HOLINESS[1]
This article appears as part of the Portal on Jewish Prayer and in Keeping God at the Center.
Holiness as
an Attribute of God
Holiness
is a quality. One senses it in objects, in moments, in texts, and in certain
people. It is not a feeling like joy or anger. It is not a commitment like love
or loyalty. It is not a state of mind like happiness or gloom. It is not a
thought or concept. It is an awareness of the sacred, a consciousness of the
spiritual. It is an experience of the mysterium
tremendum et fascinans, a
contact with the numinous. It is a perception of otherness, an intimation of
the beyond.[2]
...
The truly ÔmysteriousÕ object is beyond our apprehension and comprehension, not
only because our knowledge has certain irremovable limits, but because in it we
come upon something inherently Ôwholly otherÕ, whose kind and character are
incommensurable with our own, and before which we therefore recoil in a wonder
that strikes us chill and numb.[3]
...
holiness is the abstract term taught man [sic] by God to mark God's difference
and the nature of everything that comes to be included ... within his
difference. ... That which enters the class of things of which he is a member
(ÒholinessÓ) loses its provenance in nature and history at the moment it is
restored to the precinct of divinity ... From the standpoint of human
experience, therefore (the point of view of language), holy is not in the ordinary sense a
predicate, a word that asserts something about a term, but the sign of
withdrawal of all reference into its source, a determinator of the radical
disablement of metaphor and the absolute preemption of the truth of discourse
at the supremely privileged moment of reference to reality.[4]
The
holy is encountered in many places and moments: in the grandeur of nature, in
the still small voice of conscience, in the silence of the soul, and in the
rapture of beauty. It can be found in creativity of the mind, in gentleness of
the heart, in the eye of a lover, and in the innocence of a child. The holy
meets one in the depth of sacred texts, in moments of prayer, and in those rare
moments when one truly meets an‑other.
The
holy approaches when one is weak, or when one is strong. It draws near when one
is least expecting it. The holy can be sought but it cannot be found. It breaks
in upon awareness. It interrupts.
In
the language of the tradition: ÒHoly, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the
fullness of the universe is GodÕs Glory ... And I said, ÔWoe unto me; I am
struck dumb, for I am a man of impure lips and I live among a people of impure
lips, and now my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hostsÕÓ (Is. 6:1-8). ÒYou
are holy, God Who dwells above the praises of IsraelÓ (Ps. 22:4). ÒHoly are You
and awesome is Your Name; there is nothing divine other than You ... Blessed
are You, the holy King.Ó[5]
Words That
Go in Circles
There
are no words; or rather, the words go in circles. The holy is a quality sui generis. One knows it intuitively,
as one knows beauty. It is irreducible. It can only be described by synonyms,
or by the traces it leaves. The holy is ineffable, yet it is identifiable. One
can point to it and say, ÒThis is holyÓ without being able to say what, or how,
or why. One can identify the holy without being able to describe it, except by
the word ÒholyÓ and its synonyms.
The
circle of the holy superimposes itself on other circles as one tries to grasp
the holy and to live within it. As one integrates the holy into life, one needs
other words. One reaches outward: King, Lord, Name, justice, beauty, purity,
Shabbat, Israel, You. One probes inward: awe, wonder, radical amazement,
sublime, love, joy, bliss, bless, worship. One gropes for forms: holy day, temple,
mitsva, liturgy, charity, study, Torah, acts of kindness, martyrdom. The
failure of language is transformed into a rich vocabulary of response, always
haunted by its own muteness. Silence overflows into words, an echo of an
unfathomable depth.
The
holy is intimately related to the beautiful, the personal, and the moral.
The
holy need not be beautiful: ÒHere is Behemoth which I have made; in comparison
with you...Ó (Job 40:15); Behemoth was ugly, yet holy as creature. However, the
beautiful can be holy, and the holy can be beautiful: ÒBow down to the Lord in
the beauty of holinessÓ (Ps. 29:2; 96:9). And yet, the holy is more than the
beautiful; it enfolds it.
The
personal and the holy overlap: ÒYou are my God; I search everywhere for You; my
soul thirsts for You; my body yearns for You ... Indeed, I have visions of You
in the holy placeÓ (Ps. 63:2-3). ÒYou are holy and Your Name is holy ...
