BS"D
This Dvar Torah is dedicated l'ilui nishmas and in the sacred memory of the ten students who perished in the recent flash floods in Eretz Yisroel.
I presented this thought on the Parsha over the course of a local CTeen Girls' Shabbaton, at the community Kiddush in Ahavath Chessed, New London, CT, Shabbos Parshas Acharei-Kedoshim, April 28/Iyar 13.
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My name is Tzipporah; I’m an informal member of this wonderful community, and a participant in Rabbi Aizik and Mushky Schwei’s CTeen chapter. Rabbi Aizik warmly invited me to share a few words of Torah at Kiddush today, and I’d like to thank you in advance for your time. “Bir’shus Harabbonim…”
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This week’s double-Torah-portion is entitled Acharei-Kedoshim.
Kedoshim means “Holy Ones.” Let’s try to put this into context.
When I shared a recent idea of mine, to organize a community Mikvah-fundraiser, celebrating the privilege of running a Jewish home and the woman’s role in it, a relative of mine quite bluntly replied, “It’s not that glamorous.” There was actually a bit of Emes (truth) in that statement. Sure - folding laundry, cooking supper, scrubbing bathrooms and floors, dealing with tangles in family relationships, and much more, might not appear so dazzling at first sight. If I want to achieve Ruchniyus (spirituality), isn’t that lofty, lonesome spot on the mountain by far more attractive? I thirst for something beyond ordinary, I want to get “high,” I yearn to access G-d. So why is total self-denial and isolated meditation just not cutting it for me?
We’re not satisfied, because that is not the path we were created for and entrusted with! Hashem has instructed us “V’Asu Li Mikdash V’Shochanti Besocham - They will make for Me a sanctuary and I will dwell among them.” How do we accomplish this impossible feat? It is through Torah and Mitzvos, observance and devotion to carrying out G-d’s will, that we are united in an intimate bond - as a bride and groom - with Hashem.
This thought can be further applied through the blessing we recite over the performance of a Mitzvah: “Baruch Atah Hashem… Asher Kidshanu Bemitzvosav... - Blessed are You G-d… Who’s sanctified us with His commandments...” “Kidshanu” also denotes “marriage,” as a man is Mekadesh - marries - a woman.
Sometimes a commandment’s nature perplexes us… Intimate relations? Business dealings? Meat-slaughter and grain-harvest? Why is G-d so concerned with these mundane aspects of daily life, which Kedoshim is replete with? Hashem yearns to be found in every corner, as He not only transcends all worlds, but fills them all as well. Indeed, our purpose is to reveal the spark of G-dly energy concealed within all existence and elevate it, returning it to its Source and primal Oneness, by bringing the purpose of what it invests to actualization. Through Torah and Mitzvos, we strive to permeate our world with consciousness of, faith in, and feeling for G-d, even in its most physical details. We transform this world into a Dirah B’Tachtonim, a welcoming place for the G-d’s Presence to rest.
The festival of Shavuos, the anniversary of our wedding with Hashem when he bestowed the gift of Torah upon us, is fast approaching. We’re walking down the hall to the Chuppah, to relive a cosmic union. The Torah, the pure expression of Hashem’s innermost will and wisdom, enables us to emulate G-d, by “bringing heaven down to earth,” in the words of R’ Tzvi Freeman, and making the earth heavenly. As “a light unto the nations,” it’s within our hands to spread its radiance exponentially outwards. It’s up to us to show the world that spirituality in its truest form is an all-encompassing approach to life. Everyone is welcome to the wedding.
As for the aftermath, when the celebrations have passed and we’re seriously settling down to “married life,” with its accompanying pains and pleasures… the task may not always be apparently glamorous. But the work, without a doubt, it is truly holy.
May it be Hashem’s will that this secret be revealed and tangibly felt by all His beloved, with the coming of Moshiach right now.
Thank you, and Gut Shabbos.
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