THIS IS WHAT’S CONSIDERED “HOLINESS”
The Torah calls Yom Tov: מִקְרָא קֹדֶש (Shemos 12:16) “holy”. This means that we need to be M'kadesh the Yom Tov and make it holy, by eating, drinking and wearing nice clothing. (Rashi). Now an onlooker may wonder, what kind of people are these Jews? Is this the way they make the Yom Tov holy, with eating and drinking?? From here we learn that a holy person is one who lives a happy life, a healthy positive attitude; that’s holiness! שֶהָאָדָם לֹא נִבְרָא אֶלָא לְהִתְעַנֵג (Mesilas Yesharim, beginning of Perek 1) A person was created only that he should have pleasure; i.e., Hashem wants you to be happy and to always see the good, and THE MAIN THING IS TO WORK ON BEING HAPPY. As long as you are trying, that’s what counts. This means to try not to worry and not to focus on the negative, and all the Middos that involve that; that is Kodesh. Otherwise, you are involved with Chol.
In fact, the whole giving of the Torah was in order to eradicate our anger and sadness, and all bad Middos that make a person unhappy. Like Chazal say that when Moshe went up to Shamayim to receive the Torah, the Malachim protested that the Torah should be given to them. So Hashem appointed Moshe to give them a rebuttal, and Moshe said: קִנְאָה יֵש בֵינֵיכֶם? You don’t have Middos Ra'os to work on, so the Torah isn’t for you. We see that the Torah was given to us in order to help us get rid of our negative Middos. (Maharal).
The Chazon Ish says that Dikduk HaMitzvos teaches patience and focus, when it’s done in the right way. It makes you calm and happy; that’s holiness.
