We pray every week for the leaders of the Jewish Ministry,
• Website: https://jewishadventist-org.gcnetadventist.org
A must website. To subscribe to our newsletter. To download some resources (Hebrew Sabbath School, and other documents). To order the book “Comfort, Comfort my people…” and many other things. •
Professional Urban Development: The WJAFC provides: - Professional Urban training for Jewish Ministry - Teaching for theological students - Help to plant new congregations. - Support for AdventistJewish dialogue with scholars and rabbis
Shabbat — Kedoshim
Shabbat Shalom Newsletter
Resources:
Shalom Adventure Magazine online: www.ShalomAdventure.com
If you would like to read articles, watch videos, learn things about Judaism and Israel, this website is just for you. • Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WJAFC: If you would like to share with people, this forum on facebook is a good place for that. • Photos on Google+: http://picasaweb.google.com/jewishadventist: We have posted a lot of pictures on Internet during the last years. Don’t hesitate to look at them.
• WebRadio: www.shema-israel-radio.com
If you would like to listen Jewish or Messianic songs. If you want to be used to ear modern Hebrew of the Apostolic Writings, it is the right radio to listen on the web. • Adventist Mission Website: http://wjafc.adventistmission.org/ This website is the new resource provided by the Office of Adventist Mission of the General Conference of the Seventh-day Adventists. • Russian Website: http://www.boruh.info/ This website is in Russian, many articles and the parasha are posted on it every week.
680
14 May / 6 Iyar 2016 / 5776
Paris
A weekly Journal of information and training published by the World Jewish Adventist Friendship Center Under the umbrella of the General Conference —Office of Adventist Mission
Journal of Information and Training — Issue 680 — 14 May 2 0 1 6 / 5 I y a r 5 7 7 6
This issue
Weekly Jewish-Adventist Journal of Information
News P.1 Parasha’s comments P.2-4 Haftara P.4-5 Apostolic Writings P.5 Stories P.6 Inspirational Corner P.6,7 Color Sheet for Kids P.7
We pray every week for leaders of the Jewish Ministry,
WJAFC
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according to our list of prayer for 2016, I suggest that our
NEWS Yom Hashoah in London
Seder in Kiev, Ukraine
a Alexandra sent us a news about their celebration of Passover: “we had a celebration in Kiev and Dnepropetrovsk in Ukraine. More than 90 people gathered at these Seders many among them nonAdventists.”
partners pray from May 15 through 21, Jael Wells Cuellar English Edition: Richard-Amram Elofer
Richard Amram Elofer
Russian Edition: Alexandra Obrevko French Edition: Sabine Baris Spanish Edition: Jael Wells Cuellar Portuguese Edition: Carlos Muniz Dutch Edition: Hubert Paulleta
Hubert Paulleta 8
2016, for Vitaly
Carlos Muniz Emails: English: richard@elofer.com Russian: sashok_l@mail.ru French: sabinebaris@gmail.com Spanish: jael_wells@hotmail.com Portuguese: cdmuniz@gmail.com Dutch: hpauletta@hotmail.com
Credit photos: Richard Elofer, Alexandra Obrevko, Jael Wells Cuellar Hubert Paulleta, Laurent Baris and Advent Digital Media
for more information: contact us at www.jewishadventist.org
Olinik who lead Alexandra Obrevko
the Jewish ministry in Seatle (Wa), let’s pray for his dedication and minis-
Sabine Baris
tries.
Seder in Dnepropetrovsk
a We have received a picture of the Sed-
er in Dnepropetrovsk, which is the second city in Ukraine where a Jewish Adventist ministry is running. The following picture shows how this group is important.
a There are some Jewish celebrations which are not very well known because they are not from the Bible and not ordered by G-d. In fact, the Jewish people were allowed by G-d to establish their own celebrations or memorials, the feast of Purim is a good example of that. Purim was followed by the institution of Chanukah and in the modern time Yom Hashoah among many others. The word Shoah means “catastrophe” and is a memorial service for the 6 millions of Jews who were murdered during the Nazi period (1933-1945). In many countries Jews have a memorial service to remember the Shoah. Some members of the Jewish Adventist Friendship group in London participated to this celebration and posted this news: “Some of us just returned from the Holocaust Memorial service at the local orthodox community. I have to say that they are the friendliest friends that I have met do far! Apparently They are required to keep the service 5 days after the end of Passover. It was an awe-some privilege to meet Holocaust survivors in the flesh! Their stories so blew me away that I had to give a protracted hug to each one on them. It was an amazing service with the senior police officers, MPs and other governance officials. There were leaders of other faith groups but not Seventh-day Adventists. Enough respect!
