Sacred and Profane, Holy and Unholy, Pure and Impure
In response to a great prompt on Base about how we all relate to the concept of the sacred, I wrote up something about the Jewish perspective on it and the analogous concepts.
There are various different polarities that map to “sacred/profane” in Jewish tradition, but the most directly analogous is probably קודש (kodesh) / חול (ḥol). This is the polarity that expresses itself in time (though also in other things), making some times קודש (holy) and some times חול (common? profane? defiled? pierced? the etymology is very interesting). Thus Shabbat, for example is holy time, which begins and ends at precise appointed moments, and the rest of the week (except holidays) are חול.
Multi-day festivals also confer an in-between state called חול המועד (ḥol ha’mo’ed) — the חול of the festival — on the intermediate days between the first and last day, which are full-on holy days. Most prohibitions against ordinary activities that apply on holy days do not apply on ḥol ha’mo’ed, but there are still certain special observances for the festival.
The ritual means of participating in this transition is through observance and blessing, but it’s the precise passage of the appointed times that causes the transition in state and according obligations. The rituals are still mandatory, but they are seemingly concerned with the attendant shifts in consciousness required rather than the “objective” holiness of the moment.
For example, the transition back into חול time from קודש time is marked by a short service called Havdalah (separation), where blessings are made to guide us through the transition, ending with a blessing upon the Creator who is given the epithet “הַמַּבְדִּיל בֵּין קֹדֶשׁ לְחוֹל” (ha’mavdil bein kodesh l’chol), “The Separator between קודש and חול.” That is, God does the separating; we merely mark it. Interestingly, the rabbis allow us to observe Havdalah as late as Tuesday after Shabbat, even though the holy time is long over by then. The observance of the transition is a separate practice that must be given its own space, rather than be rushed or botched at the appointed time for the end of Shabbat, when the stars come out on Saturday night.
Like I said, other things — such as objects, places, and people — can be קדש or חל, but I’m hopeful that this sense of the way it works in time also gives a sense of how it works in other things. There are also other concepts that map to other parts of this polarity, like טהרה (taharah) / טומאה (tumah), “purity” and “impurity,” which have more to do with readiness or fitness to be in contact with the holy. That usually does depend on a human observance of ritual transition to clear up, and one is not טהור and fit to enter a holy place or time until one has done so.
I think the summarizing point is, my tradition points to various ways — with varying levels of participation — living beings participate in this polarity, and our everyday ways of life are designed around this flow. The first act upon waking up — after expressing gratitude — is to wash the hands and make a blessing over it, in order to purify ourselves before attending to the sacred duties of the everyday. I feel there’s no more succinct a demonstration of the Jewish approach to the sacred than that.
