Sanctity Within the Community

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak unto all the congregation of the Children of Israel, and say unto them: You shall be holy, for I, the Lord your God, am holy.                                                   Leviticus 19:1-2

My father stressed that the Torah teaches that true sanctity can be achieved only through “all the congregation of the Children of Israel.” Further, there is a reciprocal relation between individual and congregational sanctity because while the individual can achieve sanctity most easily when the congregation in its entirety is holy, he can achieve true sanctity only when as part of the congregation, his personal level of sanctity influences the community.

The Mishna [Kelim 1:6] teaches that there are ten levels of sanctity of place, starting with the sanctity of the Land of Israel and culminating in that of the Holy of Holies. Similarly, there are different levels of the sanctity of man.

As the sanctity of the Land is necessary to reach the sanctity of the Holy of Holies, so too the sanctity of the community allows the individual to reach a higher level of sanctity.