by Yehuda HaKohen. “You shall not desecrate My holy Name, rather I should be sanctified among the Children of Israel; I am HaShem Who sanctifies you, Who took you out of the land of Egypt to be a G-D unto you; I am HaShem.” (VAYIKRA 22:32-33)
The Rambam explains this Divine commandment by teaching that “the entire House of Israel is commanded regarding the great mitzvah of Kiddush HaShem, as (VAYIKRA 22:32) states: `I should be sanctified among the Children of Israel.’ Also, they are warned against desecrating (His holy Name), as (the above verse) states: `You shall not desecrate My holy Name’.” (Yesodei HaTorah 5:1)
These mitzvot are given to each and every Jew to be safeguarded in our private lives and also to the Nation of Israel to be performed as a collective. It is our responsibility to actively sanctify – and guard against desecrating – G-D’s Name through our personal behavior. In both the company of fellow Jews and in the presence of gentiles, we must be relentlessly careful to conduct ourselves with consideration towards others, acts of kindness and honest financial dealings. A Jew must always be conscious that the Hebrew Nation represents HaShem in this world and that Israel is a direct reflection of His Divine Ideal. Because of this tremendous responsibility, we must be careful to never behave in a way that could cause others to look negatively upon the Jewish people.
While the Torah world certainly emphasizes these teachings on an individual level, the importance of these concepts on a national level is unfortunately often ignored. In order to fully understand the idea of Kiddush HaShem on a collective scale, we must look into the Books of our Prophets – prophecies meant to educate us on how to function as a strong and healthy nation on our native soil.
“So I poured My anger upon them because of the blood that they poured upon the earth – and they defiled it with their idols – so I scattered them among the nations and they were dispersed among the lands. According to their ways and their doings did I judge them; and they came to the nations to which they came, and they desecrated My holy Name when it was said of them, `These are HaShem’s people, but they departed His land’; but I pitied My holy Name that the House of Israel desecrated among the nations to which they came.” (YEHEZKEL 36:18-21)
HaShem rebukes Am Yisrael for desecrating His Name among the nations. It is important to note that G-D does not accuse Israel of desecrating His Name through breaking any specific precept. Rather He is condemning Israel for desecrating His Name by the very reality of being scattered amongst the nations. In the previous verse, HaShem clearly states that He had scattered Israel throughout the world as a consequence of our sins. So then why should He then rebuke the Jewish people for the very punishment that He inflicted upon us?
This question reveals a profound truth concerning how G-D’s Name is perceived in our world. While Jews may have understood through the many centuries in foreign lands that HaShem had temporarily exiled us from our soil as a result of our transgressions, other nations view reality from a different perspective. Gentiles could easily argue that while our G-D had promised to make us a mighty nation and to bring us into our homeland where we would enjoy independence and security, Jews are scattered throughout the world and are very often victims of brutal persecution. G-D therefore decrees that the very exile – which He Himself brought about – is an objective desecration of His Name because it causes the nations to question His power.
The word chilul (desecration) stems from the root word chalal (emptiness), meaning that a profanation of G-D’s Name appears to empty His Divine Presence from the world and causes people to doubt His very existence. Because Israel is the national expression of HaShem, the nations judge the G-D of Israel based on how they view the Nation of Israel. When gentiles are ruling over and persecuting Jews, they see this not only as a sign of Jewish weakness but also as the weakness – or non-existence – of Israel’s G-D.
It is known that during the terrible Holocaust in Europe, Nazi guards in the death camps would often mock their Jewish victims by making comments that inferred our G-D could not exist. For the Germans it was a simple equation. If there had existed a G-D of Israel, He would surely have intervened on His chosen people’s behalf. Therefore, an event like the Holocaust (although each individual Jew who was killed died a death of Kiddush HaShem on a personal level) was a desecration of G-D’s Name on a national level. The mass victimization of the Jewish people brought the world to doubt the existence and power of HaShem.
But when Israel returned to sovereignty over our borders and triumphed in a series of victories against impossible odds, the Name of G-D was sanctified and the entire world was blessed with the opportunity to ascend new heights of spiritual awareness. Israel’s return home and our miraculous military achievements are perhaps the highest verifications of HaShem’s existence and strength. Through performing the greatest sanctification of His Name in recent history, Israel essentially proved the Torah’s validity while simultaneously disproving the man-made religions that had for centuries claimed the Jews had lost G-D’s favor. And the Redemption is now unfolding in our times, not because Jews are righteous or deserving of salvation, but simply because history has had enough of G-D’s Name being defiled.
“Therefore say to the House of Israel: `Thus says my L-RD HaShem/ELOKIM: Not for your sake do I act, O House of Israel, but for My holy Name that you have desecrated among the nations to which you came. And I will sanctify My great Name that was desecrated among the nations, that you desecrated among them. The nations shall know that I am HaShem – the words of my L-RD HaShem/ELOKIM – when I become sanctified through you in their sight; and I shall take you from the nations and gather you in from the countries, and I shall bring you to your land; and I shall sprinkle pure water upon you, that you be cleansed.” (YEHEZKEL 36:22-25)
Whether on a personal level or on a national level, the mitzvah of Kiddush HaShem is the general commandment to give one’s life in order to sanctify the Name of G-D or to avoid its desecration. Based on the verse “You shall observe My decrees and My laws, which man shall carry out and by which he shall live – I am HaShem” (VAYIKRA 18:5), the Sages conclude that Israel are meant to live by (and not die by) the Torah. The Talmud therefore instructs us to transgress most Torah Laws for the sake of preserving Jewish life. This, however, excludes Divine commandments against murder, idol worship or sexual immorality – grave sins for which we are commanded to die rather than transgress. In addition to these three Torah prohibitions, we are also required to lay down our lives in a public situation in which the honor of HaShem is at stake (the Rambam explains this concept at great length in the fifth chapter of Yesodei HaTorah). In fact, a profanation of G-D’s Name is the only situation viewed by the Torah as being worse than the three above listed sins.
In the era of Israel’s national rebirth, it becomes crucial that our teachers shed light on the aspects of Torah which apply to the Jewish people as a collective. Among the other vital teachings of our generation, a proper emphasis must be placed on the national concepts of Kiddush HaShem. For Am Yisrael to rise up and properly face the challenges ahead, Torah leaders must illuminate these ideals and inspire the Hebrew Nation towards the revelation of G-D’s Oneness to all of Creation.
With Love of Israel,
-Yehuda HaKohen
Am Segula
