In the context of
Jewish history--from Pharaoh and Amalek, through the Shoah and the
current wars, G-d help us. Our people have come to understand Kiddush
HaShem, Sanctification of G-d's Name, all too well. We know that to
perform an act that reflects our love of HaShem, and even more, to do
so in a public setting, is perhaps the greatest act any of us may hope
for. Over the centuries, countless numbers of our co-religionists have
been made to pay for their Yiddishkeit with their lives, and millions
accepted their fate with courage and faith, giving the words al
Kiddush HaShem a poignancy beyond imagination. Who could not be moved
by the recent story of the loving father telling his brave young son
to recite Shema after a cowardly bombing attack, so that his pure and
perfect soul would leave his body al Kiddush HaShem?
Our history echoes with stories such as this, and they will be told and
re-told for as long as we exist. No one looks forward to their own death,
yet we all hope and pray that our deaths, when they come, will reflect a
lifetime of values, of morality, and humanity. After all, we spend our
entire lives preparing for the moment when we leave this world. To do so
while sanctifying G-d's Name publicly is the greatest act of Kedushah,
Holiness, imaginable.
This week's Torah reading includes the positive Mitzvah of Kiddush HaShem,
coming immediately after the prohibition against Chillul HaShem,
profanation of or embarrassing G-d's Name. Coming as it does following a
series of Mitzvos regarding the qualifications for an animal to be fit as
a sacrifice, this incredible command may be overlooked in the text. But
how crucial it is for our existence! The opportunity for Kiddush HaShem is
so great, that when confronted with it, we have no choice but to do
HaShem's will.
I do not mean to be morbid. Kiddush HaShem is more than knowing how to
die; it is knowing how to live each and every moment as though HaShem's
kavod, honor, depends upon it. Behaving honestly, with integrity and with
sincere human compassion are ways to be Mekadesh Shem Shamayim as well.
This means that our everyday "normal" behavior must always be imbued with
our Jewish values. Behaving as though we know the whole world is watching
is nothing new for a Jew. They've been watching us for centuries.
The opportunity to act Al Kiddush HaShem is not only available to martyrs,
or those who receive too much change at the supermarket. We are told that
several components of the prayer service are also considered to be acts of
Kiddush HaShem, and therefore may not be recited unless one is in the
presence of a Minyan, ten Jewish males above the age of thirteen. These
include Kaddish and Kedushah (note that their names imply their intrinsic
holiness) as well as Borchu, Torah reading and even the privilege of
davening with a Shaliach Tzibur, a Chazzan.
I want to cite an opinion which is not accepted as Halachah, but deserving
of mention nevertheless. In his Hilchos Tefillah, the Laws of Prayer,
Rambam tells us that even the Kedushah found in the first of the two
Brachos before Shema in the Shacharis service should only be said with a
minyan. It is written that the Rambam's son, Rav Avrohom, said that his
father had retracted from that opinion and permitted one to say this
Kedushah even when davening alone. A distinction is made between the
Kedushah in Shemoneh Esray, which is our attempt to sanctify G-d's Name
just like the angels do, as opposed to this Kedushah, which just tells,
story-like, that this is what the angels do. Since it doesn't bring us up
to the level of the angels, a minyan is not required.
The Mitzvah of Kiddush HaShem is so great, we see that even the angels
fear missing such an awesome opportunity. The angel that wrestled with
Ya'akov Avinu struggled to leave his grasp once it saw that the sun was
rising. Our Rabbis tell us that this angel had been chosen to sing in the
Heavenly choir that morning, and that if it missed its chance, it would
never have the opportunity to sing before G-d again. In its panic the
angel actually tore the leg muscle of one of our Avos! Even more
outrageously, the angel agreed to give Ya'akov a blessing, even though it
had not been given that assignment from Heaven, because this was the only
way it could get free! Do we realize how amazing this Torah scene is? An
angel takes it upon itself to cripple one of the Avos, and then gives him
a blessing without having had a Divine mandate to do so. And why? Because
it didn't want to miss out on one "Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh," one "Yehay
Sh'may Rabbah!" Is it a wonder that some people try to make a point never
to be late for shul? Isn't it even a greater wonder that some people do
show up late for shul, and some do not even make it a priority to daven
regularly with a minyan?
To bring us to approach the level of martyrs and angels, and to allow us
to recite prayers that otherwise are beyond the scope of the individual to
recite them, we must come to see the incredible power of davening with a
Minyan and how the opportunity for Kiddush HaShem is a privilege that must
never be wasted. But it goes even beyond that. G-d in Heaven Himself
awaits our acts of Kiddush HaShem. The Zohar in Parshas Terumah tells us
that without Holiness, Kedushah, in the world below, there is no Kedushah
in the world above! Incredible! We say Kadish and Kedushah here so that
the Kadish and Kedushah recited by tens of thousands of angels can have
efficacy. Without our prayers, their songs are meaningless. We invest our
own words and the Heavenly realms themselves with Holiness every time we
respond to Devarim ShebeKedushah, those parts of the prayer service that
require a minyan. That is the power of a "Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh," and a "Yehay
Sh'may Rabbah."
We refer to the obligations of our People as "Ol Mitzvos," the burden of
the Mitzvos. While this may be so, we must also consider the tremendous
advantages that Mitzvos opportunities provide for us. Those whose
participation helps to constitute a minyan, enabling all to say those
prayers which may only be said with a minyan, stand on the highest levels
of G-d's Creation. They are Mekadesh HaShem, they sanctify G-d's Name, as
do the holy martyrs of our history and as do the Heavenly choirs. They
invest Heaven itself with Holiness by dint of their acts of sanctification
here on Earth. This greatest of all acts is within the grasp of all! Just
daven with a minyan in shul, the true home of Kiddush HaShem.
This D'var Torah is written in honor of my son, Aharon Yehoshua (Ari to
his friends) on the occasion of his Bar Mitzvah.
