Thursday, May 7, 2020

Sanctify Thy Self

Why does the Torah place the law of kiddush Hashem, ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל right before the parsha of the moadim?  After the moadim the parsha continues to the subject of the menorah, lechem hapanim, the mekallal and then laws about hitting another individual.  Is there any order or reason for the juxtaposition of all of these various laws and why are they all here, in parshas Emor?

What does it mean kiddush Hashem and chillul Hashem, a person's actions don't add or subtract anything from G-d? In the view of the Sfas Emes these ideas take on new meaning.  It is about a person's own connection with their true self.  The Sfas Emes translates ונקדתי בתוך בני ישראל that the תוך, the פמיניות of every Jew is kodesh and kiddush Hashem means to bring out that kedusha.

The Gemorah (Berachos 21b) has a gezerah shaveh תוך תוך from הִבָּדְלוּ מִתּוֹךְ הָעֵדָה הַזֹּאת וַאַכַלֶּה אֹתָם כְּרָגַע.that a דבר שבקדושה may only be recited in the presence of 10 Jews.  Why must we learn out from  reshaim?  The Rebbe Reyatz in a sicha, (sichos 5704 pg. 29, 26-27 in the hebrew edition,) explains that we are learning out that the תוך that remains uncorrupted is what makes even kedusha present to warrant saying a דבר שבקדושה (see also Tanya Letter 23 and Likutay Sichos volume 33 Shelach sicha 2.)  How does more people standing together bring a greater level of kedusha; what joins them?  The The Sfas Emes explains that people are different in terms of body, but the source of our souls stems from the same source as it says in Tanya Ch. 32 'לכן נקראו כל ישראל אחים ממש מצד שורש נפשם בה' אחד רק שהגופים מחולקי.  So when 10 Jews get together, their souls combine together for a קומה שלמה of 10 levels of kedusha.  That is why the parsha of Kiddush Hashem precedes the parsha of the moadim because it is the kedusha of the פנימיות of Klal Yisroel, where the Klal is together, that brings about the kedusha of the moadim.  In his words (5655,) ונראה דזה סמיכות פרשת מועדות למצות ונקדשתי. דהנה מקראי קודש הם בכח התאחדות בנ"י.

That is why the Torah doesn't write the law of מסירת נפש as a command, for to bring out one's תוך, קדושה פנימית,it  must come from within a person and is not something that can be done to merely fulfill a command (see Sifsay Chayim.)

That is the basis of the continuation of the parshios after the moadim.  As the שפ"א said, it is the kedusha of Klal Yisroel that brings the kedusha of the moadim.  Following it that comes the parsha of the menorah for the menorah represents the kedusha of Klal Yisroel that brings about the kedusha in the mikdash as the Sfas Emes says (5660) וכמו כן במקדש קיבלו בנ"י נשמה יתירה ולכן בשניהם נאמר עדות כמ"ש בגמ' עדות הוא שהשכינה שורה בישראל. שע"י בנ"י ירדה הקדושה בבהמ"ק.  Following that comes the לחם הפנים, the 12 loaves representing every tribe, to be our representatives in the Mikdash on Shabbos.  Although we ourselves aren't present  in the Mikdash on Shabbos that is because our תוך isn't able to be revealed on such a constant basis.  To represent our תוך is worthy of being present, we are represented by לחם הפנים, the bread which reflects our פנימיות.  That is why in the days of the future every Shabbos will be a time for pilgrimage to the Mikdash (as mentioned in the Psektah based upon the verse in Yeshayehu 66:23,) for then our פנימיות will be able to be revealed every week.

After establishing kedusha, the next two parshios, the mekallel and striking another Jew depict polar opposite, chillul Hashem.  The mekallel is the dimetric opposite of kiddush Hashem.  And following that comes the parsha of striking another Jew which is akin to cursing Hashem as the Sfas Emes (5661-2,) says בפסוק ולא תחללו את שם קדשי. כי הקב"ה חתם שמו ית' באיש ישראל וצריכין לשמור זו הנקודה שלא לעשות זה הכח חולין.  The פנימיות, the תוך בני ישראל is what gets affected when violating the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem.  A person becomes distant from the kedusha that is present within himself.  Continues the Sfas Emes, ולכן נסמך בכתוב בנקבו שם יומת וסמיך לי' ואיש כי יכה כו' נפש אדם כו' שבנפש ישראל שורה השם.  That's why the laws of hitting another Jew follows after the mekallel, for hitting another Jew is tainting the 'שם ה inside of him in the same vain the blasphemer sought to taint Hashem. 

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