Parasha for this Week Kedoshim
Parasha Overview:
Kedoshim
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he nation is enjoined to be holy. Many prohibitions and positive commandments are taught:
Prohibitions:
• Idolatry • Eating offerings after their time-limit • Theft and robbery • Denial of theft • False oaths • Retention of someone’s property • Delaying payment to an employee • Hating or cursing anyone • Gossip • Placing physical and spiritual stumbling blocks • Perversion of justice • Inaction when others are in danger • Embarrassing • Revenge • Bearing a grudge • Cross-breeding • Wearing a garment of wool and linen • Harvesting a tree during its first three years • Gluttony and intoxication • Witchcraft • Shaving the beard and sideburns •Tattooing.
“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap your field right up to its edge, neither shall you gather the gleanings after your harvest.” (Leviticus 19:9)
Leviticus 19: 1 - 20:27
Kedoshim
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arashat Kedoshim contains 51 mitzvot. In this Parasha we find mitzvot between man and G-d and mitzvot between people. Mitzvot which have logical reasoning and those which have no rational reason except that G-d commanded them. The name of the Parasha, Kedoshim, means “holy” to “be separated”, or “ordained” (priests) Because G-d is intrinsically holy and calls his people to be holy, providing for them the standard of obedience whereby that holiness may be maintained (Leviticus 19:2).
Holiness as a Frame
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he frame of this Parasha is about holiness, holiness in a biblical meaning “I have set you apart from the nations to be my own” The portion begins, “The LORD said to Moses, ‘Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: Be holy because I, the LORD your God, am holy’.” (Leviticus 19:12). The portion ends, “You
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are to be holy to me because I, the LORD, am holy, and I have set you apart from the nations to be my own.” (Leviticus 20:26). This holiness is not a way to win heaven since we know that salvation is not by work but by grace, but this holiness is to obey G-d who says: It is also by Gd’s grace that we can grow in holiness.
How to Love your Neighbor?
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he Torah states, “Love your neighbor as yourself, I am the Almighty” (Leviticus 19:18). Why is the commandment to love our fellow human being followed by the words “I am the Almighty?” The great rabbi, the Chazam Sofer, clarifies that saying that while the commandment to love our fellow man is a concept that anyone can relate to with his own intellect, the Torah tells us to love our fellow man because it is the Almighty’s will. If your love of other people is based only on your own feelings, there could easily be a lack of consistency. One day you might feel positive towards someone and on the next day your feelings can
change. However, the Torah states that the Almighty commands us to love others. We need to develop positive attitudes towards others by focusing on their virtues whether it comes easily to us or whether it is difficult. Everyone thinks that it is a good idea to love your neighbor, but how can the Almighty command us to love our neighbor? Some of us have neighbors that are awfully hard to appreciate! However, if the Almighty commands it, it must be possible. If you ask a pregnant woman if she will love her baby, she’ll look at you like you’re nuts and say “Of course!” Then you can ask her, “How do you know? Maybe he’ll be like your neighbor!” A pregnant mother knows she will love her baby because she will make it her business to love that baby. And what if the baby grows up to be an irresponsible teenager flunking out of school who doesn’t make his bed? She’ll still love him! How? She focuses on his good points! “He has a good heart! He’s got a sweet personality! He helps when I ask him to.” If we make a list of someone’s positive traits
and focus on them, we can generate a good feeling towards them.
As you Love yourself
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ccording to the Baal Shem Tov, “Love your neighbor as yourself,” (Leviticus 19:18) implies that just as you love yourself with all your shortcomings and faults, you should love the other person regardless of his or her faults. And the Talmudic sage Hillel explained, “Whatever you don’t want done to you, do not do unto others!”
The Most Fundamental Mitzvah in the Torah
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abbi Akiva says that the commandment “Love your fellow as yourself ” is the most fundamental mitzvah in the Torah. It is not only the basis for the mitzvot between one and the other, but also for the mitzvot between us and G-d. Indeed, before asking G-d for our daily needs in the morning prayers, many begin with the following declaration, “I hereby take upon myself to fulfill the mitzvah of Love your fellow as yourself.”
G-d, “Your Friend”
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aimonides says that “The purpose of the entire Torah is to bring peace and harmony to the world, and in order to achieve this, one must conduct himself so that those things which are hateful and repulsive to him are not done to his friend.” (Chanukah 4:14). Rashi points out that God is also referred to as “your friend” and one must also relate to Him in peace and harmony. In addition, the relationship between one’s soul and body must be harmonious. “Love your friend as yourself ” thus applies equally to all relationships: between man and God, between man and man, and between man and himself. It thus encompasses the entire Torah.
