by Rabbi Wayne Allen
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
In an unusual locution, the outer altar upon which the sacrifices are offered is called by the Torah Kodesh Kodashim, holy of holies. Previously, the term “holy of holies” was reserved only for the inner sanctum of the Tabernacle, the place where the Holy Ark was kept (Exodus 29:37). This extraordinary usage of the term “holy of holies” caught the attention of Nahmanides, one of the great rabbinic scholars of the thirteenth century.
Nahmanides explains that the altar comes to be called “holy of holies” because of the nature of the sacrifices offered upon it. The most important of the sacrifices were called Kodshei Kodashim, so the altar upon which these sacrifices were placed was consequently called Kodesh Kodashim. What Nahmanides is arguing is that how the altar is used determines its standing. Since it is used for the holiest of purposes, it comes to be called holy itself.
In fact, the same is true with people. When people do holy things, they, too, earn the title “holy.” The classic example is that of Rabbi Isaac Luria. Rabbi Isaac ben Solomon Luria was one of the foremost and most influential Kabbalists in Jewish history. His mystical teachings became the foundation for Hasidism. To his followers, however, Rabbi Isaac Luria was known as “Ha-Ari HaKadosh,” the holy “Ari,” which is both the Hebrew word for lion and an acronym of “Our master, Rabbi Isaac.” The Ari became renowned for his exceptional piety, his ascetic life, and saintly character. All of these qualities earned him the title “holy.”
Likewise, Rabbi Ya’akov Yitzhak earned the title the Holy Seer of Lublin. When he died in 1814, the entire Hasidic world went into mourning. Rebbe Naftali of Ropshitz eulogized him with the words: “The Holy Seer is dead – and the world goes on? I don’t understand.” A disciple remembered the Holy Seer as a man who “possessed all the qualities and virtues of the prophet Isaiah – except that he did not live in the Holy Land.” It was these virtues that made him holy.
Indeed, it is possible for any person who lives an exemplary life to earn the title “holy” by doing holy deeds and living a holy life.
Shabbat Shalom!
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Born and raised in New York City and currently a resident of Toronto, Rabbi Wayne Allen has blended a career of service to the Jewish community as an ordained rabbi with his academic pursuits. Rabbi Allen is recognized as an expert both in Jewish law and in 18th century British moral philosophy. The books he has written and those he has edited are distinguished by the inclusion of philosophical analysis and historical context, adding an extra dimension to the more traditional forms of responding to questions on Jewish practice. He is a panelist for Jewish Values On-line, an Internet site devoted to providing authoritative answers to questions on Jewish life.
Rabbi Allen has traveled extensively and has led groups to Europe and Israel, lecturing beforehand on the history of the communities to be visited. He has served as a faculty member at the American Jewish University where he taught Jewish law, at California State University Long Beach where he taught the History of Modern Jewish Thought and Zionism, and at the University of Waterloo where he taught Theology After the Holocaust. He has also been invited as a guest lecturer at York University in Toronto and at the Pardes Institute in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Allen has served as a scholar-in-residence at synagogues in St. Louis and Ottawa and currently teaches at the Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto where he serves as chairman of the Rabbinics Department.
Samples of Rabbi Allen’s teaching are accessible on his website, www.rabbiwayneallen.ca.
Rabbi Allen's published books, available from the UTJ Bookstore are: