Parshas Kedoshim
1. The first three commands at the beginning of the parsha are: a) "קדושים תהיו" ("You shall be holy")1; b) "איש אמו ואביו תיראו" ("Every man shall fear his mother and his father"); c) "את שבתותי תשמרו" ("And you shall keep My Shabbosos"). Since in the Torah everything is precise, we must say that the fact that these three commands come together is also precise, and that they are connected with one another.
2. Holiness here means separation, as it says at the end of the sidra2: "והייתם לי קדושים וגו׳ ואבדיל אתכם מן העמים" ("You shall be holy to Me… and I have separated you from the nations"), which means that Jews must be set apart from the nations of the world, as it says3: "ונפלינו אני ועמך מכל העם אשר על פני האדמה" ("So shall we be distinguished, I and Your people, from every people that is upon the face of the earth"). The concept of separation is necessary and relevant only in matters that outwardly are alike. Likewise, the command "You shall be holy" is not speaking about Torah and mitzvos, for to these the nations of the world have no connection to begin with, as it says4: "מגיד דבריו ליעקב גו׳ לא עשה כן לכל גוי גו׳" ("He declares His words to Yaakov… He has not done so for any nation…"). It speaks only of permitted, optional matters: eating, drinking, business, and so on, in which Jews are seemingly, outwardly, alike with other peoples. About these the Torah says: "You shall be holy."
How can it be that when one finds oneself in the matters of this world, and especially in the time of exile, a doubled and redoubled darkness, there should be holiness in this? On this it says: "כי קדוש אני" ("For I am holy"). Jews, wherever they find themselves, are bound up with G‑d, with "אתה קדוש" ("You are holy"); therefore they too are a holy nation, to the point of being "בדומה לקדושתו של הקב"ה" ("similar to the holiness of the Holy One, blessed be He"). "יכול כמוני" ("Can it be like Me?") is read as a statement5.
3. The purpose of a Jew, after all, is not only to be holy himself. Rather, as it says about the first Jew, Avraham Avinu: "אשר יצוה את בניו ואת ביתו אחריו ושמרו דרך הוי׳" ("that he will command his children and his household after him, that they keep the way of G‑d")6. For this comes the second command: "Every man shall fear his mother and his father," in which the obligation of education is alluded to. The first educators are, after all, the mother and the father. The mother and the father must instill in the children the feeling that they are different from the whole world, that they are members of a holy nation.
And the order of the verse is "his mother and his father": first the mother, because she is the akeres habayis (the mainstay of the home), and the main part of actual education lies in her hands.
4. How does one influence children, and oneself as well, so that there should be "So shall we be distinguished, I and Your people"? For this comes the third command: "And you shall keep My Shabbosos."
Shabbos is an os, a sign, between G‑d and the Jews. It signifies7 the belief in the creation of the world from nothing and strengthens it: the certainty that G‑d is the Creator of the world and conducts it constantly.
In this the Jews are set apart from other peoples. The nations of the world say that G‑d has left the world in the hands of the stars and constellations: "עזב ה׳ את הארץ" ("G‑d has forsaken the earth") into the hands of the stars and constellations. But Jews are bound, through their faith, with G‑d Who is above nature, and they need not reckon with nature, as it says8: "מאותות השמים אל תחתו" ("Do not be dismayed by the signs of the heavens"), (but) "יחתו הגוים מהמה" ("the nations are dismayed by them"). This is the advantage of Shabbos over the six weekdays. In the account of Creation, "Elokim" appears thirty-two times, and Elokim is numerically equal to hateva, nature9. But Shabbos is "שבת להוי׳" ("a Shabbos to Havayah"), the Name meaning "He was, He is, and He will be" as one, which is above nature.
And Shabbos was given to the Jews specifically, and not to the nations of the world: "ועכו"ם ששבת חייב מיתה" ("a gentile who keeps Shabbos is liable to death")10. This is because their connection is only to Elokim, numerically equal to nature, and not to "a Shabbos to Havayah."
This is also the second allusion11 in Shabbos, the Exodus from Egypt (Mitzrayim): going out of all the constraints (meitzarim) and limits of nature.
5. And through "And you shall keep My Shabbosos," guarding the sign and covenant between the Jews and G‑d Who is above nature by strengthening the faith that Jews are not subject to nature but are protected by the individual Divine Providence of G‑d Himself, one brings about in oneself, and so too in the children, the "You shall be holy": that even in physical matters there should be holiness, because one has the firm faith that even the physicality of Jews is bound up with "I am holy."
