And Noah was alone in his commitment, in his lifestyle. All his friends, his relatives, his neighbors, the world's dignitaries, leaders, intellectuals, all were living very differently, were traveling on a very different life path. And yet Noah remained steadfast. When a person sees emes, that energizes him to remain firm and steadfast in his commitment regardless of how lonely that journey may be. Ten generations later, when Avraham Avinu appears on the scene, the Rambam reconstructs for us Avraham Avinu's biography. כיון שנגמל איתן זה, השכיל לשוטט בדעתו והוא קטן. He was a little boy, but already then he was exploring, he was searching. והיה תמה היאך אפשר שיהיה הגלגל הזה נוהג תמיד ולא יהיה לו מנהיג.
How is it that the sphere is in constant motion in an orderly way without a conductor, without someone energizing it? It's inconceivable. Umi yesoveiv oto? And the Rambam says לא היה לו מלמד ולא מודיע דבר. He didn't have a teacher, didn't have a guide. He was all alone in his search and his quest, אלא מושקע באור כשדים בין עובדי עבודה זרה הטפשים. He was trapped as it were in Ur Kasdim, surrounded completely and entirely by foolish, ignorant, primitive, unenlightened ovdei avoda zara. ואביו ואמו וכל העם עובדי עבודה זרה והוא היה עובד עמהם.
Everyone, everyone was engaged in idolatry, in idol worship, and Avraham Avinu was part of them. And yet, veli-bo meshotet u-mevin. And yet the fierce independence, the bakashas ha-emes was in no way undermined, in no way derailed, in no way adversely affected by the loneliness of Avraham Avinu's quest and search. A person can never ever be outvoted in commitment to emes. But maybe these lessons are only necessary and therefore applicable to a position vis-a-vis the world at large, vis-a-vis umos ha-olam. Maybe these lessons are never relevant or necessary internally. Maybe a Jew doesn't need to know these lessons of Avraham Avinu, of Noah, of the fierce independence that a person has to exhibit, the loneliness that a person has to be willing to endure in his commitment to emes and toras emes. Maybe these lessons are not relevant or necessary for a Jew klapei pnim vis-a-vis other Jews. The Rambam writes in Sefer Ha-Mitzvos. Mitzvah, Mitzvah Tes, וזוהי מצוות קידוש השם המצווים בה בני ישראל בכללם. This is the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem, ורצונו לומר מסירות נפשנו למות ביד האונס על אהבתו יתברך ואמונת ייחודו.
The willingness, when called upon, to surrender one's life as an expression of Ahavas Hashem, as a testament to Yichud Hashem. כמו שעשו חנניה מישאל ועזריה בזמן נבוכדנצר הרשע, as Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya did in the time of Nevuchadnezzar Harasha, כשגזר להשתחוות לצלם. When Nevuchadnezzar Harasha decreed that everyone prostrate themselves before the tzelem. והשתחוו כל העמים. Everyone, everyone succumbed. וכל ישראל בכלל. The Jewish people also gave in. ולא היה שם מקדש שם שמים. Amongst Klal Yisrael, there was no one to be mekadesh Shem Shamayim. והייתה בזו חרפה גדולה על ישראל. It was a tremendous busha. It was a tremendous shame for the Jewish people. שנעדרה המצווה הזאת מכולם, that this mitzvah was neglected by all of them. ולא היה שם מקיימה. No one was mekayem the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem, which by definition means they were all guilty of Chillul Hashem. Aval pachadu hakol, velo nitztrepha, v'yaid Hashem, skipping a few lines, al yedei Yeshaya. Hakadosh Baruch Hu, though, had already promised in a nevuah given to Yeshayahu Hanavi שלא תשלם חרפת ישראל בעדות ההיא ושיבואו בהם ילדים בעת ההיא הקשה,
lo yifchadu, that the shame wouldn't be total and complete. There would be three youth who wouldn't be intimidated, who would emerge, who wouldn't be intimidated. ולא יפחידם המות, וימסרו נפשם ויפרסמו ויחזקו האמונה ויקדשו השם ברבים.
So imagine, Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya, the Rambam goes on, he quotes the pasuk, v'hu omro, the pasuk in Yeshayahu: לא עתה יבוש יעקב ולא עתה פניו יחוורו כי בראותו ילדיו.
