"G-d spoke to Moses, telling him to speak to the entire Israelite community and say to them, 'You shall be holy.'" (Leviticus 19:1-2)



Rashi comments, "Verse one indicates that this parasha was taught with all of Israel assembled together. After all, most of the main elements of the Torah depend on it."



This comment can be understood at face value as saying that since parashat Kedoshim includes most of the main elements of the Torah, especially prohibitions against forbidden intercourse, it therefore was proclaimed before the entire assemblage. Yet, it can also be understood to be saying that "you shall be holy" is not just a command, but a blessing and a statement of fact - that all of Israel, men, women and children, are holy.



In fact, we say such a thing each day in the Shemoneh Esreh prayers. Referring to the Jewish People, we say, "Holy beings praise You daily." Moreover, Moses was commanded to tell us before the Sinai Revelation, "You shall be for Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." (Exodus 19:6; see Sichot HaRav Tzvi Yehuda Kook on Leviticus, page 181)



The knowledge and faith that the Jewish People are a great and holy nation has to be the heritage of all Jews. It is the great key to Torah study and to mitzvah performance, as in our daily Torah blessing, when we note that G-d "chose us from amongst all nations and gave us His Torah."



Accordingly, we have a special duty to study the Sefer HaKuzari. The Vilna Gaon, in fact, wrote that one has to study the Kuzari, for it is "holy and pure, and the main tenets of Jewish faith depend on it." (Tosafot Ma'aseh Rav)



Today, in this age of Holocaust and rebirth, fifty-seven years have passed since the establishment of our Jewish State. That state represents the onset of our redemption and the redemption of all mankind. At this time, we must study, understand and recognize, educate and explain to ourselves and to the entire world, what the Jewish People is. We have to realize that "you shall be holy" is not just a command to distance ourselves from sexual sin and from wrongdoing, but a tangible divine fact, stamped upon us. That is how we were created, as Scripture says, "I have created this people for Myself that they might tell My praise." (Isaiah 43:21)



It is true that the terrible Holocaust taught us in the hardest and cruelest fashion that our people, Israel, is a special people. Yet, at the same time, the Holocaust also confused and distanced us from studying and knowing what is special about us ? the element of G-d's having chosen us. Now that we have been privileged, with G-d's help, to establish an independent state in the land of our life's breath, the time has come to clarify the identity and mission of the Jewish People for ourselves and for our generation, and by such means, for the entire world.



We must realize that we are a nation for the world, a great and a holy nation, whose global mission is to illuminate the whole world with the light of unity, peace and brotherhood, justice and fairness, love and faith. It is for this that we were created, and for this that we were chosen.



By such means, may we become the living fulfillment of the prophet Isaiah's words, "Cry aloud and shout, O inhabitant of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst." (Isaiah 12:6)



[For more information regarding studies at the Machon Meir English Department, please visit http://www.machonmeir.org.il/english/new or email [email protected].]