Am I The Driver Or The Driven (Gerrit Graham & Bob Weir - "Victim Or The Crime")

Our household experienced another “rite of passage” that will contribute to my graying hair. Our 17-year-old daughter took her the road test for her in order to get her driver’s license. In Canadian speak, she took her driving test for her G2 license. Over the past several months, she was one of those kids in a driving instructor’s car that we see all over Toronto. If anyone was ever stuck behind her, waiting for her to turn left at a traffic light, or waiting for her to merge, please forgive us. When she wasn’t taking her driving lessons, she was constantly asking me to drive, to practice various maneuvers including three-point turns, parallel parking and backing into a parking spot. Over the past several weeks, the frequency of her desire to practice has grown. Over the past several weeks, we have practiced parallel parking, backing up into a parking spot, and driving all around Thornhill. As I spent time with her and discussed how to respond in various situations; she began to appreciate the importance of being a responsible driver safe driver.  

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Bechukotai. It is the final Parsha of the Book of Leviticus. For the past ten Parshiot, Sefer Vayikra, the Book of Leviticus has taught us how to act in a holy manner. We learned how to behave towards God in a holy manner. We have been taught how to treat a member of our family in a holy manner. We have been taught how to treat people outside of our family, friends, acquaintances, employees, and the needy in a holy manner as well. We have been given tools by which we are able to approach God in a sanctified way. We have been given tools to sanctify the seasons, as well as the land of Israel. Finally, here in the last Parsha, we are told the reward as well as the punishment if we fail to learn and observe these commandments. The reward is quite simple and straightforward.  Im B’Chukotai Teileichu v’Et Mitzvotai Tishmeru Va’Asitem Otam V’Natati Gishmeichem B’Itam V’Natna Ha’Aretz Y’Vulah V’Eitz Ha’Sadeh Yiten Piryo – If you follow my decrees and observe my commandments and perform them; then I will provide you with rains in their time, and the land will give its produce and the tree of the field will give its fruit. (Lev. 26:3-4). Ultimately our reward is predicated upon fulfilling the commandments.

The punishment is neither simple nor straightforward. Normally one would think that merely our failure to observe and fulfill the commandment would be reason enough for punishment. However, this is not the case. Our punishment is a result of something worse than our failure to observe and fulfill these commandments.  V’Im Lo Tishme’u Li, V’Lo Ta’asu Eit Kol HaMitzvot Ha’Eila – If you will not listen to me (obey) and will not perform all of these commandments; V’Im B’Chukotai Timasu V’Im Et Mishpatai Tigal Nafshechem – if you consider my Decrees loathsome, and if your being rejects My ordinances (Lev. 26: 14-15) then we receive punishment. There are a series of seven sets of punishments and after each set; we are given an opportunity for Tshuvah, for Repentance. If after each set of punishments we continue to ignore God, then we receive another set of punishments. The Torah keeps repeating a phrase which is far more powerful than “ignoring” God. V’Halachtem Imi B’Keri and if you behave towards Me cavalierly, then the next set of punishments are warranted. It could be argued that our divine punishment is a result of our lack of passion, our lack of care and concern for our role and responsibility in our relationship to God.

Torah is teaching us a valuable lesson about life. Life is sacred. The relationships that we make can and should be sacred, not only with our husbands and wives and our children but with God as well. Self-improvement and trying to get the most out of our abilities is directly proportional to how casual and cavalier we are. Success, as Malcolm Gladwell writes in his book Outliers, depends upon putting in tremendous amounts of time, effort and energy to doing something better than the previous time. For our covenant with God, we need to put in the effort and energy to study and learn. For my daughter, she understands that even though she passed her G2, she understands that she still needs to put in the work, obtain experience, and do so responsibly in order for us to be comfortable with her driving and also for her to be comfortable with herself.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Hearts Of Summer Held In Trust, Still Tender Young And Green (Robert Hunter & Jerry Garcia - "Days Between")

