This week’s dvar Torah is from “Rabbi Benjamin Yudin on the Parsha” (Mosaica Press) with many emendations and additions:

HaRav Yaakov Kamenetsky zt”l, in his sefer Emes l’Yaakov, notes something very interesting about the grammatical construction of this verse:  The Torah does not command us in the active tense [i.e. the pa’al form “tak’dees’shu es shemi • you are to sanctify my Name” – see highlighted words in the above quote], but rather in the past-perfect tense [i.e. the nifal form “v’neek’dash’ti • I will be sanctified”]. By using the past-perfect form, there seems to be an implication that something ‘more’ is understood – i.e. I will be sanctified…

R’ Yaakov then quotes from Maimonides’ Mishnah Torah [Yesodei HaTorah, chap. 5], noting that the Rambam zt”l not only highlights this construct, but that its unusual usage implies that those who are obligated in this mitzvah of being sanctified are ‘more’ than usual – by adding the word kol/all:

Kol Bais Yisroel metzuvim al Kiddush Hashem ha’gadol ha’zeh, she’ne’emar, “v’neek’dash’ti b’soch B’nei Yisrael.” The entire House of Israel is commanded regarding the mitzvah of sanctifying G-d’s great Name, as it is said, “and I will be sanctified amongst the Children of Israel” [Leviticus 22:32].

From all this, R’ Yaakov Kamenetsky concludes that the phrase “amongst the Children of Israel” together with the past-perfect construct, “I will be sanctified…”, comes to teach us that this mitzvah is different from all other mitzvos in the Torah!

In all other mitzvos, an adult/a parent has the responsibility of performing the mitzvah, and also has the obligation to educate the youth/their children and train them in the performance of mitzvos (this is the obligation of chinuch: educating and training the next generation). In all other mitzvos of the Torah, a child (under the age of Bar and Bas Mitzvah) is not commanded directly in the performance of mitzvos. Here, however – regarding the mitzvah of sanctifying G-d’s great and holy Name – even children are commanded in its performance! In support of this contention, R’ Yaakov quotes from the well-known pasuk in Hallel, where we recite ‘Y’vareich es Bais Yisrael … ha’k’tanim im ha’g’dolim • He shall bless the entire House of Israel, the small (youth) together with the great (adults)” [Psalms 115:12-13].

But … how can this be!? Throughout our history of terrible persecution, lo ode aleinu, adults were prepared and actually gave their lives rather than forsake their religion. It is understandable, says R’ Yaakov, that adults could do this; after all, they are commanded in the mitzvah of sacrificing their lives al kiddush Hashem. This means that for the three cardinal sins [idolatry, murder, and immorality], one must be prepared to give up one’s life. Indeed, we say in the Shema twice every day “b’chol l’vav’cha u’v’chol naf’she’cha • (to serve G-d) with all your heart and with all your soul” [Deuteronomy 6:5] – that we are prepared to give even our lives for our belief in G-d’s Torah and the performance of His mitvos.

But … how do parents have the license to offer their children al kiddush Hashem, for the sanctification of G-d’s Name!?

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After raising the unusual aspect of this mitzvah (i.e. that even children are included in its ‘performance’), followed by the questions of “How can it be?” – R’ Benjamin Yudin shlit”a offers two possible answers to our dilemma:

(1) During a period of persecution, chas v’shalom, if the children would have been handed over to another religion, then this would have resulted in a terrible chillul Hashem – a desecration of G-d’s Name (the opposite of kiddush Hashem). Therefore, when it comes to the performance of this mitzvah, it is not only the positive act (of sanctifying G-d’s Name through sacrificing one’s life) about which we are concerned; it is the negative result as well (resulting in a desecration of G-d’s Name). Through this reasoning, children are also included in its ‘performance’.

(2) Children have the capacity and opportunity to sanctify the Name of G-d through their actions and behavior – thus having a profound influence on those around them, who perceive and learn from their beautiful middos.

