5783/2023
This Shabbat we read Parashat Kedoshim as part of the double Parashah. We also recently commemorated the six million European Jews who died in the Holocaust. There was a reform Rabbi named Emil Fackenheim who survived the Holocaust, and he believed there is a 614th mitzvah. This mitzvah is to not give Hitler a posthumous victory- don’t let him win. How do we not let Hitler win? Marry Jewish spouses and create Jewish families. As Orthodox Jews, we definitely agree with this, but we believe there is more to it than just family. So what is our 614th mitzvah? In the second Pasuk of Kedoshim, Moshe is told by Hashem to say to Bnei Yisrael: d-G your, I for, holy be shall Youְ ”, “קדֹ ִׁ֣שים ִּת ְה֑יּו ִּ֣כי ָק֔דֹוׁש ֲא ִ֖ני ה׳ ֱאֹלקיֶכֽם” Hashem, am holy.” There's a story about Rav Oshry, a Rabbi who would receive heart wrenching questions about how to live a Jewish life during the Holocaust. There was a Rabbi who would take his students to Rav Oshry to ask for a bracha, and one time Rav Oshry asked if their school had a Yom HaShoah program. The Rabbi replied that they did. Rav Oshry asked the Rabbi to make sure the school taught that people in the Holocaust not only died al kiddush Hashem but also lived al kiddush Hashem. Rav Oshry’s published series, ממעמקים ותשובות שאלות ,captures this very well. We have to seek out kedushah as the torah teaches us וּי֑ה ְת ִּשיםֹ ִׁ֣קד , ְbut also continue on the emunah and kedushah of those who went through the Holocaust. But what exactly does ?meanְ קדֹ ִׁ֣שים ִּת ְה֑יּו There are three ways we can define it. First, it's something we should seek out and strive for. Second, it teaches that Jews should excel in both mitzvot bein adam l’makom and bein adam l’chaveiro. Third is the Ramban’s answer. The Ramban asks us to imagine a situation where a person davens, recites brachot, learns Torah, and performs all the mitzvot required of him on a daily basis. However, that only occupies so much of a day, so the rest of the day he watches football and indulges in meat and alcohol. Technically, he is not violating the Torah, but is he living a life of kedushah? The Ramban says that our maximizing, excellence spiritual pursuing isְ קדֹ ִׁ֣שים ִּת ְה֑יּו spiritual relationship with Hashem in all we do. We strive for a higher level than just observing the 613 mitzvot in life. The Rambam says we do not count וּי֑ה ְת ִּשיםֹ ִׁ֣קד ְas one of the 613 mitzvot but actually the 614th because it hovers over us at all times. Rav Eliezer Berkovitz wrote a book called Faith After the Holocaust where he addresses challenges about how to understand what happened in the Holocaust from a theological standpoint. He then wrote a second book called With God in Hell. In his first book he addresses the people who lost their faith and how they could still have believed in Hashem after the Shoah. In his second book he talks about the people who kept their faith during the Holocaust, and how we can learn from them. Rav Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, the great Rabbi who re-established the Ponevezh Yeshivah in Bnei Brak during the Holocaust, is a good example of someone who maximized kedushah. He helped build yeshivot and orphanages in Israel, took great care of his talmidim, and helped those in need. He would say he was doing all he could with his 21 fingers (his toes, fingers, and Yad Hashem). He is a perfect example of a person who achieved kedushah and fulfilled וּי֑ה ְת ִּשיםֹ ִׁ֣קד ְin life by going above and beyond.