Delivered at Congregation Kol Tikvah, Friday May 5, 2006, by Rabbi Denise L. Eger
Shabbat Shalom,
Aseh l’cha chaver, aseh l’cha Rav. Our tradition teaches, “Acquire for yourself a friend, acquire for yourself a rabbi/teacher.
I am so honored to be here at Kol Tikvah tonight as you pay tribute to your Rabbi, my rabbi this weekend.
Rabbi Jacobs has been my teacher, my friend, my mentor and yes, my rabbi. He held my son, Ben at his Bris, officiated at my wedding, got me involved in rabbinic organizations and social justice causes. He raised my awareness of the plight of others and he always challenges my assumptions.
Indeed this is what a rabbi is to do: to teach, to cajole, to nudge, and to bring us all to a higher plane of being; a place of deeper introspection. A rabbi indeed should bring us to a place of holiness.
Rabbi Jacobs has done that throughout his amazing career. You might not always have agreed with him… but a prophet often walks a lonely path. Just look at Jewish history, Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel were often shunned and their message ignored. Jeremiah was even imprisoned for speaking the truth.
Rabbi Jacobs has always sought the truth and has sought justice for others. He has been an advocate for those who have little or no access. He has spoken out when others through fear or cowardice remained conveniently quiet. He has lifted up the plight of those who have so little and tried to bring reconciliation and healing where there has been pain, suffering and brokenness. He has tried to bring holiness into the lives of the people in his community and into our world. For this we say thank you. For him we give thanks.
Our Torah portion this week speaks of holiness. We are commanded, “KEDOSHIM T’hiu- KI Kadosh Ani Adonai Eloheichem. Be holy, for I Adonai your God am holy.” (Lev. 19:2) On our holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur Afternoon we also read this portion. We try to remind ourselves of the ways in which we can and should elevate our behaviors and overcome our human frailties, to bring out the holiness inside each and every one of us. Rabbi Jacobs has challenged us to live with this frame of Torah.
According to Jewish tradition holiness is a state of being, a way of living, a path of action! We learn this from this week’s Torah portion.
First and foremost, holiness is a state of being. We are to always to strive for holiness and to live our lives with an outlook of holiness. The mitzvot we perform—or the behaviors of holiness—help us perfect our baser human nature and to elevate it towards the path that God wants us to walk.
As the prophet Micah taught—What does God require of you? Only to do justice, to love compassion and walk humbly with your God. We learn then that aspects of holiness must include – justice compassion and humility in the journey of spirituality. The Jewish journey of our people demands us to fulfill this ethic.
This is a simple formula for holiness but it helps us remember exactly what we are called to do and to be.
Our Jewish traditions sanctifies both time and space. Shabbat is holy. We call say Shabbat Kodshecha—God you made the Sabbath Holy through Your rest. Eternal time of Shabbat and the holy days our festivals removes time from the world of the mundane.When we light a candle and make the blessing over the wine, the kiddish, (again from the word for holiness), we lift time beyond its limited boundaries.
So it was with the ancient temple in Jerusalem. It was holy space. A place that God picked for us. And eretz Yisrael—sacred ground.
There is other sacred ground in our lives. We make holy our relationships—between spouses through kiddushin, through marriage. And we also make the relationship to our children sacred. We bless them on Shabbat and ask God’s protection to surround them through our prayers. Time and place, our relationships can all have aspects of God holiness and be transformed into sacred space.
But holiness is also the way we act in the world. Our torah portion reminds us most clearly that there are certain mitzvot, certain expectations and responsibilities that we Jews have to one another, to our neighbors and to God. We are taught in this week’s parasha: Revere you mother and father, keep My Sabbaths. Leave the four corners of your field for the poor. Do not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. Do not profit by the blood of your neighbors. Rise before the aged, the stranger who resides with you shall be to you as one of your citizens, be honest in you balance, weights and measures. These very specific ways of living call us to a holy life. These actions call us toward God and specifically call us toward holiness. By performing these mitzvot and being scrupulous in their observance we add a sacred dimension to our world that all too often is empty of decency.
As Rabbi Jeffrey Summit of Tufts University writes:
Many people find it daunting to hear that religion should "bring holiness" into their life. We are neither saints nor holy people. What do I mean by bringing holiness into life? I'll tell you a story about a woman I knew in Jerusalem. She was an older Jewish woman originally from Yemen who decided that her special mitzvah, her special connection to Judaism, was to help poor brides and grooms get married. She didn't have a lot of money but she was a good cook and had a lot of energy. She would find couples in her neighborhood who had very little, or came from big families without much support and she would basically help them make a wedding. She would shop for them, cook for them, organize so that they could afford it and things would be nice. People spoke about her as a tzadeket, a righteous, holy woman but she would just say, "it teaches in the Talmud that it's a mitzvah to help someone get married." And the Talmud does say that there are certain things you can do (helping someone get married is one of them) where you are rewarded both in this life and in the world to come. But the point of the story is not that she was doing a "nice thing," or a "good deed." She was doing a Jewish act because it was part of her tradition and that act brought tremendous meaning to her life.
She was doing a holy act. Not too complicated. A simple idea—help others get married. Not only did she bring holiness to others through her efforts, she deepened and enriched her own sense of the holy, the sacred in life.
Not to mention that the very ceremony of marriage is called Kiddushin—it comes from the word for holiness—kedusha.
We too need to ask our selves, “How can I bring holiness to other?” What ways do I add to the holiness of my world?
Rabbi Irv Wise tells this story. A Jew went to his rabbi to ask advice. (The man had been in poor health and he had been reviewing his life and his deeds. The man approached the rabbi with anticipation and asked, "Rabbi, what do I have to do to make sure that I die a good Jew? I care about my religion but my life has been taken up with so many other things. Tell me. I'll do anything that you say." The rabbi thought for a moment, considered the man and his request and then replied, "It's easy. If you want to die a good Jew, all you have to do is to live as a good Jew."
Living a life of Holiness is not a Herculean task. Holiness is not just for saints or tzaddikim in Hebrew. Judaism teaches each person, each Jew to live a life of holiness every day. Judaism teaches us to elevate our souls through a blessing and an act. The great teacher Chaim Volozhin (Nefesh Hachaim Shaar Aleph Chapter 4) says, "If someone sanctifies himself properly through the performance of all the Mitzvot...Then he himself is the Beit HaMikdash itself (That person is the Temple in Jerusalem) ...Because this is the truth regarding Tzadikim righteous ones, through the deeds which are desirable by the blessed one they are the Mikdash mamash"
In other words, when we do holy acts, as described in this week’s parasha, visit the sick, revere our parents, leave the four corners of the field, we become the very dwelling place of God on earth! Through us and in us we draw God close.
That is the message of our portion—Kedoshim t’hiyu—be holy, Draw God near through the acts of kindness, generosity and justice that you perform. That is true holiness. Are we always perfect? No. But d
Rabbi Jacobs, you through your work have always sought to draw God close through your work. Through your generosity, your kindness, and the countless acts of justice that you perform. We are blessed to have had you show us the path towards a life of justice and yes, point us toward a life of holiness.
Even as you leave the pulpit, we pray for your continued strength and good health. We pray that the sacred work of your hands continue to bring justice and holiness to yourself, your family and all of your loved ones. And that the sacred work of holiness will surround you and uplift you all the days of your life.
Amen.
Posted by Lee at May 12, 2006 10:30 AM