Blessed are You, the holy God.Ó[6] But the holy is more than the personal; it envelops
it.
The
moral and the holy are coterminous: ÒThe holy God is made holy by
righteousnessÓ (Is. 5:16); ÒYou shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am
holyÓ (Lev. 19:2). The holy cannot be immoral or amoral. Still, the holy is
more than the moral; it encompasses it.
The
holy, the beautiful, the moral, and the personal overlap and interact with one
another. The beautiful may be holy but, if the beautiful is immoral or
unnatural, it is not holy, no matter how beautiful it is. The personal can be
holy but, if the personal is immoral or unnatural, it is not holy, no matter
how intense it is. The moral must be holy but it need not be beautiful, perhaps
not even personal.[7]
Kavvana
and the Attribute of Holiness
How
does one integrate the unintegratable? How does one live within that which is
wholly other? There are two kinds of kedusha
(holiness).[8]
There
is hierarchical kedusha. It is Òa sensed mystical quality of
certain objects, days, and persons.Ó[9] The tradition ranks these in hierarchies; for
example, the sequence of locations within the holy land, the set of sacrifices,
the ranks of priesthood, and the degrees of impurity and purity.
There
is also non-hierarchical kedusha. It
is created by an individual act of will.[10] By it, one declares an object consecrated to God.
Through it, one dedicates an act to God. It is a function of mitsva, of
commanded act, and of the intention to fulfill that command. Holiness is
generated by kavvana, by intent to
holiness.
...
Rather than just a mystical quality alone, kedushah is now something that must be achieved
through effortful personal conduct. ... The kedushah achieved through fulfilling the mizwot is throughout, therefore nontheurgical. Instead, it is an
experience in normal mysticism, an experience of a close relationship with God
... Such an experience of relationship can take place, of course, only when a mizwah is fulfilled with kawwanah.
Indeed, kawwanah in this connection, we have noticed,
itself implies an awareness of a relationship with God, a consciousness that a
particular mizwah is a communication by God here and
now.... During the process of performing a mizwah with kawwanah, a person has an experience of kedushah. It is a mystical experience and yet, being normal
mysticism, it is in some degree describable.[11]
Holiness,
then, is a matter of experience. It is an awareness that humans bring to the
performance of the acts of daily living. Holiness is focused openness to
holiness. It is numinous otherness within the mundane same; the ineffable
within the effable.
Kavvana is the mode of consciousness by which one performs ordinary
acts yet remains alert to the dimension of holiness concealed in them. Kavvana is the method by which one holds the presence of the holy in
one's mind while doing everyday deeds: ÒI sleep but my heart waketh.Ó[12] Kavvana is the process by which one opens one's
consciousness to the multiple levels of reality that are implicit in any act,
particularly to the sacred dimensions of action. Kavvana is the way one
transforms routine acts into moments of awareness of the ineffable. Kavvana is the key to nonhierarchical holiness, to the holiness
which does not greet one but which, rather, one must achieve.
ÒNormal
mysticismÓ comes closest to describing the way one integrates the
unintegratable. Everyday acts with everyday objects, when handled with an
intent to be aware of the holy, yield a mysticism which is not ecstatic, not
annihilative, and not theurgical, but Ònormal,Ó habitual, usual. Life, which is
composed of commonplace events, when approached with a willingness to be open
to the sacredness of all existence, yields a spirituality that is customary,
regular, familiar.[13]
The
holy is, thus, encountered in the wholly other, at the edge of human existence.
But the holy is also met in the confluence of the wholly other with the wholly
mundane, at the center of normal existence. The holy is ec‑static,
standing outside; it is also famili‑ar, standing within. God is holy
person; humankind, created in GodÕs image, is holy person.
Holiness,
Fear, and Joy
Holiness
overwhelms. It compels; it
frightens. And holiness also comforts; it draws forth; it embraces. Holiness
pervades existence and consciousness. There is no escape -- neither from the tremendum nor from the intimate holiness of God's presence. The holy
engenders fear, but the holy does not frighten God.
