By Rabbi Leonard Rosenthal
SAN DIEGO — This week we read parashat K’doshim. K’doshim means: “holiness.” K’doshim contains laws and instructions to follow if we desire to be holy and Godly human beings.
K’doshim contains a verse that, at first glance, does not make sense: “You shall each revere his mother and his father, and keep My Sabbaths: I the Lord am your God.” (Lev. 19:3)
While no one would argue that it is a mitzvah to honor ones’ parents and to keep the Sabbath, why did the Torah connect the two in one sentence? Is there some integral relationship between honoring your parents and keeping the Shabbat that we should be aware of and take to heart?
A rabbi who went under the pen name of Shuva Yisrael thought so. He reminds us of what the Talmud teaches, “There are three partners in the creation of a human being: a father, a mother, and the Holy One Blessed be God.”
The Torah teaches us that all three give us life, love us, and sustain us. Therefore, the Torah reminds us that just as we are to honor our parents, so are we also to honor and revere the third Partner who gives us life, God. By combining these two subjects in the same verse, the Torah teaches us that one of the most important ways we have of honoring and revering God is by observing the Shabbat.
However, Shabbat observance is only the first of the ways that Jews show their love for God. Jews also need to follow the other mitzvot God has given us, which include observing the holidays, studying Torah, Tikun Olam, and supporting the Jewish community and Israel.
One of the central ways in which Jews approach the Sacred is through the performance of mitzvot. When we observe mitzvot we follow God’s will and make ourselves more attuned to the holy at the same time. We show God our love by performing God’s will here on earth.*
Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. He may be contacted via leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com. Articles intended for comment in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)
Rabbi Rosenthal is spiritual leader of Tifereth Israel Synagogue. He may be contacted via leonard.rosenthal@sdjewishworld.com. Articles intended for comment in the space below must be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)