|
|
Man's sanctity
This holiness
may represent the most important and valuable thing that
is within us. Such a thing could only be our
high
self esteem, a very special value, which cannot be
measured by money; which can only be compared to the
value of the divine or of God's holiness, due to His
declaration that we were created in His image.
Man's Holiness is therefore the spiritual content which typifies
the essence of man's creation
in God’s image. If we can express our high
self-esteem, then we can
express that holiness , can emphasize the divine part of
ourselves and thus give a practical expression to the
idea of man’s being created in God’s own image.
Therefore, sanctifying the other, means raising his
self-esteem or providing the other with this content.
Stemming from this, is that the meaning of being
sanctified is to be filled with this content.
Desecrating holiness
means damaging it; harming the unique value, which forms
the tight bond between man and God, thereby indirectly
harming God’s holiness as well. Any man's expression of
hatred, non-recognition, disregard towards another,
hurts his value and holiness, thus impinges on the
sanctity of the divine. However, it is true that
occasionally the person himself causes his own injury,
due to his actions, reactions and positions. In doing
so, he hurts his own holiness as well as that of God.
Man’s primary obligation is to express his
high self-esteem, not
in order to receive a good grade, but because through
this attitude he expresses the essence which was
instilled in him by his Creator.
I would like to present two divine declarations, which
supply a very strong motivation for giving expression to
man’s holiness, namely, giving expression to his unique
self-worth:
“Ye
shall be holy: for I the LORD your God am holy”
(Leviticus 19:2). Meaning, you shall posses a unique
self-worth, since that is how I Myself am (possessing an
absolute self-worth). Possessing such a value signifies
acting and behaving as the possessor of such a value.
The things said following this declaration, teach how
man must act and behave in order to possess a unique
self-worth. Here are some of these declarations:
“Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling
block before the blind; Thou shalt rise up before the
hoary head, and honor the face of the old man; Thou
shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the
children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy
neighbor as thyself;
And if a stranger sojourn with thee in your land, ye
shall not vex him; But the stranger that dwelleth with
you shall be unto you as one born among you, and thou
shalt love him as thyself; for ye were strangers in the
land of Egypt.”
In this way, God hints
that if you implement his instructions in this chapter,
you will be holy in his eyes, namely, you will possess a
unique self-worth, and then you will certainly be this
way in your own eyes too. This is a further wonderful
encouragement given to man for raising his self-worth,
pointing yet again to the importance of man’s high
self-worth in God’s eyes.
“Therefore
shall ye keep my commandments, and do them: I am the
Lord; Neither shall ye profane my holy name; but I will
be hallowed among the children of Israel: I am the Lord
which hallow you” (Leviticus 22:31-32).
Meaning, if you
preserve and properly carry out my commandments, your
self-worth will be such, that you will not harm another,
and therefore you will not be harming my value, God's
holiness. So, your level of holiness will be such that-
I who sanctified you – will come to be
sanctified within you. And there you have an additional
divine encouragement; nothing could exceed it.
|