The
human flees the holy. Moses pleads inexperience (Ex. 3:11 - 4:17). Isaiah
pleads impurity (Is. 6:5). Jeremiah pleads youth (Jer. 1:4-10). Ezekiel must be
coerced (Ezek. 2:8 - 3:3). Jonah takes flight. The Psalmist cries: ÒWhere can I
go away from Your spirit and where can I flee from Your Face? If I rise to
heaven, You are there; if I plunge into the netherworld, You are there. If I travel on the wings of dawn or dwell
at the horizon of the sea, there too Your hand will rest upon me and Your right
hand will seize me. If I say, ÔLet darkness envelop me and let night be light
for me,Õ even darkness is not dark for You and night is as lit up as day; like
darkness, like light. For You have possessed my insides; You encompassed me
even in the womb of my motherÓ (Ps. 139:7-13).
Sin
leads one away from the holy; it tempts. The forms of temptation are as many as
the imagination: the tasks of daily living, sexual fantasy, ambition, despair.
Purity and sin fluctuate; hope and despair alternate. ÒBe generous to me, God,
according to Your gracious love; in the abundance of Your compassionate love,
wipe away my rebellion ... Truly, I know my rebellion; my sin is before me
always. I have sinned before You alone and I have done evil in Your eyes ...
Let me hear joy and gladness; let my bones which You have oppressed rejoice ...
Hide Your Face from my sins and wipe away my iniquities ... Do not cast me away
from before You, nor take Your holy presence away from meÓ (Ps. 51:3-14).
Holiness
and sin are lovers; fear and flight are indissolubly linked to the call of holy
presence. To know one is to know the other; to be attached to one is to cling
to the other. Humankind struggles to incarnate the one and to resist the other,
but they are a pair. God, too, struggles to let the one preponderate over the
other: ÒMay it be My will that My compassionate love predominate over My anger,
overwhelming My other qualities, so that I comport Myself with the quality of
compassionate love toward My children, engaging them beyond the requirements of
the law.Ó[14]
Joy
is not happiness.
Happiness
comes from setting goals and achieving them. Happiness is social. It is a state
of well-being derived from those around us. Not everyone is happy, and no one
is happy all the time; yet we all
know happiness from time to time.
Joy
is an inner awareness, a moment of insight through our selves into that which
is beyond. It is a connectedness between our inner being and that which
transcends it.
Happiness
requires contention, fighting for what one believes, compromise; joy is a
moment of wholeness, and purity. Happiness is rooted in time and space; joy
suspends us in a realm beyond ourselves.
Joy
can strike us at any time. But it is more likely to come to us in moments of
service, at times when we see ourselves within the larger meaning which
embraces reality. Joy does not derive from accomplishment, but from
centeredness within the greater whole.
The
rule is that, when a saint worships God, even the simple people have joy
because the pious, by performing their mitsvot, bring blessing and joy to all
the worlds. Thus, it happened that the people of the city of Shushan who were
not Jews also had joy even though they did not know its cause, for MordecaiÕs
stewardship brought blessing and joy on all the people, as it says, Òthe city of
ShushanÓ -- that is, its people, the non-Jews -- Òwas cheerful and joyousÓ
(Esther 8:15-16). But the Jews had special reason to be joyous because they had
been saved from Haman. And the rule is that, when a person knows the reason why
he or she is happy, then he or she experiences a joyous light, for reason
enlightens them as to the purpose of things. Therefore, it also says, Òand the
Jews had light and joyÓ (ibid.)[15]
There
are many kinds of joy.
There
is the joy of knowing that God loves us, of knowing that we are objects of
GodÕs grace. And there is the joy of having served God, of having done a mitsva
simply because it brings pleasure to the Creator.
By
the acts which people had to do -- to plant and to sow, to raise cattle and to
sacrifice -- the Creator, blessed be He, caused the flow of blessing to descend
upon them.... When Israel was in the
desert, however, they were in the state that the Holy One, blessed be
He, showered His blessing upon them because of His great grace as in the case
of the manna and the well of water for, in these, there was no action of humans
at all.[16]
There
is the joy of seeing the solution to a problem, and the joy of actually solving
it.[17]
There
are also the joys of worship:
...one
should tremble and faint when standing to pray before the great King. And it is
proper that oneÕs limbs shake. Similarly, after praying, one should think, ÒHow
can I dare to bring out of my mouth useless words and enjoy them? Have I not
just spoken before the great and awesome King? And will I not have to speak
again before Him Whose Glory fills the universe?Ó[18]
...
