Q&A: Holiness
Holiness
Question
Hello and blessings to the honored Rabbi,
After expressing my appreciation and thanks for your important writings and your extensive work, I would like to ask briefly:
Is “holiness” part of morality? By “holiness” I mean commandments that express “nobility,” such as not making oneself disgusting by eating creeping things and insects, and not marrying just anyone. That is, not acts between a person and God or between a person and another person, but between a person and himself and the level of his character. Does universal morality also obligate modes of conduct of holiness?
I hope I am being clear, and in any case thank you in advance, and blessings of success in all your endeavors.
Israel
Answer
Thank you.
This is of course a semantic question. One must be moral and one must sanctify oneself. Is that the same obligation? In my opinion, no, but that is a matter of definition. In several places I have distinguished between moral values and religious values. Holiness belongs to the second type. As I understand it, morality is a prerequisite for holiness.
Discussion on Answer
In the sense that a proper society and a person with a sound moral structure are the foundation within which holiness can be built. This is explained in the Bible and by the Sages, and it also seems clear to me logically.
It seems to me that you mean a kind of “hierarchy of needs” (à la Maslow), according to which in the absence of morality there is no point even talking about holiness. If that is your intention, it seems to me that you are interpreting the concept of holiness somewhat narrowly, as though it were part of a person’s good and well-being simply insofar as he is a human being (“society”). The problem is that under such an interpretation holiness ceases to be an objective quality standing on its own. God, for example, who is supposed to be holy, was not such before the creation of man.
There is of course a way to deal with the difficulty I raised, but the question is whether you even see it.
I do accept the fact that this is a pyramid, though not of needs but of human elevation. But your conclusion, which places all the stages of the pyramid on the same footing, is not acceptable to me. Holiness is connected to drawing near to the Holy One, blessed be He, and not to relations between human beings. But proper relations between people and a sound moral personality structure are a necessary foundation even for closeness to God.
From here Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair said: “Torah leads to watchfulness, watchfulness leads to diligence, diligence leads to cleanliness, cleanliness leads to abstinence, abstinence leads to purity, purity leads to piety, piety leads to humility, humility leads to fear of sin, fear of sin leads to holiness, holiness leads to the holy spirit, and the holy spirit leads to the resurrection of the dead.”
If holiness is connected to human beings, then in their absence there is no holiness. Isn’t that so? If you directed the definition toward morality, maybe it would be easier to defend that (most likely morality without human beings is an empty concept).
I’ve completely lost you.
According to you, holiness is connected to human beings drawing close to God. So now I ask: in a world where there are no human beings (because they have not yet been created, or they all died, or whatever), is there still holiness in the world?
Michi, in what sense is morality a prerequisite for holiness?