T ORAH P ORTION
Going Out to Find Holiness
CAN DL E L IGHTIN G
April 23
April 30
7:30 p.m.

7:37 p.m.

of COVID-19 is this new
phenomena that I can only call
“COVID re-entry anxiety.” Can
we go out with other people
and be unmasked if everyone is
vaccinated? Can we socialize at
a restaurant, go on a plane, take
a vacation and truly relax if we
are with other people?
I am one always to trust the
medical professionals but I am
seeing tremendous confusion,
confl icting messages and an
ever-growing fear about what
life is going to look like when we
leave our “bunker”-like homes.

Our Torah gives us a clue on
how to deal with this anxiety.

It is rooted in the order of the
Torah itself. In the previous
parshah, Achrei Mot, we learn
that Aaron, Moses’ brother,
suff ered a terrible loss. His two
sons, Nadav and Abihu were
killed in a calamitous act of
God. We learn in Leviticus 10:1,
“Th ey took, sons of Aaron,
Nadav and Avihu put in their
fi re pans a fi re; they placed on
it incense; they brought before
God a strange (fi re), that God
did not command of them. Th e
fi re went out from before God,
and consumed them; they died
before God.”
Following this tragedy, we
transition to our Torah portion
of this week, Kedoshim, which
means holiness. Kedoshim, of
course, gives us the blueprint
for living a life of sanctity. We
learn about reverence for our
parents and building a commu-
nity; we are to eat the sacrifi ce
only on the fi rst or second day,
necessitating a group of people
with whom to eat.

We are to share our abundance
with the less fortunate, refrain
from theft , deception and deceit.

“You shall not swear falsely by
My name, profaning the name
of God.” And of course, we
are called upon to “Love our
neighbor as ourselves.” Subtly,
our text is telling us how to rise
up from disaster and death.

Moses joined with Aaron
in our portion to support each
other and the people by off ering
a path out of the darkness. Work
to bring holiness into the world.

Endeavor to “look up,” even as
life sometimes forces us to peer
downward. By off ering a spiri-
tual path to holiness, Moses and
his brother taught us that we can
either live in the past and the
suff ering of it, or we can move
forward with a renewed purpose
and mission. We can either let
the past destroy our future, or
we can imagine a world where
our brighter future allows us to
move beyond the pain of the
past. Aaron and Moses moved
forward and found holiness even
aft er tragedy.

We must, following the
death of more than 500,000
Americans, mourn our loss,
but then “put one foot in front
of the other.” We must focus
on the tasks in front of us.

We might see going out for
dinner or speaking to another
person in the grocery store as
a common, or meaningless act,
but in light of the past year, it
is a holy act. It is a courageous
act. It propels us out of the pain
of yesterday, empowering us to
normalize our lives again.

All of the rituals and ethical
laws of Kedoshim can only be
fulfi lled in community. We
cannot fi nd holiness alone.

We must get out, live our lives
and embrace our time with
one another. We must keep
safety at the forefront, but let
us not be paralyzed by our
fears; rather, let us go forth and
fi nd Kedoshim, holiness. ●
the success of his companies
was dependent on the success
Continued from Page 14
and satisfaction of his workers.

This position strengthened
he championed the rights of his bottom line by creating a
workers to organize.

loyalty and devotion among his
It was evident to him that workforce that is rare today.

Air Florida employees — from
fl ight attendants to pilots to
receptionists — continue to
hold reunions where they speak
of him with love, and many
lit candles and came to his
memorial service when he died.

I’m now a rabbi, and I can quote
the Mishnah about our obliga-
tion to workers, but the truth is
that my father was my primary
teacher here. My dad taught me
that businesses thrive when the
dignity of every human being is
honored — workers, customers
and shareholders alike. He taught
me that there is no contradiction
between being pro-business and
pro-union. He taught me that our
economy and society can be both
prosperous and caring. He taught
me that standing for the rights of
workers is what it means to be a
proud Jew.

I thought about my father’s
lessons several times this
month, especially aft er labor
leader Randi Weingarten in a
JTA interview used language to
suggest that the modern Jewish
community was less likely to
support unions than it had in
generations past. In response
to criticism, Weingarten
conceded that she could have
expressed her point more
artfully, but her essential point
stands: that “historically, there
was much less equivocation
about whether to be pro-union
in the Jewish community.”
As we’ve just watched
Amazon spend huge sums to
defeat a union-organizing
eff ort in Alabama, and as we
debate the Jewish communi-
ty’s changing relationship with
labor organizing, let’s remember
the entire generation of Jewish
business leaders, like my father,
for whom unions were essen-
tial. We oft en tell the stories of
the immigrant generation who
were the labor leaders. Th eir
children, many of whom went
on to sit on the other side of the
negotiating table while valuing
labor rights, are also part of
the Jewish people’s legacy and
identity. Not just mine, but ours.

As I mourn my father, Eli
Timoner, “zichrono livracha,”
one way to honor his memory is
to champion labor organizing
eff orts as he did, and especially
to stand with all frontline
workers — everyone from
teachers to nurses to delivery
workers — all those who keep
the world moving, even in a
pandemic. Another is to hold
up his example and the promise
it contains — of businesses that
care for people, an economy
that values workers and a
society that works for all. ●
BY RABBI GREGORY S. MARX
Parshat Kedoshim
ANXIETY IS CREEPING
into the hearts of Americans.

In a recent conversation
I had with a member of my
congregation about going out
to a restaurant, having recently
received her second vaccine,
she commented, “I feel like I
am becoming agoraphobic.“
She lamented that as she was
standing outside the front of her
house and a UPS driver leaned
out of his truck to wave hello
and she jumped back in horror.

“I never would have done
that before COVID,” she said.

She recognized that she is
becoming increasingly anxious
about returning to life and
doing something as simple
and common as going out to a
restaurant. What can she do,
she asked me, now that the
plague seems to be subsiding, at
least to some degree?
One of the side eff ects
Timoner Be heard.

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APRIL 22, 2021
JEWISH EXPONENT
Rabbi Gregory S. Marx serves as
the senior rabbi of Congregation
Beth Or in Maple Glen. The Board
of Rabbis of Greater Philadelphia
is proud to provide diverse
perspectives on Torah commentary
for the Jewish Exponent. The
opinions expressed in this column
are the author’s own and do not
refl ect the view of the Board of
Rabbis. Rabbi Rachel Timoner is senior
rabbi at Congregation Beth Elohim,
a Reform congregation in Park
Slope, Brooklyn.

JEWISHEXPONENT.COM