For when one meditates well on the greatness of the Creator, may He be blessed,
-- that He is the root and principle of all worlds, that He encompasses and
fills all reality, that no thought can grasp Him at all, and that all the
worlds, souls, and angels are all annihilated and as nothing and emptiness
before Him -- then oneÕs soul is awakened to yearn and to be consumed in the
flame of sweetness, bliss, and love. Then, one desires and has a passion to
worship God at all times... oneÕs heart is enflamed to worship God.[19]
Even
God experiences joy.
A
person, in his or her worship of God, may He be blessed, through Torah and
mistvot, brings great joy above. And so, when a person wants to know if God,
may He be blessed, has joy from this worship, the criterion is this: If one sees
that oneÕs heart burns like a fire and that one feels religious enthusiasm
always to worship Him and that one has a passion and a will to worship the
Creator, then it is certain that God, may He be blessed, has joy from that
personÕs worship.[20]
The
holy is joy-ful, even as it is fear-ful.
Second
Thoughts
Does one have a right to speculate about God
this way? Has the holocaust not intervened to force a distortion of categories,
a rupture of language itself?
... On the march to work, limping in
our large wooden shoes on the icy snow, we exchanged a few words, and I found
out that Resnyk is Polish; he lived twenty years at Paris but speaks an
incredible French. He is thirty, but like all of us, could be taken for
seventeen or fifty. He told me his story, and today I have forgotten it, but it
was certainly a sorrowful, cruel and moving story; because so are all our
stories, hundreds of thousands of stories, all different and all full of a
tragic disturbing necessity. We tell them to each other in the evening, and
they take place in Norway, Italy, Algeria, the Ukraine, and are simple and
incomprehensible like the stories in the Bible. But are they not themselves
stories of a new Bible?...
Silence
slowly prevails and then, from my bunk on the top row, I see and hear old Kuhn
praying aloud, with his beret on his head, swaying backwards and forwards
violently. Kuhn is thanking God because he has not been chosen.
Kuhn
is out of his senses. Does he not see Beppo the Greek in the bunk next to him,
Beppo who is twenty years old and is going to the gas chamber the day after
tomorrow and knows it and lies there looking fixedly at the light without
saying anything and without even thinking any more? Can Kuhn fail to realize
that next time it will be his turn? Does Kuhn not understand that what has
happened today is an abomination, which no propitiatory prayer, no pardon, no
expiation by the guilty, which nothing at all in the power of man can ever
clean again?
If
I were God, I would spit at Kuhn's prayer.[21]
May one understand God as wholly other,
as sacred, after Auschwitz? May one think of God as holy, if the holy cannot be
immoral? Does one have a right to say that God is fair, addressable, possessed
of power, loving, and choosing? Is not speaking of God's anger blasphemous in
the context of the holocaust? Can one talk of God's essential attributes as
holiness and personality after hearing the testimony of the distortion of
personality and transcendence? Is any language adequate after the rupture of
all human communication in the camps? [22]
And
yet, can one not talk of God? Can one abandon God Who,
for better or for worse, is the creator and judge? Can one cast even God into
the abyss of silence? Can one deny one's own experience of God's holy otherness
and of GodÕs intimate personal presence?
And,
can one close one's ears to the other testimony -- the testimony of faith,
the witness to the Jew's love of God? ÒYea , though God slay me, I turn
expectantly to GodÓ (Job 13:15). [23]
*
The
theology of image, a personalist theology, proposes, in humility and
embarrassment, that there is no choice but to retrieve the hermeneutic of
personal and of holy language; that one must speak, as best one can, always
aware of the silence that haunts one's speech, of God and of humankind as holy
person, in dialogue. The theology that understands God's essential attributes
as personality and holiness teaches that there is no alternative to forming a
vision of God and humankind that is rooted in personality and holiness; that
one must do this, as clearly as possible, even as one must remain aware of the
darkness that encompasses and threatens humanity.