Spring has belonged to the Toronto Raptors. Indeed they have captured the hearts of the city. People walk around town wearing Toronto Raptors jerseys and hats. Even though the Raptors won one seven-game series earlier in the month; Toronto fans still carry decade’s worth of numerous heartbreaks for its professional sports teams. As a result of all this heartbreak; Toronto fans struggle with faith in their team. When the Raptors had lost the first two games to the Milwaukee Bucks in Milwaukee, people call into Toronto sports radio and I heard them say things like, “well they had a really good season, we should be happy about that”, or “there is no way they can come back against Milwaukee,” or, “they had their chance in Game 1 and choked.” My son’s friends are die-hard fans, and prior to the two recent games played in Toronto, they collectively hung their heads and all but threw in the towel. Prior to these two recent games in Toronto, they spoke with little or no conviction or faith that the Raptors could win two games. Soon, my son started to sound like his friends and that is when I sat him down for the “playoff talk”. First, losing the two road games of a seven-game series means nothing. It only means that “Home court” advantage is just that, a home court advantage. Second, if the team had one of the two best records in the league, then statistics would indicate that the team had an incredibly good home record. The players, the coach, the organization, and especially the fans, must know that it plays better at home. After our talk, I heard my son speaking to his friends. He shared his faith and supreme confidence and told his friends not to worry because being down 0-2 and returning home was neither in an impossible nor hopeless situation. Needless to say, after the dramatic double overtime win in Game 3 and a blowout in Game 4; my son’s prophetic words to his friends (which originally were mine) have elevated him into a sort of basketball/playoff authority.

This week we read from Parsha Behar, the second to last Parsha of the Sefer VaYikrah, (The Book of Leviticus). Except for the very beginning of Sefer Vayikra, when God “Karah” called out to Moshe, every time God spoke to Moshe or Aharon and Moshe it was with the phrase, Vayidaber Hashem El Moshe Leimor And God Spoke to Moshe saying:”. Now, the second to last Parsha of VaYikra begins with Vayidaber Hashem El Moshe B’Har Sinai Leimor Hashem Spoke to Moshe on Mount Sinai saying. Obviously, the words Behar Sinai has been added to this very standard phrase. So far, we have read how to elevate our lives with holiness. We elevate our lives by thanking God and atoning to God, through a variety of Korbonot (sacrificial offerings). We elevate our lives by avoiding behavior that defiles us; we don’t marry our sisters. We elevate our lives in every day physical behaviors; we only eat certain types of food. We elevate our lives by consciously setting aside holy times throughout the day, week, and season. Until now, the focus of holiness has been relationship specific, time specific, location (as in Mishkan) specific. Now for the first time, the focus is upon the covenant land specific, Eretz Yisroel. In Parsha Behar, we elevate our lives and our land with holiness by setting aside another type of sacred time, Shmitta (the seventh year.) Just like the seventh day (Shabbat) is a day of rest. Shmitta is a year of rest. Every seventh year, all outstanding debts are canceled. The land lies fallow. Slaves and servants are set free. Agriculturally speaking, there is a benefit. Resting the soil for a year allows for replenishment of nutrients. Rabbinically speaking, less time devoted to agricultural concerns, to mundane concerns, meant more time devoted to Torah study.

We may consider this notion of Shmitta to be quite nice. All debts are canceled. On the other hand, if the land is to lie fallow, what would people eat? We are urged to trust God. Just like we stood at Sinai and entered into a covenant with God, that covenant had to be based upon trust. Ultimately, that was a covenant is based upon - trust between two parties.  Here again, the notion of Shmitta is based upon Bitachon, - Trust in God.  How much trust do we need in God in order to fulfill the laws of Shmitta? At the end of the 6^th year, the harvest must be bountiful enough to cover the Shmitta year, (7^th year) and the end of the planting and harvesting of the first year of the next cycle.   V’Chi Tomru Ma Nochal BaShana HaShviit Hein Lo Nizrah V’Lo Ne’esof et Tevu’ateinu And if you will say: What will we eat in the seventh year: Behold we will not sow and not gather in our crops! V’Tsiviti et Birchati Lachem BaShanah H’Shishit V’Asat et Hatvu’ah Lishlosh HaShanim I will command my blessing upon the sixth year and it will bring forth (enough) produce for three years (Lev. 25:20-21). Just like God provided a double portion of Manna on Friday and thereby guarantee enough food for Shabbat, so too God will “guarantee” enough produce in the sixth year. B’nai Yisroel won’t starve in the seventh (Shmitta) year. Instead, we are going to acknowledge God’s presence in our lives and in the land. We are going to acknowledge that God is the Primary Force, not nature.

