Shnayim Yomi - Acharei Mot - Kedoshim - Sh'vi'i - #7 - Rabbi Reuvein Brand - Being Kadosh

Shvi, the seventh Aliyah here in Acharei Mos and Kedoshim. The Aliyah begins with the extensive list of the consequences of a person who engages in various inappropriate sexual relationships. We the Issurei Arayos that come with these punishments. Lo lanu so Hakadosh Baruch Hu tells us we have to live lives of Kedusha which is parallel to what we heard in the end of the previous parsha in the beginning in of this Torah reading in Acharei Mos. And then in conclusion we are told Lo seilchu b'chukos hagoy. We should not mimic the non-Jews. And this became an interesting discussion over the ages. Does our Jewish dress have to be distinctive or can it be the same as the non-Jews for other reasons? So the accepted approach like the Maharic is that we can wear suits and ties and decorative garb let's say at a graduation which is for the purpose of honor. We can also wear lab coats if you're a doctor or special robes if you're a judge because we're not trying to mimic the Nochrim for no reason or for pagan reasons. We're trying to copy them in the sense that there is a sense of honor and dignity in this profession. But the core question we're always asking ourselves is why do I act this way? Why is my haircut this way? Why is my comportment this way? Is it because I'm trying to mimic other cultures? So then that's not the way to live. Rather it's about taking the elements from that culture that describe honor and we channel that to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. And the conclusion is bein hab'heima l'tohorah u've'ein ha'orev l'tohorah v'lo sisha'atu b'nafshoseichem. It's not just in the safer Kedusha the way that we have physical relationships with spouses. But it's also in the safer Kedusha the way that we eat. Both elements are things that we have in common with animals of reproduction and also food ingestion. And these are things that we can transcend to take to a higher level in all aspects of life. There's a fascinating beautiful ha'arah that is quoted in the name of Rav Chaim Volozhiner that describes the end of the pasuk that Hakadosh Baruch Hu he enables us to be Kadosh u'v'ein Kedoshim he calls us to be Kadosh ki Kadosh ani Hashem. We are a spark of God. We are Kadosh. Va'avdal to ask Leo sleep I separated you from the almond so they say he says the reason we should be holy we should be distinctive we should be connected to our we should be in order we should be a part of the world we should be part of society trying to cure cancer and heal all of the sick and end homelessness and all those important pursuits but we have to be called us be somewhat separate we have to be distinct from them and if we're not then if we don't know how to say Kaddish then the guy they're going to learn how to say how they're going to make sure that we're going to remember that we are distinct because I could have a specific identity for us and we need to maintain that for ourselves we don't want the guy to make up dollar to remind us that we're separate as we've seen throughout Jewish history tragically