Surrendering to HKBK

A brief word Rabosai about the importance of remembering. Remembering not specifically the Kedoshei Har Nof, but the chasidim, yesharim, temimim throughout the doros שמסרו נפשם על קידוש השם. To be a Jew, to live as a Jew, means to live with a sense of history. It's not just a question of interest in roots and it's not just history. A Jew's history constitutes who he is, what he is, how he lives, to what he aspires. A Jew is connected through the shalsheles hadoros as a בן אברהם יצחק ויעקב and a Jew, to be a Jew, means to live with a sense of history. No sense of history as a Jew is complete without an awareness of the kiddush Hashem throughout the doros. In particular, as Jews living in this era, most recently, we need to have a sense for the staggering price in kiddush Hashem that has been paid Rachmana litzlan will not have to continue to be paid anymore, but that has been paid to secure Eretz Yisrael. We go to the airport in pre-pandemic times, it was pretty simple. We get on a plane, approximately 11 hours later we land, go to our immediate destination within Eretz Yisrael. It's all very simple, all very smooth, all very easy. We need to know that it's anything but simple, anything but smooth, anything but easy. The price paid in blood, in kiddush Hashem, for those who fought for Eretz Yisrael, for those who hold on to Eretz Yisrael by virtue of their living there, has been very, very steep and part of our sense of history, which should be our sense of self, that encompasses the totality of Jewish history and Jewish experience, should in particular note the kiddush Hashem without which we wouldn't have the zechus of Eretz Yisrael. But there's another reason, another mechayev, as it were, to remember those who have been mekadshei shem Shamayim and in a certain sense, the closer it is to our own day, the Kedoshei Har Nof who olu al hamoked six years ago, the closer it is to our day, the stronger the mechayev is. We have a record of the last drasha that Rav Elchonon Wasserman זכר צדיק וקדוש לברכה Hashem yikom damo gave before he and his kehilla were put to death and Rav Elchonon said at the time, it's printed in the introduction to the first chelek of Kovetz Shiurim, In Himmel mistome. Apparently in Shamayim we're considered righteous, said Reb Elchonon.

ווייל מען וויל דאך אז מען זאל מכפר זיין מיט אונזערע גופים פאר דעם כלל ישראל.

Because in Shamayim it's been requested that we should serve as a kapara with our bodies for Klal Yisrael. So Reb Elchonon explains that when a Jew dies al kiddush Hashem, he does so on the behalf of Klal Yisrael. ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל means that kiddush Hashem is a collective mitzvah. It's a mitzvah that Klal Yisrael is obligated in and fulfills collectively. The Rambam has a very unique phrase with which he opens Perek Hei, Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah:

כל בית ישראל מצווין על קידוש השם הגדול הזה שנאמר ונקדשתי בתוך בני ישראל.

The Acharonim struggle; it's a unique formulation in the Rambam. What does he have in mind, kol beis Yisrael? There are many mitzvos which are incumbent both on anashim and nashim and then the Rambam doesn't say kol beis Yisrael. So my brother, Hashem yikom damo, said a very beautiful pshat and it's one thousand percent corroborated by the Rambam's leshonos in Sefer HaMitzvos, that what the Rambam means by kol beis Yisrael is that fundamentally, the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem is something that Beis Yisrael as a unit, as a collective unit, fulfills. It's something that's fulfilled collectively. And clearly, Reb Elchonon also sees individuals who die al kiddush Hashem as representative individuals. We should be מכפר זיין מיט אונזערע גופים פאר דעם Klal Yisrael. We should atone with our bodies, Reb Elchonon said to his, to the members of his kehilah. We're going to be mechaper for Klal Yisrael. So those who die al kiddush Hashem we need to remember because we're indebted. The least we can do is remember. The Gemara in Sanhedrin tells us:

כל עבירה שבתורה אם אומרים לאדם עבור ואל תיהרג יעבור ואל ייהרג.

