18 Apr REVITALIZING OUR DAVENING – PART SIX

Shemone Esrei where
we proclaim to Hashem
that “You are Holy,” and
conclude with blessing
Hashem for being the
“Almighty Who is Holy,”
is somewhat peculiar. In
all the ensuing blessings,
we thank Hashem for
gifts that He gives us such as knowledge,
forgiveness, health, our livelihood and peace.
However, in this blessing, what is the meaning
of, that we thank Hashem for being the Holy
G-d?
One approach is that this blessing follows
logically after the previous blessing where
we thanked Him for the eventual redemption,
for what happens after techias hameisim. The
Gemora informs us, “Tzadikim yoshvim vaatroseihem b’rosheihem v’ne-henin m’ziv
haShechina.” The righteous sit with crowns
on their heads and benefit from the radiance of
the Divine Presence. Thus, the pleasure after
the resurrection is that we will bask in the
myriads of pleasures of Hashem’s Holiness.
This is why we thank Hashem now for being
the Holy G-d.
There is another reason. In the blessings
of Krias Shema in the evening, we say
lehishtabei’ach bi’sehilasecha, we boast about
ourselves with Your praise. This means the
greatness of Hashem makes us special for we
are His chosen people. Thus, since Hashem
is Holy, that means that we are worthy of
Holiness since we are His children.
Finally, Hashem’s manifestations of Holiness
serve as a model for how we can be holy. As
the posuk directs us, “Kodoshim tihiyu, ki
kadosh Ani Hashem – You should be holy, for
I Hashem am Holy.” To bring this from the
theoretical to the practical, the Olas Tamid cites
the Yaros Devash who quotes the Ramban that
the word kadosh means ‘to separate oneself.’
In this vein, it means to abstain from even
that which is permitted even in a miniscule
way. This is the road to Holiness for as the
Ramban elaborates, if one just grabs at every
permissible pleasure, he can deteriorate to
what is called a nuvul b’reshus haTorah, one
who is vile even though he is within all the
parameters of the law. Therefore, one who
pushes away the last few bites of a delicious
dessert or denies himself a few extra moments
of delicious sleep is fulfilling the positive
commandment of v’hiskadishtem v’hyisem
kedoshim, you should sanctify yourself and
become holy.” One can take very small baby steps in this area and yet achieve great results.
The first blessing corresponded to Avraham,
as it concludes magien Avraham. The second
blessing which talks about Hashem’s might,
how He sustains life, gives us powerful winds
and rains, and will eventually revive the dead,
corresponds to Yitzchak, whose special midah
was gevurah. The third blessing of Kedusha
corresponds to Yaakov who we describe in
our bentching with the description kedosheinu
kadosh Yaakov. This is actually describing
Hashem, but we refer to Hashem as our Holy
One, the Holiness of Yaakov. Why do we refer
to Yaakov as being Holy, more than Avraham
and Yitzchak? The commentaries explain that
if one has suffering like Yaakov, rachmama
l’tzlan, whose brother Eisav wanted to kill
him, whose grandchild Elifaz wanted to kill
him, whose father in-law wanted to kill him,
whose daughter Dina was violated, whose son
Yoseif went missing for twenty-two years, and
yet with all of these travails he served Hashem
loyally, such a person is a true Kadosh.
In a similar vein, we are taught that those
who perished in the holocaust because they
were Jewish are called kedoshim (Rambam),
but those who lived through the horrors of
the holocaust losing spouses and family and
living day after day in the shadow of the gas
chambers while being tortured with slave
labor and fed soup with dead mice and spiders
and other vermin, and yet went on to serve
Hashem loyally afterwards, they are called
Kadosh Kadoshim, Holy of Holies.
We go on to say in the blessing, “U’kedoshim
b’chol yom yahalelulcha selah – And holy
ones everyday praise You.” The Iyun Tefilah
says that this refers to the angels. The
Advudrahan says that it refers to us Jews who
are Am Kedoshecha, Your Holy nation. The
Lekutei Torah says a third explanation. He
says it refers to the holy souls that are already
in the Next World for, unlike the angels who
still have a confining body, they who are pure
souls have even greater Holiness when they
sing the praises of Hashem.
In the merit of our recognizing and expressing
Hashem’s greatness, may Hashem shower us
with long life, good health, and everything
wonderful.