קדשים תהיו כי קדוש אני יהוה –“Holy you will be, because holy am I,” God declares.
Is it a choice? Though the writer of this well known introductory verse to our Torah’s Holiness Code did not employ the grammatical imperative tense, it certainly reads like an imperative. “You will be holy!” God demands. The expectation is clear: we will behave in a manner which is respectful, generous, and in turn, holy. It is easy to focus on the behavioral expectations. We should all respect those elders who nurture, protect, and guide us. We should leave the corners of our fields for those who are hungry. We should care for the stranger in our midst. We should strive to be fair in all of our dealings. And it is easy to criticize those who don’t and blame them for their own failings.
What happens, however, to the ability to behave according to the expectations of this Levitical Code when the opportunities for experiencing a sense of holiness, a sense of respect and well-being, is so far out of reach that even trying to behave well, according to “the code,” doesn’t get you there?
At the start of this week, I had the extraordinary opportunity to ride along with a Baltimore City police officer during his patrol shift through a segment of the Western District of Baltimore city. This opportunity came about due to my involvement in the Baltimore Jewish Council, an organization that works to nurture community relations and inspire community activism. I had never been to the Western District of our city before. Now, I’m not a native Baltimorean. I’ve been here for almost 20 years, a short time by Baltimore standards, but certainly long enough to take a tour through the entire city, even those parts deemed less than savory by most. Yet, I’ve never had reason to venture deep into this part of the city. I’d bet there are plenty of life-long Baltimoreans, too, who have failed to take note of this particular side of town and the utter desolation that is a daily constant there. This is an area of town where entire blocks of bordered up and partially destroyed homes have become haven for the culture of drugs, prostitution and violence that is so firmly entrenched there. This is an area of town where Edgar Allen Poe’s former residence resides, but where armed guards are called upon to patrol the entire area when students come to visit (imagine the message this sends to our youth). This is an area where children have been raised to spit at the very feet of those who have chosen to devote their days to trying to maintain law and order and keep them safe.
Where are the opportunities for kedoshim there? Where are the opportunities for holiness in a place where respect and generosity have been replaced by fear and disdain of even those whose primary service is to protect them. Where are the opportunities for holiness in a place where behaving in a respectful and generous manner may put you – or your loved ones - in harm’s way?
The assumption of our Torah portion is that everyone has the same opportunity for reaching towards and being holy. If only we behave according to the terms laid out before us, then we, like God, will be holy and all will be well. Such an idealistic understanding, however, leads us too quickly to blame those who get stuck in places where the opportunities for kedoshim – for success -- are so far and few between. The stark reality is that not everyone has the same opportunities for living according to these terms. There are those in our world who have never witnessed the kind of generous and respectful behavior the Holiness Code is seeking to establish. There are areas of our world controlled by people who work to instill a different “Code of Honor,” and it isn’t at all honorable. There are areas of our world where hunger – emotional and physical -- runs so deep, it is simply too hard to think, let alone act, beyond it. How on earth can one be asked to behave in a respectful or generous, if one is living in such conditions? How on earth can one be asked to behave respectfully or generously if one has never seen or experienced it? How can one be asked to simply “pull themselves up out of it” when they have no sense of what they are pulling themselves towards?
Perhaps that’s why the biblical hand opens with the mandate that everyone in the community will be holy simply because God is holy. Before any rules are outlined, we are subtly and continually reminded that we are made Btzelem Elohim – ani adonai elohechem. It is not up to us to judge those who fail to reach a certain standard too quickly or too harshly. According to biblical tradition, we are all made in the image of God. Whether we live in areas that provide us great, or even moderate opportunity, to thrive or in areas that seem to squash our inherent capacity to succeed, we all are equally human and deserving of those opportunities for kedoshim. The question remains, how do we make those opportunities present for all!
No comments:
Post a Comment