Kiddush and Hillul: Parashat Source Sheet by Michael Danziger based on "Sanctifying the Name" by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in Covenant & Conversation

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ויקרא כ״ב:ל״ב Leviticus 22:32 (לב) ְו ֤לֹא ְת ַח ְלּל ֙וּ ֶאת ֵ֣־שׁם ָק ְד ִ֔שׁי ְו ִ֨נ ְק ַדּ ְשׁ ִ֔תּי ְבּ ֖תוֹ You shall not profane My holy name, that I (32) ְבּ ֵ֣ני ִי ְשׂ ָר ֵ֑אל ֲאִ ֥ני ְיהָ ֖וה ְמ ַק ִדּ ְשׁ ֶֽכם׃ may be sanctified in the midst of the Israelite people—I the LORD who sanctify you,

Mishneh , Repentance 1:4 ... "Then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their iniquity with strokes'" (Ps. 89.32). That saying is concerning a sinner who did not blaspheme the Name in connnection with his transgression, but whosoever blasphemes the Name even he did repent, and the Day of Atonement did come and he still be a penitent, and sufferings did visit him, no complete atonement is granted to him till his death, for, repentance, the Day of Atonement and sufferings suspend punishment, and only death atones for him, even as it is said: "And it was revealed in mine ears by the Lord of hosts. Surely this iniquity shall not be purged from you till ye die" (Is. 22.14) 4 Yoma, 87a. C. G.

Ibn Ezra on Leviticus 22:32 (1) It is evident from context that the commandment Do not desecrate My holy Name is addressed to the descendants of . They are the ones whom Scripture enjoins not to slaughter a mother and a child on the same day [:28], whether for themselves or for the Israelites. They are probably also the ones to whom the commandment “When you slaughter a thanksgiving-offering…” [:29] is addressed. The fact that the next passage begins with “Tell the children of ” [23:2] supports the proposition that the current passage is not addressed to the children of Israel. Moreover, the phrase I shall be sanctified among the children of Israel refers to the Israelites in the third person.

Malachi 1:11-12 (11) For from where the sun rises to where it sets, My name is honored among the nations, and everywhere incense and pure oblation are offered to My name; for My name is honored among the nations—said the LORD of Hosts. (12) But you profane it when you say, “The table of the Lord is defiled and the meat, the food, can be treated with scorn.”

Amos 2:7 (7) [Ah,] you who trample the heads of the poor Into the dust of the ground, And make the humble walk a twisted course! Father and son go to the same girl, And thereby profane My holy name.

Jeremiah 34:16 (16) But now you have turned back and have profaned My name; each of you has brought back the men and women whom you had given their freedom, and forced them to be your slaves again.

Bereishit Rabbah 49:9 (9) "Far be it from You." R' Yudan said, "It is far from You"; "It is outside for You." R' Aha said, "Halila" "Halila" twice. There is a desecration of the name of Heaven in the matter. R' Aba said, It does not say "to do this thing"; rather, it says "to do a thing like this." Not it, nor anything like it, nor anything less than it. R' Levi said, Two individuals said the same thing, Avraham and Iyov. Avraham: "Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty" Iyov: "It is all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys the blameless and the guilty.'" Avraham received a reward for it, and Iyov was punished for it. Avraham spoke well-ripened thoughts; Iyov spoke hastily and angrily: "It is all one; therefore I say, 'He destroys the blameless and the guilty.'" R' Hiyya bar Aba said, There is a confusion of questions here. Avraham said,"Far be it from You to do such a thing, to bring death upon the innocent as well as the guilty," and the Holy One Blessed be He says, "so that innocent and guilty fare alike." ...

Ezekiel 36:17-20 (17) O mortal, when the House of Israel dwelt on their own soil, they defiled it with their ways and their deeds... (18) So I poured out My wrath on them... (19) I scattered them among the nations, and they were dispersed through the countries: I punished them in accordance with their ways and their deeds. (20) But when they came to those nations, they caused My holy name to be profaned, in that it was said of them, “These are the people of the LORD, yet they had to leave His land.”

Exodus 32:11-12 (11) But implored the LORD his God, saying, “Let not Your anger, O Lord, blaze forth against Your people, whom You delivered from the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand. (12) Let not the Egyptians say, ‘It was with evil intent that He delivered them, only to kill them off in the mountains and annihilate them from the face of the earth.’ Turn from Your blazing anger, and renounce the plan to punish Your people.

Leviticus 18:5 (5) You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live: I am the LORD.

Yoma 85b Rabbi Yosei, son of Rabbi Yehuda, says that it is stated: “But keep my Shabbatot” (Exodus 31:13). One might have thought that this applies to everyone in all circumstances; therefore, the verse states “but,” a term that restricts and qualifies. It implies that there are circumstances where one must keep Shabbat and circumstances where one must desecrate it, i.e., to save a life. Rabbi Yonatan ben Yosef says that it is stated: “For it is sacred to you” (Exodus 31:14). This implies that Shabbat is given into your hands, and you are not given to it to die on account of Shabbat. Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya said: It is stated: “And the children of Israel shall keep Shabbat, to observe Shabbat” (Exodus 31:16).The Torah said: Desecrate one Shabbat on his behalf so he will observe many Shabbatot. Rav Yehuda said that Shmuel said: If I would have been there among those Sages who debated this question, I would have said that my proof is preferable to theirs, as it states: “You shall keep My statutes and My ordinances, which a person shall do and live by them” (Leviticus 18:5), and not that he should die by them. In all circumstances, one must take care not to die as a result of fulfilling the mitzvot. Rava commented on this: All of these arguments have refutations except for that of Shmuel, which has no refutation.

Mishneh Torah, Foundations of the Torah 5:11 (11) There are other things included in blasphemy, although they are not of themselves either among the mandatory or prohibitive commandments, as for example, when a great man, famed for his learning and piety, will do something that the public will suspect him on account thereof, even though such deeds be not transgressions, yet he has committed blasphemy, as for example: if he makes a purchase and does not pay for it at once, 10 Yoma, 86a. C. Baba Mezia, 83b. G. although he has the money and the vendors are claiming it and he delays them; or if he indulges in frivolity, or doth eat and drink with and among the ignorant, 11 Pesahim, 49a. C. or if his speech with his fellow men be not polite, or if he does not receive them pleasantly, but acts as one looking for strife and shows anger. In such and like matters, all measured by the standard of the greatness of such scholar, he must take particular care, and act exceedingly better than the law requires. Conversely, if the scholar... so that all praise him and love him and crave to imitate his actions, behold he doth sanctify the Lord, and concerning him, the verse speaks, saying: "And He said unto me, thou art my servant, Israel, in whom I am glorified." (Is. 49.3).

Isaiah 43:12 ... So you are My witnesses —declares the LORD— And I am God.

Midrash on Isaiah 43:12 "...And if you are not My witnesses, it is as if I were not God."

Comment by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks God is God whatever we do or fail to do. But God, having set His image on every human being, took the risk of identifying His presence in history with one small people with whom he made a covenant in a lonely desert a long time ago, and that fact has changed Jewish existence with immense responsibility ever since. We are God's witnesses. How the people of God behave affects how God Himself is perceived.

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