And as it says further on in the parsha, "את שבתותי תשמרו ומקדשי תיראו" ("You shall keep My Shabbosos and revere My Sanctuary"), Shabbos is placed next to the Sanctuary. This means that through "You shall keep My Shabbosos," a Jew brings it about that all his matters become a Mishkan and Mikdash for Him, blessed be He.
(From the sicha of Acharon shel Pesach, 5717)
6. As said earlier, the concept of holiness and separation means that even in matters that are outwardly alike with the nations of the world, there must be holiness.
This is also what it says further on in the parsha, the command "והתקדשתם והייתם קדושים" ("Sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy"), meaning "קדש עצמך במותר לך" ("Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you"). Even in what is permitted to you, in optional matters, there must be holiness, as it says11: "בכל דרכיך דעהו" ("In all your ways, know Him").
7. The command "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you" is not, as others think, a matter of an extra enhancement (hiddur) and the like. Rather, it is a positive commandment of the Torah12, and about mitzvos it says: "אל תהא יושב ושוקל כו׳ קלה שבקלות וחמורה שבחמורות שוין" ("Do not sit and weigh… the lightest of the light and the most stringent of the stringent are equal")13. Consequently, the mitzvah of "Sanctify yourself" carries the same seriousness and force as all the mitzvos14.
Even more: it is discussed in Chassidus that the avodah of "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you" is what will bring the future Redemption. Torah study, the fulfillment of mitzvos, and guarding oneself from forbidden things are not enough to draw down the future Redemption; "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you" is also required.
And this is also what our Sages say16: "עתידין צדיקים שאומרין לפניהן קדוש כדרך שאומרין לפני הקב"ה" ("In the future, 'Holy' will be said before the tzaddikim just as it is said before the Holy One, blessed be He"). All the revelations of the future depend, after all, on our present deeds and service: "תלוי במעשינו ועבודתינו עכשיו" ("dependent on our deeds and service now")17. It is therefore understood that the future revelation of "In the future, 'Holy' will be said before the tzaddikim…" (which refers to all Jews, as it says18: "ועמך כולם צדיקים" ("And Your people are all tzaddikim")) will come about through the avodah of holiness, "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you."
8. The explanation of this is as follows. The higher the light, the more even a finer concealment acts as an obstruction to it. This is similar to what is written, "וסביביו נשערה מאד" ("And around Him it storms greatly"), meaning that with tzaddikim [G‑d] is exacting to a hairsbreadth19: the greater the tzaddik, the more even the very smallest thing matters to him.
We find something similar with regard to circumcision. When Avraham Avinu was to merit the revelation of the Name Sha-dai, there had to be the removal of the coarse foreskin: "התהלך לפני והי׳ תמים" ("Walk before Me and be perfect"). For the Giving of the Torah, when the Name Havayah was revealed, which is higher than the Name Sha-dai, as it is written, "וארא גו׳ בא־ל שד־י ושמי הוי׳ לא נודעתי להם" ("I appeared… as Kel Sha-dai, but by My Name Havayah I did not make Myself known to them"), the removal of the coarse foreskin was not enough. There also had to be priah, the removal of the fine membrane: "שוב מול את בני ישראל שנית" ("Circumcise the children of Israel again, a second time"), that is, priah, which was newly established as a law given to Moshe at Sinai20. So too, for the future revelation to be possible, which is higher still than the revelation of the Giving of the Torah, one must remove even the finer foreskin (the foreskin of the heart), not only in forbidden things but even in permitted things: "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you."
9. This is an explanation of the general concept that the future revelation demands more avodah than the revelations until now.
The connection between the future revelation and the avodah of "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you" in particular is as follows.
The advantage of the future revelation is that then there will be the revelation of G‑d's Essence, which is higher than the G‑dliness that relates to the worlds. As is known, in the future the ultimate perfection of the purpose of creation will be realized, "שיהי׳ לו יתברך דירה בתחתונים" ("that He, blessed be He, should have a dwelling place in the lower realms"), and "a dwelling for Him" means a dwelling for His Essence.
By way of analogy: in the dwelling of a flesh-and-blood king, the whole person lives in the dwelling, not only his extension into particular faculties. So too, a dwelling for Him, blessed be He, in the lower realms is a dwelling for His Essence.
