Had Moshe Rabbeinu and Aharon HaKohen demonstrated greater faith in Hashem by speaking to the rock, rather than striking it, Hashem’s Name would have been sanctified. The Nation would have derived the message: If an inanimate rock – which does not hear, speak, or require sustenance – carries out Hashem’s command (when spoken to), surely we (humans) should do so Ramban explains that Moshe and Aharon certainly were not lacking in faith; rather the phrase should be understood, “Because you did not cause them (the people) to believe in Me;” for if Moshe would have followed Hashem’s directive as commanded, the people would have been infused with faith. While seeing water emerge from a rock that Moshe struck is clearly an infusion of faith, the resulting Kiddush Hashem, sanctification of Hashem’s Name, would have been greater had Moshe spoken to the rock. Thus, by imposing punishment on such holy and spiritually impeccable leaders as Moshe and Aharon, thereby showing that regardless of one’s spiritual status no one has license to sin, Hashem’s Name becomes sanctified. Anything that brings about a greater awareness of Hashem is considered a sanctification of His Name. We may derive from here that if a greater Kiddush Hashem could have occurred, then, in effect, a chillul, profanation, of Hashem’s Name, has taken place. Every opportunity for Kiddush Hashem that is wasted creates a void where kedushah, holiness, could have penetrated. This is chillul, desecration. A void is a waste. With regard to Kiddush Hashem, there is no place for a wasted opportunity.
Perhaps the following story will clarify the meaning of a chillul Hashem. The holy Rizhiner Rebbe (Horav Yisrael) was imprisoned for twenty-two months, sixteen of which were spent in the notorious Kiev Prison, a dark, desolate, cold dungeon. No charges had been issued against him, but, then, since when does an anti-Semitic regime need an excuse for persecuting Jews? The Rebbe fully accepted his predicament as Hashem’s decree, and he sanctified Hashem’s Name during his interment. On Shushan Purim, 1840, the cell door that separated him from freedom creaked open to release the Rizhiner. The Rebbe rose from the floor, walked out, paused momentarily, then turned around and stepped back into the cell.
Those who witnessed the Rebbe’s self-imposed return to the cell looked on incredulously, as he remained inside for a few moments before finally stepping out to freedom. They then understood that the Rebbe viewed his period of incarceration as a period of holiness. It was an experience from which he should learn – and never forget. He returned to the cell to acknowledge this fact.
One of the Rizhiner’s staunch admirers was the tzaddik, holy, righteous Rebbe, the Divrei Chaim, Horav Chaim Halberstam, zl, of Sanz. As Rav of Sanz, he had an illustrious career, both as halachic arbiter and as a mentor to his many followers. When he retired, his son, Rav Aharon, assumed the position of Rav of Sanz.
Once, when Rav Aharon presided over a case between two litigants, his ruling was not accepted by the guilty party. He (the guilty litigant) demanded that the Rav retract his verdict. Rav Aharon refused to reverse his ruling. He had studied the case and felt that his ruling followed halachah. He was unmoved by the guilty party’s threats of revenge. True to his threats, the miscreant went to the gentile authorities and, after fabricating a bogus story, demanded that Rav Aharon be arrested and locked up. The authorities were only too happy to accommodate him.
Rav Aharon’s family and students went immediately to his father, Rav Chaim, to seek his counsel. Surprisingly, he did not react to the entire debacle. He said, “If my son had been incarcerated for some crime that he had committed, I would be greatly concerned. My son, however, was thrown into jail for upholding the Torah and rendering a true verdict based upon Jewish law. He is sitting in jail for upholding kedushas haTorah, the sanctity of the Torah! What greater z’chus, merit, is there?”
When the family saw that Rav Chaim was immovable, they went to his mechutan, parent of one of his children in-law, Horav Yehoshua, zl, of Belz. Perhaps Rav Chaim would listen to reason if presented by someone of his eminence.
Rav Yehoshua wasted no time in proceeding to Rav Chaim and explained the entire ordeal to him: from the original case in bais din until Rav Aharon was tragically thrown into jail. He explained that it was devastating for such a refined and dedicated person as Rav Aharon to languish with derelicts in a Hungarian jail. He was suffering, and so was his family and the entire Jewish community. Then he added one last caveat: By allowing Rav Aharon to fester in jail, it was creating a gross chillul Hashem. How could he, Rav Chaim, allow for this desecration of Hashem’s Name to continue?
The mention of the chillul Hashem “card,” ignited Rav Chaim. He turned to Rav Yehoshua and, with tremendous self-control (although he was seething), demanded, “Do you really believe that if one is incarcerated for upholding the sanctity of the Torah by rendering an honest, true and impartial judgment, it creates chillul Hashem? Would you consider the imprisonment of Yosef HaTzaddik by Pharaoh a chillul Hashem? Were the twenty-two months spent by the Rizhiner in a Russian dungeon a chillul Hashem? Absolutely not! On the contrary, it was a Kiddush Hashem of the highest order! Both Yosef HaTzaddik and the holy Rizhiner sanctified Hashem’s Name l’eila u’l’eila, to the highest heights. My dear mechutan, I want you to listen to me. Anyone who calls himself a Jew and is not attached body and soul to his Creator – every moment of the day – is guilty of chillul Hashem!
We now understand the word l’hakdisheini, to sanctify Me. A Jew must live a life of Kiddush Hashem and, if he could have reached a higher level and did not, he has failed.
