When Rabbi Greene asked me to give my reflections on holiness, I thought Holy Cow. And as I have taken a close and personal reading of the parashat, I started with the definition of holiness which means to “set apart”. Because we are the Jewish people, we are set apart by God and reminded that we are supposed to mimic God in holiness.
But as a Jew, I have questions. Are we inherently holy or do we earn our holiness through our deeds and actions every day? How often should holiness present itself because there is no realm of the holy without the common or routine? And when we are engaged in holy acts, are they even righteous enough?
I certainly have not achieved absolute moral perfection as governed by the holiness code. I usually falter on the gossip piece, not the murder one, in case you were wondering. But as I reread this Torah portion, I realized that holiness may be more abundant than I thought. For example, we are all starting the year off righteously by observing this sacred holy day in this sacred space, and I would wager that all of us in this room are fulfilling many of the commandments you will hear today without being totally aware. So today we should recognize the holy in our lives and commit to consciously expand upon its presence.
As I reflected upon my experiences with holiness, I began to construct a rubric in three parts.
Let’s start with Holiness 101, practical holiness, the sanctification of the commandments. We Hebrews are to respect our parents and keep the Sabbath. My dad can rate my parental respect after services but what I will tell you is that I see him every day and I try to be nice.
One intention that my family has committed to this past year is making Shabbat dinner. As a new year’s resolution, we set a goal to adhere to this ritual at least 51% of the time and we often invite our community, welcoming friends and strangers, who are just friends you haven’t had Shabbat with yet, alike. My husband says that if you are willing to put away your cell phone for a few hours you may actually feel a little bit more attuned to your spirituality. You can help manifest Shalom Bayit, Shalom in the Home.
While sometimes putting a meal on the table can feel overwhelming as a working new mom, I remind myself that this is a privilege. Light the candles, say the prayers, buy challah from the bakery and tell everyone you made it. Actually, God commands us in Leviticus 19 not to deal deceitfully so just be honest about where your favorite challah comes from and please share your recommendations with me.
The next level of holiness implores us to look outside of taking care of our own families and instead to taking care of others. We all know the importance of giving tzedakah and practicing compassion and throughout the days of awe is a good time to start actioning this.
Last July, I gave birth to a preterm baby at twenty-nine weeks due to a placental abruption. After a harrowing delivery of a two and a half pound baby, I looked around the NICU at University of Chicago to see our most vulnerable population having the exact same experience as my family. It was truly humbling to witness everyone getting the same extraordinary care and it gave me optimism about providing our littlest patients with the best start regardless of race, religion or ability to pay for services. I smiled at mothers across the floor of tiny incubators who I shared no commonality with on the outside but who I shared so much humanity with on the inside.
This experience inspired me to join Comer Hospital’s Development Board so that we can continue to make it possible for every child to have a chance at a future. Attaching the word holy to our charitable endeavors should inspire us to do more. Give to the migrants in our cities, help our brothers and sisters in Israel, and continue to encourage each other in this community to give and give and give back.
The ultimate level of holiness is less in our control and happens when we avail ourselves to a connection with the divine. Personal spiritual growth, aligning actions with values, and finding purpose and meaning is daunting, intimidating, difficult, and nuanced.
So when I asked myself when I have felt holiest in the past year, it felt most authentic when I have created. When we create, we can achieve the sublime and act as conduits of God. Look at the paintings of Rothko or listen to the symphonies of Mahler. While I personally may not be able to achieve holiness at this scale, this spring my husband and I curated a show of Jewish artists in Chicago called “Meshuganah”. Often asked about the impetus for the exhibition, we felt it was an important moment to showcase Jewish ingenuity even before October 7th. We assembled a community of Jews and non-Jews alike to behold our culture and tradition and participate in a dialogue weighted with ambiguity. We contemplated the way our own artists represented us, some lovingly, others critically, and we listened to viewers reflect upon their own identities as we Jews have always done.
In the past year, I imagine that like myself, all of us in this room have been cultivating the sacred without being totally cognizant of it but holiness flourishes when you are mindful of its presence. However, we must be reminded year after year that we resemble God, and conjure the most divine and distinct part of ourselves when we elevate the way we act regularly. Holiness is a journey, not a destination and with every new year we are gifted a blank slate to be better.