May 14/05 — Shabbat Emor: What You Do with What You’ve Learned

Commentary by Rabbi Lawrence Pinsker

Over the past two thousand years, rabbinic commentators have wondered about a curious “double commandment” in this week’s Torah portion: "You shall not desecrate My holy name, rather I should be sanctified among the Children of Israel." (Leviticus 22:32) They asked: “Doesn’t a command not to desecrate God's name imply that we must sanctify it?”

Surprisingly, Rabbi Samuel Jacob Rubinstein, author of Sefer She'erit Menachem, tells us that this isn’t redundancy. In fact it is quite possible to sanctify and desecrate God's name at the very same time. He explains that the Torah here warns us: "As you pursue holy tasks to attain spirituality and godliness, don’t desecrate the ideals that you want to uphold."

We may already know from experience that the image of any religion can easily be corrupted by people who act in the name of religion but are dishonest or abusive. They rationalize or dismiss their ethical lapses by pointing to their meticulous fulfillment of ritual practices. Their actions are a failure of a Jewish ideal that the Talmud derives from the Shema Yisrael, where we read: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." (Deuteronomy 6:5) Since love is the outcome of knowledge and experience, it cannot be imposed on another if it is to be authentic. Authentic love arises naturally. The rabbinic sages explained that the command “Ve'ahavtah…”—“And you shall love…” is a causative verb. In order to fulfill this commandment, you must cause God to be loved “with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength”—with everything that you do. In the Babylonian Talmud (Yoma 86a), we read: “Give people reason to say of you: ‘He studies Torah, speaks kindly to others, is honest and honourable.’ But if you study Torah and are dishonest and unkind you will desecrate the name of God and alienate others from Torah."

Ancient rabbinic sources credit Aaron, the first High Priest (and Moses’ older brother) with being the biblical personality who is most successful at sanctifying God's name. In The Fathers According to Rabbi Nathan, we read:

“To whom does the prophet Malachi refer when he says: ‘He turned many back from transgression’? This was Aaron, for when he walked on his way and came across a bad person doing something wrong, he went out of his way to greet him. The next day when the wrongdoer was tempted to sin yet again, he thought to himself: ‘Aaron cares about me. How pathetic I am if I let him down. If I sin, how could I ever look him in the eye again?"

When confronted by people committing wrongs, Aaron may have been pained to see their actions, but nevertheless responded with friendship and love. He was uncompromising in his love of others. Instead of berating or punishing, Aaron won the hearts of people who might otherwise have been pushed away. This is the ideal established by our ancient teachers: to recognize the absolute authenticity and integrity of other persons in all our relationships with them, so that our actions bring people closer to God.