We understand that we cannot teach Trust nor can we teach Faith. Trust and Faith are functions of experience. A Child trusts the parent to return to his/her room only after the parent has left and returned enough times for the baby to learn it. When a team wins enough Game Seven’s or wins close games in a consistent manner, or when an organization has won many championships; the fans will have learned faith in that team’s inevitable success. Just think about the great sports dynasties in hockey, basketball, baseball, and football; the fan base just assumed that winning and championships were inevitable and therefore faith in the dynasty was easily learned and maintained.  Our trust in God is a direct function of our ability to reach various levels of Kedusha. We learn that every rung climbed towards Kedusha, we have the opportunity to engage in a more intimate relationship with God. That intimacy helps us confirm our trust in God. We trust that God is Holy; otherwise, we would have no need to be holy. We trust that everything pure and good is attributable to God. Otherwise, we would constantly defile ourselves. We trust that we are created in God’s image. Otherwise, there is no reason to treat people with kindness first. That place in our soul where trust in God resides, that place is our own individualized Mishkan. The Mishkan was built so that God would dwell among us. So faith or trust in God allows God to dwell within us. Now that Toronto’s series with Milwaukee has boiled down to the 2 out 3 games; hopefully for Toronto Raptor fans, God will be dwelling on the Toronto side of the bench.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

Lotta Pretty Vanity, No Not Me; Glorified Insanity, No Not Me - (John Barlow & Bob Weir - "Heaven Help The Fool")

Raising three daughters has made me extra sensitive to issues concerning self-image, peer pressure, social cliques, and body image. Over the years,  their mother and I have tried to create an environment where our daughters acquired the tools to deal with the perils of social cliques and peer pressure; all the social network apps that our daughters “must be on” has made our job that much more difficult. Over the years, their mother and I have tried to create an environment where deeds, substance, effort and the content of character receive more praise and are held in much higher regard than the superficiality of physical appearance and fashion. However, television, fashion magazines, Twitter, and all the social networks, podcasts, and peer pressure has made our jobs more difficult. Thankfully, we only have one teenage daughter remaining in High School that demands our vigilant attention. So what did our Grade 11 daughter do last week that heightened her parents’ concern over the tumultuous nature of teenage girls, their self-image, popularity and sense of self-worth? She decided to run for Student Council Treasurer. All week, she and several friends made posters and videos, created slogans and developed a campaign. With the advice of her older sister, a political consultant currently managing a presidential campaign, our the declared candidate spent ten days speaking to as many of the students as possible, faculty and school administrators.  All of us, parents and siblings alike, helped on this campaign. So from that perspective, it was nice to see our children working together for a common goal.  On the other hand, I am aware that running for office in Student Council is not exactly the same as running for office at the municipal, provincial/state or federal level.  Running for office at the student council level is far more brutally honest. It is strictly a popularity contest. There are no real issues per se. And certainly one can’t “buy” the election with Super-Pac money or millions of small online donations. Student council politics can be a brutal endeavor precisely because it remains a popularity contest. So who are the teenage girls that tend to be the most popular? That’s right, the girls with the most pleasant and appealing appearances tend to be considered popular, the girls that keep up with popular culture and all that is trending. They might not necessarily be well-liked, but everyone knows who they are. Needless to say, I can’t help but notice the irony of the week. Our daughter, who we raised to have a positive self-image, participated in a school activity that focused upon those very qualities that can demean self- image.

This Shabbat we read from Parshat Emor. The four chapters that comprise Parsha Emor focus on the various aspects of Perfection. First, the Torah focuses upon the importance of the spiritual perfection and purity of the Kohen. He must remain in a perpetual state of purity. He is restricted in terms of whom he can marry. He is restricted in regards for whom he can mourn. He cannot go to a cemetery. He cannot make sacrificial offerings if he has physical abnormalities. Second, the Torah reminds B’nai Yisroel to be in a state of ritual purity when approaching God with a blemish-free offering. These offerings must come directly from the individual making them and not from “the hand of a stranger” (Lev.22:25). Third, the Torah focuses upon the perfection and the purity of time. Perfection in time is manifest in the prescribed order of each season and their timely commencement and conclusion. Each corresponding Festival acknowledges that perfection. Shabbat acknowledges the perfection of Time in the context of the Week. That sense of order and Timeliness is both pure and perfect since the designation of “Sacred” time comes from God. Fourth, the Torah concentrates on maintaining purity and perfection of physical space as embodied by The Mishkan. The Torah even deals with perfection and purity of human relationships and the punishments meted out when that perfection, purity, and holiness is violated. In a sense, this last chapter reminds us of God’s charge to B’nai Yisroel.

