T

his week’s Torah portion, Emor, 
formulates this calling as a specific 
mitzvah: “…do not desecrate My 
holy name. And I shall be sanctified in 
the midst of the children of Israel. I am 
Hashem who sanctifies 
you.” (Vayikra 22:33) This 
is known as the mitzvah 
of kiddush Hashem — 
sanctifying God’s name.
How do we go about 
it? We live in a world of 
confusion and spiritual 
darkness. The light of truth 
is hidden, God’s presence concealed. In 
this murky existence, how do we promote 
God’s name and God’s Torah in the 
world?
One way is by what we say. 
Proclaiming God’s greatness in a public 
forum — through communal prayer, for 
example. Indeed, our prayer services are 
structured in such a way as to facilitate 
this. We have the Kedushah, the special 
prayer recited loudly and responsively in 
the repetition of the Amidah, evoking the 
exalted dialogue of the angels and their 
praise of the Creator of the universe.
We also have Kaddish, a highly 

impassioned declaration of God’s 
greatness, recited at various high points 
in the service. Kaddish is recited by the 
one who leads the service, but also by 
mourners. It’s an extraordinary thing. 
People who have lost loved ones, and 
whose worlds have become empty as 
a result of their bereavement, fill the 
world with — and find solace in — a 
declaration of God’s greatness. Crucially, 
both the Kedushah and Kaddish are only 
recited in public, in the presence of a 
minyan, a quorum of 10 men.
It’s important to note that our 
responsibility to declare the presence 
of God in the world begins with our 
families. Every Friday night when we say 
Kiddush, we proclaim loudly and publicly 
that God created the world and that He 
took us out of Egypt, and He gave us 
His Torah as a guide to life. Similarly, 
each of the festivals is a testimony to 
God’s miracles throughout history: 
Pesach is about the miracles of the 
Exodus; Shavuot is about the miraculous 
revelation at Mount Sinai; and Sukkot is 
about the miracles that sustained us in 
the desert.
We also spread a positive message 

about Hashem and His Torah through 
our words of teaching Torah. The 
Rambam explains the mitzvah of 
learning Torah extends to teaching 
Torah. As the Mishnah in Pirkei Avot 
says, there is an obligation to “establish 
many students.” The Tiferet Yisrael, in his 
commentary on that Mishnah, says this 
applies not only to “professional” teachers 
and rabbis, but to every Jew. We are all 
called on to spread the light of Torah to 
as many people as possible. The verse in 
Proverbs says: “For the mitzvah is a lamp 
and the Torah is light.” The Gemara in 
Sotah says this world can be compared 
to a dark forest. As we walk through it, 
we are confronted with obstacles and 
confusion, our every step fraught with 
danger and uncertainty. But, it is the light 
of Torah that illuminates the path. And we 
have a responsibility to spread that light.

MORE THAN JUST WORDS
The mitzvah of kiddush Hashem 
goes beyond what we say. Even more 
important is what we do, how we 
behave. We don’t just believe in God, 
or preach God, we live His values and 

SPIRIT

A WORD OF TORAH

 The 
Mitzvah 
of Kiddush 
 
 
 Hashem

Chief Rabbi 
Warren 
Goldstein

49 | MAY 12 • 2022 

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