Communal and Individual
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here are two reasons for the respect the Torah requires us to show others. One is communal; the other focuses on the individual. The first arises out of the desire to bring peace and harmony to the world; the second because each human being
intrinsically deserves the respect and honor befitting one created in the Divine Image. On the one hand, the Torah is concerned with the individual and the development of the Divine Image within him; on the other hand, the Torah is concerned with the community, with the social interactions between people. At times, these two concerns are harmonious: what is good for the individual is good for the community and vice versa. But there are times when these concerns are in conflict, and the individual’s needs conflict with those of the community. Sometimes the community must yield to the individual, and sometimes the individual must sacrifice for the community. This balance between individual and community is crucial to a proper observance of the Torah and a development toward perfection.
Before Reproving your Neighbor
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he Torah states: “you shall in any wise rebuke your neighbor” (Leviticus 19:17). When someone tries to criticize or reprove another person, it is
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Positive:
• Awe for parents and respect for the elderly • Leaving part of the harvest for the poor • Loving your neighbor as yourself • Eating in Jerusalem the fruits from a tree’s 4th year • Awe for the Temple • Respect for Torah scholars • Respect for the blind and the deaf.
Haftara Overview Ashkenazim Amos 9:7 - 9:15 Sepharadim Ezekiel 20:1 - 20
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aftara 1: In the book of Amos, the Lord reproaches Israel for what they have done and for their unfaithfulness. However, even though G-d is going to punish Israel, he is very clear about Israel’s destiny. He said in Amos 9:8: “I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob, says the LORD.” He will not entirely destroy the house of Israel. That is why we can witness, two thousand eight hundred years after that prophecy, that Israel is still here on the earth, witnessing to G-d. A great promise is given by the prophet Amos: “On that day I will raise up the booth of David that is fallen, and repair its breaches, and raise up its ruins, and rebuild it as in the days of old” (Amos 9:11). The booth or tent of David is the royal power of the house of David. This tent of David represents the house of the Messiah, the son of David, that began to be built at the coming of the Mashiach Ben David (Acts 15:16), and which will be completely rebuilt when the Mashiach returns to gather together all his people, both Jews and Gentiles
“you shall love your neighbor as yourself:” (Leviticus 19:18)
obligatory for those words to come from the depths of his heart. The Sages have said that only those words that come from the heart will enter the heart of the other person. Therefore, if your words of correction are not an expression of your inner feelings of care and concern for the welfare of the other person, they will not have a positive influence on the person with whom you are speaking. However, there is another aspect here. If your reproof does not come from a sincere caring for the other person, then you have personal reasons for that reproof and your motives are not entirely pure. If that is the case, you are guilty of slighting the honor of another person and of causing him pain with words for your personal pleasure. This is a very serious offense. (Rabbi Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler; Michtav M’Eliyahu, volume 3, p. 139).
Reprove for the Person’s Benefit
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hy is the commandment “you shall reprove your neighbor” (Lev. 19:17) written between the commandments of, “You shall
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not hate your brother in your heart,” and, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself ”? This teaches us that the act of admonishing someone must be done with love and only out of sincere concern for the person’s benefit
Don’t take revenge…
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he Torah says, “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people” (Leviticus 19:18). If a person hurts himself (did you ever close a door on your finger? I did), he wouldn’t think of hating and punishing his own hand which caused him the pain. It would only be adding more pain! So too, says the Torah, “You shall not take revenge, nor bear a grudge against the members of your people. You shall love your fellow as yourself. I am G-d.” (Leviticus ) One should view his fellow as part of himself, thus, even if they cause him or her pain or a loss, he should not seek revenge, for in the end you are only hurting yourself. Rabbi Shaul says, “For even as we have many members in one body, and all the members don’t have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Mashiach, and individually members one of another.”
(Rom. 12:4-5). Thus we are not only brother and sister together, but we are members of the same body and we don’t want to hurt members of our own body.
The Foundation of the Torah
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abbi Akiva, as Hillel before him, saw in the commandment “Love your friend as yourself ” the foundation of the entire Torah. Maimonides says that the purpose of the entire Torah, is to bring peace and harmony to the world, and in order to achieve this, one must conduct himself so that those things which are hateful and repulsive to him are not done to his friend (Chanukah 4:14).