Like running for student council places an emphasis upon physical appearance as it relates to popularity; the Torah places an emphasis upon the physical appearance of the Kohen as it relates to his spiritual purity and eligibility of serving as the Kohen Gadol.  The last eight verses (21:16-24) explain all the physical abnormalities that exclude the Kohen from assuming the position of Kohen Gadol. Blemishes, blindness, being lame, having any broken bones, bad skin, abnormally long eyebrows, a blemish in his eyed, are but a few of the physical attributes that make a Kohen ineligible for the position of Kohen Gadol.   How can the Torah, with its primary focus upon Mitzvot (commandments) and the importance of deeds and the Kavanah, the intentionality behind those deeds, now focus upon something as superficial as appearance? Sefer HaChinuch, a13th Century Spanish commentary, explains: “At the root of the precept lies the reason that most actions of people are acceptable, appealing to the heart of those who see them, in accordance with the eminence of those who do them. For when a man is distinguished in his appearance and good in his actions, he will find grace and good understanding (Prov. 3:4). With all that he does in the eyes of all who observe him. Should he be, however, the opposite of this- inferior in his form, or peculiar in his limbs then even if he is correct in his ways, his activities will not be so attractive to the hear…” (Emor 275). As upsetting and politically incorrect as that sounds, the comment and the Torah text infer a keen understanding of human nature. While watching the physically flawed Kohen conducting the ritual slaughtering in a perfectly correct manner; our attention would be upon the flaw in appearance, our Kavanah (our intention) would be lacking and the sacrificial process would fail.

            This line of reasoning doesn’t offer any solace to the Kohen with the physical flaw or abnormality.  I don’t for a second agree with it. However, it is important to remember that the Torah’s goal was to make sure that the offerings were accepted and the Kavanah (the intention) behind the offerings was both pure and focused. Thankfully, we don’t have a Third Holy Temple. We have evolved beyond animal offerings as a means of engaging God in a sacred relationship. However, human nature has remained fairly consistent.  All these decades later, the Home Coming King and Queen are still very good looking and popular, and running for Student Council remains a popularity contest as well. Maybe what really matters is not winning a popularity contest but rather, putting oneself out there as the offering, showing external physical flaws and all, and showing people the goodness and purity and authenticity within. Maybe having the courage to run and be exposed to the vulnerability of losing truly is a measure of the content of character. Thankfully, as election night drew to an end, our daughter won her campaign by being as authentic as possible and avoiding the social cliques and drama.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

What Truth Is Proof Against All Lies When Sacred Fails Before Profane (Gerrit Graham & Bob Weir -"Victim Or The Crime")

Prior to Israel and Jews throughout the world observed Yom HaZikaron (Remembrance Day), and Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day) Israelis had to endure rocket fire from Gaza. This wasn’t just a couple of rockets that were shot down by the Iron Dome. This was over two hundred rockets fired over the course of about 36 hours. Schools in Ashkelon and along Israel’s southern border near Gaza were closed. With our daughter in Israel, my wife felt compelled to remind me that our daughter was in the North parts of Israel with her program so I shouldn’t be overly worried. Yet, I did worry. Maybe not so much for my daughter but for YouTube videos that showed Israeli children listening to sirens, running to bomb shelters, and clutching to their parents. I also saw YouTube videos and numerous Palestinian teenage boys standing near the border with Israel hurling slingshots, and trying to float incendiary balloons across the wall. Can I empathize with their frustration? Yes. Can I empathize with their anger? Yes. However as my children point out, and I agree, those angry frustrated Palestinians were aiming their slingshots, and rockets and directing their frustration and hopelessness the wrong way. How do we know this? It was self- evident from all those YouTube videos filmed by the Gazans and Hamas who clearly support and instigate the unrest and the rocket fire. The videos indicate that Hamas rockets were launched from schools, hospitals, apartment buildings and houses of worship.  Videos indicate that the mothers and the daughters, dressed in traditional observant Muslim clothing, remain behind their sons and their brothers, encouraging and supporting their sons and brothers slingshot stones and float incendiary balloons over the wall. When I saw that, any empathy I may have had dried up. I couldn’t imagine my wife and my daughters running behind her son and their brother all the while encouraging and supporting him as he endangered his life and the lives of those around him.  Rather, I could imagine my son’s mother and his three older sisters walking up to him and dragging him out of harms’ way.  I thought about Golda Meir’s words: “Peace will come when the Arabs start to love their children more than they hate us.”  