In order to bring about this dwelling for His Essence, both in terms of the avodah and in terms of the person who does the avodah, it must be in a way that relates to their essence. This is specifically in the avodah of "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you," as will be explained further on.
10. The advantage of "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you" over the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos, with regard to the person who serves, is as follows.
In fulfilling Torah and mitzvos, it is possible that a person learns Torah and fulfills mitzvos, yet he is still an entity unto himself; it is only that when it comes to Torah and mitzvos he subdues himself and is nullified to the Supreme Will. In this manner it touches only the extension of his soul. But when he sanctifies himself even in what is permitted to him, his own matters, and separates himself from them, this means that he renounces himself and has no things of his own. He is nullified of his own existence, and this touches the very essence of his soul.
And this is also the meaning of "והייתם לי קדושים" ("You shall be holy to Me"), similar to what is said in the Mechilta on the verse "והייתם לי סגולה" ("You shall be a treasure to Me"): "שתהיו קנויים לי, עוסקים בתורה ולא תהיו עוסקים בדברים אחרים" ("that you be acquired by Me, occupied with Torah and not occupied with other matters"). Through having nothing at all to do with one's own matters, so that even the permitted things are not his but holiness, he becomes "acquired by Me": his entire existence becomes G‑dliness.
And because he serves with his essence, he also receives the Essence from Above, so that the existence of his essence becomes the existence of the [Divine] Essence: "In the future, 'Holy' will be said before the tzaddikim just as it is said before the Holy One, blessed be He."
11. The advantage of "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you" over the fulfillment of Torah and mitzvos, with regard to the avodah itself, is as follows.
The advantage of the Giving of the Torah over the fulfillment of the mitzvos by the Avos21 is that the service of the Avos was in spirituality, whereas after the Giving of the Torah the service is in physicality. The known reason for this is that the service of the Avos reached only the source of created beings, which is limitation; consequently, spirituality is more of a vessel than physicality. But at the Giving of the Torah it says "אנכי" ("I"), the initials of "אנא נפשי כתבית יהבית" ("I Myself have written and given [it]"), meaning that the Essence itself gave Itself. From that standpoint there is no difference between spirituality and physicality; on the contrary, "כל הגבוה גבוה ביותר יורד למטה מטה יותר" ("the higher something is, the lower it descends").
Nevertheless, even after the Giving of the Torah there remains the limitation that the Torah sets: G‑d gave Himself specifically in mitzvos and not in other matters.
This is why there is the law "מצוה לקום מפני עושי מצוה" ("It is a mitzvah to stand up before those performing a mitzvah"), "מפני ה׳ השוכן ומתלבש בנפשם בשעה זו" ("because of G‑d Who dwells and is enclothed in their soul at that time")22. But this is only before those performing a mitzvah, and not before those doing optional matters for the sake of Heaven, because that in which G‑d gave Himself is specifically mitzvos.
In the future, however, when there will be the ultimate perfection of the revelation of the Essence, there will be no limitations whatsoever. G‑dliness will be seen everywhere and in everything; it will be revealed that "לית אתר פנוי מיני׳" ("there is no place devoid of Him"), and "ואין עוד מלבדו" ("there is nothing else besides Him").
12. To explain this concept in greater detail: it says in the Zohar23: "תלת דרגין אינון, קודשא בריך הוא אורייתא וישראל, וכולהו סתים וגליא" ("There are three levels: the Holy One, blessed be He, the Torah, and Israel, and each of them is hidden and revealed").
In the Holy One, blessed be He, the "revealed" is the G‑dliness that relates to the worlds, from which the natural order comes; and the "hidden" is the G‑dliness that is above the worlds, from which comes the miraculous order above nature. Speaking more deeply, the miraculous order also belongs to the "revealed" of the Holy One, blessed be He. Although it is higher than the worlds, which is why it comes by way of overriding nature, since the world cannot receive it inwardly, nevertheless, in its particulars it also belongs to the "revealed" of the Holy One, blessed be He, for such miracles are seen openly even now. From the "hidden" of the Holy One, blessed be He, come the hidden miracles that are enclothed in the garments of nature, of which "אין בעל הנס מכיר בניסו" ("the one for whom the miracle occurs does not recognize his miracle"). Because of the loftiness of these miracles, they cannot come openly, not even in an encompassing (makif) manner by overriding nature.
