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Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch writes the following on Vayikra 19<br><br>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=4><b>2
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Speak to the entire
community of the Children of Israel and say to them: Be holy, for I,
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>God,
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>your God, am
holy.<br><br>
</i></b></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>The mitzvah of
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedoshim Teyu</i>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>is a command to strive for
the highest<br>
degree of human moral perfection (cf. Commentary,
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Bereshis
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>2:3); and<br>
rightfully it should be addressed expressly to each individual.
Every<br>
person — regardless of status or sex, age or lot — is summoned to<br>
attain the highest moral level. There is no one individual to whom
this<br>
call is specially addressed. We must all be
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedoshim</i></font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>, holy.<br><br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedusha</i>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>— to be ready and willing to
perform all that is good; a person<br>
cannot attain this virtue unless his whole being is so steeped in
morality<br>
that the opposite of the good, viz., the inclination to evil, no
longer<br>
has a place within his being. The statement by our Sages in
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Toras Kohanim<br>
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>—
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedoshim Teyu</i>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>means
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Perushim
Teyu</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>— underscores this
negative<br>
aspect of
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedusha</i></font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>. It also points out the way that
leads to
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedusha</i></font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>; for much<br>
work is required of anyone seeking to attain the heights of
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedusha</i></font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>.
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedusha<br>
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>is attained through
mastery over all of one’s powers and faculties and<br>
over all the temptations and inclinations associated with them — to
be<br>
ready and willing to do God’s Will.<br><br>
Self-mastery is the highest art a man can practice. Self-mastery
does<br>
not mean neglecting, stunting, killing, or destroying any of one’s
powers<br>
or faculties. In and of themselves, the powers and faculties — from
the<br>
most spiritual to the most sensual — that have been given to man are<br>
neither good nor bad. They all have been given to us for exalted
purposes<br>
— that we may use them to do God’s Will on earth. The Torah<br>
sets for each of them a positive purpose and negative limits. In the<br>
service of that purpose and within those limits, all is holy and
good.<br>
But where a person strays from that purpose and exceeds those
limits,<br>
coarseness and evil begin.<br><br>
As in any other art, virtuosity in this, the highest moral art can
be<br>
attained only through practice — training one’s moral willpower to<br>
master the inclinations of the heart. But this training is not to be
undertaken<br>
in the realm of the expressly forbidden, where any slip would<br>
result in wrongdoing. Rather, moral resolve must be tested and
strengthened<br>
in the realm of the permitted. By learning to overcome inclinations<br>
that are permitted but related to the forbidden, one gains the power
of<br>
self-mastery and thus makes all his powers and faculties subservient
to<br>
the fulfillment of God’s Will. Each person, according to his own
unique<br>
qualities, should work on his inner self; and he should train
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>quietly</i></font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>, in<br>
a manner </font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>known only to
himself</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>.<br><br>
This is the training regimen that our Sages call
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Perishes</i></font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>, abstinence,<br>
which the Gemara in
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Yevamos
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>20a formulates:
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kadesh atzmicha b'mutur
loch</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>, “Sanctify<br>
yourself in the realm of what is permitted you.”
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Perishes</i>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>is not yet<br>
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Kedusha</i></font>
<font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>, but it is a preliminary step
toward it, as </font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>R. Pinchas
ben Yair</i> </font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>teaches in<br>
his “ascending steps” toward moral perfection (see
</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3><i>Avodah Zarah
</i></font><font face="Arial, Helvetica" size=3>20b).</font></body>
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