This Shabbat we read from Parsha Kedoshim. Kedoshim is the plural form of the adjective Kodesh, which means holy.  In this particular case, the antecedent for Kedoshim is Kol Adat B’nai Yisroel – the Entire Assembly of the Children of Israel. All of Israel is Holy, why? As we will read over and over again in a mantra-like fashion, Ki Kadosh Ani Adonai Eloheichem – Because Holy am I, Hashem your God. We are holy because of our sacred relationship to God. Interestingly, the rest of the Parsha does NOT concentrate on the relationship between God and humanity. Instead, the Parsha outlines the moral and ethical behavior that we are commanded to display towards our fellow human being. Keeping in mind that we are all created B’Tzelem Elokim – the Image of God; we are urged to imitate God. We are reminded to treat others as we would treat God.

The plethora of ethical behaviors outlined includes “do not place a stumbling block before the blind”, or “a workers wage shall not remain with you overnight until morning”. Even the Golden Rule, urging us to treat others as we hope to be treated is part of Kedoshim. The great Talmudic Sage Rabbi Hillel, explained to an individual who wanted to learn Torah while standing on one leg that this one rule embodies the essence of Torah “the rest are the details” (Shabbat 31a). V’Ahavta L’Rei’echa K’Mocha – You shall love your fellow human being as yourself (Lev 19:18).  Rabbi Akiva, another Talmudic Sage, explains that this is the fundamental rule of the Torah (Jerusalem Talmud Nedarim 9:4). Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Heschel explained that this commandment does not mean to love saintly and righteous people – it is impossible NOT to love such people. Rather God commands us to love even people whom it is hard to love. However we do not “love” to our detriment. These ethical statements and the re-iteration of many of the commandments are put into the context of human relationship because it is much easier to see the immediacy and relevance of these commandments in human terms while aspiring to and appealing to the Godliness in each soul.

How different would Gaza, its inhabitants, and Israel be if Gazans sought Kedushah, holiness here on earth rather than in death? How different would Gaza, its inhabitants, and Israel be if Gazan sought Kedushah and understood the words Loving your neighbor as Heschel understood it: even if he is difficult to love? How much poison, how much hate can an organization have that uses its own people for fodder in order to promote despair and death?  How many Gazans need to be enslaved by Hamas to build tunnels? How much money and supplies does Hamas need to for tunnels rather than hospitals, schools, and community centers? How many children need to be poisoned with hate in order to convince them to fight? How many mothers need to be rewarded/bribed with funds in order to allow their children to be “martyred”?  The tragedy is that Hamas and every organization like Hamas have placed a stumbling block in front of the blind. The tragedy for Palestinians in Gaza is not Israel. Rather, the tragedy is that they allowed themselves to be fooled when they voted for Hamas all those years ago. They chose to unholy poison offered by Hamas rather than the nectar of Kedushah and peace with Israel. As tragic as all that is; I find Golda Meir’s words even more tragic: We can forgive [them] for killing our children. We cannot forgive them from forcing us to kill their children.

Peace,

Rav Yitz

And Forget About The Darkness You Have Seen (Jerry Garcia, Dave Parker & The Grateful Dead- "The Only Time Is Now")

Immediately after the Pesach Festival and Shabbat concluded and after we completed the Havdalah service, my wife saw that there were several WhatsApp messages from our daughter Hannah. Hannah has been studying in Israel during this current school year. She told us that there had been a synagogue shooting at a Shul in Poway, California, a suburb of San Diego. Having lived in San Diego for two years, she was worried.  She was worried for a number of reasons. Did any of us know any of the victims or their families?  Was it the one shul or were other San Diego synagogues targeted?  Then of course there were the larger questions of a genuine concern about a rising tide of anti-Semitic incidents and near incidents throughout the U.S. Two days after the tragedy, my wife and I watched the funeral for the woman who was murdered during that Poway Synagogue terrorist attack. At the cemetery, there was another Hannah, the daughter of the deceased, who knelt by the grave as people performed a final act of kindness and placed dirt upon the casket. Hannah remained knelt as the hole was filled. Hannah remained knelt when they place a marker and she remained knelt and weeping for her mother as they pleaded with her to stand up. Eventually, Hannah was helped to her feet, she returned home and has been sitting Shiva. I spoke to my Hannah, and she explained that she hadn’t slept well as she  feels increased anxiety and concern for the myriad of friends that she has throughout Canada and the United States. As she explained to me, “It seems that we are all targets because we are Jewish”. I wished I could have  disagreed; I couldn’t. Yes, to a degree, we Jews are targets. It seems that we always have been and sadly it appears that we always will be targets, but that doesn’t mean we need to perceive ourselves as victims.  I have thought about my Hannah in Israel who is scheduled to return home and begin University in the fall. I have thought about another Hannah who is only a few years older, a victim of Anti-Semitism, who just buried her mother and will spend this Shabbat in the midst of Shiva. I have thouight about the Jewish people who had just observed Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day.  

