Kedoshim / Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh
5782
5782
"Be holy as I, your God, am holy!"
Be separate from the finite
Be beyond the reach of the temporal
Enter through the gate of the redeemed world
into intimate life with your God!
Awake in the arms of the Infinite!
Can an Adam of dust
invade the heaven above all worlds?
Can an Adam leavened with pride
enter the rest of the One
who is waiting in pure love?
The heart of Adam was hardened
Adam walked in the footsteps of the serpent
and did not conquer or subdue the serpent
And when the serpent had no footsteps
and crawled in the dust..,
what did Adam do?
"Be holy as I, your God, am holy!"
Be separate from all disorder!
Be separate from all sterility!
Be fruitful and radiant with holiness!
Be separate from all blemishes and imperfections!
Elijah will not come just to pronounce you clean or unclean,
to put you outside or to bring you near
Why will Elijah come?
Elijah will come to overturn the violence
of the kidnappers of souls
Elijah will come
and souls snared by predators within
and souls driven from their homes by emperors and corrupt lords
will hear the voice of Elijah crying in the wilderness
Among those unclean, Elijah will pronounce many clean
And among the clean will be found some who are unclean
But you who have already healed a little
and can arise a little from the dust on your own
Arise and shine!
For the dispute of the serpent has been settled!
Let Adam be reconciled with his child*
Let Adam's freewill be redeemed in Israel,
redeemed in Israel in all the world!
The root of teshuvah is the resurrection of the dead
And the root of resurrection is
the Holy One's kindness mixed with a true and humble fear of G-d,
a mixture which is concealed to be revealed,
revealed through the power of His every commandment,
revealed to faith
Repent! For the Kingdom of His Grace
has formed wings over Jerusalem!
Ascend in holiness without end!
Next year begins in Jerusalem!
But we will not ascend
unless we first descend
to stand and rest,
a quorum of the righteous and the repentant,
leaning to the left and to the right
upon the everlasting arms,
leaning together as one
upon the divine wings that lift Jerusalem
If Israel is to travel in light to the nations,
unencumbered by shadow or sound of fear,
the student of the rabbi and the student of the prophet
must play their music together in perfect harmony
*Kadosh - a reference to: Kadosh Kadosh Kadosh Adonai Tz'vaot M'lo Khol Ha'aretz K'vodo. "Holy, Holy, Holy, The Lord of Hosts, The entire world is filled with His Glory." Isaiah 6:3
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*Let Adam be reconciled with his child - Reference: Mishnah Eduyot 8:7
Rabbi Joshua said: I have received a tradition from Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai, who heard it from his teacher, and his teacher [heard it] from his teacher, as a halakhah [given] to Moses from Sinai, that Elijah will not come to pronounce unclean or to pronounce clean, to put away or to bring near, but to put away those brought near by force and to bring near those put away by force. The family of Beth Tzriphah was on the other side of the Jordan and Ben Zion put it away by force; and yet another family was there, and Ben Zion brought it near by force. It is such as these that Elijah will come to pronounce unclean or to pronounce clean, to put away or to bring near. Rabbi Judah says: to bring near, but not to put away. Rabbi Shimon says: to conciliate disputes. And the Sages say: neither to put away nor to bring near, but to make peace in the world, for it is said, “Behold I send to you Elijah the prophet”, etc., “and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children and the heart of the children to their fathers” (Malachi 3:23-2).
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*Being a meditation on a Torah class on the parashah, Kedoshim, delivered by Rabbi Baitelman of ChaBaD Richmond, B.C., based on the series, Torah Studies, by Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Neither Rabbi Baitelman nor the JLI have reviewed or approved of the content of this post.
*Additional reference for 5782 — "student of the rabbi and student of the prophet". The Maharal — Gevurot HaShem
See also for this version of 5782, The Maharal — Ner Mitzvah