Illustration credit: Rebecca Kerzner
Prayer in the Parashah תְּפִלָּה
Who is holy?
According to Korah, the answer is: Everybody!
Korah says:
כִּי כׇל הָעֵדָה כֻּלָּם קְדֹשִׁים
“For the whole congregation all are kedoshim (holy)”
But the Torah disagrees with Korah. It actually never describes Benei Yisrael as holy. Only God is described as holy. Benei Yisrael, on the other hand, is meant to try to be holy. God says this explicitly: קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ (kedoshim tihiyu, you should strive to be holy) (Vayikra 19:2).
In tefillah, we talk a lot about God’s holiness. The third בְּרָכָה (berakhah, blessing) of the Amidah is a great example. Here we say that:
- God is holy: אַתָּה קָדוֹשׁ (atah kadosh)
- God’s name is holy: שִׁמְךָ קָדוֹשׁ (shim’ha kadosh)
- Every day קְדוֹשִׁים (kedoshim, holy beings) praise God
Who are these kedoshim? The berakhah seems to be talking about angels, who are holy beings.
When we say this berakhah in the Amidah, we focus our thoughts on God’s Holiness and on angels, who are holy too. This can help us think about ways that we might try to imitate their holiness in order to strive to be more holy ourselves.
- What does it look like to try to be holy? How are angels a model for that?
- Why can’t we assume that all humans are holy? Why was Korah wrong?
- What are some things you could do to try to be more holy? How can you create more holiness around you in the world?
- How would you explain to Korah the difference between thinking you’re already holy and thinking that you always want to try to be holier?
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