Holiness, Rabbi Marmur notes, is the way to bridge the gap between God and humanity by way of imitatio dei through collective action: “You [plural!] shall be holy for I, the Lord your God, am holy” (Leviticus 19). Spirituality, by contrast, is the individual’s internal quest to merge with the divine. Reflecting on the differences between holiness and spirituality, Rabbi Marmur describes the challenges of faith in our time by pointing to the common ground between Christianity and Judaism, between the past and present, and between individual needs and collective demands.
Rabbi Dow Marmur
One of the most distinguished rabbis in Canada, Dow Marmur is Rabbi Emeritus of Holy Blossom Temple in Toronto. He is a Senior Lecturer in the Faculty of Theology at the University of St. Michael’s College as well as being a Senior Fellow at University of Toronto’s Massey College. Marmur is the author of several books, including Beyond Survivial: Reflections on the Future of Judaism (Darton, Longman & Todd, 1982), The Star of Return: Judaism after the Holocaust (Greenwood, 1991), Choose Life: Thoughts on Grief and Growing (Holy Blossom Temple, 1999),