The Talmudic sage Hillel explained, “Whatever you don’t want done to you, do not do unto others!” Just as person loves himself regardless of his personal faults, so too, one should love others regardless of their faults.
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Apostolic Writings — Mark 12: 28-34
n the commentary of the parasha for this week, I quoted Rabbi Hillel and Rabbi Akiba who saw in the commandment “love your neighbor as yourself” as the most important commandment of the Torah and the foundation of the entire Torah. They are not far from Yeshua the Messiah, who went a little further. Yeshua, as a Jew, was completely immersed in the Jewish society of his time. In that time, there were many factions among Jews, such as the Pharisees, the Sadducees the Essenians and many others. These sects were constantly debating together. Yeshua took part to these discussions and debates, and always got respect from his opponents. In the text of Mark 12, we have one of these discussions, Yeshua is debating with the Pharisees and the Sadducees about the resurrection, submitting to Yeshua a very difficult case of a lady who, according to the commandment, married seven brothers without giving to anyone of them an offspring, the Sadducees who were very skeptics about the resurrection, asked Yeshua “In the resurrection, when they rise again, whose wife will she be? For the seven had her as wife.” (Mark 12:23). Yeshua answered with great wisdom and again the people who were present and heard his answers were impressed by his knowledge of God’s Word, as it is written: “And one of the scribes came up and heard them disputing with one another, and seeing that he answered them well” (Mark 12:28a). This scribe who was a respected man for his
knowledge of the Tanakh (Bible) came to him and asked an important question. “Which commandment is the most important of all?” (Mark 12:28b). It was a difficult question, because if Yeshua quoted any of the Ten Commandments, he could be accused by one of the Jewish factions of neglecting some commandments. That is why Yeshua did not answered directly from the 10 commandments but from the Torah containing according to the Jewish people 613 commandments. Yeshua gives an answer that is in agreement with Jewish beliefs until today. He quoted the Shema’ Israel, a very important text, which is recited by every Jew who prays five times every day. The Shema Israel is so important for the Jewish people that they repeat it when they wake up, during the three daily prayers, and before sleeping. This Shema Israel affirms that we believe in one G-d, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. (Mark 12:29) That is the most important commandment for Yeshua, and everyone who know the Shema Israel by heart remember that the next words are “Veahavta et Adonai Elohecha bekhol levavecha… And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ (30). The most important commandment is in fact written or summarized on the first table of the 10 commandments, the first four commandments were all about loving G-d “with all our soul and with all our mind and with all our strength” having only one G-d, not making idols, not us-
ing the name of G-d in vain and keeping the Shabbat. However Yeshua did not end his answer at this point, he continued saying: The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” (31). Here Yeshua joins Hillel the Great, who before him said that the foundation of the Torah is in these words “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” The scribe was so happy to see that Yeshua again answered very well and agreed with the previous great rabbis and wise man such as Hillel. He said to Yeshua: “You are right, Teacher. You have truly said that he is one, and there is no other besides him. And to love him with all the heart and with all the understanding and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is much more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” (32-33), Then Yeshua loved this man and congratulated him saying to him: “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” (34). The motivation and teaching of Yeshua is always full of love, that is why one of the contemporary Rabbi who lives in Israel and who wrote a book about Yeshua wrote: “I never hesitate to say that I consider Jesus of Nazareth as a third authority, to place next to the interpretations of Hillel and of Shamai. It seems to me that a particular tendency in interpreting Jesus is coming to light. It is a the internalization of the Law where love becomes the decisive motivating factor.” (Bruder Jesus, Edition Paul List, Verlag KG, Munich, 1967, p. 12).
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aftara 2: In the book of Ezekiel, God’s speech is quite similar but G-d is more precise about the witnessing function of Israel; the sign of their witness is the Shabbat. “Moreover I gave them my shabbats, as a sign between me and them, so that they might know that I the LORD sanctify them” (Ezekiel 20:12). The sign of the Shabbat is so important that the prophet repeats this sign in another way: “Keep my Shabbats that they may be a sign between me and you, so that you may know that I the LORD am your God (Ezekiel 20:20). In verse 12, the Shabbat is a sign for Israel but in verse 20 the Shabbat is also a sign for non-Jews, for the Gentiles, in order for them to know that the Lord is the one who sanctifies his people. This last verse reminds us of the universality of the Shabbat which was given at creation by the L-rd to all humanity (Genesis 2:1-3).
Stories and Traditions
Do you Love Me?
