The first Shabbat of Elul invites a reflection on the word that accompanies the Sabbath Queen as she arrives with each Friday’s sunset, transforming ordinary time into Shabbat Kodesh—the Holy Sabbath.
What does the concept of ‘holy’ mean for those of us who do not live traditional, religious lives? How can ‘holy’ show up in ways that actually help us, when the sacred has so often been distorted—used to justify human abuse, or to deny dignity, access, and love in the name of the Divine?
For many of us, ‘holy’ comes with heavy baggage.
Can we unpack it, weigh it out, and let the letters breathe?
Holy means sacred. Sacrosanct. Set aside.
Numinous. Mysterious. Transcendent.
Extraordinary.
Holy can be a choice to transform time and space. That is what Heschel meant when he reminded us that “The Sabbath is a sanctuary which we build in time, not in space.”
It is the holy moment when you turn off your phone to be fully present.
The holy lighting of a flame.
The holy clinking of glasses to toast a moment, sealed with a kiss.
Looking someone in the eyes for a long, awkward, holy beat.
Rabbi Sharon Brous writes: “We do not wait for holiness to find us; we make a space for it with our hands, our words, and our kindness.”
And Rav Abraham Isaac Kook—the mystic philosopher who passed away on this very day in 1935—reminded us in Lights of Holiness that sacredness lives in our everyday world:
“The source of holiness is the love of truth in thought; the love of integrity in life; the love of beauty in emotion; and the love of the good in deeds.”
The Shift: Today, take one small action to declare something sacred. Leave a sticky note on a mirror, send a quick text, or whisper it to yourself in a moment of pause: This moment is set aside. This boundary is sacred. I am holy. We are holy. Let holiness cease to be a distant altar, and let it become the conscious choice to honor the divine spark right here and now.
