WHAT IS HOLY?

     What exactly is the meaning or purpose of "holy"? We hear and see the word being bandied about time and time again and yet what is holy and what are our responsibilities towards "holy"?
     In my book, holy in the original sense of the word means that which is connected to a religious belief, a G-d, or manners of observations of the religion, its precepts. The word has stretched and now represents that which is important to people, as a principle could become holy to a person when it guides his/her life. We joke about a thing being holy or becoming holy, we speak of hallowed halls and memories but if one looks around at the world today I am not sure that we have not given the idea of holy another meaning, a twisted meaning, and it all bodes evil for us all.
     Take the holy month of Ramadan, whenever it appears during the year and it seems to vary quite a bit. Should an outsider appear to attack verbally or physically during that time the spokesmen or apologists are frothing at the very idea, that a "holy" month has been violated and yet just pick up a paper, for example, today's and read of the horrific bombing in Bagdad with over 200 injuries and deaths and I am sure the toll will rise. This is not the first blast during Ramadan and will not be the last and the ironic thing is that this all targets other Moslems! So what is holy here?
     The Palestinians are always calling things holy to them. They never, NEVER, mention Jerusalem in their Koran, yet suddenly it became holy, holy to them, so much so that they riot, throw stones, curse, attack and kill in the name of holiness and deny history and the connection of Jews and Judaism to the Temple Mount. Even the pilgrimages to Mecca have become politicized and I cannot keep up with the violence of the hatred between the Sunni and the Shiites, the Yazidis and the Alawites and a myriad number of other Moslem sects.
     The hatred that they all have towards other religions is amazing and in the name of "holy" they attack and kill. Bahai, Christians and of course, Jews, are targets of hate and murder. Christian churches can be invaded and used as headquarters for riots and is all this holy?
     And do not think that the original monotheistic religion, Judaism, is immune from this idea of twisted holy. When groups at the Kotel attack other groups because they do not like them and/or their rites of observance, then that, to me, is a perversion of holy and is indeed, its very opposite. When one group means to maintain a stranglehold on the religion, that is not holy. And when one attacks the places that are sacred to other religions, then we have fallen to their level, and thank G-d that does not happen very often.
     And yet we have fundamentalists from all religions, extremists, who cause us all great harm, great sadness and ongoing horror. Be they Protestant sects that go off the deep end and hover in the wilderness oppressing their own members, particularly women and children, or Mormon fundamentalists or Islamic terrorists who pervert their own religion, or Jewish fundamentalists who have managed to twist precepts of Judaism in their own version of it - all are wrong and all pervert "holy".
     Religion is meant to guide us, to give us structure in our lives, to teach and encourage us to lead a moral and principled life, with care for others. And yet somehow it gets twisted out of shape. Today the society people of Bangladesh are in shock that the perpetrators of their most recent attack in a restaurant all, that is ALL, come from these privileged ranks. The myth of poverty being the root cause of terrorism has been finally and publicly shattered and should have been accepted as true long ago. The root cause of terrorism is hatred, pure and simple. When one begins to think of someone different in any way as the "other", not so human after all, these "others" become legitimate targets of hate and abuse - in words, in threats, in sanctions and in death. And when these words of hate and incitement come from the pulpit, then how perverted has holy become.
     If we all understood the true meaning of holy then perhaps we could actually live a holy life. That does not mean that we all become rabbis or priests or pastors or deacons or imams or any other religious formal leaders; it just means that we respect the humanity of all, including in and within ourselves and therefore we are all meant to live as holy. Hard to do but worth striving for, for in the very striving we do improve ourselves. Holy does not necessarily mean the strict observance of certain rules, but also the observance of behavior towards others. Unfortunately it seems that we honor that precept more in the breach than in the observance. Sad for us and terrible for the world.
     So now think  - is today a holy day? If so, what makes it so? Is it the sales? Is it the fireworks? Is it the picnics and barbecues? Or is it something else, perhaps the idea that all mankind are created equal, and thus equally deserving of the right to live in freedom, in peace, able to observe their own beliefs and let others live theirs. Holy, holy, holy. This word is said three times in a Jewish prayer on a daily basis. Perhaps we all need to remember that true meaning and behavior incumbent on all who choose "holy" as a means of life - whatever religion, or no religion other than humanism, whatever guides one in life. Holy? You decide and you decide how one is to live one's life in that belief. As for me, I think I will include a new thought in my religious principles - Thou shalt accept the holiness of chocolate. It solves so many problems!
   PS. Just read in one of the many articles re Elie Wiesel, the great author and humanitarian, that he also loved chocolate! Seriously, though, we have all suffered a great loss with his death and I hope that we all keep his message with us, in our hearts and in our minds.