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![]() Shabbat Parashat Kedoshim 5774Parashat Hashavua: Holy and SeparateHarav Shaul Yisraeli – based on Siach Shaul, p. 335“You shall be holy” (Vayikra 19:2) – you shall separate yourselves (Sifra, Kedoshim 1). Sanctity requires separation; it does not come from nature itself. This goal is the essence of Judaism. Our aspiration to reach the greatest heights does not include an outlook of ignoring reality and does not cover up that which exists. Rather, we are to try to “uproot the weeds” that are damaging before the time comes to “plant the saplings of blessing.” Therefore, every generation must reaccept the Torah. For that reason every year there must be a reacceptance of the Torah, and every day it should be to one as new. The refinement of one’s personal nature must come through man, and doing so for himself brings along an improvement in all of nature. All the world, as we know it, depends upon man – it is elevated when man elevates himself, and it is lowered when man lowers himself. “If not for My covenant, day and night, the rules of the heavens and the earth I would not have installed” (Yirmiya 33:25). If you do not accept the Torah, the corruption of nature will multiply and magnify, and you will be “buried alive” from a moral perspective. We now also understand the statement of the mishna in Kiddushin (4:14): “Neither poverty nor affluence is a result of one’s profession; rather everything depends on one’s merits.” This is difficult, asks Tosafot (Kiddushin 82a), as the gemara (Moed Katan 28a) says that children, life, and livelihood are not based on merit but based on mazal (predetermined fate). On the other hand, there is no mazal for The explanation is that mazal is a combination of natural causes. However, there is also a possibility of going beyond natural factors, and this happens if one realizes that riches and poverty do not come from one’s profession. While things such as children, life, and sustenance depend on mazal, merit can change the mazal. This is because when one fixes nature, then mazal, which is a foundation of “blind nature” within the world, is also changed and fixed. ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Hemdat Yamim is endowed by Les & Ethel Sutker of Louis and Lillian Klein, z”l Hemdat Yamim is dedicated to the memory of: R' Meir Yechezkel Shraga Brachfeld o.b.m Rabbi Yosef Mordechai Simcha ben Bina Stern o.b.m who passed away 21 Adar I, 5774 R' Yaakov ben Abraham & Aisha and Chana bat Yaish & Simcha Sebbag, z"l |