There is a vast difference between God’s holiness and our own. God’s holiness is innate, our holiness acquired. Thus, at the outset of this week’s portion, we are told to strive for a quality that God already has: “Ye shall be holy; for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Lev. 19.2)
But how do we know we are on the right path?
Some of us might run through a check-list. ‘I gave charity. Check. I loved my neighbor today. Check. I lit Shabbat Candles. Check.’ But I would imagine that for most of us, doing right just feels right like a satisfying chord of music. Likewise, doing wrong just feels wrong, like hearing a beginner scrape at a violin.
How are we to understand this? That our bodies are attuned to holiness, the way the ear is attuned to music?
I once overheard a woman say of her favorite synagogue: “It’s the only place where I feel spirituality.” Stranger yet, her friend nodded her head in agreement. ‘I feel the same way.’
The naturalness with which they rated the sacredness of a place still baffles me. But perhaps it should baffle no less than the inexplicable beauty affixed the rose.
I leave you to ponder a quote from C.S. Lewis: "You don't have a soul. You are a soul. You have a body."
Shabbat Shalom!
No comments:
Post a Comment