In this Sedra, we find constant references to G-d’s declaration, "I am the L-rd who makes you holy."
The Mishnah relates that the world contains ten levels of sanctity, from Eretz Yisrael at the lowest end of the spectrum and the Holy of Holies in the Temple at the apex.
Why did the mishnah need to point out that place a is holier than place b and place b is holier than place c? Why not simply state that the highest level of sanctity is found in the Holy of Holies?
Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik zt"l, answers that the mishnah is teaching us that one cannot attain the highest level of sanctity in a single giant step. A person cannot jump from the lowest to the highest rung with one mighty thrust. Rather, one must start at the bottom and climb the ladder of kedushah step by step.
The mishnah’s lesson holds true for every aspect of life. One cannot become a scholar without starting from the Aleph-Beis, nor can one achieve success in his business or profession without building from the bottom up. And this is certainly a sine qua non with respect to building character.
The mishnah also teaches us something else. Sometimes people are so overwhelmed by their efforts to achieve a particular goal and become convinced that it is beyond their capacity to achieve that they give up.
The mishnah advises them not to look at the highest rung, at the Holy of Holies, but rather look at each step along the way. Start with the lowest level and make your goal the next step, then the next and the next.
By focusing on one level at a time, the task will seem less formidable and will be, therefore, more attainable.
The classic per-sonification of this process is Rabbi Akiva, who, up until the age of forty, had never studied Torah. He observed that water will penetrate a rock by dripping on it slowly and constantly and and adopted that approach for his Torah study.
At the age of forty, he studied with a teacher who taught Aleph-Beis to children. From there he progressed to the next level and then the next, until he had learned the entire Torah.
Had Rabbi Akiva tried to become an instant talmid chacham he may have failed from the outset.
Parshas Emor teaches that it is possible to attain even the loftiest of goals by ascending the ladder of success one rung at a time. While one should never lose sight of the ultimate goal, one should always focus on achieving the next level so as not to become in-timidated and dis-couraged from making the effort.
Rabbi Yitzchak Sladowsky
Rabbi Sladowsky is the Rabbi of the Forest Park Jewish Center, Glendale, Queens, NY.
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