They're lads, they're young boys. מעשה ידיי בקרבו יקדישו שמי. So imagine, Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya are yeladim, young lads. All of Klal Yisrael is acting differently, and mistama, I don't know, mistama there was a rationalization, and the whole, not just the whole world, but all of Klal Yisrael was acting wrongly. There was no one to whom Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya could look for guidance, for support, for chizuk, for encouragement. The ziknei hador, the parnesei hador, the gedolei hador, there was no one. There was no one for Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya to look to. And yet, when a person is guided by emes, a person is not deterred by the loneliness of that commitment. The past few months. We've also been living in a time of cherpa, of shame. We've also been living in a time where commitment to simple halacha, basic, unequivocal, categorical halacha, where that commitment, commitment to that has been a lonely affair. Not to the extreme chas veshalom that the Rambam describes בימי חנניה משאל ועזריה, there have been some voices that we've been able to hear, but the bilbul hamochos, the confusion and distortion that have reigned, which have generated and endorsed simple, simple violation of halacha, of zilzul in all the public health measures which are binding min haTorah. One needn't invoke dina demalchuta, although that is obviously relevant and applicable, but one has no need to invoke that. רק השמר לך ושמור נפשך מאד as the Rambam quotes at the end of הלכות רוצח ושמירת נפש, venishmartem me'od lenafshoseichem. Simple, basic halacha. Simple, basic halacha that when neglected, endangers fellow Jews, endangers society at large. Simple, basic halacha that when neglected, and not only neglected, it's been rejected. Not just benignly, passively neglected, but vociferously, very actively rejected, generates a chillul Hashem. And it's been a cherpa, it's been a cherpa. If a small percentage of the righteous indignation and reaction to the governor's recent measures had been present in objecting to the zilzul, so none of these red zones ever would have emerged in the first place. And it's very, very important that each and every one of us be mitchazek, that when the emes is clear, a person is not deterred in the least by how many people, for whatever reason, Hashem yerachem, are blinded to the emes and are not implementing the emes. Emes is not voted down. Rav Yonasan Eibeshutz famously was once asked, Klal Yisrael in their emuna are a minority, doesn't the Torah say acharei rabbim lehatos? And he said when there's a question, when there's a safek, you put it to a vote, and it's acharei rabbim lehatos. When the emes is clear, there's no acharei rabbim lehatos. There's no rabbim that can outvote and outweigh clear, clear, compelling, categorical emes. It's very, very important that we constantly remind ourselves of that commitment to emes, our commitment to emes and unwavering, even when it's a lonely commitment. The commitment to emes means that precautionary, preventive health measures are necessary, not just when people are getting sick and dying, which they are. They're necessary to prevent this state of affairs from ever materializing. It's not that there's a chiyuv now to put on a mask because we're hearing of people getting sick and dying. There was a chiyuv all along to be following all the measures: the masks, the distancing, the hand washing. To, it needs to be understood even now so that so that the confusion and distortion are not perpetuated, that the chiyuv is not a result of the emergence of red zones. The emergence of red zones was a result of neglect of the chiyuv. And that's indisputable, incontrovertible emes and it can't be voted down. What Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya did was not subject to a vote. There was no room for counting heads as to who was willing to be mekadesh shem shamayim, as to who was willing to recognize what the emes is and what the emes demands. emes cannot be voted down and therefore even when it's a lonely commitment, it's a commitment that needs to be sustained. And we have to continue to exercise all all appropriate care in terms of the masks and distancing and hand washing, all as recommended and required. We have to continue to avoid all unsafe potentially spreader events and kal vachomer super-spreader events. And if we can't continue doing that, if we're in a matzav where we have to discontinue what we've been doing, then we need to discontinue. There's no dilemma of if I go to a wedding do I dance where inevitably even if there is some kind of wishful commitment to maintaining distance and masks, it's totally unrealistic and it's not going to happen. There's a dilemma, but it's simchas choson vekallah is a mitzvah and it's a special day, but m'idach there are safety precautions. So what do we do when we're caught on the horns of such a dilemma? There's no dilemma. There's no mitzvah. A person goes and dances at a wedding, he's not being מקיים מצוות שמחת חתן וכלה because there's zero mitzvah in engaging in behavior which has the potential to make people sick and kill them. There's no dilemma. There's no mitzvah. There's no mitzvah that's being fulfilled. It's assur to host such an affair, to be the baalei simcha of such an affair. It's assur to participate in such an affair. It's assur to dance at such an affair. There's no, there's no dilemma. And it doesn't matter how many such weddings have happened. It doesn't matter how many such weddings are scheduled, just as it didn't matter to Chananya, Mishael, and Azarya how many people were bowing down to the tzelem. It doesn't matter how much of a cherpah it is, that doesn't transform the cherpah into anything other than that. It just makes it more of a cherpah. The more widespread it is doesn't legitimize it. It makes it More of a cherpa, a greater cherpa. It doesn't matter what the numbers are, emes is emes. It can't and it doesn't matter how unpopular or lonely the commitment to emes is, we need to sustain that. It's true on all fronts. The stakes are magnified certainly now that the yeshiva is trying very responsibly to reopen with its testing, aggressive testing protocol. The stakes are magnified because now our behavior is also a behavior which is going to contribute, which can contribute bezras Hashem to this being a success and a Kiddush Hashem. But זה לעומת זה עשה אלוהים, wherever there's positive potential, there's negative potential. And the achrayus is very great. The achrayus is very great to avoid chilul Hashem, and the opportunity is very great to be a part of a Kiddush Hashem. To not cut corners on governmental guidelines, but to exceed governmental guidelines, to project the emes into the world that the Torah is more makpid than any governmental body or regulations. That's the opportunity we have. That's the achrayus we have. Hopefully bezras Hashem it will be a popular commitment. Hopefully we'll be joined by all segments of Klal Yisrael consistently in that commitment. But our commitment is never conditional or contingent upon anyone else being there because the emes remains the emes. Our obligation to live על פי תורת אמת, על פי תורת השם is absolute no matter what. And zol Gott helfen that we should have the fortitude of spirit to do retzon Hashem, to be mekadesh shem shamayim.