About this it says24: "עושה נפלאות לבדו" ("Who alone does wonders"), meaning that no one knows of these wonders except He alone. In the future these wonders too will come into revelation, as it says, "אראנו נפלאות" ("I will show him wonders"); "arenu" means "I will show," that is, the revelation of the Essence. And as is known is the concept of "zeh" twice25, which is said about the future: at the Splitting of the Sea there was only one "zeh," "זה א־לי ואנוהו" ("This is my G‑d and I will glorify Him"), the revelation of miracles that override nature; whereas in the future there will be "zeh" twice, for the hidden miracles will be revealed too.
So too here: now the revelation of G‑dliness is only in Torah and mitzvos, not in the world itself, and therefore the revelation is only by way of overriding nature, while the G‑dliness within nature itself is concealed. But in the future, when there will be the revelation of the Essence, then by virtue of the Essence the revelation will be even within the world itself.
13. Now, "תלת קשרין מתקשרין דא בדא, ישראל באורייתא ואורייתא בקוב״ה" ("three bonds are bound to one another: Israel with the Torah, and the Torah with the Holy One, blessed be He"). So in order to receive the "hidden" of the Holy One, blessed be He, it is through the avodah of the "hidden" of the soul, by means of the "hidden" of the Torah.
Pnimiyus HaTorah, the inner dimension of the Torah, explains the concept that Havayah and Elokim are entirely one: that Elokim, numerically equal to nature, and Havayah, which is above nature, are one thing, and "there is nothing else besides Him"26. It draws out, in the person who learns and delves into this concept, the "גוי אחד בארץ" ("one nation on the earth"), so that even in earthly matters he hears the "One." Consequently there is "Sanctify yourselves and you shall be holy," "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you," which touches his essence, the "hidden" of Israel. Through this he becomes a vessel to receive the "hidden" of the Holy One, blessed be He.
(Compiled from the sichos of the second day of Shavuos and of Acharon shel Pesach, 5717)
14. The Rebbe, my father-in-law, related that the Berditchever heard three teachings from the Baal Shem Tov. One of the teachings is:
"כל תורה שאין עמה מלאכה סופה בטילה" ("Any Torah that is not accompanied by work will in the end come to naught")27. "Work" means involvement in Ahavas Yisrael. In order for the Torah to endure, it must be accompanied by involvement in Ahavas Yisrael.
And this teaching had such an effect on the Berditchever that his conduct all his days was involvement in Ahavas Yisrael.
15. The fact that this story has reached us is proof that it concerns us, for everything is by individual Divine Providence, for the sake of a directive in avodah.
Just as the Alter Rebbe said about Chassidus as a whole, that it is not for a sect or faction but for all Jews
(for Chassidus is a preparation for the future Redemption28, which will be for all Jews; consequently the preparation for the future Redemption, Chassidus, is also for all Jews),
so too Ahavas Yisrael, the general principle of the entire Torah29, which the Baal Shem Tov established as a foundation in Chassidus, concerns all of Israel.
16. Every Jew must act with Ahavas Yisrael to influence another Jew. And this is a benefit for himself as well, as our Sages say30 on the verse "רש ואיש תככים נפגשו מאיר עיני שניהם ה׳" ("The poor man and the man of means meet; G‑d enlightens the eyes of both"), etc., "עשיר ורש נפגשו עושה כולם ה׳" ("The rich and the poor meet; G‑d is the Maker of them all"). And just as with the poor and the rich in physical matters, so it is with the poor and the rich in spiritual matters: through the rich man giving to the poor, G‑d gives to the rich man as well.
The Mishnah31 says: "איזהו חכם הלומד מכל אדם" ("Who is wise? One who learns from every person"). This means that everyone has something that one can learn from him, so everyone is "rich" in his own area. He is asked to give this to another who lacks it, and through this he too will receive from Above what he lacks.
17. This is a matter stated explicitly in the Gemara: when the giving to the other is lacking, the "G‑d enlightens the eyes of both," the help from Above, is lacking; and even more, as is concluded there, the rich man becomes poor. It is thus understood that Torah without Ahavas Yisrael "will in the end come to naught."
The Baal Shem Tov further explained that for the Torah to endure, plain Ahavas Yisrael is not enough; there must be "work" in it, or in the Baal Shem Tov's words, involvement in Ahavas Yisrael.
