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From the desk of Cantorial Soloist Lawrence Dermer
Who is holy? Is it the mystic on the mountaintop? The monk in the monastery? The guru in the ashram? Is it the lady who reads the crystal ball or the meditating yogi? Is it the Kabbalist? Do we have to fall into one of these categories in order to become holy?
People today have become fascinated with spirituality, mysticism and even Kabbalah which has become fashionable even in traditionally non spiritual environments like Hollywood. Many non Jews have also become interested in studying Jewish mysticism.
Don’t get me wrong, I am definitely in favor of studying Kabbalah . Some of us have even studied together on our last TBE Kaballah cruise. Judaism is certainly rich in spirituality, and the mystical perspective helps us to a deeper understanding of our faith and its practices. But how does Judaism really define holiness? Do you have to be a mystic to be holy?
Self restraint, discipline, honesty, decency, doing the right thing, these are things that can lead us to holiness. You don’t need a guru with long robes and incense you just need to be a mensch, control your passions and behave correctly. So what does that mean to our everyday lives and how are we going to acquire a guru like state of mind in the middle of a traffic jam on I-75? Easy. Have you ever felt like losing your temper but than in the last minute managed to restrain yourself?
This is holiness. The term holy implies self restraint. There are many temptations in life and to be holy means acquiring the ability to control your immediate impulses. This is what separates human beings from the other animals. What the Torah is really teaching us is self mastery. Self control of our actions, our words and even our thoughts is power. For a long time people thought power was mastery over others. Now we realize that true power is mastery over ones self. At the end of the day the Torah is telling us to be different from those around us. Whether the Egyptians and Canaanites of old or the hedonist of today, the message is the same, holiness means distinctiveness. A Jew must march to a different beat. It doesn’t matter what the rest of the world does. We are a people apart.
We should not make light of holy men and miracle workers. We should all believe in miracles because they happen all around us every day. But before we run to faith healers and buy red strings we should consult the Torah and try to live by the basic entry level stuff of Judaism. I pray that we can all live with honesty, integrity, respect, honor, dignity and discipline. Then we will ALL be holy and building together a world of goodness for the future, when the whole world will be filled with Holiness!
L’Shalom,
Lawrence Dermer