Parashat Kedoshim פָּרָשַׁת קְדשִׁים

Our Parsha of the week, Kedoshim, gives us the immense gift of the Holiness Code: "How to live our day-to-day lives" in a way that uplifts us and others. One dictate is that we should not place a stumbling-block in front of a blind person. How can this be understood?

In our complicated and stressful society, there have arisen numerous professions devoted to giving advice to others and receiving a fee for so doing. Such professions as financial planners, estate managers and programmers, therapists for both mental and physical wounds, marriage and divorce counselors and other areas in which current society is populated, if not even dominated by these advice givers. No one can expect perfection from another human being and many times the advice or planning that is suggested and adopted may turn out to be less than constructive, even with the best of intentions.

The Torah does not expect perfection from those from whom we seek advice; that would be way too high a bar.  But the Torah does expect honesty and transparency. It’s always possible that there’s a tinge of self-interest on the part of the counselor or therapist involved. After all, this is the manner in which that person makes a living. Yet, as far as humanly possible, the Torah does demand objectivity, fairness, and intelligence when giving such advice, whether it be from a professional in the field or even from a friend or neighbor.

We are repeatedly warned in the Torah and in the Talmud not to volunteer advice to others in areas where we are not requested to, especially if we are not expert in those fields. It is dangerous and an enormous responsibility to give advice to others. In biblical times, prophecy was available but in our world prophecy, as far as I know, no longer exists. Both the person seeking advice and the one granting such advice should be very careful not to create the stumbling block that will cause the ‘blind person’ to fall.

Kedoshim exhorts us to respect everyone, it’s a positive command to see everyone in their best possible light, to see all other human beings as created in God’s image.  And the rule—not to put an obstacle in front of the blind, is a negative injunction; it’s telling us that one way to respect others is not to make their lives harder. Not to get in their way; in other words, if you can’t do something good, if you can’t do something to benefit another person, don’t do anything at all.  I’m sure that all this is also connected to loshan hara , but that’s for another time and discussion.

Kedoshim deals with the overall directive to be holy. How can we be holy?  How can we learn to treat others as holy?  Our sages teach us that if we judge others favorably, then God will judge us favorably.  

The stranger.
The widow.
The poor.
The slave.
The disenfranchised.  
The broken, whether in body or in spirit.

All are holy. All are created in God’s image. Perhaps the greatest charity comes when we are kind to each other, when we don’t judge or categorize someone else, when we simply give each other the benefit of the doubt or remain quiet. Charity is accepting someone’s differences, weaknesses, and shortcomings; having patience with someone who has let us down; or resisting the impulse to become offended when someone doesn’t handle something the way we might have hoped. Charity is refusing to take advantage of another’s weakness and being willing to forgive someone who has hurt us. Charity is expecting the best of each other. Let us strive to see that in others and to nurture the best in ourselves.

And let us say AMEN.