The meaning of involvement is explained by the Rebbe, my father-in-law32: it is comparable to a business. A businessman does not think that he will sit at home with his merchandise and wait until someone finds out that he has merchandise, learns of its quality, and comes to him to buy. That is not the way of a merchant. The merchant opens a shop (a store) where many people pass by, and he hangs up a sign so that all the passersby will know that he has merchandise. Even with this he is not yet satisfied. He goes around advertising and telling about the quality of his merchandise, and he persuades people to buy from him; he makes every kind of effort so that people will buy his merchandise.
The Rebbe was speaking then about engaging in Torah and mitzvos, and the same applies to involvement in Ahavas Yisrael. One must put every kind of effort into doing a Jew a favor, giving him what one has, explaining to him the preciousness of Torah and mitzvos, including of course the teachings of Chassidus, and making every kind of effort that a Jew should hear a word of Chassidus. And one must not be satisfied with this either, but must make the other into "טופח על מנת להטפיח" ("moist enough to moisten others"), for only when his recipients also become givers will one know that his influence has been absorbed in them.
And as is precise in the wording "יפוצו מעינותיך חוצה" ("Your wellsprings shall spread outward"): a wellspring (a spring) keeps flowing further, as the Rambam33 says regarding a pool, that a pool does not have the status of a wellspring if it stops and does not flow further.
18. One of the ways of making an effort to bring a Jew closer is to do him a favor in physical matters too. Besides the fact that this itself is part of Ahavas Yisrael, it also helps bring him closer to spirituality. One must not wait and make physical help depend on spiritual matters, on condition etc.; rather, one must help in physical matters as well, without setting any conditions. This was indeed the innovation of the Baal Shem Tov in the path of service of the hidden tzaddikim [OCR unclear: "בשגת"], may blessing come upon him34.
19. If involvement in Ahavas Yisrael is asked of everyone, then all the more so of those whom Supernal Providence has brought to a place where Torah and mitzvos are in the minority. "במקום שאין אנשים" ("In a place where there are no men"), there lies upon them an obligation (and a privilege) of "השתדל להיות איש" ("strive to be a man")35.
And as for his claim that he will protect himself, that he will run away from there, "ואני את נפשי הצלתי" ("and I have saved my soul"), let him know that this is a matter of saving lives, and when it is a matter of saving lives one may not make such calculations. Since Supernal Providence brought him there, it has placed a mission upon him and given him the strength to make the place into a place of Torah and mitzvos.
The Gemara36 relates that Rav and Rav Kahana etc. came to Bavel. That is, G‑d arranged circumstances such that they had to come there. In Bavel at that time there were a number of places where carefulness was lacking in various matters, such as Shabbos, meat and milk, etc. Such a place is designated in the language of our Sages37 by the name "bik'ah," a valley, an unfenced place: an open place, a place lower than the level surface. And upon coming there, he set up a fence.
Like all the stories of our Sages, this story too is not a matter of chronicles (history) and the like, but a directive for life. A Jew must know that when he comes to a certain place, it is by individual Divine Providence, so that he should make the place into a place of Torah and mitzvah, and he must know that this is the intent of his mission.
And through the act of tzedakah, in physical or spiritual matters, there is "צדקה תרומם גוי" ("Tzedakah elevates a nation"), "שנעשים מוחו ולבו זכים אלף פעמים ככה" ("his mind and heart become refined a thousandfold")38, as in the saying of our Sages39: "אתה החיית נפשו של עני" ("You revived the soul of the poor man"), tomorrow G‑d will revive you, your son and your daughter.
This is a favor and a personal benefit that he will gain from it. Besides this, it will help bring the general Redemption, according to the assurance40 that through spreading the wellsprings outward, "קא אתי מר" ("the Master comes"), speedily in our days, truly soon. Amen.
(From the sicha of the second day of Shavuos, 5717)
20. The preceding concept is also alluded to in the Mishnah "כל ישראל יש להם חלק לעולם הבא" ("All Israel have a share in the World to Come"), which is said as an introduction to Pirkei Avos, and in the first Mishnah, "משה קבל תורה מסיני" ("Moshe received the Torah from Sinai").
Tractate Avos is studied on the Shabbosos between Pesach and Shavuos as a preparation for receiving the Torah. At the very beginning of the preparation comes involvement in Ahavas Yisrael, which is alluded to in these two Mishnayos.
