Genuine holiness is the altruistic striving for good for its own sake, not out of self-interest.
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook
Define God and Holiness
The one thing that the Mussar Masters tell us about God is that we have no idea what we are talking about! Any definition we attempt is fundamentally flawed because God is undefinable and essentially unknowable in the way that we generally define knowledge. We know nothing of God’s essence. We only know the way God acts and it is that which we try to emulate in our own actions. Through emulating the One Above, we have some experience of the divine and come to “know” God in some way.
Circling back to kedusha: if we cannot really define God, we will have a similar problem defining kedusha. I’m comfortable with that. I appreciate that there are many things that I will never fully know or grasp but what is required of me is to seek, to ponder and to discover slowly over time and through life experience.
A corollary of this is that kedusha is an individual matter in the sense that it cannot have clear guidelines or parameters. It is for this reason that the Torah’s directive of “And you shall be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2) is not clearly defined. There are no clear rules as is the case in regard to many other areas of Torah.
Alan Morinis
The one thing that the Mussar Masters tell us about God is that we have no idea what we are talking about! Any definition we attempt is fundamentally flawed because God is undefinable and essentially unknowable in the way that we generally define knowledge. We know nothing of God’s essence. We only know the way God acts and it is that which we try to emulate in our own actions. Through emulating the One Above, we have some experience of the divine and come to “know” God in some way.
Circling back to kedusha: if we cannot really define God, we will have a similar problem defining kedusha. I’m comfortable with that. I appreciate that there are many things that I will never fully know or grasp but what is required of me is to seek, to ponder and to discover slowly over time and through life experience.
A corollary of this is that kedusha is an individual matter in the sense that it cannot have clear guidelines or parameters. It is for this reason that the Torah’s directive of “And you shall be holy, for I, the Lord, am holy” (Leviticus 19:2) is not clearly defined. There are no clear rules as is the case in regard to many other areas of Torah.
Alan Morinis
Defining Holiness vs. Observing Holiness
“I can’t tell you what holiness is exactly,” he said. “In Hebrew, the word kadosh, which we translate as ‘holiness,’ has a sense of otherness, of separation, like the separation of a pure essence, without contamination or impurity. But I can tell you that I’ve had the privilege of seeing holy people. I’ve seen people who have purified my eyes just by looking at them. To me, it is like a picture of the Divine, Itself.”
Rabbi Yechiel Perr
“I can’t tell you what holiness is exactly,” he said. “In Hebrew, the word kadosh, which we translate as ‘holiness,’ has a sense of otherness, of separation, like the separation of a pure essence, without contamination or impurity. But I can tell you that I’ve had the privilege of seeing holy people. I’ve seen people who have purified my eyes just by looking at them. To me, it is like a picture of the Divine, Itself.”
Rabbi Yechiel Perr
Types of Holiness
Rav Kook wrote that people possess two aspects of holiness.
The first is an inner force that resides naturally in the soul. This trait is a spiritual inheritance passed down from the patriarchs, which Rav Kook referred to as a segulah (innate) holiness. It is an intrinsic part of the human soul, and is immutable.
The second aspect of holiness is based on our efforts and choices. Rav Kook called this willed-holiness, as it is acquired consciously, through our actions and Torah study. Innate-holiness is in fact infinitely greater than willed-holiness, but it is only revealed to the outside world according to the measure of acquired holiness. It is difficult to perceive an individual's inner sanctity when it is not expressed in external actions or character traits.
Rabbi Chanan Morrison
Rav Kook wrote that people possess two aspects of holiness.
The first is an inner force that resides naturally in the soul. This trait is a spiritual inheritance passed down from the patriarchs, which Rav Kook referred to as a segulah (innate) holiness. It is an intrinsic part of the human soul, and is immutable.
The second aspect of holiness is based on our efforts and choices. Rav Kook called this willed-holiness, as it is acquired consciously, through our actions and Torah study. Innate-holiness is in fact infinitely greater than willed-holiness, but it is only revealed to the outside world according to the measure of acquired holiness. It is difficult to perceive an individual's inner sanctity when it is not expressed in external actions or character traits.
Rabbi Chanan Morrison
Observing the Holiness of Shabbat
The holiness of Shabbat is expressed specifically through physical pleasures, such as eating and drinking. The rabbi’s taught homiletically, “‘Remember the Sabbath and sanctify it’ – Remember it upon wine” (Talmud Pesachim 109). In other words, the holiness of Shabbat comes through drinking wine.
Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel
The holiness of Shabbat is expressed specifically through physical pleasures, such as eating and drinking. The rabbi’s taught homiletically, “‘Remember the Sabbath and sanctify it’ – Remember it upon wine” (Talmud Pesachim 109). In other words, the holiness of Shabbat comes through drinking wine.
Rabbi Nosson Tzvi Finkel