Be holy! Now that's an interesting instruction.
How do I do that? When a Jewish mother tells her child to be a doctor, that's straightforward enough. You've got to go through medical school, complete a residency, and work your way up the ladder of medicine until you get that MD status.
But when your mom tells you to "be special", you probably turn around with a confused look on your face and ask for clarification. Am I not already special? And if not, what are the GPS coordinates of special?
Everything in the world can be divided into three categories. Good, bad, and neutral. Our focus should be on that middle category. To take the ordinary and make it special. Sure, it's just wax on a string, but a woman can use it to bring the Light of Shabbat into her home. Yes, it may look like a simple piece of parchment, but instead, it will adorn the doorpost of my home, transforming it into a Jewish home. Taking a coin and upgrading it from pocket change to Charity. Eating a healthy breakfast so that we can then have a productive day, doing good deeds along the way.
So holiness is not just something we do on the High Holidays in a designated building. It's a direction that we can move ourselves and the world around us in. Let's mindfully make this world special.
ב"ה