21. One might argue: why should I give my time to the other? In that time I could better sit and learn. To this comes the directive "All Israel have a share in the World to Come": one cannot know who is higher; it may be that the other is higher than he. This world is an "עולם הפוך" ("upside-down world")41, a reversed world, so he thinks that he is higher than the other and calculates that it is not worthwhile to bother with him. The World to Come is an "עולם ברור" ("clear world"), and there it may turn out to be the very opposite.
All the Jews with whom he deals certainly have a share in the World to Come; the other must always be judged favorably. About himself, however, there can be a question, for "על כל פשעים תכסה אהבת עצמו" ("self-love covers over all transgressions"), and "ואל תאמין בעצמך" ("do not trust in yourself"), etc. So if he now does the other a favor, the other will repay him in the World to Come. If "הוא בגן עדן ורבו שלמדו תורה והביאו לחיי עולם הבא בגיהנם" ("he is in Gan Eden, and his teacher who taught him Torah and brought him to the life of the World to Come is in Gehinnom"), this can bring about that his teacher is taken out on his account. If he brings the other closer, and through this becomes the other's teacher, then in the World to Come the other will claim: "I cannot be without my teacher," and on his account he too will be taken out of Gehinnom and placed in Gan Eden.
Notes
1) In Sefer Chareidim (in the name of a Gaon and the Rashbatz), that this is a positive commandment; and in the commentary of the Ramban, that this is a general mitzvah. See also the Rambam's Sefer HaMitzvos, Shoresh 4.
2) 20:26. And see Tanya, ch. 46.
3) Shemos 33:16.
4) Tehillim 147:19–20.
5) Meor Einayim on the Torah.
6) Bereishis 18:19.
7) Chinuch, mitzvah 32.
8) Yirmiyahu 10:2.
9) Pardes, Shaar 12, ch. 2. And from the Shelah, Shaar HaOsiyos, Os Kedushah, in a gloss beginning "VeHinei Mosif al HaRishonos" (89a), it is somewhat implied that this is found in the Zohar.
10) Sanhedrin 58b.
11) Chinuch, ibid.
11) Mishlei 3:6. See also above, p. [OCR unclear].
12) See above, p. 254, note 6.
13) Yalkut Shimoni, Yisro, remez [OCR unclear]; Yalkut Shimoni on Nach, remez 936; Yerushalmi Pe'ah 1:1; Devarim Rabbah 6:2. And see also the second sicha of Purim 5700 (Sefer HaSichos 5700, p. 60).
14) See above, p. 253 ff.
16) Bava Basra 75b.
17) Tanya, ch. 37.
18) Yeshayahu 60:21.
19) Tehillim 50:3; Bava Kamma 50a.
20) Yevamos 71b. And see Tosafos, s.v. "Lo nitnah," etc.
21) See above, p. 66.
22) Tanya, ch. 46.
23) Part III, 73a.
24) Niddah 31a.
25) Shemos Rabbah, end of ch. 23.
26) On all this, see Derech Mitzvosecha, the mitzvah of the Unity of G‑d (Achdus Hashem).
27) Avos, ch. 2, Mishnah 2.
28) See below, note 40.
29) Shabbos 31a. And see Tanya, ch. 32.
30) Mishlei 29:13; ibid. 22:2; Temurah 16a.
31) Avos, ch. 4, Mishnah 1.
32) Maamar beginning "Haskeis U'Shema," 5693 (Sefer HaMaamarim Kuntreisim, vol. I, p. 514 ff.).
33) Hilchos Mikvaos, ch. 9, halachah [OCR unclear].
34) See Likkutei Dibburim, vol. III, p. 346.
35) Avos, ch. 2, Mishnah 5.
36) Eruvin 6a; ibid. 100b; Chullin 110a; Yerushalmi Shekalim, ch. 7, halachah 2.
37) Ibid.
38) Torah Or 1b.
39) Tanchuma, Mishpatim, on the verse "Im kesef talveh."
40) See at length Likkutei Dibburim, vol. II, the sicha of Simchas Torah 5690.
41) See Pesachim 50a.
Key Lesson
A Jew's holiness must reach beyond Torah and mitzvos into his permitted, everyday matters, and he must pass this on to his children and to every Jew he can reach. "Sanctify yourself in what is permitted to you," together with active, tireless involvement in Ahavas Yisrael, prepares the world for the revelation of G‑d's very Essence with the coming of Moshiach.