Holy People - Not Caricatures!

Earlier this week (22^nd of Shevat) was the yahrtzeit of Menachem Mendel of Kotzk. The Kotzker is quoted with a sharp insight on this week’s Parsha:

וְאַנְשֵׁי קֹדֶשׁ תִּהְיוּן לִי

And you shall be holy people to Me

Said the Kotzker: God wants us to be holy people, not holy angels! The Kotzker’s point is that God desires the service of human beings precisely because we are flawed and inconsistent. It is due to humans’ ability to do evil (unlike angels that have no free will) that makes our good decisions so beloved by God. Let us further explore what this pasuk can teach us about being holy people.

The entire pasuk states:

And you shall be holy people to Me, and flesh torn in the field you shall not eat; you shall throw it to the dog[s].

לוְאַנְשֵׁי קֹדֶשׁ תִּהְיוּן לִי וּבָשָׂר בַּשָּׂדֶה טְרֵפָה לֹא תֹאכֵלוּ לַכֶּלֶב תַּשְׁלִכוּן אֹתוֹ:

As described in a number of places in the Torah kedusha, holiness, is linked to observing the laws of kashrut. Kedusha is often demonstrated by refraining from partaking in forbidden pleasures; in this case- un-slaughtered meat.

I think there may be another avenue of holiness alluded to here in Rashi’s comment on why this unkosher meat is given to the dogs:

למדך הכתוב שאין הקב"ה מקפח שכר כל בריה, שנאמר (שמות יא ז) ולכל בני ישראל לא יחרץ כלב לשונו, אמר הקב"ה תנו לו שכרו:

If so, why does the Torah say “to the dogs” ? Because the Holy One, blessed is He, does not withhold the reward of any creature, as it is said: “But to all the children of Israel, not one dog will whet its tongue” (Exod. 11:7). Said the Holy One, blessed is He, “Give it its reward.” -[From Mechilta]

When the Jews left Egypt, the dogs did their part by remaining quiet. The Midrash utilizes that episode as the source to teach an important lesson: We need to give credit where credit is due. This applies in the other direction too. We need to place blame where blame is due. No one is a caricature. No one is completely wicked, and no one is completely righteous, without any shortcomings. We should praise the good in people, while rejecting any misdeeds that are perpetrated, no matter who's doing them.

As the Kotzker said, what makes us holy is by being human: rejecting caricatures, embracing nuance and understanding that each of us is on a journey whereby we constantly strive to maximize our positive impact, while minimizing our negative impact. This is the path of Kedusha. This is what makes us worthy of the moniker “Anshei Kodesh.”