Kedoshim 5771 - English

Rabbi Daniela Szuster

B´nei Israel Congregation,

Costa Rica

The Kedusha and the rose that we honor

"The little prince went away, to look again at the roses, to whom he said: You are not at all like my rose. As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one...You are beautiful, but you are empty. One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars; because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or ever sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."  (Taken from "The Little Prince") 

 
This week’s parasha begins by saying:  "Kedoshim tiú ki kadosh aní Adonai Eloheihm", "Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your G-d am holy" (Vaikrá 19:2).  G-d orders us to be Kedoshim (holy).  What does it mean to be Kadosh, holy?  What does G-d seek from us?
 

In some ways, one can understand the concept of Jewish Kedusha from the beautiful and profound words of the famous Little Prince to his beloved rose.  We usually associate the "holiness" with the heavenly sphere, with something higher and distant from ourselves.  Nonetheless, it is more appropriate to think of the Kedusha in the way that the Little Prince imagines his rose, in the earthly world.  The word Kedusha encompasses the meaning of separating, distinguishing, and consecrating.  The Little Prince chooses one rose among all the roses and devotes himself to her.  To devote himself implies a daily effort to look after, protect, feed and constantly take care of her wellbeing.

 
Our tradition has many elements, places, and moments that are called Kedoshim, holy, from which we can take the meaning of this concept.  The following are three examples:

 
The first example I have chosen is the Kiddush that we make on Shabbat and on the holidays.  The word Kiddush comes from the same root as Kedusha.  What is it that we are doing when we recite the Kiddush on Shabbat?  We sanctify the Shabbat through the wine.  Through our words, we turn a day that could be common into a special day, a holy day.

 
The second example is the ritual of Kidushin, nuptial commitment, which also comes from the same root as Kedusha.  When a couple decides to carry out Kidushin, to devote themselves to one another, they choose among all the human beings on earth and commit themselves to love and fidelity, and this relationship is considered sacred.  

 
The third example is our Sefer Hakodesh, the holy book, the Torah.  Our people have chosen to devote themselves to one book among all the books of humanity.  The book that guides us, gives us messages of life and, above all, unites us with the past, present, and future of our tradition. 

The Kidush, Kidushin, and Sefer Hakodesh are examples of how our tradition sees everyday life.  I call this the philosophy of life of Kedusha: that our glances, actions, thoughts, and feelings can differentiate, separate, and distinguish the holy from the profane.    They can sanctify elements and moments that, in the end, make our own life sacred.

 
In the world we live in today, thousands of images try to convince us that the sacred is associated with death, vengeance, and hatred.  The concept of what is sacred is disturbed and profaned.  In our tradition, the Kedusha is related to life, to its elevation and veneration.  And to paraphrase the Little Prince, for the rose to be our rose and not just any one, depends only on our actions.  It is we who choose her from among all the roses and devote ourselves to her.

 
G-d willing that we can devote ourselves to our beautiful rose with joy and devotion, and that we can be Kedoshim, sanctifying every instant of our lives and living holy lives, full of meaning.  Also, that we have the capacity to transmit to our children a life of Kedusha and that they too can sanctify and devote themselves to the  Jewish tradition as our ancestors have done for thousands of generations. 

"Kedoshim tiú ki kadosh aní Adonai Eloheihm", "Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your G-d am holy" (Vaikrá 19:2).