In the Gemara, Abaye quotes from the familiar verse in the Krias Shema, “V’ahavta es Hashem Elokecha • You should love the L-rd, your G-d” [Deuteronomy 6:5] and explained that it does not only refer to loving G-d [Yoma 69b]. Rather, it also means that the Name of Heaven should become beloved through you. If a person becomes identified with Torah, and this person’s dealings with people are pleasant and agreeable – then his/her contacts say “Fortunate are this person’s parents who taught this child Torah; fortunate is his/her teacher who taught them Torah.” A person who acts in this way becomes a walking kiddush Hashem.

Making a kiddush Hashem in this way is true for children as well. If a child’s actions and behavior – the way they play and the way they talk – are reflective of a life-style that inspires others to say, “Look how special these children are!” then these Jewishly observant children have the capacity to make a kiddush Hashem in this world, even at a very young age.

Every day in Eretz Yisrael, thousands of schoolchildren get onto buses to get to and from school and back home again. The first order of business for all bus riders in Israel is to have their tickets punched (this story takes place before the advent of the “RavKav” card, which today is swiped instead). As each child’s ticket was punched, they were ordered to move to the back of the bus. One child, in a great press of other students, was prematurely told by the driver to move to the back of the bus. The child said, “No, I can’t! The bus driver asked, “Why not?” The child explained, “Because you didn’t punch my ticket!” The driver, ever pressed for time (and space) angrily replied, “Yes I did!” and ordered to child to move on back. Not long afterwards, the driver looked into his rear view mirror and saw the small child crying bitterly at the back of the bus. With a pang of regret, he stopped the bus, walked to the back, and asked the child, “What’s the matter now?” The child said, “This is forbidden; this is theft! I can’t ride the bus; it’s stealing!” and held out the unpunched card. The bus driver shook his head, punched the card and looked wonderingly at the young child, who unbeknownst had performed a beautiful act of kiddush Hashem.

On a personal note (not brought down by R’ Yudin), I would like to share with you two more stories:

My m’chutenes (whose son is married to my second oldest daughter) is a ba’alas teshuvah coming from a family with many non-frum relatives. She told me a story about her niece, married and living in New York City with a small boutique in the Tribecca area, near the World Trade Center. When the terrorists struck, she and her husband escaped to a nearby rooftop and witnessed the terrible destruction and the death of so many innocent people (not to mention her business); the experience shook them to the core. They were now poised to reexamine their life’s priorities, since it had become clear that life can be very tenuous – here today and gone in an instant. Right around this time they attended my daughter’s (and their cousin’s) wedding and afterwards told my m’chutenes: We looked at your son, and saw what a fine young man he had become, now getting married, with sterling character traits – so different from other young people they knew about that age. They decided that they wanted their newborn son to be like him. Today, the newborn son has just celebrated his Bar Mitzvah and enjoys a traditional life-style with his more observant parents.

When my son was 3-4 years old, he enjoyed going with my wife to ‘Jack’s’ – a small all-purpose grocery store (which was the precursor to Seven Mile Market, the largest kosher supermarket in the US, just up the road from where we live). In the front of the store, near the check-out, was a very large gumball machine, filled with hundreds of colorful gum balls! On one fateful occasion, my son got a bit too eager to see all of these gum balls, and tipping the stand a bit too much, it toppled over; the plastic dome hit the floor with a thud, and hundreds of gum balls went clattering off in every direction, covering the floor. Everyone stopped and stood, staring at the chaos and the little boy in the center of it all. Even Mr. Jack and his son (Hershel) came running to the front, now looking down critically at the culprit. Taking it all in, my son looked around, finally raising his hands, and repeated his most recent lesson from Talmudical Academy, “Well … gam zoo l’tovah!” (“this, too, is for the best!”, an important Talmudic teaching). With that, everyone smiled and Mr. Jack Boehm exclaimed, “To hear words of Torah from this young man makes it all worth it!”

We do not simply teach our children so that they will have good manners and middos when they grow up. The verse is teaching us that these children have the opportunity to make a kiddush Hashem right now while they are still young. With G-d’s help, we will inspire our children so that all of us – men, women and children – can strive to fulfill the mitzvah of “v’neek’dash’ti b’soch B’nei Yisrael” in the most complete manner which Hashem has commanded.