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Inspirational Corner
v He who loves
God will not only love his fellow men, but will regard with tender compassion the creatures which God has made. When the Spirit of God is in man it leads him to relieve rather than to create suffering. (SD52)
abbi Moshe Leib of Sassov said, “I learned the true meaning of this mitzvah from a Russian peasant.” Once I saw two peasants sitting and drinking together. One of them turned to his friend and said, “Do you love me?” “Sure. I love you very much,” replied the other. “In that case tell me what I’m lacking,” challenged the first. “How should I know what you are lacking when you didn’t tell me,” replied the second peasant. His friend gave a deep sigh and said, “If you do not know and feel what I am lacking then how can you claim that you truly love me?” Rabbi Moshe Leib explained that this taught him that true “love your fellow” means to know and feel what the other person is lacking and helping them in that area.
Elimelech’s Son
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ne of the great Chassidic rabbis, Rabbi Elimelech of Lizensk (passed away in 1786), would from time to time wander through towns and villages, where no one knew him. He, as many others, felt that this self-imposed “exile” would purify him, make him more humble and thus make him a better person. Once, upon returning to his city after a long absence, he overheard people talking about Elimelech’s son who was very sick. He immediately hurried home. Breathlessly he
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asked his wife, “How is our son?” “Our son is fine,” she answered. “But I heard people saying that Elimelech’s son is very sick,” the worried father replied. “Oh! That’s Elimelech the tailor’s son,” his wife answered. Rabbi Elimelech gave a sigh of relief. But a little while later, he said to himself, “Elimelech! When you thought that it was your son who was sick, you were very distressed! Yet, when you heard that it was someone else’s son, you felt better. Doesn’t the Torah say, “Love your neighbor as yourself ”? The fact that you didn’t feel as bad for someone else’s son as for your own son means that you still have to better yourself!” So Rabbi Elimelech picked himself up and wandered for a while longer. Since self-love is blinding... we have to be careful to distinguish whether our actions are in fact, a result of loving the other person or a result of our love for ourselves.
SANCTIFY YOURSELVES
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he Rav was sitting out on his porch, studying one evening, in the days when the synagogue and his home were the same building. An elderly man walked by, and then paused. He asked Rabbi Hertzberg, “how much are tickets for the High Holy Days?” “Here,” replied the Rabbi, “we have three types of tickets. For those who can afford it, they pay what they want.
For those who cannot afford it, they are welcome to join us anyway. And for those who not only cannot afford it, but do not have enough to ‘make Yom Tov’ [prepare the holiday meals], we give them tickets, and we give them something with which to ‘make Yom Tov.’” On Yom Kippur morning, this man came to the synagogue for prayers. And when they recessed in the afternoon, he asked permission of the Rabbi to address the congregation. He introduced himself to the assembled — who reacted with some surprise, for his name was well-known. He then said that he came over alone from Minsk, Poland, as a boy of 14. He got off the ship on the eve of Yom Kippur, and wandered the streets that day before finding a synagogue in time for Kol Nidrei. At the synagogue entrance, he was stopped by a guard who asked for his ticket. When he said that he had none, the guard called the Gabbai (caretaker) of the synagogue, to whom the boy explained his situation. “I’m sorry,” said the Gabbai. “If you do not have a ticket, you cannot pray here.” “For fifty years,” concluded the man, “I have not entered a synagogue. Only your Rebbe made it possible for me to return.” Rabbi Hertzberg made it look easy, but it’s not. It takes a great deal of effort—effort which will surely be blessed with success. “Sanctify yourselves, and you shall be holy.”
Kids Parasha Kedoshim
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Leviticus 19:1 - 20:27 “Do not turn to mediums or necromancers; do not seek them out, and so make yourselves unclean by them: I am the LORD your God. “You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the LORD. “When a stranger sojourns with you in your land, you shall not do him wrong. You shall treat the stranger who sojourns with you as the native among you, and you shall love him as yourself, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God.” (Leviticus 19:31–34 )
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Inspirational Corner
v Without this holiness, the human heart is selfish, sinful, vile, and vicious. Holiness will lead its possessor to be fruitful, and abound in all good works. He will never become weary in welldoing, neither look for promotion here in this world. He will look forward to be promoted by the Majesty of Heaven when he shall exalt his sanctified and holy ones to his throne. Then shall he say unto them, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Then he enumerates the works of self-denial and mercy, compassion, and righteousness, they had wrought. Holiness of heart will produce right actions. It is the absence of holiness, of spirituality, which has led to unrighteous acts, to envy, hatred, jealousy, evil surmisings, and every hateful and abominable sin. (PH011, 8)