“And God spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, be holy, for I am holy, Hashem, your God.” (Vayikra, 19:1–2) “The congregation of the children of Israel” means any place where Israel gathers together for the sake of Heaven, as it is written in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 38b), “whenever ten Jews gather together, the Shechina [Divine Presence] rests on them.” Every place where Israel gathers together for the sake of Heaven, there the Shechina dwells with them necessarily. This is as it is written (Devarim, 23:15), “For Hashem your God walks in the midst of your camp.” The term used for walk (mithalech, in the intensive form) denotes certainty, saying that it is certainly so. For this reason we are commanded to be refined and sanctified, as a king who says to one who loves him, “since you are obliging me to go with you, see to it that you do not lead me into any place of foulness.”
וַיְדַבֵּר ה׳ אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר דַּבֵּר אֶל כָּל עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם קְדֹשִׁים תִּהְיוּ כִּי קָדוֹשׁ אֲנִי ה׳ אֱלֹקֵיכֶם. "עֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל" הוּא כָּל מָקוֹם שֶׁיִּתְכַּנְּסוּ יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּנֵסִיָּה לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם, כְּמַאֲמַר הַגְּמָרָא (סנהדרין ל"ט.) "כָּל בֵּי עֲשָׂרָה שְׁכִינְתָּא שַׁרְיָא", וְכָל מָקוֹם שֶׁמִּתְכַּנְּסִים יִשְׂרָאֵל כְּנֵסִיָּה לְשֵׁם שָׁמַיִם שָׁם תִּשְׁכּוֹן הַשְּׁכִינָה עִמָּהֶם בְּהֶכְרֵחַ, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב (דברים כ"ג,ט"ו) "כִּי ה׳ אֱלֹקֶיךָ מִתְהַלֵּךְ בְּקֶרֶב מַחֲנֶךָ", וּ"מִתְהַלֵּךְ" הוּא לְשׁוֹן וַדַּאי שֶׁבְּוַדַּאי הִיא כָּךְ. וְעַל יְדֵי זֶה נִצְטַוֵּינוּ שֶׁנִּהְיֶה מְזוּכָּכִים וּמְקוּדָּשִׁים כְּמֶלֶךְ הָאוֹמֵר לְאוֹהֲבוֹ מֵאַחַר שֶׁהִכְרַחְתַּנִי לֵילֵךְ עִמְּךָ רְאֵה שֶׁלֹּא תוֹלִיכֵנִי דֶּרֶךְ מְקוֹמוֹת מְטוּנָּפִים.
“And God spoke to Moshe saying: Speak to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, and say to them, be holy, for I am holy, Hashem, your God.” (Vayikra, 19:1–2)
“The congregation of the children of Israel” means any place where Israel gathers together for the sake of Heaven, as it is written in the Gemara (Sanhedrin, 38b), “whenever ten Jews gather together, the Shechina [Divine Presence] rests on them.” Every place where Israel gathers together for the sake of Heaven, there the Shechina dwells with them necessarily. This is as it is written (Devarim, 23:15), “For Hashem your God walks in the midst of your camp.” The term used for walk (mithalech, in the intensive form) denotes certainty, saying that it is certainly so. For this reason we are commanded to be refined and sanctified, as a king who says to one who loves him, “since you are obliging me to go with you, see to it that you do not lead me into any place of foulness.”