Kedoshim: Making Torah Our Own

We are now in the time of Sefirat HaOmer, the 49-day count which takes us, step-by-step, from the physical liberty of Egypt to the spiritual freedom of Sinai. 

Rav Kurland brings down from the ‘Neot Hadesheh’ a great question. 

Ordinarily, we have a concept in Jewish law that we fulfil mitzvot through a condition called ‘shomea k’oneh,’ (lit. ‘hearing is like saying.’) What this means is when I hear someone else blowing Shofar, reading Megilla, reciting Kiddush or Havdala, I fulfil the mitzva through hearing it, even though I have not said it myself. Hearing is like saying. 

But for the counting of the omer, a person does not fulfil the counting unless they say it aloud themselves. We do not have the concept of ‘hearing is like saying’ during this time. If somebody says ‘amei’ to another person’s bracha (blessing), they are still obligated to say the bracha themselves. If you have not counted, it does not count! 

Why don’t we apply this concept here? Why can’t it be that if I hear someone saying it, I have fulfilled my obligation?

Let’s think about what this time really means. This 49-day period is a prelude to Shavuot, the time of year when every Jew re-accepts the Torah as we once did at Sinai. You cannot receive and accept Torah just because someone else has. Every Jew has to receive it for themselves and express their own desire for Torah. The soul of every Jew is attached to a specific portion of Torah, and we make our own count over our exclusive part. Torah has to be ours. We each have to claim what is ours, and therefore, ‘hearing is like saying’ does not apply. No-one can prepare to receive your unique portion of Torah. 

Another place that we see this concept is in the laws of writing a Sefer Torah. The 613th mitzva of the Torah is to write a Sefer Torah, as the pasuk says ‘Kitvu lachem et ha’shira ha’zot‘ (Devarim 31:19), ‘Write for yourselves this song!’ The timeless melody of the Torah must be written down from generation to generation, and the obligation applies to us all.

Rabbi Wiesenfeld brings down the question of the Gemara (Sandhedrin 21b) and he asks, what if a father has a Sefer Torah in his possession and he will pass it onto his son as an inheritance? In this way, the song of the Torah will continue through the son. Does this mean that the son is exempt from writing a Sefer Torah, since he will have one in his possession? 

No! The law is that the son is still obligated in the mitzva. It is not enough to inherit Torah from your father, you have to write a Sefer Torah yourself. You have to inscribe the words of the Torah in your own heart. You have to accept and receive it yourself, no one can receive the Torah for you. It is not enough to get it as an inheritance.

As we approach Shavuot, we can think about making this real. About accepting the Torah ourselves. About carving our own path of Torah. About making it truly our own. It is not enough to hear someone counting the Omer and it is not enough to receive it as an inheritance from a parent, it must be part of our insides, like our heart is.

Maybe one way we can do this can be found in the first pasuk of Kedoshim. ‘Kedoshim Tihiyu!’ ‘Be holy!’ the verse cries out to us. Rabbi Kallus says that often we think kedusha(lit. holiness) is reserved for an elite group of people. We tell ourselves that somewhere out there, some old-fashioned, pious Jews are living the ‘holy life.’ But me, we think to ourselves, we’re just regular. Not cut out for the holy lifestyle. But this is not true! The Torah is written for everyone and we are all commanded to be kadosh(holy). It is not reserved for a select few. We are all commanded to be part of the elevated and beautiful Torah lifestyle.

So how can we re-accept the Torah this year? How can we inscribe our own Sifrei Torah? Through carving out this fundamental. Through making boundaries in kedusha, matters of holiness. Through choosing one small thing that detracts from our holiness, and avoid it. Or to choose one area where we can enhance it. To consciously choose boundaries. Not just because my parents do, but because I am writing the Torah on the parchment of my heart. 

Interestingly, Rashi says that most of the mitzvot of the Torah are in Kedoshim, a comment that does not seem to be mathematically true! The Slonimer Rebbe asks, really? There are 613 mitzvot and there is not a numerical majority in this portion! How can Rashi write that most mitzvot are in Kedoshim?  Explains the Slonimer Rebbe, the foundation of the mitzvot is this portion called Kedoshim. Kedusha, holiness, is our foundation. The mitzvot centre around us building our kedusha and therefore yes, the majority of mitzvos are ‘in’ Kedoshim, in matters of kedusha, holiness. Our inner holiness runs through us like our bloodstream.

A man tells his wife on their wedding day ‘harei at mekudeshet li,’ you are betrothed to me. The root of this word, mekudeshet, is kedusha, kadosh, kedoshim. Holiness. How does one spouse show the other that they are consecrated and special to the other? By making them holy and separate. This is the question we can ask ourselves as we count down to our wedding anniversary with Hashem, reliving the chuppa (wedding canopy) of Sinai. We are betrothed to Hashem. We are mekudeshet.

So how can we re-accept the Torah this year? How can we inscribe our own Sifrei Torah? Through carving out this fundamental. Through making boundaries in kedusha, matters of holiness. Through choosing one small thing that detracts from our holiness, and avoid it. Or to choose one area where we can enhance it. To consciously choose boundaries. Not just because my parents do, but because I am writing the Torah on the parchment of my heart. 

Now is a time that is no longer ‘hearing is like saying.’ I can only fulfil the Omer through making the blessing myself. Now is a time to realize that we cannot just receive a Sefer Torah as an inheritance, we have to write it on our own. Maybe now is a time when we can make our own kedusha lines, the very foundation through which we can prepare for accepting the Torah. May we merit to assess where our kedusha lines should be and fly high in preparation for Day 50!