Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: Always Holy!
The saintly Rebbe Aharon of Belz, zt’l (d. 1957), was a beloved tzaddik, revered for his piety and kindness, respected for his ayin tovah and ahavas Yisrael, and for setting the stage for rebuilding Chassidus in the Holy Land after the Holocaust.
After escaping the Holocaust, the Rebbe settled in Tel Aviv, and often came in contact with Jews who had a very different way of life than the Chassidic community. Reb Aharon was known to say, “Kulam kedoshim—they are all holy,” and refused to call Jews who didn’t keep Shabbos “mechalelei Shabbos” (Shabbos profaners). Rather, he would refer to his neighbors as “shochechei ikar Shabbos,” the forgetters of Shabbos.
While walking home one Shabbos morning, Reb Aharon encountered a Jewish doctor who did not keep Shabbos. Upon seeing the Rebbe, he hastily discarded his lit cigarette. Another rabbi was present and saw the scene. He derisively said, “Here are your righteous forgetters of Shabbos! If he truly forgot that today is Shabbos, why did he throw away his cigarette when he saw us?” Reb Aharon Belzer responded, “The moment he saw us wearing our shtreimels, he suddenly remembered that it’s Shabbos!”
Upon hearing that members of a kibbutz had begun raising pigs, a transgression so egregious the Rambam writes that Chazal pronounced a curse on those who raises them (Laws of Property Damages, 5:9), a couple of chevreh looking to stir up controversy brought the unfortunate news to Reb Aharon. They were surprised to hear the Rebbe’s response.
Said Reb Aharon: “There’s an opinion that in the era of Moshiach that the world will be uplifted to such a higher spiritual plane that pigs, the most ‘unclean’ of non-kosher animals, will suddenly become permissible. Our brothers and sisters believe so deeply in the imminent Redemption that they are preparing for the celebratory feast!” (See Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, Vayikra, 11:7)
The detailed description of the laws of Yom Kippurim in this week’s sidrah outlines the pathway for Am Yisrael to realign with Hashem through the service of the Kohen Gadol. In terms of the narrative, this is sequentially appropriate as it follows the death of Aharon’s sons. Yet, delving into the experience of Yom Kippur in the middle of the Spring feels a bit out of place. Our process of national atonement includes the procedure of the scapegoat, sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice in the direction of the Holy of Holies as teshuvah for having entered there in a state of tumah:
“And he shall effect atonement… from the ritual impurity of Bnei Yisrael and from their rebellions and all their unintentional sins. He shall do likewise in the Ohel Moed, where Hashem’s Presence dwells amid their impurity.” (16:16)
Rashi offers the pshat, the simple understanding of the verse: “Although they are ritually unclean, nevertheless, the Divine Presence dwells in their midst!” What does this mean for us today in our exile while we’re still lacking the Beis HaMikdash?
While Yom Kippur is just one special, elevated day of the year, the Avodah, the essence of the service of the Kohen Gadol, is relevant all year round. Throughout the year, the Kohanim are represented by the true tzaddikim of each generation who are able to go lifnei v’lifnim to enter the inner chambers, the inner world of Nishmas Yisrael, the soul of every Jew, and see the Divine goodness there. Along these lines, one aspect of being a mamleches Kohanim, a nation of priests, is that each of us is able to channel this potential and acknowledge the Divine Presence within each other, even in our so-called communal state of impurity.
This week, we also study the mitzvah to judge others favorably (19:15), and to love our fellow as ourselves, v’ahavta lereiacha kamocha. These two mitzvos are access points into the inner world of a Jew, opening a portal to go lifnei v’lifnim.
In these days of Sefirat HaOmer, we mourn the loss of the talmidim of Rebbe Akiva, and it was Rebbe Akiva who taught that v’ahavta lereiacha kamocha is the Klal Gadol b’Torah, the cornerstone and fundamental principle of the Torah. He taught as well regarding Yom Kippur: Ashreichem Yisrael… “Fortunate are you, Israel! Before whom do you purify yourself and who is it that purifies you? Avinu Sh’bashamayim, our Father in Heaven.”
In advance of Lag BaOmer we celebrate and bind ourselves to the soul of Rashbi, the holy Tanna Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai. The 16th Century Kabbalist Rebbi Shimon Lavi, zt’l, composed a piyyut extolling the virtues of Rashbi:
“Bar Yochai, nimshachta ashreicha / Anointed are you, fortunate are you / Bar Yochai, baKodesh haKodashim / You reached the Holy of Holies and revealed the secret of the Seven Weeks (the Forty-Nine Gates of Understanding).”
The teachings, pathway, and avodah of Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai, enable us to enter lifnei v’lifnim, into the Holy of Holies, the innermost depths of a Jewish soul, and reveal the secret, the highest gates of purity that exist there.
The Gemara relates that Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai, the Holy Tanna, said: “See how beloved Israel is to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, for wherever they went into exile, Shechinah imachem, the Divine Presence went with them. They were exiled to Egypt, and Shechinah imachem; they were exiled to Babylon, Shechina imachem.And when Am Yisrael will be redeemed in the future, the Shechinah will be redeemed with them” (Megillah29a).
May we also look inward and realize that in our own soul, Hashem dwells with us and within us, regardless of any impurity we might be involved in or surrounded by. We are all, as the Rebbe Aharon Belzer said, Kedoshim! n
Excerpted from Rav Judah’s upcoming “Baderech: Along the Path of the Torah” (Summer 2026/5786).
Rav Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children and the author of the “Baderech” series. Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife, Ora, and their family.
Acharei Mot-Kedoshim: Always Holy!
