May 2 • 2019 31
jn

Outside The Walls
A

n intrinsic element of human 
nature is a seeking out of 
sacred space. It’
s something 
built into the fabric of who we are.
Monotheists and polytheists, 
agnostics and atheists, may 
disagree when it comes to 
the vocabulary we use or the 
accreditation we give to those 
holy spaces, but there is a near 
consensus that some places 
carry with them a different 
energy, a sense of awe, of won-
der, of making us rethink the 
world as we know it.
Though one would think 
that I, as a rabbi, would have a 
proclivity to talk about sacred 
space from a solely Jewish 
context, to speak on the power 
of the synagogue and the beit 
midrash, my personal experi-
ence has led me to a somewhat 
different conclusion, one that I 
think about every time I read 
this parshah of Achrey Mot.
I believe, truly and deep in my heart, 
that the sacred comes not just from 
the impressive, not just from tower-
ing structures or incredible natural 
landscapes, but rather from a sense 
of growth, of education, of learning 
something important when in a space. 
In Judaism, our sacred spaces have 
time and again reinforced this nuance. 
Our holy sites have not simply been 
revered monuments, but rather points 
of communal ingathering in times of 
joy, celebration, tragedy, loss and grief.
The Israelites were tasked with 
moving forward after the tragic loss of 
Aaron’
s sons, but they were also tasked 
with changing their entire understand-
ing of life as they knew it: In the wil-
derness, in the open space of redemp-
tion, in freedom, even with God by 
their side, there exist incomprehension, 
confusion and uncertainty.
And yet, it is the freedom to live and 
learn from that tragedy that brings this 
community closer together, that allows 
the men, women and children of Israel 

to cry and to shout, to wail and to 
shake their fists at the God who prom-
ised them milk and honey, not loss 
and mourning. It is the freedom to be 
unsettled to the core that creates 
something powerful, something 
theologically, philosophically 
and existentially challenging 
and, yes, something holy. 
Because holiness requires 
some quality of transcendence, 
the whole notion of sacred space 
and place takes on a dimension 
in Judaism, where we find that 
sacred element not just in the 
synagogue and in the beit mid-
rash, but also in the hospital, 
in the shivah house and at the 
cemetery. 
We find the Divine in 
moments when we let go of 
the tethers that keep our hearts 
hidden from the public eye, 
when we sing songs around the 
Shabbat table, when we dance 
with a celebrating bride and groom, 
when we see our children finding their 
own sacred space, their own sacred 
time. 
Our mishkans, our sacred places, 
go far beyond synagogue walls. They 
are, in fact, wherever we allow them 
to exist, wherever we choose to open 
doors of growth and vulnerability, 
where we come together as family, as 
community to experience the deepest 
anguish and the highest joys of life as 
we know it, and where we allow our-
selves to turn off our busy brains, to sit 
in the present and to feel.
As we march forward into the free-
dom given to us through the holiday of 
Passover, may we embrace every holy 
place on the path ahead. May we gath-
er the strength to learn and grow with 
that holiness, and may that growth be 
contagious throughout our families, 
our city, and throughout klal Yisrael 
and all of God’
s creation. ■

Rabbi Yoni Dahlen is a rabbi at Congregation 

Shaarey Zedek in Southfield.

spirit

torah portion

Rabbi Yoni 
Dahlen

Parshat 

Achrey Mot: 

Leviticus 

16:1-18:30; 

I Samuel 

20:18-42. 

(Shabbat 

Machar 

Chodesh)

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