Being HOLY

Being holy” means accepting yourself as the Beloved of the LORD.

Our Torah portion this week (Kedoshim) begins: “The LORD spoke to Moses, saying: 'Speak to all the congregation of the people of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy (קדשִׁים תִּהְיוּ), for I the LORD your God am holy'" (Lev. 19:1-2). Because we are chosen to be God’s people, his redeemed children, we should be holy, just as God is holy (see 1 Pet. 1:15-16). Holiness, however, is not a matter of what you do (such as wrapping yourself in religious rituals) but is instead a matter of who you are. You are someone beloved who has been rescued and taken up from the “depths of Egypt” to be united with God. Holiness is something you receive within your heart; it is a gift of being “set apart” to be esteemed sacred and beloved by God. Genuine holiness (i.e., kedushah) is connected with love and grace. “Being holy” therefore means coming alive and looking away from that which deadens the spirit (Col. 3:1-4); it means accepting yourself as the Beloved of the LORD...

Being “holy” does not mean being sanctimonious or having a sour face about the world and its carnal pleasures. It has nothing at all to do with affected spirituality, angry pride, or the fear of becoming unclean... Indeed, some of the most holy moments are those of love, joy, peace, as well as times of struggle, sorrow, affliction, and fiery temptation. Holiness is ultimately "ontological," which means it has to do with reality... A person can be holy and yet sinful; he can be holy and yet feel lost or abandoned. On the other hand, a person can be seemingly sinless, morally upright, and yet be completely unholy.

The Torah records God's first act of creation with the imperative utterance: “Let there be light” (i.e., yehi or: יְהִי אוֹר), and then goes on to say that “God separated (וַיַּבְדֵּל) the light from the darkness (Gen. 1:3-4). It is this “separation,” or distinction, that is foundational to the concept of kedushah (קְדֻשָּׁה), or “holiness.” Holiness is also expressed in the distinction between ordinary and sacred time: “God blessed the seventh day and made it holy” (יְקַדֵּשׁ) because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation” (Gen. 2:3). Therefore we are repeatedly told to “distinguish between the holy and the common and between the unclean and the clean” (Lev. 10:10). Note that the word translated “distinguish” (וּלֲהַבְדִּיל) in this verse comes from the same verb used to describe how God separated the light from the darkness. In order to do this, we need understanding (i.e., binah: בִּינָה), or the ability to distinguish or discern between (בֵּין) realms of reality. As it is written, "You shall be holy to me, for I the LORD am holy and I have separated you (וָאַבְדִּל) from other people that you should be mine" (Lev. 20:26).

The focal point and the very heart of what practical holiness means is stated as the duty: ve'ahavta l're'akha kamokha (וְאָהַבְתָּ לְרֵעֲךָ כָּמוֹךָ) - "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" (Lev. 19:18). Note that the direct object of the verb (i.e., ahav - to love) is your "neighbor" (רֵעַ). But who, exactly, is your neighbor? Some have claimed that the word re'a (neighbor) refers only to one's fellow Jew or friend, and not to others at large in the world. However this is obviously false, since the "stranger" (ger) is explicitly identified to be an object of our love (see Lev. 19:34). And note that when Yeshua was asked this very question, he turned it around. Instead of attempting to find someone worthy of love, we are asked to be worthy and loving neighbors ourselves (Luke 10:29-37).

** (http://www.hebrew4christians.com/)

Удовлетворение приходит изнутри, извне ничего нет- просто красивый фантик, ну и пустые понты, которые как придавят, так и все...

Если человек изнутри удовлетворен, то все, что бы он ни делал по жизни,- весьма хорошо. Не важно, в каких обстоятельствах он находится. Он получает кайф просто от того, что живет. Не надо никому ничего показывать, доказывать, рисоваться и звездеть пред другими...

Если человек неудовлетворен, то он всегда будет искать приключения, новые ощущения, чтобы поддержать миф о том, что он живет, а не проживает. В итоге для поддержания такой жизни, ему надо постоянно "повышать градус", поэтому уже лезет в самое дерьмо. А чтобы заткнуть свою совесть, надо просто обвинить кого-то еще и опустить пониже, чтобы оправдать свое низкопробное поведение, тем самым подчеркивая свою хорошесть и чужое зло...

Это сейчас и происходит в Европе! Все от праздности...

Кто не знал по Библии: Содом и Гоморра опустилась до животного уровня и была истреблена из-за праздности, потому что жители искали удовольствий и удовлетворения извне.

Интересная тенденция: люди идут на всё ради денег, живут, думая только о пополнении кармана, забывая живую природу окружающего мира, а потом жалуются, что мир пуст и жизнь пробежала, а насладится не успели...

Пока всё время гнались за навязанными образами мира, продиктованными кем-то желаниями, жизнь пролетела, как кинопленка на экране,- типа того...

Более точное определение слова "святой"- "выделенный"...

Святые- это странники в мире, не зацепленные за "декорации", а не люди, которые что-то прочли и просто согласились… Настоящие герои не имеют отношения к этому миру…