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Kedoshim(Leviticus 19-20)
Are All Men Created Equal?
At Mount Sinai, God described the Jewish People as a holy nation (Shemot 19:6). But it sounds too difficult and lofty a concept for us to handle. How do we attain holiness? A Torah portion with the name "Kedoshim," which means "holy," should logically be an address for us to discover a path toward holiness.
"You shall be holy since I, God, Your Lord, am holy. Every man should revere his mother and his father and you should observe my Sabbaths. I am God, your Lord" (Leviticus 19:2-3).
God gives us a general command to be holy and then continues to list 50 or so commandments seemingly in order to achieve this goal. God is telling us that living holy lives entails following the dictates of the Torah's commandments. The first of these commands is to revere parents. It would appear then that the first step in a path toward holiness would be to appreciate and respect those who brought us into the world.
If we are to begin to live a holy life, we must realize that we owe people of authority proper and honorable treatment. Only then will we get used to the idea of accepting authority. This will allow us to relate to God as our Ultimate Authority, by living a holy life according to His instructions for Living, the Torah.
In a sense, Thomas Jefferson's famous "defining of America" phrase, "All men are created equal," is not entirely accurate. While all Jefferson intended to state was that all people should be treated fairly with human rights (which is true), the statement itself has connotations which cannot be accepted. There are certain people who deserve more respect and authority than others. Society needs to know that there are boundaries and limits. We need to give our seat on the bus to an older person out of respect. We need to stand up for sages, elders, and even parents as they enter the room.
If "everyone is equal," then we run the risk of making no one equal. We will produce youngsters who laugh at the elderly and disobey their teachers and principals because they will feel "equal" with authority figures. If "everyone is equal," we will lose respect for others since we are as equal as they. We will only be concerned with our own selves which will inevitably make it impossible to attain holiness. Holiness means refraining from indulgences and one cannot do that if he is self-centered.
Through revering parents, we learn to have a sense of awe. The Sefer HaChinuch (Book of Education-Mitzvah 33) writes that once a person integrates respect for his parents into his personality, this attitude will serve as a springboard for revering God. And when we revere God, we listen to Him. When we listen to Him, we follow His Torah, which makes us holy.
This concept also applies to honoring kings. There is a commandment to give respect to Jewish and non-Jewish kings (see Talmud Brachot 19b) and this way of relating to kings also helps us in relating to God. God is called "The King of all kings," which means in order to treat Him properly we have to know how to honor a king. Only then, will we able to show respect to the King of all kings. To the extent that we no longer have monarchies and powerful kings in the world, we have a more difficult time than previous generations relating to God as King.
So how can we become holy? The path is in the verse quoted above:
"You shall be holy since I, God, Your Lord, am holy. Every man should revere his mother and his father and you should observe my Sabbaths. I am God, your Lord." (Leviticus 19:2-3)
First, revere your parents, then you will able to revere Me and My Sabbaths.
A shining illustration of such reverence is the following story told about Rabbi Yehoshua Leib Diskin, the famed Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, circa 1900.
While moving to a new apartment, he personally supervised the movers. His eyes were glued upon two large crates filled with many manuscripts. The mover piled the boxes one on top of the other. Rabbi Diskin pleaded with the mover, "Please be sure not to reverse the order of the crates. Be careful that the top one remains on top and the bottom one stays at the bottom."
The mover assured Rabbi Diskin that he would. Several times throughout the move, Rabbi Diskin repeated his plea. The mover finally lost patience and asked the Rabbi, "What would be so horrible if the boxes got switched?"
Rabbi Diskin explained, "The top crate contains the Torah writings of my late father while the bottom one has mine. It would be improper for even a moment that my writings should be on top of my father's!"
There is another insight in this verse that enables us to begin to have proper reverence for parents. If I live a holy life, then I appreciate living more than if I am a mundane person. If all that is important to me is the tennis court and trips to the Bahamas, then my parents cannot mean all that much to me. I owe them my existence but my existence is not so monumental so I don't have such great appreciation for what my parents did in giving me life. But a life that is sanctified and has profound meaning is a life that owes parents reverence and endless respect. I appreciate existence because I truly have a valuable and holy purpose in the world. I therefore appreciate the life that my parents gave to me and respond with meaningful awe, respect, and reverence.
So the verse states, be holy, and only then will you be able to revere parents. And when you revere parents, you will then be able to respect God by observing His Sabbaths and revering Him.
We should treat all people as equals in terms of dignity, kindness, and generosity. But we must realize that it is not for everything that all men are created equal.
(14) Jay C , April 28, 2009
Degrees of equality
Well said, Rabbi Leff. Acharei Mot and Kedoshim contain many instructions for living together in community as a holy people. Some of those instructions tell us that some people must be treated differently than others. For example, the High Priest must wash before donning his robes of office. This is out of respect for the office, but also because leaders must be held to a higher standard than other people. Before anointing a leader, make sure his behavior won't soil his leadership. A farrier doesn't need to wash before putting on his apron, and a layman doesn't need to be as high above reproach as a priest or even a rabbi. Those with authority should be treated with greater respect, and they should in turn treat holy things with greater respect.
(13) Tommy Morgan , May 30, 2008
All men are created equal
"All men are created equal," it is simply in recognition of the uniqueness of each individual as a necessary part of everything we can think of about life and God and the universe. Equality does not mean homogenity, after all, no two individuals have equal DNA in the history of mankind. Equality of all humans simply means that our strength as people lies in our differences. The roles we play in those differences may differ but they are in harmony with the order of life. That''s why someone in one role could not claim superiority with another in other role regardless of the nature of that role. After all, our perception of the role of another is qualified through our incomplete, inadequate, subjective, exergerated and often foolish sense of understanding.
(12) Anonymous , April 29, 2008
Read the article more carefully
People's comments about what the "created equal" phrase really means, or the "value of a life" have misread the article and have missed the point. The Rabbi is addressing only one (of many) connotations from the phrase that people certainly have today, and obviously not it's literal meaning in politics or biology. This is apparent when he says "In a sense" and "not entirely accurate" because it there are certain "connotations" he disagrees with.
(11) Marc Adin , March 17, 2008
A tragic misunderstanding...
of the Declaration of Independence. All Americans are "created" equal,and possess all of the rights granted by constitution. A poor, elderly person has the same rights as a rich, young person. The Declaration of Independence seeks to guarantee no more and no less.
Nothing in the constitution, implicitly or explicitly, indicates that the outcomes of our actions, words and lives are equal. Our deeds define our lives. I urge you to study the Declaration and then reconsider you position.
(10) Jack , September 18, 2006
Ethical Relativism. That's your problem.
Of course all men (people) are created equal. The value of Life is a universal value. It is their behaviors and cultures (relative values) that are not the same. When a relative value becomes your criteria for conferring human equality on another you are playing God.
Ask yourself: "Do you love your children only when they act the way you want? And reject them as unworthy of your love when they don't?" Of course not. You wouldn't judge the value of your child's life by his or her behavior (good or bad) would you? For your child you can easily see the difference between the value of his or her life and the value of his or her behavior. Why not for the rest of we children of God?
Here's the danger of using relative values (rather than a universal Life Value) as a criteria for human equality: When a behavior does not conform to someone's vision of that "equalizing" set of relative values, then the persons not of that value system (behavior, culture, religious beliefs, etc.) become "unequal" human beings (read sub-human beings). Then the killing starts. Guaranteed.