Vayikra: The Book of Holiness - Rabbi Eitiel Goldwicht

holiness what exactly is holiness such a common word but it's hard to describe what it is as a kid i always thought it belonged to people who are very far away from us perhaps a priest or a monk wearing a long white robe a rabbi but that's not what holiness is all about this week's torah portion we begin the reading of the book of leviticus that book teaches us what holiness is all about you see sefer bereshith the book of genesis teaches us about the birth of the jewish people our forefathers shmot is when we went into exile came out as a nation but then what do we do with our freedom what type of society do we build this book teaches us that we're supposed to bring meaning and spirituality into our physical life in the ancient time in man sacrifices which some sort of spirituality into the food that we're planning on eating but then it goes on to describe what we should eat and what we shouldn't eat dietary laws how we should speak and how we shouldn't speak and perhaps the peak of the book is love your friend as you love yourself holiness means living in a society that has values that has meaning that has a purpose that is able to connect our physical world with a higher purpose and trying to make the world a better place that is what spirituality is that's what holiness is in judaism may we make this world a better place in a holier place shabbat shalom from yerushalayim [Music]