל, not, or nothing, because these gods have no power and no value. But if someone is foolish enough to turn to the idols, he will begin to respect them as if they were truly gods.
Rav Yeruchem Levovitz z’l (Daas Torah) explains that this is the concept of taking something from fabrication to subscription. With time, the person begins to believe in the power of something that may in actuality be just a nothing. He calls this concept the power of “עשאום” – the secret of endowing material things with spiritual or intangible qualities. The Torah tells us not to turn to these idols; not to even glance at it. Once a person starts to pay some attention to it, they start to ascribe to it a value. At that point, in the mind of the person, the molten piece of nothing has already gained the status of a god.
This concept can relate to many different aspects of life, for good or for bad. One example found in daily life may be that what was once good enough for some is no longer good enough once something better has been tasted. Again, that may be good or bad, depending on the situation. The gemara in Mesichta Menachos relates that before a person tastes kavod, he is naturally repulsed by it, but after having experienced it, one can barely do without it. The trick is אל תפנו- don’t turn to it.
Of course, to finish on a good note, if we have indeed pushed ourselves to reach high levels in avodas HaShem, then surely, we should always continue striving to maintain and improve on those lofty levels forever going higher and higher.
Good Shaabos מרדכי אפפעל
Important Numbers
