343. Without Distinction
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To a rabbi who wrote about “secular Jews,” the Rebbe responded:
You categorize them as religious Jews and secular Jews. How do you make such a distinction? There is no such thing as a secular Jew! All of them are holy Jews!
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Latest Comments:
and stop putting all these twists to the teaching.
all jews, from jewish mothers are holy.
without exception.
have a great month
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The righteous of all nations have a place in Olam HaBa.
We have always recognized righteous gentiles.
The woman you mention is extraordinarily righteous. Her place in Olam HaBa will be great.
She does not need to be "holy"--there is nothing so wonderful about being holy. It's like being a priest. Not everyone feels called to be a priest. This woman felt called, not to be a priest, but to be righteous. She is on a very high rung. Be happy for her.
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I read about a Polish woman who saved Jewish children during the Holocaust and when she was found out, she was tortured and saved at the last minute from execution. She went back to doing her work. Isn't a gentile holy too? Are all Jews holy? I struggle with my commitments to more mitzvahs when I think perhaps Judaism does not see the greatness of some of the goyim. Thank you
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Just because a Jew is holy doesn't keep him from being liable if he's a sinner.
Keeping the commandments vs. sinning is a totally different category from being set aside for Gd or NOT set aside for Gd. All Jews share the duty to serve Gd. Some serve, and some sin. Sinners are in trouble.
Holy doesn't mean "good"--it just means belonging to Gd. The Bible says, "You only have I known of all the nations of the earth. Therefore I will visit upon you all your iniquities." I.e., being holy doesn't get us a free pass. Quite the opposite. We have more commandments to fulfill than oher people, and we are held to them more strictly.
"You shall be unto me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Well, can a priest sin? Of course he can. But if he does, he's in bigger trouble than if a layman sins, because more is expected of him.
Nobody said all Jews are the same. All that was said is that all Jews share the duty to serve Gd. Those who don't serve are in trouble.
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Jews are set apart from other nations. They are intended for sacredness, but what of the Jews who worship Golden Calves i.e fashion, popular trends, cults of the personality such as Hollywood celebrities or even presidential candidates and do this while scarfing down shrimp salad, Those of us who try to be disciplined and to struggle toward awe and love should not be equated with those who have little interest in elevating the world and doing his/her part to move us closer to Moshach.
Sorry to say, but it's like a welfare state where those who don't work live off the sweat of those of us who do. If we're all the same than why the distinction between the sinners who worshipped the Golden Calf, and those that faithfully waited for Moses to return?
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Of course Yes.
All Jews are Holy.
Not all Jews know or care whether hey are holy, but they certainly are holy.
Actually the Rebbe must have had in mind the Hebrew word, Qadosh, which, strictly speaking, doesn't mean "holy"; it means Sacred. There is a big difference.
Holy means healthy, whole, with integrity.
Sacred means, dedicated to Gd. Set aside for Gd. Or for somebody special, as a wife is set apart for her husband. But Gd set the Jews aside for Gd, and our ignorance or rebellion cannot undo what Gd has done.
Jews are set aside for Gd,wheher Jews like it or whether Jews do the mitzvas--or not.
All Jews are set aside. All Jews belong especially to Gd, regardless of how secular or "reform" their lives and their observance may be.
ALL Jews.
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And what about orthodox, liberals, reformists, jews? Are they Holy?
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