The rule of thumb is that for almost all mitzvos in the Torah, if a person is told either commit the aveira or be killed, so the person should commit the aveira. The person should violate, in quotation marks, it's obviously not really a violation, he should violate the aveira and not let himself be killed, with three cardinal exceptions: chutz me'avodah zarah, gilui arayos, ushfichus damim. That's what it says in the Gemara. When the Rambam quotes this halacha in Perek Hei of Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, so the Rambam initially quotes the Gemara again: avur v'al teihareig, ya'avor v'al yeihareig is the operative principle for all other mitzvos.

במה דברים אמורים מן ההלכה ב' בשאר מצוות חוץ מעבודת זרה גילוי עריות ושפיכות דמים. אבל שלוש עבירות אלו אם יאמרו לו עבור על אחת מהן או תיהרג ייהרג ואל יעבור.

The din of the Gemara. But then the Rambam adds in Halacha Daled that

כל מי שנאמר בו ייהרג ואל יעבור ונהרג ולא עבר הרי זה קידש את השם.

Or rachmana litzlan,

וכל מי שנאמר בו ייהרג ואל יעבור ועבר ולא נהרג הרי זה מחלל את השם.

The Rambam tells us that when the halacha is yeihareig v'al ya'avor, so then... is also the mitzvos of Kiddush Hashem and Chillul Hashem are triggered as well. And if the person fulfills the mandate of yeihareg ve'al ya'avor, so not only did he observe what issur Avodah Zarah, issur retzicha, issur shefichas damim demand from him, but he was mekadesh shem shamayim. And if he's not omeid benisayon rachmana litzlan, so it's not only those gimmel aveiros which have been violated but Chillul Hashem as well. What's the mokor for yeihareg ve'al ya'avor in each of these three cases? So the Gemara tells us that with regard to Avodah Zarah,

ואהבת את ה' אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל נפשך ובכל מאדך.

What does it mean to be ohev es Hashem bechol nafshecha? אפילו הוא נוטל את נפשך. The pasuk coming on the heels of שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד means that even if the only way to sustain and affirm ה' אלקינו ה' אחד is bechol nafshecha, אפילו הוא נוטל את נפשך, a person has to be ready to do that. So there's a chiyuv yeihareg ve'al ya'avor. How do you know shefichas damim there's a chiyuv yeihareg ve'al ya'avor? Very, very different derivation. The Gemara says it isn't even in a pasuk, it's a sevara, mai chazis?

מאי חזית דדמך דידך סומק טפי דילמא דמא דחברך סומק טפי.

If a person is told either kill or be killed, who told you, says the Gemara, says Rava, that your blood is redder than his blood? Who told you that you can sacrifice his life to save your life? A sevara. And how do we know there's yeihareg ve'al ya'avor by gilui arayos? It's a hekesh. By naarah ha-me'orasah, she's an eishes ish,

כאשר יקום איש על רעהו ורצחו נפש כן הדבר הזה.

There's an equation between the aveirah of gilui arayos and the aveirah of shefichas damim. Just as the aveirah of shefichas damim has to be avoided even at the cost of yeihareg ve'al ya'avor, so too the aveirah of gilui arayos. So meila we understand why if a person is called upon to be moseir nefesh for Avodah Zarah, why there's a Kiddush Hashem involved, because he's being neherag al yichud Hashem. The Rambam tells us in Sefer Hamitzvos in mitzvah tes that the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem is

זו היא מצות קידוש השם המצווה בה בני ישראל בכללם.

That be-chlalam is the peshat we quoted on kol beis yisrael.

זו היא מצות קידוש השם המצווה בה בני ישראל בכללם רוצה לומר מסירות נפשנו למות ביד האונס על אהבתו יתברך ואמונת ייחודו.

The mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem is to die for yichud Hashem, for ahavas Hashem. So we understand how the person who's being moseir nefesh to avoid Avodah Zarah is dying al yichud Hashem. But the person who's dying to avoid retzicha or gilui arayos, he's dying because of a sevara, mai chazis? Nothing to do, what's it got to do with yichud Hashem? Why is he chayav to be moseir nefesh? mai chazis, it's a sevara. What's it got to do, what does it have to do with yichud Hashem? And gilui arayos is a hekesh, is a hekesh to shefichas damim. So how is that a kiyum in Kiddush Hashem? So clearly, clearly the answer is that regardless of whatever the initial mechayev is, if the halacha demands that a person surrender his life, so then that becomes an act of Kiddush Hashem. To comply with the demand of halacha and surrender one's life, that is an act of Kiddush Hashem. Even though the initial demand is why can't I kill the other person to save my own life, mai chazis? We're not talking about yichud Hashem, mai chazis. But nevertheless, if what the halacha demands is mesiras nefesh. mesiras nefesh, so apparently that automatically now translates into the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem. Let's try to understand that. What is to die al Kiddush Hashem? The Rambam says is to give one's life, to allow oneself to be put to death al emunas yichudo, for the belief in yichud Hashem. What is that belief in yichud Hashem? What is that belief in yichud Hashem? The belief in yichud Hashem, what Anochi Hashem Elokecha and שמע ישראל ה' אלקינו ה' אחד together tell us, is that Hakadosh Baruch Hu exists absolutely, that only Hakadosh Baruch Hu exists, ein od milvado. Everything else is because of him, is from him, is through him, is contingent, is dependent upon him. Anochi Hashem Elokecha and ה' אלקינו ה' אחד, Hakadosh Baruch Hu, there's a Ribono Shel Olam and ein od milvado. Nothing else exists in the same sense, nothing else exists independently, everything else is contingent. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the one and all, and everything else is just contingent, dependent upon. Ein od milvado means then that there's no existence outside of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, there's no morality outside of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, there's no right and wrong outside of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, there's no meaning outside of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is the absolute, the ultimate, the only. In life, there's always a price to be paid. You go to the grocery store, it costs so much. Person wants to enter a certain profession, it requires such and such an investment of time and effort. We're always paying a price, we're always making a sacrifice. But to surrender one's life is the ultimate sacrifice. In terms of the microcosm of the individual, so that's what the entire universe and life consists of, is the individual's life. To surrender one's life is the ultimate sacrifice, and it's a sacrifice that is only warranted for something or someone who is ultimate and absolute. A person doesn't surrender his life for a svara. A person surrenders his life for a svara which is ratzon Hashem because ratzon Hashem is absolute and ultimate because Hakadosh Baruch Hu is absolute and ultimate. And that's why, regardless of what the original trigger is for the yeihareig v'al ya'avor, no, the aveira itself is an aveira of shefichas damim and the mechayiv is ma chazit. The aveira itself may be giluy arayos and the mechayiv is the hekesh, the equation to shefichas damim. But if the demand is to make... like the ultimate sacrifice, the demand is to surrender one's life, one's everything, one's very being, one's very existence, one's everything. One only makes that sacrifice for what is ultimate and absolute. One only makes that sacrifice al Kiddush Hashem. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, Anochi Hashem Elokecha, השם אלוקינו השם אחד who established the sevara of meichazis, that's why a person surrenders his life and there's no reason other than that that a person would surrender his life. Before Musaf and Shabbos, in the tefilla of Av Harachamim,

הוא יפקוד ברחמים החסידים והישרים והתמימים קהילות הקודש שמסרו נפשם על קדושת השם הנאהבים והנעימים בחייהם ובמותם לא נפרדו מנשרים קלו ומאריות גברו לעשות רצון קונם וחפץ צורם.

