Parashat Kedoshim

IF SOMEONE wishes to reach the highest level of holiness, he must read this week’s Parashah “They shall be holy” and put into practice what is written. It mentions different laws that the children of Israel must follow to reach that spiritual state. You may say, “I don’t care” or “I don’t want to change”. The problem is that God demands that we try to reach that level, as it is written: “Be holy, for I am holy”. But before we look at some of these laws, I would like to ask you what you imagine the Torah says. Personally, I would think that God wants us to travel to a spiritual retreat, to the Himalayas, isolated from society, or to immerse ourselves in icy springs, or to avoid enjoying this world by eating the minimum and indispensable, right? To my surprise, none of that is written. In fact, laws are described that I would never have imagined would affect my holiness, such as the prohibition of delaying the date of payment of employees, or not embarrassing others, or telling gossip, those are some of the requirements that the Torah demands to reach this level. Wow, with that we already graduate from sainthood? But then, why aren’t there many “saints” walking down the street? Because apparently the simplest, most logical things are difficult to achieve, because we don’t think they will do any harm. I wasn’t making fun of him or her, it was a joke! Reaching integrity as human beings is not so difficult, as long as we are aware of the consequences of our actions.

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