Kedoshim; Prisha:
The opening 2nd pasuk of this week’s sedra goes a bit like “…you shall be holy (kedoshim) for I, HaShem your God Am Holy.” (19;2). A basic question that almost everyone asks on the spot – why does it need to say ’be holy because HaShem is holy,’ why not merely ’be holy.’ In other words what does the ’coz I am holy’ add?
Let’s start with the Ramban who comments (there) that ‘kedoshim’ refers to separating ourselves. But not from sins (that is true but not what the posuk is saying here), but rather from things which are perfectly ’muttar’ (OK) to us, i.e. don’t base one’s life around eating, or around material pleasures, rather be ‘prushim’ i.e. step back from such things.
There is a stark contrast between this and something that the Beis HaLevi says right at the start of Bereishis referring to the sin of Adam and it’s consequences. Maybe it is from this contrast that the end of the above pasuk can be brought out into light.
The Beis HaLevi comments that in his time there were people who ran after money to such an extent that it made them ill, and those very same people would use that money to pay doctors to make themselves better. He asks the (brisker!) question; what is going on – if money is more important to them than health then don’t use up the money to alleviate one’s health. And if health is more important than money, then why make themselves ill in the first place running after money. (clever, eh?!). He answers with an important principle – there is a difference to be made between the money that these people had and the money that they did not have but were pursuing: The money that they had was less important than their health, (thus they used the money to cure themselves) but the money that they were running after was more important than their health (hence getting ill chasing money). The point the says (and this, he says, is what changed after Adam’s sin) is that when we have something already we know exactly how valuable it is, but with things we don’t have – our minds over-estimate their value in making them more appealing to us than they already are. [Parenthetically, we see nowadays just how true these words are; many people who have ’experienced it all’ are returning to Judaism because they realise that ‘it was just not worth what I thought it was,’ but conversely we see people tempted by things – fame, fortune, etc – that they do not have but wish to have, placing them over more important values in life.]
Now, essentially the principle of the Beis HaLevi clashes with the Ramban’s words. The Beis HaLevi warns us that holding back from something is going to increase our desire for it, and we will thus go after it. But the Ramban says prushim ie being separate is the way to go.
How does one resolve this apparent contradiction? (one could leave it as a machlokes but it is never desirable to create a dispute when one does not necessarily exist)
There are several options but I would like to pick out one. Let’s examine the Beis HaLevi’s principle. Now, let’s speak about non-Kosher food; the Beis HaLevi would obviously say ’keep separate from it’ – but what about the danger of it’s temptation? The point is that despite the temptation, if your reason for holding yourself back is for the sake of Heaven, then the temptation is not dangerous. Thus, the Rambam says indeed that when going past a non-Kosher restaurant one should not think ’what disgusting food how can they eat that’ but rather ’ummm…that looks nice, but HaShem commanded me not to so I won’t’ – the temptation is not overwhelming when separating for the correct reasons.
Maybe this too is the depth of our pasuk; ’Be holy (separate – Ramban) for HaShem is holy’ ie don’t just separate yourself from things for no reason, because otherwise you will be tempted by them and over-value them. Rather do it ’for HaShem is holy’ ie for the correct intentions of serving HaShem, and then, as we explained above, the temptation will be bearable and one’s perspectives will not be affected.
