This week we have experienced many emotions. 

First there was Yom Hazikaron, Israel’s Memorial Day, a day dedicated to fallen soldiers and civilian victims of terror. 

This somber day of appreciation of those who made the ultimate sacrifice, giving up their lives for the safety of the Jewish people, is immediately followed by Yom HaAtzmaut, Israel’s Independence Day, the day when the State of Israel was formally established in May of 1948. 

The linking of these two days is clear- we owe our independence to the soldiers who sacrificed their lives for it. 

This year the cycle was closed with a return to tragedy as Yom Haatzmaut ended and a terror attack against Israeli civilians resulted in the death of three fathers, leaving 16 orphans. 

This act was applauded by the terror organization in a statement. 

One of the Dad’s who was murdered is portrayed in a picture with a wide and engaging smile. His friends and neighbors say he was someone who always had a smile on his face and was always eager to assist others. 

His name was Yonatan Chabakuk and everyone in his city knew him. 

He always had a smile. 

He leaves behind a wife and ten children. 

Our hearts are broken and we cry for their loss. 

This week’s Torah portion is called Kedoshim, which means holy ones. 

At the beginning of the Parsha we are commanded to be holy. 

What follows are the steps, the Mitzvot, by which we can attain holiness. 

One might assume that the theme of reaching spiritual heights would be by abstaining from worldly pleasures and by removing oneself as much as possible from the mundane of life. 

Yet the theme of the commandments which bring us to holiness include honoring parents, pursuing righteousness and loving your neighbor as yourself. As well as the injunction not to steal, or tell lies, or delay paying a day worker their salary. We are told not to gossip or place a stumbling block in front of another, not to bear a grudge, take revenge and to stand up for the elderly!

All these are part and parcel of real life - the components of interpersonal relationships that form the fabric of our lives. 

We become holy when we elevate every aspect of our daily life. 

When we smile at one another. 

In the Ethics of our Fathers, a compilation of the timeless teachings of the Rabbis from the Mishnaic period regarding interpersonal relationships, we are taught that we should be the first to say hello. 

When you are walking down the street and you have the opportunity to greet someone, don’t stand on ceremony, take initiative and say hello. 

Flash the first smile. 

Don’t wait for the other person to begin the relationship, take the first step to establish the connection. 

You can begin that connection with a smile. 

A smile is the light of the face, it reveals the soul. 

When a baby smiles at you, you can’t help but smile back. 

A smile can light up a room and dispel much darkness. 

We need to shower our loved ones and all in our orbit with smiles. 

Our Sages in the Talmud teach us that “greater is one who whitens his teeth to his friend than one who gives him milk to drink”

This means a person who shows their pearly whites by smiling and lights up their face and relates with a friendly attitude, does more for the friend than giving the sustenance that comes from a glass of milk. 

Even though the one who smiled gave nothing tangible, that smile is greater. 

A person who receives a “glass of milk” will drink it and benefit only momentarily, but the “smile” which may be accompanied by an encouraging word, has long lasting effects on the heart of the recipient. 

Rabbi Zevadia HaCohen from Tel Aviv explains that if a person feels gloomy and suddenly a friend approaches with a broad smile and a good word, this can remove a person from a place of darkness to great light. Until that moment the person may feel a lack of self worth, and this moment of recognition, of heartfelt warmth, can literally light the way forward. 

Today we have lost Kedoshim, holy ones. 

We mourn those who have been so brutally torn from their families and friends. 

When someone passes away, their positive attributes are available, so to speak, for the taking. 

Practically speaking it means we want to identify those traits and incorporate them into our own repertoire. 

On these days of Memorial Day and Independence Day we owe it their memory to not only remember them, but to become independent, unshackled from our feelings of lack of empathy to others and lack of self worth. 

Rather to see the shining light of each person, to see every person in our orbit and bestow upon them a smile. 

In memory of Yonatan Chabakuk z”l who always had a smile on his face and was always eager to assist others. 

Shabbat Shalom and so much love!