Dear Hannah:

Hashem Yikom Damah. I cannot imagine that there are any words that could bring you consolation during this tragic moment in life. Perhaps someday these words may prove to be a source of consolation after the intensity of shiva has concluded, and shloshim has waned, and you, your father, and extended family are left with the task of living. Yes, you will be living a very different type of life than the one that you were familiar with while you sat at your family’s seder celebrating Pesach. What I am saying to you Hannah, are words that I would say to my Hannah. There will be a someday when I won’t be able to say these words to her but they are words that she will need to hear as well. They are words that embody the way we raised our Hannah, and they are words that I know embody the way your mother raised her Hannah, you. While you may not be ready to read these words, I hope they might provide you with a source of strength when you feel darkness and emptiness encroaching upon your soul.  I hope these words will offer you a source of light for your eyes when the darkness of others souls encroach upon you. I hope these words will offer warmth and security when darkness, hatred, and vitriol abound. These words of light are inspired by this week’s Torah portion: Acharei Mot. The Torah portion that resumes Aharon’s HaKohen’s preparations for his role in society immediately following the tragic deaths of his two sons.

The Torah portion discusses the Yom Kippur Avodah Service and the Kohen Gadol’s Vidui (The High Priest’s confession). Instructions are given regarding the drawing of lots and sending one goat into the wilderness and making an offering of the other goat on behalf of the community. The Parsha concludes with a reminder about the prohibition of consuming blood and then a list of forbidden relationships.  Throughout the Parsha, Hashem speaks to Moshe who is supposed to speak to his brother Aaron regarding the Yom Kippur laws. This makes sense since Aaron is the Kohen Gadol and must know every detail concerning the offerings, blood sprinkling and bringing about atonement on his behalf as well as the B’nai Yisroel’s behalf. However, I have always wondered why Acharei Mot continues with a list of human relationships forbidden to B'nai Yisroel. The second half seems to belong to next week’s Torah portion. How is the first half of Acharei Mot connected to the second half Acharei Mot? How are Moshe’s instruction for his brother Aaron connected to his instructions for the rest of B’nai Yisroel?
 I have struggled to find the words of consolation and light for you, Hannah, and for my Hannah. I watched your mother’s funeral and listened to Rabbi Goldstein. I know the community and I know people who knew your mother. I had a moment of clarity and an answer to my question. Indeed, the answer has everything to do with how your mother lived her life, and how my wife and I have raised our Hannah as well as her siblings. Acharei Mot, after death, after the death of a loved one, when we are bereft, inconsolable, feeling empty and perhaps very much alone, when we are left feeling as if there is “no point” to any of this; while our soul and our faith is in turmoil; we are left with Mourner’s Kaddish. We are left with life and all the mundane attributes of living that life. Aaron HaKohen had to continue living life, which is not to say he didn’t mourn every day of his life for his two sons. I am sure he mourned every day. However, he got on with the job of living life. The question is what is the job of living life? Your mother answered that question in the way she lived her life. Rabbi Goldstein answered thata question in his recent letter to the editor. This week was Yom HaShoah, and every Jew who died for Kiddush HaShem, and every kind and decent person who has ever lived, provided an answer to those of us who must continue living and to those of us who try to bring light to the darkest places. It is the answer  as to why the second part of Acharei Mot and its list of forbidden relationships appears in this weeks Parsha and continues into next week’s Torah Portion, Kedoshim. The job of living life is to live it with Kedushah, Holiness. No matter how mundane, no matter how we may feel, if we are indeed, created in God’s image, then we have the capacity to always strive for and achieve a level of holiness that is beyond “human nature”.  The capacity to strive for and achieve holiness is evident in our personal relationships, our relationship to God, our relationship to strangers and our relationship with our communities. Your mother embodied Chesed, kindness, and decency; she was a light of holiness for the community in which she lived and the lives she touched.  As a parent, I hope that my Hannah has been imbued with the propensity to live a life of Kedushah and Chesed, a life of holiness and kindness as your mother and father have taught you.  Because Acharei Mot, after death, those who remain alive have an opportunity to live lives with greater holiness and kindness and in doing so, reflext their loved one’s light  and shine it upon the darkness.

Peace,

Rav Yitz