Speak to all the congregation of the children of Yisrael, and say to them, “You shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.” (Vayikra 19:2)

A question that is dealt with is; why is it necessary for all of klal Yisrael to be gathered together to hear this statement? What is so important that this parsha must be said specifically to the entire congregation of Yisrael?

Once gathered, the first mitzvah that we are told about is that we should be holy. In general one would think that when someone is told that he should be holy, what he would do is run off to a forest, build for himself some kind of hut, live as a recluse, and dedicate himself to the service of Hashem. Why? Because it is too difficult for someone to be holy when he is together with everyone else. So, if someone wanted to be holy, they would go to a place of isolation so that he could grow to be a holy person.

However, the Torah is teaching us here that this course of action is not necessary. To become a holy person, one does not have to be isolated. On the contrary, it is something that should be done as an entire society. This is why the Torah wanted everyone together because they would all be part of this idea of growing in their holiness together.

It is customary for many people, before they do a mitzvah to say “hineni muchan…” (behold I am prepared and ready…). In that standard text, it says that when one does the mitzvah, it should be done as part of klal Yisrael. What is meant by this phrase?

When a person does a mitzvah, he obviously has elevated himself. When a person does a mitzvah and he considers himself part of a group, that entire group gets elevated, too (See Tanya Part one chapter 41). We therefore ask that all of klal yisrael be connected and elevated through the mitzvah that is about to be performed. This idea, that the actions of an individual can affect other people in klal Yisrael is found in the gemora as well. The gemora (Berachot 17b) says that the entire world is sustained in the merit of Rabbi Chanina, and that Rabbi Chanina is satisfied with a kav (measure) of carobs from one Shabbos eve to the next. So too here we see that with one person’s being sparing in that which he eats, causes a great amount of blessings for others.

This idea, of doing something together with a group, doesn’t mean that the group must be physically involved in it. It only means that one is including the group in that which he is doing.

This is an important concept in the service of Hashem, which brings us all together. When all of klal Yisrael is doing something for all of klal yisrael, there will be the ultimate fulfilment of “love your neighbor as yourself.” This is the character trait that Hashem desires, the togetherness of klal Yisrael.  This happened at the foot of har sinai, where we were there as “all for one and one for all.” (ish echad belev echad). This also has to be the way that we continue to perform the mitzvos today. (For this reason, many siddurim write that one should accept upon oneself the mitzvah of “love thy neighbor as thyself” before davening everyday.

As we move on towards the day of Shavous, it is important that we not only deal with our neighbors in a proper way, but include them in our doing mitzvos as well.

Many times people ask, “What do religious people do to reach out to distant or unaffiliated Jews?” There are many answers to this question. Rav Chaim Volozhiner explained that if we learn Torah in Volozhin lishmah, then even a Jew in Paris will not convert to Christianity. This means that when we perform a mitzvah with the intention of uplifting and positively influencing the people around us, that intention itself creates a ripple effect, drawing others closer to Hashem as well. And in turn, the mitzvos they do will elevate us here in Volozhin as well.