The saintly Rebbe Aharon of Belz, zt’l (d. 1957), was a beloved tzaddik, revered for his piety and kindness, respected for his ayin tovah and ahavas Yisrael, and for setting the stage for rebuilding Chassidus in the Holy Land after the Holocaust.
After escaping the Holocaust, the Rebbe settled in Tel Aviv, and often came in contact with Jews who had a very different way of life than the Chassidic community. Reb Aharon was known to say, “Kulam kedoshim—they are all holy,” and refused to call Jews who didn’t keep Shabbos “mechalelei Shabbos” (Shabbos profaners). Rather, he would refer to his neighbors as “shochechei ikar Shabbos,” the forgetters of Shabbos.
While walking home one Shabbos morning, Reb Aharon encountered a Jewish doctor who did not keep Shabbos. Upon seeing the Rebbe, he hastily discarded his lit cigarette. Another rabbi was present and saw the scene. He derisively said, “Here are your righteous forgetters of Shabbos! If he truly forgot that today is Shabbos, why did he throw away his cigarette when he saw us?” Reb Aharon Belzer responded, “The moment he saw us wearing our shtreimels, he suddenly remembered that it’s Shabbos!”
Upon hearing that members of a kibbutz had begun raising pigs, a transgression so egregious the Rambam writes that Chazal pronounced a curse on those who raises them (Laws of Property Damages, 5:9), a couple of chevreh looking to stir up controversy brought the unfortunate news to Reb Aharon. They were surprised to hear the Rebbe’s response.
Said Reb Aharon: “There’s an opinion that in the era of Moshiach that the world will be uplifted to such a higher spiritual plane that pigs, the most ‘unclean’ of non-kosher animals, will suddenly become permissible. Our brothers and sisters believe so deeply in the imminent Redemption that they are preparing for the celebratory feast!” (See Ohr HaChaim HaKadosh, Vayikra, 11:7)
n n n
The detailed description of the laws of Yom Kippurim in this week’s sidrah outlines the pathway for Am Yisrael to realign with Hashem through the service of the Kohen Gadol. In terms of the narrative, this is sequentially appropriate as it follows the death of Aharon’s sons. Yet, delving into the experience of Yom Kippur in the middle of the Spring feels a bit out of place. Our process of national atonement includes the procedure of the scapegoat, sprinkling the blood of the sacrifice in the direction of the Holy of Holies as teshuvah for having entered there in a state of tumah:
“And he shall effect atonement… from the ritual impurity of Bnei Yisrael and from their rebellions and all their unintentional sins. He shall do likewise in the Ohel Moed, where Hashem’s Presence dwells amid their impurity.” (16:16)
Rashi offers the pshat, the simple understanding of the verse: “Although they are ritually unclean, nevertheless, the Divine Presence dwells in their midst!” What does this mean for us today in our exile while we’re still lacking the Beis HaMikdash?
While Yom Kippur is just one special, elevated day of the year, the Avodah, the essence of the service of the Kohen Gadol, is relevant all year round. Throughout the year, the Kohanim are represented by the true tzaddikim of each generation who are able to go lifnei v’lifnim to enter the inner chambers, the inner world of Nishmas Yisrael, the soul of every Jew, and see the Divine goodness there. Along these lines, one aspect of being a mamleches Kohanim, a nation of priests, is that each of us is able to channel this potential and acknowledge the Divine Presence within each other, even in our so-called communal state of impurity.
This week, we also study the mitzvah to judge others favorably (19:15), and to love our fellow as ourselves, v’ahavta lereiacha kamocha. These two mitzvos are access points into the inner world of a Jew, opening a portal to go lifnei v’lifnim.
In these days of Sefirat HaOmer, we mourn the loss of the talmidim of Rebbe Akiva, and it was Rebbe Akiva who taught that v’ahavta lereiacha kamocha is the Klal Gadol b’Torah, the cornerstone and fundamental principle of the Torah. He taught as well regarding Yom Kippur: Ashreichem Yisrael… “Fortunate are you, Israel! Before whom do you purify yourself and who is it that purifies you? Avinu Sh’bashamayim, our Father in Heaven.”
In advance of Lag BaOmer we celebrate and bind ourselves to the soul of Rashbi, the holy Tanna Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai. The 16th Century Kabbalist Rebbi Shimon Lavi, zt’l, composed a piyyut extolling the virtues of Rashbi:
“Bar Yochai, nimshachta ashreicha / Anointed are you, fortunate are you / Bar Yochai, baKodesh haKodashim / You reached the Holy of Holies and revealed the secret of the Seven Weeks (the Forty-Nine Gates of Understanding).”
The teachings, pathway, and avodah of Rebbi Shimon Bar Yochai, enable us to enter lifnei v’lifnim, into the Holy of Holies, the innermost depths of a Jewish soul, and reveal the secret, the highest gates of purity that exist there.
The Gemara relates that Rebbe Shimon bar Yochai, the Holy Tanna, said: “See how beloved Israel is to HaKadosh Baruch Hu, for wherever they went into exile, Shechinah imachem, the Divine Presence went with them. They were exiled to Egypt, and Shechinah imachem; they were exiled to Babylon, Shechina imachem.And when Am Yisrael will be redeemed in the future, the Shechinah will be redeemed with them” (Megillah29a).
May we also look inward and realize that in our own soul, Hashem dwells with us and within us, regardless of any impurity we might be involved in or surrounded by. We are all, as the Rebbe Aharon Belzer said, Kedoshim!
Excerpted from Rav Judah’s upcoming “Baderech: Along the Path of the Torah” (Summer 2026/5786).
Rav Judah Mischel is executive director of Camp HASC, the Hebrew Academy for Special Children and the author of the “Baderech” series. Rav Judah lives in Ramat Beit Shemesh with his wife, Ora, and their family.
