So, too, the Torah’s instruction, “You shall be holy, for holy am I, Hashem your G-d,” is a statement of G-d’s expectation of His Nation. Yearning and striving for holiness is a testament to one’s love and devotion to the Creator. It demonstrates one’s willingness to undergo the travails and self-abnegation necessary to live an elevated spiritual Torah life. The statement that one must be holy is an exhortation, not an actual commandment!
A person can be completely Torah observant, meticulous in his performance of the mitzvos and pray with fervor and concentration, yet be spiritually loathsome. In the timeless words of Ramban, one can be a “naval b’reshus haTorah – a repulsive person with the permission of the Torah.” Such a person may keep the letter of the law but has completely misunderstood the spirit of the law.
Rabbi Berel Wein explains that the Torah wants us to realize that mitzvos are the building blocks – the stepping-stones to achieving the goal of being holy. The mitzvos are not an ends unto themselves.
The true and intended end goal is kedoshim – to be holy! The mitzvos are the Torah’s description of the means available to achieve that end goal. We must therefore pay great attention to the details, halachos, and minutiae of every mitzvah.
But many times people become bogged down in the mitzvos without realizing the goal of kedoshim that lies at their heart and purpose. The Gemara compares mitzvos to silver, money, and wealth. Just as wealth is only a means to do good and achieve a better life and should never be viewed as the end and final goal itself, so too the mitzvos are the beginning of the process of human elevation and not the end goal all in itself.
All of Jewish history has shown that those who attempted to attain holiness without the means of mitzvos have failed. But even punctilious observance of mitzvos does not always guarantee holiness.
It is not enough to observe the laws of Torah, but one must internalize its message. The Torah must be a lodestar, not just a book of guidelines and restrictions.
In a sense, the true test of one’s devotion and love for G-d can be judged by viewing the extent of one’s efforts to achieve holiness. Therefore, the Torah’s instruction that one be holy is not a commandment per se, but a rudimentary prerequisite for performing all mitzvos.
