May 19, 2025|כ"א אייר ה' אלפים תשפ"ה Kiddush Hashem: The Rationality of the Irrational By Rabbi Jonathan Muskat

This past Monday was a profoundly emotional day. The entire country cheered the release of Edan Alexander into the welcoming arms of his family as if it were their own son being freed. I’m sure many of us saw the video from Tenafly, New Jersey, Edan’s hometown, where hundreds gathered to watch a livestream of his release, bursting into song upon seeing him free for the first time. Edan’s grandmother remarked, “Today is Pesach Sheni. You couldn’t celebrate Pesach a month ago, but we can celebrate it with you tonight.”

I was reflecting on Edan’s freedom, the overwhelming emotion associated with it, and whether this release might pave the way for a deal to finally free the remaining hostages and end the war. I wondered about the Sophie’s choice that Israel may face – a choice with no good option: either free the hostages and risk not finishing off Hamas or finish off Hamas and leave the hostages behind. Poll after poll shows that Israelis prioritize releasing the hostages over defeating Hamas. On one level, this preference seems so irrational. It seems irrational that Israel would release many terrorists with blood on their hands in exchange for each hostage. It seems irrational that Israel would consider ending its war against Hamas, the same organization that this week celebrated the murder of Tzeela Gez, Hashem yikom damah, who was gunned down while being driven to the hospital to give birth. And yet, maybe this is what we should do. Maybe we, as Jews, are sometimes called upon to act somewhat irrationally. Perhaps it’s all about creating a kiddush Hashem.

God commands in the middle of this week’s parsha, “v’lo techalelu et shem kodshi” – we should not profane God’s name “v’nikdashti b’toch Bnei Yisrael” – and God should be sanctified amongst Bnei Yisrael. There is a mitzvah to engage in a kiddush Hashem and avoid a chillul Hashem. But how do we do that? The Rambam paskens, based on the Gemara in Sanhedrin, that we should be willing to give up our lives for God when faced with the choice between violating certain sins or facing death.

And yet, the Gemara in Yoma presents what I would call a lighter version of what it means to make a kiddush Hashem or a chillul Hashem. The Gemara asks: what constitutes a chillul Hashem? Rav says it’s when he buys meat and doesn’t pay immediately. Other opinions are offered, and then Rav Nachman bar Yitzchak says: do you know what desecrates God’s name? When people say about you, “shra lei marei lif’lanya” – may Hashem forgive this person for the sins he’s done. If we give God good press, then it’s a kiddush Hashem; if we give God bad press, then it’s a chillul Hashem. What emerges is that there’s kiddush Hashem in the small things and kiddush Hashem in the big things. The Gemara quotes the pasuk, “v’ahavta et Hashem Elokecha” – “she’y’hei shem shamayim mit’ahev al yadecha” – that the name of God should be beloved through you. It’s all about whether you are giving Hashem good press or bad press.

If you think about it, being willing to give up your life for God in order to avoid sinful behavior seems very extreme. I understand that I should live a meaningful life, a life of mitzvot, but am I really supposed to sacrifice my life for God? Should I really go that far? Shortly before the Chanukah revolt, Jews decided that they would rather give up their lives than be forced to abandon their religion. This was unheard of. It doesn’t make any sense – and yet, this is what it means to be a Jew, to realize that certain values may supersede life itself. This has always been the case. Kiddush Hashem meant being willing to die for certain values. During the Crusades, it even meant killing oneself rather than converting to Christianity. Kiddush Hashem demands behavior that may seem irrational.

Fast forward to 1943. It was close to Pesach in the Warsaw Ghetto, and there was a discussion about whether the Jews should start an uprising against the Nazis. It was a suicide mission. The question was asked: may a Jew participate in this uprising if it will almost certainly hasten his death? Yes, we may give up our lives to avoid violating certain severe sins, but may we embark on a suicide mission when we are not being asked to commit any sins? Is the Warsaw Ghetto uprising an act of kiddush Hashem or an act of suicide? Rav Menachem Zemba, a leading Torah authority in the ghetto, ruled that sometimes kiddush Hashem means being willing to die for our religion when we could save ourselves by violating it. However, if they will kill us regardless of whether we give up our religion, then kiddush Hashem means not going to the death camps without a fight. It may be irrational – it’s a suicide mission – but it’s necessary for kiddush Hashem. It’s necessary to send a message to the rest of the world, and to ourselves, that we must not act as helpless victims anymore. Kiddush Hashem means that we die now fighting so others will learn to fight and not passively submit when enemies rise against us. This is who we are. This is what defined us in 1943 and beyond.

Which brings us to 2025. Kiddush Hashem has further evolved. Today, we are sometimes asked to risk the lives of many soldiers on dangerous missions to save one hostage. Or we are asked, at times, to release many terrorists with blood on their hands to save a single hostage. And you know what? That is a kiddush Hashem. What a wonderful nation we are, one that cares for every single member of its people and will do its utmost to bring every member home. This is “v’ahavta et Hashem Elokecha” – “she’y’hei shem shamayim mit’ahev al yadecha.” This is what it means to have the name of Hashem beloved through us.

Something else happened this week. The body of Zvi Feldman, missing for 43 years, was recovered from Syria by the Mossad and the IDF after a five-month risky covert operation. Zvi was an Israeli tank commander who disappeared in Lebanon’s Battle of Sultan Yacoub. To outsiders, this story seems confusing. Why risk the lives of dozens of elite commandos to recover the body of a soldier who died over four decades ago? To outsiders, it seems irrational, but to Jews, this is our ethos. We will go to unimaginable lengths to bring anyone, dead or alive, home. We never give up on anyone. It may seem irrational, but it represents kiddush Hashem for the Jewish nation in 2025. This is who we are. We are a nation that is mekadesh Hashem during the Chanukah story, during the Hadrianic persecutions, during the Crusades, and during so many other times throughout Jewish history when we refused to give up our religion to save our lives. We are a nation that was mekadesh Hashem during the Warsaw Ghetto uprising – a more modern form of kiddush Hashem – when we told the world and ourselves that we would fight back and not roll over. That courage inspired and continues to inspire our brothers and sisters in Israel from its founding to this very day. And we are a nation that is mekadesh Hashem today, as we commit ourselves to bringing back every single Jew, dead or alive, to our homeland. This is our commitment to the Jewish nation, which is more than a nation – it is a family. Through this, “shem shamayim mit’ahev al yadenu” – we are the envy of the world, and shem shamayim is beloved through us.