Parashat HaShavua - Shemini

״׳בִּקְרֹבַ֣י אֶקָּדֵ֔שׁ וְעַל־פְּנֵ֥י כָל־הָעָ֖ם אֶכָּבֵד׳״ (ויקרא י:ג)

“‘I will be sanctified through those near to Me, and before all the people I will be glorified.’” (Lev. 10:3)

These are the words that Moshe conveys from God to Aharon, after Aharon’s sons die while making an offering to God. How are we meant to understand from this the ideas of kedusha (holiness or sanctification) and kavod (glory or respect)? Given the context, are they comforting or chilling?

Implicit here are two notions of God, one near and the other far. The idea of a distant God can be found in the word kavod. The prophet Ezekiel says, “בָּרוּךְ כְּבוֹד יְהֹוָה מִמְּקוֹמוֹ - Blessed is the kavod of the Lord from His place." (Ez. 3:12) In the Torah reading this past Shabbat during the intermediate days of Pesach, we read that Moshe asked God, “הַרְאֵנִי נָא אֶת כְּבֹדֶךָ - please show me your kavod.” (Ex. 33:18) God’s response? Essentially, no.

Kedushah, by contrast, is all around us and close to each of us. We are told: “קְדשִׁים תִּהְיוּ כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי יְהוָֹה אֱלֹהֵיכֶם - be kadosh, because I the Lord your God am kadosh.” (Lev. 19:2) And in Psalms we read, “כִּי בוֹ יִשְׂמַח לִבֵּנוּ כִּי בְשֵׁם קָדְשׁוֹ בָטָחְנוּ - For our heart will rejoice in God, because we believed in God’s kadosh name.” (Ps. 33:21)

This interplay between closeness and distance in our relationship with God occurs elsewhere. In the formula for blessings we start with second person, “בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה יְהֹוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ - Blessed are you, Lord our God,” and then transition to third person, “אֲשֶׁר קִדְּשָׁנוּ בְּמִצְוֹתָיו - the one who blessed us with His commandments.” And initially the liturgical poem Adon Olam is in the third person, with lines such as, “וְהוּא אֶחָד וְאֵין שֵׁנִי - God is the One and there is no other,” and then shifts to second person, for example, “אֲדֹנָי לִי וְלֹא אִירָא - the Lord is mine, I shall not fear.”

So what are we to make of this back and forth, this alternating closeness and distance? Which is it? Is God near or far? Our tradition, thankfully, provides the spiritual space for the full range of feelings towards God; it allows for the possibility of feeling close and of feeling distant, and perhaps even to move from one to the other and back again in a short amount of time.

To return to our original quote, the use of both kedushah and kavod together shows that we are not meant to choose either one or the other. Similarly in the statement of the prophet Isaiah, “קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ קָדוֹשׁ יְהֹוָה צְבָאוֹת מְלֹא כָל הָאָרֶץ כְּבוֹדוֹ - kadosh, kadosh, kadosh is the Lord of Hosts; the whole earth is full of God’s kavod.” (Is. 6:3)

We are in a time of year when experiencing both - and perhaps see-sawing back and forth - is even more likely than usual. Yesterday we observed Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Commemoration Day. Next week we will observe Yom HaZikaron and Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Memorial Day and Independence Day immediately following. On the days of mourning in particular, we might hear the notion of someone dying al kiddush hashem, in sanctification of God’s name. At the moment one dies, does one become closer to God? Is this notion comforting or chilling to us? Is it true of all deaths or only certain deaths? Or, rather, do we in fact feel closer when we celebrate our triumphs as on Yom HaAtzmaut, and more distant from God at times of suffering and loss?

As we commemorate our tragedies and celebrate our triumphs, may we make the time and find the space to consider their impact on how we relate not only to each other, but to God as well.

Shabbat shalom,

Rabbi Jack Nahmod
Middle School Judaic Studies Head
Rabbinic Advisor