"HaShem spoke to Moshe, saying: Speak to the entire assembly of the Children of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for holy am I, HaShem your G-d."

One might think that this holiness can only be acquired though long fasting, rolling in snow, and isolation for long periods.



Our parsha is analogous to the entire Torah; it parallels all of the Ten Commandments. But what is the nature of this kedushah ("holiness")?


On first thought, one might think that this holiness can only be acquired though long fasting, rolling in snow, and isolation for long periods of time from civilization, as we find in some other religions. But here in our parsha, the Torah goes on to tell us: "Every man shall revere his mother and his father, and you shall observe My Sabbaths." Seemingly, just everyday commandments. Further on in the parsha, we learn about consuming the sacrifices in the Temple in Jerusalem at the proper time, leaving part of your field for the poor, not to steal, to pay your workers on time, to give good advice to your fellow man, to judge him favorably, not to take revenge or to hold a grudge - just to list a few.


Incredible as it seems for the Jew, he reaches greatness and holiness not by some far-out, unattainable quest, but just by doing what a Jew does daily - following the commandments. From how he ties his shoes in the morning, to giving a coin for charity, saying a nice hello to his neighbor - the smallest of details take the Jew to the highest levels of holiness. This is the greatness of Judaism.


As an added attraction to holiness, this year in Israel is the Sabbatical (Shmitta) year, enabling the Jews who live here a unique opportunity to eat of its fruits and partake of extra holiness not available in the regular years. As the Ramban (Nachmanides) writes, one who eats the fruits of the Land of Israel in the Shmitta year fulfills a positive commandment. Just by having a cherry or an apple from the Golan, or a nice orange from Jaffa, he fulfills a commandment and gains extra holiness; it's that easy. The only halachic requirement is to place the peels in a bag for a few days until they start to rot, and then to dispose them in the garbage.


Imagine my surprise, then, when last week someone told me:


"We buy our fruits from the Badatz hechsher, which they only acquire from Arab farmers, and which have absolutely no extra holiness of the seventh year in them. Why do we buy from them? Because we don’t know how to dispose of the peels."


How absurd it is to toss greatness and holiness away, just for the trouble of placing a few peels in a bag! This is besides the fact that this year will find millions of shekels going over to the Arab enemy from the Badatz, which the Arabs will be only too happy to use in their war against the Jewish people. I, for one, find it hard to partake of the Badatz fruits and vegetables, for then I would have to kasher all my plates that came into contact with the fruits, in order to get out the Jewish blood in which the fruits grew.


While trying to be extra strict in this commandment, they miss out on the added holiness of the fruits of the Land

This year will find millions of shekels going over to the Arab enemy from the Badatz.

during this year and end up weakening the hands of the Jewish people. This "small-mindedness" has plagued the Jewish people for hundreds of years, keeping the Jewish people from returning in force to their Land while stating: "How can we live in the Land, with its many commandments which we do not know how to do properly?"


As with our other commandments that make up our daily lives and add holiness to us, so does the Land and its produce add holiness to us. For this reason, our rabbis in the Talmud would kiss and roll on the ground of the Land, and teach that "all who walk four amot in the Land will have a place in the next world."


But one must realize that kedushah for the individual is not always the same law as for the whole Nation of Israel. A Jew who was killed in the Holocaust because he was a Jew has reached the highest level of kedushah, making a Kiddush HaShem, but for the Nation there was no greater Chilul HaShem than this. It is essential that we make this differentiation - for it is this reason, and this reason alone, that HaShem in His great mercy returned His people back to the Holy Land.


To be continued....