So he discussed a sermon and suggested that the underlying definition of the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem is that one's actions attest to the reality of Yichud Hashem, Ein Od Milvado, and it's that which is the tzad hashaveh of the three different kiyumim, three different forms that the mitzvah of Kiddush Hashem takes. When a person responds to the imperative of yehareg ve'al ya'avor, person surrenders his life, so that's a statement that his life is not his own, his existence is not his own, because ultimately in reality is Ein Od Milvado, everything just feeds off of Hakadosh Baruch Hu's existence. Everything is because Hakadosh Baruch Hu b'chasdo, as it were, shares His existence with whatever else He brought into being. When like Yosef Hatzaddik, a person is either ose mitzvah or is פורש מעבירה לא מפני דבר בעולם אלא מפני הבורא ברוך הוא,
so again, his actions bespeak the fact, his actions attest to the fact that there is nothing other than Hakadosh Baruch Hu. There's nothing else to be mischashev in, there's no pachad, there's no yirah, there's no kavod, there's nothing else to take into account, there's nothing else to be mischashev in, Ein Od Milvado, there's only the Ribono Shel Olam. And finally, if a person leads such a noble, good, holy life that he elicits the reaction al pi Torah, that he elicits reactions from people of הכל מקלסן אותו אביו אותו משבחן אותו למעשיו, it means that he's successfully leading a Godly existence and in so doing is reflecting and projecting into the world that reality of Ein Od Milvado. Kol zman that a person doesn't rise to that level, so our lives, as it were, mask the reality of Ein Od Milvado. There's nothing about... if we don't rise to that level, so then there doesn't seem to be Godliness in that corner of the briyah. When a person rises to that level, again, of eliciting the same reaction that chochmas habore elicits of מקלסן אותו אביו אותו משבחן אותו למעשיו, he leads such a Godly life, so then his very life is a testimony to the reality of Ein Od Milvado because of what he projects, because of what he reflects. I believe that this idea, that this is the definition of Kiddush Hashem, attesting to through one's actions that Ein Od Milvado, so in the Siddur after the Shema that we say, after Birchas Hashachar, so אתה הוא עד שלא נברא העולם אתה הוא משנברא העולם אתה הוא בעולם הזה אתה הוא לעולם הבא קדש את שמך על מקדישי שמך וקדש את שמך בעולמך ובישועתך תרים ותגביה קרננו למעלה והושיענו בקרוב למען שמך.
So the pshat is אתה הוא עד שלא נברא העולם אתה הוא משנברא העולם.
What the words mean is that just as עד שלא נברא העולם there was only Hakadosh Baruch Hu... There was nothing else. So nothing changed in terms of that reality. Again. We all exist off of, through, because of HaKadosh Baruch Hu. There is no, we don't have our own existence. It's a parasitic existence as it were. אתה הוא עד שלא נברא העולם אתה הוא משנברא העולם
means nothing changed. It's the same, it's the same reality. עד שלא נברא העולם was only HaKadosh Baruch Hu. And the same אתה הוא משנברא העולם. Nothing changed. And that's always like that. It's אתה הוא בעולם הזה, it's אתה הוא לעולם הבא. Now, Ribono shel Olam, project that into the world. That's what the, that's what the hemshech of the, not the bracha is, Kadesh shimcha, makdishei shemecha. Project that reality, reveal that reality in the world. And that's done by the to'ar misagbe'ach eineinu because Klal Yisrael represent HaKadosh Baruch Hu in the world. So this idea, this definition of Kiddush Hashem lechora is what the bracha here is, is speaking of. Maybe just one, one or two other, other thoughts in in this parsha. The, the form of Kiddush Hashem, the first form of Kiddush Hashem of which the Rambam speaks, the one that first comes to our minds when we think of Kiddush Hashem when there's a din of yehareg ve'al ya'avor, is, is really a very remarkable situation. When such a situation exists, so then there are only two options in front of a person. Either he's gonna be mekadesh Hashem, he's gonna make a Kiddush Hashem in the tradition of Daniel, Chananiah, Mishael, and Azaryah, Rabbi Akiva ve'chaveirav, or rachmana litzlan he's gonna make a Chilul Hashem. There's no in between, there's no neutral, there's no neutral turf in such a situation. If a person would find himself in a situation where the din is yehareg ve'al ya'avor, either, either he makes a Kiddush Hashem in the tradition of of the, of the greatest שאין מעלה על מעלתם, or rachmana litzlan he's guilty of the worst aveira. So lefi de'ita, okay, ein hachinami. There are extreme moments where the only options that exist are extreme. But certainly on a daily basis, so the way our lives appear to us, hopefully rachmana litzlan we're not making a Chilul Hashem. Lav davka that we're making a Kiddush Hashem either, but it's not that extreme situation where it's either one or the other. But that dramatic, drastic difference in options... Upon reflection is not only relevant in that extreme situation where a person is confronted with a situation where the halacha is yeihareig ve'al ya'avor. The emes is that a person is always supposed to be poised, sensitive to making a kiddush Hashem and concerned, rachmana litzlan, with the possibility of making a chilul Hashem. Well, when the Rambam describes at the end of the perek the third form of kiddush Hashem and chilul Hashem: וכן אם דקדק החכם על עצמו והיה דבורו בנחת עם הבריות ודעתו מעורבת עמהם ומקבילם בסבר פנים יפות ונעלב מהם ואינו עולבן מכבד להם ואפילו למקילים לו ונושא ונותן באמונה ולא ירבה באריכות עמי הארץ וישיבתן ולא יראה תמיד אלא עוסק בתורה עטוף בציצית מוכתר בתפילין ועושה בכל מעשיו לפנים משורת הדין והוא שלא יתרחק הרבה ולא ישתומם עד שימצאו הכל מקלסין אותו ואוהבים אותו ומתאוים למעשיו.
