COMMUNION MEANS COMMUNITY

Parashat Acharei Mot-Kedoshim
Iyar 12, 5781 / April 23-24, 2021
Torah: Leviticus 16:1 - 20:27
Haftarah: Amos 9:7-15 (Ashkenazim); Ezekiel 22:2-20 (Sephardim)
 
Candle-lighting: 7:12 PM (PT)
 
Our Refuah Shleimah/Prayer for Healing List can be found at: 
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COMMUNION MEANS COMMUNITY

“Speak to all the congregation of Israel and say to them: ‘You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy.’” Leviticus 19:2

Rashi: This teaches that this parashah was said at a gathering of all of the Israelites together (based on the use of the word “all”).  

Chatam Sofer: The Torah does not demand a holiness of withdrawal and asceticism, and the command to be holy was stated at a gathering, when everyone stood together.

Daniel Boyarin, in his book Carnal Israel, discusses the differences between Rabbinic Judaism and early Christianity. One of the principal points of departure (besides the obvious) was that Judaism rejects the notion of monastic withdrawal from the physical world, i.e., the world of the flesh, and that Judaism frowns upon ascetic practices such as constant fasting, sexual abstinence, or any other forms of self-denial or self-affliction. Judaism is clearly “of this world” and not about “the next world”. And it is clearly about community.  

That is the real point of “You shall be holy” - spoken in the second person plural. Whatever it might be, holiness is not attained in a vacuum. Nor are we holy because God says we are – though we have the potential to become so. When someone says, “I don’t belong to a synagogue, but I am a spiritual Jew”, or when one says, “I observe in my own way”, that person is claiming independence from God and from the community. Such a person is, in the words of the havdalah service, "chol" (ordinary), as opposed to "kodesh" (holy). However, when we pray and learn and observe together, we achieve holiness, we become holy, through communion with God and with each other. 

Learn from the words of Hillel: “Do not separate yourself from the community."  (Pirkei Avot 2:5) Be an active member of the Jewish community - become holy. We’re all in this together!

Shabbat Shalom!

Rabbi Richard A. Flom
TBH/CBM
הַלּוֹמֵד מִכָּל אָדָם ?אֵיזֶהוּ חָכָם
Who is wise? The one who learns from every person.
Ben Zoma - Pirkei Avot 4:1
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Shabbat Evening Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Friday at 6:30 PM.
 
Shabbat Morning Service with Reb Jason and Rabbi Flom this Saturday at 10:00 AM.
 
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