Kedoshim Tihiyu - You Shall Be Holy

 2 Iyyar 5784
Erev Shabbat Kodesh
Parashat Kedoshim
Day 17 of the Omer

"You shall be holy to Me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and I have separated 

you out from among the nations to be Mine." (Lev. 20:26) 

KADOSH definition - set apart for a special purpose.

(Reposted from 5778)

In the beginning, the Creator made order out of chaos (Bereishit, chapter 1). Those who would deny the Creator and set themselves in His place are bringing chaos from which to create a new world order. Their stated goal is "out of many - one," a global unity without God, r"l, their "one" to replace The One.

Excerpts from Havdalah (Separation) by Rabbi Meir Kahane

in Or Hara'ayon, chapter 25...

...G-d established two great and fundamental principles for Israel, namely, 1) separation and isolationism from the nations, and 2) clinging to G-d.  Israel must separate themselves from evil and from the nations to the precise degree that they are commanded to cling to G-d.

...G-d decreed upon holy Israel that they must be separated from impurity and from the impure nations.  The idolatry and foreign culture of the nations cannot coexist with G-d's Torah or with G-d Himself.  It, therefore, says, "You shall be holy to Me, for I, the Lord, am holy, and I have separated you out from among the nations to be Mine." (Lev. 20:26) Our sages comment, " 'I have separated you out from among the nations to be Mine': If you are separated from the nations, then you are Mine, otherwise, you belong to Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylonia and his associates." (Torat Kohanim, Kedoshim, 9)

Israel's being separated from the nations is so important because, if Israel, chosen to be G-d's holy, special people, are not set apart from them, but influenced by their culture, why then, were Israel created?  What special purpose is there for the existence of Israel and the world?  If they are like Nebuchadnezzar in behavior and thought, in their impurity, arrogance and profanations, why should G-d defend them and ensure their survival?....

G-d established that there must be no unity between Israel and the nations.  They must not mix or mingle together.  The walls separating them must never come down. Rather, there must be separation, borders, a division.  This separation, indeed, serves the purpose of unity, but genuine unity of a world under Divine sovereignty, for a united world of falsehood is not G-d's will....

The argument of the nations... is that we must achieve unity and break down the walls of separation.  Is this not fair and logical according to the false thinking of the worshippers of foreign culture?  Is not the unity of all nations and the disappearance of differences between Israel and the nations the goal of the Hellenists, who in any event have already put an end to every logical and intellectual difference between themselves and the nations?  Before us we have a recommendation for one world and one people, and why should Israel remain alone, a nation that dwells apart?

...The admiration of the whole world, a "light unto the nations"... here is their basic enticement, adopted also by the Hellenists and falsifiers of Israel.  They have distorted the concept of Israel being a "covenant of the people, a light unto the nations." (Isaiah 42:6)  In their hands, this has turned into a demand that we depart the Land of our isolation and cling to the nations in the exile, living there with them in order to serve as their beacon.

To achieve this, we are supposed to abandon unpleasant, "unacceptable" concepts and laws, lest these make the nations hate us, and all this in the name of unity.  That is, we are supposed to assimilate for the sake of unity....

Certainly, G-d's goal is world unity, but not based on falsehood and evil, and not through acceptance of the abominable concepts of coexistence and tolerance which pave the way for equating holiness and abomination, good and evil.  Unity is desirable but only after goodness reigns in the world and all accept G-d's sovereignty.  When G-d's truth and mastery reign on earth, there will be real unity.  It will come precisely through separation.

...The separation G-d decreed upon the universe as a supreme value serves to divide between good and evil.  Therefore, the Torah says, "G-d saw the light, that it was good, and he separated between the light and the darkness."  This implies that not only was the light good, but so was its separation from darkness, good from evil.

_______________________

From the Havdalah Service...

Blessed are You, our G-d, King of the Universe
Who separates between holy and profane, between
Light and darkness, between
Israel and other nations, between
The Sabbath day and the six working days....

~ SHABBAT SHALOM ~