We depict Kiddush Hashem as carrying out, fulfilling רצון קונם וחפץ צורם. So on a simple level what that means is that this halacha that demands Kiddush Hashem is an element of retzon Hashem and these kehillos hakodesh fulfilled that element of רצון קונם וחפץ צורם. But itochen that the meaning runs deeper than that as well. Halacha teaches, the Rav writes, that at every level of our total existential experience—the aesthetic hedonic, the emotional, the intellectual, the moral religious—one must engage in the dialectical movement by alternately advancing and retreating. Skipping to the end of this section, in a word, the halacha teaches man how to conquer and how to lose, how to seize initiative and how to renounce, how to succeed and how to invite defeat. Man must be ready to accept defeat, not only in the carnal aesthetic, emotional, or intellectual world, but also in the moral religious world, in his relationship with Hakadosh Baruch Hu. We have all kinds of carnal physical urges, we have emotional needs and desires, we have intellectual goals, and halacha demands that in every area—and this is in some ways, if one wants to reduce halacha to a single principle, this arguably is it—so halacha demands that a person accept defeat. We're not allowed to indulge every physical urge. We're required to discipline even our emotional lives. The Rav gives the example Aharon HaKohen. Aaron Vayidom Aaron to carry on

ואחיכם כל בית ישראל יבכו את השרפה אשר שרף ה.

But Aaron was not supposed to exhibit, he was called upon not to exhibit aveilus, and prototypical of the discipline that's demanded even in our emotional lives. It certainly is true intellectually. A person has to recognize limits. On the one hand, the mitzvah of learning encourages and we have this natural impulse to want to learn and understand and grasp, but there are limits. There's a point at which we're told עד כאן ולא יוסיף. There are points at which we're stymied. In every area, a person has to accept defeat. Because in accepting defeat, a person surrenders to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. When I defeat my physical impulses, when I discipline my emotional life, when I accept intellectual boundaries, when I recognize the distance between everyone, everything, ourselves and Hakadosh Baruch Hu, when a person accepts defeat, so he surrenders to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. מישרים קלו מהרוריות גבהים לעשות רצון קונם וחפץ צורם. The ratzon konam that they fulfilled is not only this narrowly construed, this specific din in the Torah, in the Shulchan Aruch, but לעשות רצון קונם וחפץ צורם, the act of surrender, which is the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem, represents the totality of ratzon Hashem. The לעשות רצון קונם וחפץ צורם is not only again this din prati, this individual din, but la'asot ratzon konam, the totality of ratzon konam. Because ultimately the ratzon konam, why is it that it's so central to halacha in every area as the Rav explains that a person has to accept defeat? Because accepting defeat means surrendering to Hakadosh Baruch Hu. The mitzvah מישרים קלו מהרוריות גבהים, the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem teaches the gevura of surrender, the gevura of defeat, the gevura of giving up. The dialectic, of course, is that it's through surrender and through defeat, and only through surrender and defeat, that one emerges victorious, victorious in the sense of being oved Hashem, victorious in the sense of kirvas Elokim. This understanding of the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem, that it's the ultimate sacrifice, affirming our belief in the ultimateness and absoluteness of Hakadosh Baruch Hu, of his will, that he is good, he is truth, he is meaning. The understanding of the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem, of dying al Kiddush Hashem, provides a blueprint. Living al Kiddush Hashem can't be concentrated into one extreme moment as dying al Kiddush Hashem, but the yesod is the same. The yesod is the complete and total surrender to Akadosh Baruch Hu, to ratzon Hashem as an affirmation of our belief in yichud Hashem, in the ultimateness and absoluteness of Akadosh Baruch Hu. Understanding what it means to die al Kiddush Hashem also teaches us how to strive to live al Kiddush Hashem. Kiddush Hashem projects Akadosh Baruch Hu's presence into the world. Without Kiddush Hashem the world cannot exist. There has to be Kiddush Hashem to sustain the world. Our obligation is to provide a Kiddush Hashem through living al Kiddush Hashem so that there will be no need for the Kiddush Hashem to be provided through the dying al Kiddush Hashem.