Illustration credit: Rivka Tsinman
Haftarah הַפְטָרָה
וִהְיִיתֶם לִי קְדֹשִׁים כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי ה'
וָאַבְדִּל אֶתְכֶם מִן הָעַמִּים לִהְיוֹת לִי׃
You shall be holy to Me, for I am your holy God,
and I have separated you apart from other peoples to be Mine.
Our parashah describes God separating the Jewish people for holiness. Is this separateness something we’re born with? Or is it something we have to achieve?
In the haftarah that Ashkenazim read this Shabbat, the נָבִיא (navi, prophet) Amos answers these questions. Amos says that being separate is something we achieve. We have to work for it.
According to Amos, here’s what happens if we do the work God wants us to do:
כִּֽי־הִנֵּ֤ה אָֽנֹכִי֙ מְצַוֶּ֔ה וַהֲנִע֥וֹתִי בְכׇֽל־הַגּוֹיִ֖ם אֶת־בֵּ֣ית יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל כַּאֲשֶׁ֤ר יִנּ֙וֹעַ֙ בַּכְּבָרָ֔ה וְלֹֽא־יִפּ֥וֹל צְר֖וֹר אָֽרֶץ׃
I (God) will command, and I will shake the House of Israel through all the nations. It will be like a person shakes sand through a sieve, and not a pebble falls to the ground.
But if we don’t do what God wants, Amos says, then God will consider us to be no different from any other nation:
הֲל֣וֹא כִבְנֵי֩ כֻשִׁיִּ֨ים אַתֶּ֥ם לִ֛י בְּנֵ֥י יִשְׂרָאֵ֖ל
To Me, Benei Yisrael, you are just like the Kushites.
- How can our actions and choices make us holy, like God is holy?
- Why is it important to be separated in order to live a holy life?
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