Yom Kippur Midrash

There's a midrash (I'm probably going to butcher this) that says that human beings are holy, but the Jewish people are singled out for a special kind of holiness (not exclusively; more like they are a particular lens for examining the concept of holiness). All Jews are holy, but the Kohanim (priesthood) are singled out for a special kind of holiness. All Kohanim are holy, but the Kohen HaGadol (High Priest) is singled out for a special kind of holiness.

All days are holy, but Shabbats and Yamim Tovim (holy days) are singled out for a special kind of holiness. All Shabbats and Yamim Tovim are holy, but the Days of Awe are singled out for a special kind of holiness. All of the Days of Awe are holy, but Yom Kippur is singled out for a special kind of holiness.

Everywhere in the world is holy, but Israel is singled out for a special kind of holiness. All of Israel is holy, but Jerusalem is singled out for a special kind of holiness. All of Jerusalem is holy, but the Temple, and especially the Kodesh HaKadoshim (Holy of Holies) is singled out for a special kind of holiness.

So when the High Priest utters the Sacred Name of God in the Holy of Holies of the Temple on Yom Kippur, this is a moment where holiness is the most focused. The power of that utterance is such that the holiness exceeds the boundaries of space, time, and personhood. Through that event, all Kohanim are made holy, and all Jews are made holy, and all human beings are made holy. Through that event, all the Days of Awe are made holy, and all Shabbats and Yamim Tovim are made holy, and all days are made holy. Through that event, Jerusalem is made holy, and Israel is made holy, and all the world is made holy.

So through the power of HaShem (a Jewish name for God; literally, The Name) each human being is made holy at the time and place that the person currently inhabits. I submit this midrash without fully endorsing it, but I think it gives a mental exercise in how to understand the holiness that pervades the universe of time, space and consciousness, that lenses in on particulars without losing sight of the general condition.