This week’s parsha, Parshat Kedoshim, opens with a thought provoking statement:

דַּבֵּ֞ר אֶל־כׇּל־עֲדַ֧ת בְּנֵי־יִשְׂרָאֵ֛ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֥ אֲלֵהֶ֖ם קְדֹשִׁ֣ים תִּהְי֑וּ כִּ֣י קָד֔וֹשׁ אֲנִ֖י יְהֹוָ֥ה אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃ (ויקרא י”ט, ב’)

“Speak to the whole Israelite community and say to them: You shall be holy, for I, your God יהוה, am holy.”

We are all taught from a young age to strive for holiness, we understand that when we are holy we are closest to Hashem, but how do we get to this level? 

Rav Elimelech of Lazinsk points to the specific wording of the pasuk. He notes that the commandment to be holy was said to the general congregation! The commandment was not said in the singular – קדוש תהיה, rather it was addressed to the entire nation, in the plural. It is significant that Hashem emphasized that this is upon the entire Jewish people because we can only become holy if everyone is united. Of course everyone wants to become holy, so the first step is to be a communal person – to love every individual and feel closely connected to every person. Holiness is dependent on unity and the love of every individual Jew. 

One of the most famous pesukim can be found in this weeks parsha too –

 ” ואהבת לרעך כמוך אני ה’ “

The Torah tells us that we need to love every fellow Jew as we love ourselves. But how am I expected to love every person? What if I don’t know the person, or worse, if I know the person and find them irritating?? It is for this very reason that this pasuk of loving your fellow ends with the words “I am Hashem”. People find it easier to love Hashem than to love other people they don’t know, so Hashem asks us to love the part of Himself that lies within these people, to love the holy/godly aspect that is within each individual. We are not asked to have an external love for each individual, but to have a love of Hashem which includes the neshama/part of Hashem that is instilled within everyone. 

Our sages teach that the students of Rebbe Akiva were killed during this period of time, Sefirat HaOmer,  because they weren’t properly respectful of one another. 

This is difficult to understand because Rebbe Akiva was famous for saying “ ‘Love your friend as you love yourself’ is a foundational principle of the Torah.” The familiar explanation of this difficulty is that Rebbe Akiva began proclaiming this axiom after his students had passed away.

In my humble opinion, there’s another answer. Rebbe Akiva’s students were disrespectful to each other, despite Rebbe Akiva’s famous words, because Rebbe Akiva didn’t include the end of the verse: “Love your friend as you love yourself, I am HaShem.” As a result, his students thought that loving each other was just a suggestion, a form of guidance emanating from human wisdom. This was incorrect. 

The commandments regarding human relationships, and our obligations to treat each other with love and respect, stem from our obligation to honor HaShem—from the fact that HaShem created us and that we are actual pieces of G-d Above! And this understanding cannot change! The time has come for unconditional and infinte love!

We should be zoche!