This week we begin reading the book of Leviticus. To many people, this is just a book of do's, don'ts, and lots of boring details. However, what most people do not realize is that packed within the entire book of Leviticus are details of Holiness.

According to the great Jewish thinker Abraham Joshua Heschel:

Holiness is not some mystical state we all someday hope to obtain. Rather, according to Scripture holiness is a lifestyle. If we want to know how to live a holy life, HaShem gives us the details – show neither partiality to the poor nor deference to the mighty … don’t stand idly by the blood of your neighbor … keep my Shabbat … observe the mitzvot …

These are the details of holiness. The Torah often paints an image quite different from our western concepts of what it means to be holy. Although there is an element of mystery to holiness, holiness also does not exist apart from a way of life. We are to be holy because G-d is Holy.

Parashat Pekudei

No task is ever below our dignity. No matter how far we climb on the social ladder, we should never think too highly of ourselves. How is this supported in this week’s parasha? The answer is found where G-d calls Moses to be personally involved in the building and erecting of the Tabernacle:

“HaShem spoke unto Moses, saying: ‘On the first day of the first month, you are to set up the Tabernacle, the tent of meeting (Exodus 40:1-2).’”

In verse 40:2 and subsequent verses, G-d tells Moses, “YOU are to set up the Tabernacle.” It was not enough for Moses to simply oversee the work that was being done, he had to be actively involved. Despite the fact that Moses experienced God face-to-face, and received the Torah upon Mt. Sinai, G-d called him personally to set up the Tabernacle. G-d expected even Moses to lead by example.

Moses could have balked at this idea. He could have refused. But he didn’t. He obeyed. Although he was the leader of the Israelites, and one of the greatest figures who ever lived, he did not consider himself as too important to do such work. Rather, throughout the rest of the parasha he was actively involved in the construction of the Tabernacle.

Speaking on this verse (Ex. 40:2), the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, once stated:

This teaches that a person cannot only busy himself with his own spiritual development and Torah study. He needs to also be involved in helping others, just like G-d who wanted Moshe to be involved with the Tabernacle, not just as a spiritual leader and mentor, but also, “with his hands” (Gutnick Edition Chumash, 609).

True leadership is always by example. It is being willing to do whatever needs to be done. No matter how big or how small. When I formally began my rabbinical studies, I remember my rabbi asking me a very vivid question: “How good are you at plunging toilets?” His response was that if I was not willing to plunge toilets I had no business becoming a rabbi. And he was right. I cannot tell you how many toilets I have plunged since that day nearly fourteen years ago. Because any time something goes wrong in a congregation … “O Rabbi!”

Often we look at those in leadership or influential positions and covet their jobs. Yet, if we really saw what the position entailed, most of us would actually pass it up. For example, what most people see congregational leaders doing in public, is really often only about ten percent of our work. What they do not see is what happens on all the other days of the week and behind the scenes - moving chairs, administration, volunteer coordination, or cleaning stains out of the carpet after oneg. We must always be willing to serve. And in whatever capacity is needed.

This also follows the leadership model demonstrated by Yeshua, who taught that the greatest shall be least, and the least shall be the greatest (Mat 20:16). Furthermore, the greatest leader is to be the servant of all (Mark 9:35). Yeshua never perceived a task or person as below him. Rather, he served all, washed their feet, or supported all those who were hurting. As a “greater Moses,” Yeshua was our greatest example. Like Moses, G-d has called each of us to be participants in the building of his Kingdom. And each of us has the opportunity to partner with God in bringing redemption into the world. G-d has a role for each of us to play. The question is, are we willing to do it? For as James writes (1:22), it is not enough to only be hearers of what Torah says, but we must be doers as well!

*This week's commentary was originally written for the Set Table.

1. Avoid Technology
2. Connect with Loved Ones
3. Nurture Your Health
4. Get Outside
5. Avoid Commerce
6. Light Candles
7. Drink Wine
8. Eat Bread
9. Find Silence
10. Give Back

The concept of a compassionate and personal G-d is not foreign to Rabbinic thought. One particularly interesting example is the concept of "the Shechinah in Exile."

According to the Tanya[1] (quoting the Gemara), “When they [the Israelites] were exiled to Edom, the Shechinah went with them.”[2]

I find this to be a very powerful idea. It is a picture of HaShem not as being distant, but as rather very near to us. It is a very personal conception of G-d - an idea that G-d suffers along with Israel and is exiled alongside the Jewish people. That G-d chooses to be exiled along with His people. In thinking about this concept, I cannot help but think about Abraham Joshua Heschel’s description of “G-d in search of man.”[3] That more than we think we are pursuing G-d, G-d is actually in pursuit of us. And not only is this a G-d who pursues us, but is so moved by, and with us, that G-d too is exiled along with Israel.

This very personal conception of a compassionate G-d is also a popular motif within Midrash. This is especially true within a particular group of texts from Eichah Rabbah regarding “Rachel Weeping.” These texts clearly demonstrate HaShem’s compassion over Israel where G-d is described as weeping alongside Rachel:

כיון שראה אותם, הקב"ה מיד, "ויקרא ה' אלוהים צבאות ביום ההוא לבכי ולמספד ולקרחה ולחגור שק." ואלמלא מקרא שכתוב, אי אפשר לאמרו. והיו בוכין והולכין משער זה לשער זה כאדם שמתו מוטל לפניו. והיה הקב"ה סופד ואומר אוי לו למלך שבקטנותו הצליח ובזקנותו לא הצליח.

“As soon He saw them, the Holy One, Blessed be He, immediately declared ‘HaShem, G-d of Hosts, on that day has called for crying, lamenting, pulling out one’s hair, and for putting on sack-cloth [Is. 22:12].’ If it were not written in Scripture, it would be impossible to say. [Yet], they would weep continuously from one gate to another as a man who’s dead is laid before him. The Holy One, Blessed is He, lamented and said, ‘Woe to him, to the king who succeeded in his youthfulness, but was unable to succeed in his old age.’”[4]

In this particular text from Eichah Rabbah, HaShem declares a day to cry and lament (ויקרא ה' אלהים צבאות ביום ההוא לבכי ולמספד), and is described as weeping along with Rachel (בוכה, ומבכה הקב"ה עמה). In another closely related text[5], “Rachel” is meant to be understood as representing both Rachel and HaShem (אל תיקרי רחל ... אלא רוח-אל).

These “Rachel Weeping” passages in Eichah Rabbah (and Seder Eliyahu Rabbah) exemplify an idea similar to the concept of the Shechinah in exile represented in the Tanya. In the Eichah Rabbah passages it is not just Rachel weeping over her children, but HaShem as well. As such, these texts, along with the Tanya's reference to the Shechinah in exile demonstrates a perception of the Divine that is personal, compassionate over the Jewish people, and actively involved our daily lives.