Hashem asks the Jewish people to be for Him a ‘mamlechet kohanim vegoi kadosh – a kingdom of princes and a holy nation’. What is a ‘goi kadosh – a holy nation’?
Being Kadosh, holy, on a simple level, means that we live our life according to the will of Hashem, living our lives according to Torah values and keeping the Mitzvot. There is a Chassidic idea that we should view ourselves as ‘chariots of Hashem’. Just as a chariot allows itself to be driven in whichever direction the driver chooses, so too we should choose to be driven in whichever direction Hashem would like us to. Though being Jewish also brings the responsibility of being a goi, a nation.
I once heard from the Chief Rabbi that the word goi, spelt with the letters gimmel, vav and yud, is the root of the word ‘geviyati – my body’ (from Adon Olam) spelt with the letters gimmel, vav, yud, taf and yud. A nation is a body. Each limb of a body performs a different function and the body can only function properly if the limbs view each other as one unit where each limb works in tandem with every other limb. So too each Jew has a unique role to play for the Jewish people, which can only function according to its huge potential if each Jew sees himself as part of the unit. Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook zt’l once said that in Am Yisrael, the individual takes his meaning and purpose from the Klal. The hand, or the brain, or the heart, only has meaning in relation to the health and life of the body. Indeed, any limb is extraordinarily less valuable and it hardly fulfils its enormous potential if it is not attached to the body. So too the Jew exists for the body, the Jewish people, and not for himself. It means that in times of sadness and in times of happiness for other members of the Jewish people, we share the pain and we share the joy, because it is essentially our pain and our joy. If one limb of the Jewish people is having trouble, we have the responsibility and it is part of our purpose to help him and ensure that he’s able to fulfil his potential.
It is the job of our generation to educate and inspire the next generation and its leaders. After 3319 years, it is our turn to ensure that the Jewish people are a ‘goi kadosh’. Each of us has been endowed with this privilege and responsibility to devote our lives to the G-d and realising our role as part of the Jewish nation.
Sponsored In Blessed memory of Martha and Wilfred Fernandez