That kiddush Hashem is the cumulative effect of small individual prosaic moments. It's because every moment he's living a life of kiddush Hashem that it adds up until people see it, until the briyos see it and it makes that impression. עושה בכל מעשיו לפנים משורת הדין ולא יראה תמיד. So maybe it's not the case that it's only in an extreme situation that רובא דרובא דרובא דאינשי never encounter in their lives, that a person finds himself at a parashas drachim and the only two paths are one path is kiddush Hashem and the other path is a chilul Hashem. Maybe there's a little bit of a me'ein of that all the time. The same way the chacham, how does he create the kiddush Hashem? He builds it. He builds it. Kamma kamma is mitztareif. Every moment, one moment of a dibur benachas and one moment of when he's involved in משא ומתן ונושא ונותן באמונה. And it's only because at every moment he sees himself at a path of kiddush Hashem in front of him that it ultimately accumulates and that he creates that kiddush Hashem. So it's obviously not in the same sense as in the yeihareig ve'al ya'avor scenario, but the awareness of there being two paths is an awareness that's relevant to our daily lives as well. Just one last thought. Vechon im dikdeik again, vechon im dikdeik. The way the Rambam formulates it, he's saying inevitably this is going to be something that he's going to be called upon to do. I guess we could interpolate words, should the situation ever arise, he'll be willing to be נעלב מהם ואינו עולב. We could interpolate those words. And we could interpolate the words of mechabed lahem ואפילו אם לו יצויר שיהיו מקילים לו, he'll be mechabed lahem. But the pishutam shel devarim is not like that in the Rambam. The pishutam shel devarim is that when he goes along the road of life, it's to be expected, if not guaranteed, that he's going to hit these bumps of ne'elav mehem and then he's going to hit these bumps of mekilim lo. Knowing that can make all the difference in the world. And that's for two reasons. Number one, in general, whenever a person is aware of a challenge that awaits him, then he can prime himself, he can prepare himself to meet that challenge. And the most common scenario, rachmana litzlan, when we fall, when we nichshal, is a situation that we weren't prepared for, a scenario that we didn't anticipate. And the degree to which we can anticipate, the degree to which we can expect, then we're prepared and we're better equipped to meet the challenge. But it's more than that as well. Psychologically, the challenge of dealing with difficult interpersonal situations is that human nature is such that min hastam we experience them as something unwarranted. So if someone comes and gives me a figurative patch, I view that as being unwarranted, and because I view that as being unwarranted, my natural reaction is anger, is frustration, and my natural reaction is not eino olev because I view that as something which is unwarranted. You walk down the street and someone throws a pitcher of water on you, so you're ready to punch them in the nose. When you take a shower, you're not looking to punch anyone in the nose because you got all wet. That's what you're expecting to happen. So the Rambam says on the path of life, on the road of life, the Rambam's talking about the chacham but k'midumeh that this insight is transferable to us as well. On the road of life a person is supposed to expect that this happens. He encounters these situations. It's not going to be something, no, that's part of the challenge. That's part of the challenge of life. That's part of the challenge of life. Sometimes you're going to be walking and the guy has the sprinkler on his lawn and the sprinkler is watering the sidewalk instead of watering his grass. So that's part of the, that's not something, that's not something unusual and therefore unwarranted. No, it happens. Lav havan happens. Makilin lo happens. It's not unusual and because it's not unusual don't view it as being unwarranted. And if a person doesn't view it that way, relatively speaking, it's so much easier to deal with. It's so much easier to have that correct reaction that the Rambam's talking about of the eino olvan and the mocheil lahem ve'afilu l'meikilin lo.