Amazing Kiddush HaShem Story

1:13That's enough for you to do, to fix it. Pretty much, a person has to suffer. If he does it, it's a Chilul Hashem. Because the damage is unlimited. We don't understand what unlimited means because we are limited. But when somebody, let's say, for example, says something against Hashem, okay? Let's say, like one of these foolish people that has a show or a page against the Torah. They don't think it's a big deal. They make a joke of the Torah, and so on. They don't think it's a big deal. But one day, a young man or woman is going to listen to one of these jokes, one of these insults, and that is going to cool him or her off from their Avodat Hashem. It's going to cool them off. They were really happy about being religious, happy about Hashem, but they heard this joke, and they kind of found it funny, and they kind of found it... And little by little, they got cooled off a little bit. So now instead of being 100%, they're at 90%. But now they're already on a downward spiral. And they told the joke to another person, and that other person wasn't at 100%. That other person was already at 70%. And now he's dropped to 50%. And that person who's at 50% told another person who was already at 50%, and that person became 0%.

2:29And the damage continues where the desecration of Hashem's name has no limits. And simply why? Because now, as each person declines, the mitzvot that they're performing become diminished, and additionally, they do fewer mitzvot. Like the value of their mitzvot is not as good because they don't have the kavanah. But also, they don't feel like doing certain things anymore. Somebody asks them for tzedakah, and instead of giving them 20, they give them 2. Somebody invites them to a shiur Torah, they ask how long the shiur is instead of where it is. If it's 2 hours, they say, "No, it's too long. I'm going to go to the 10-minute shiur." And so on and so forth. Their avodat Hashem, their service of Hashem, continues to decrease. And the damage from that is simply unlimited because it continues, continues, continues. It's a never-ending domino effect. Hence, the reason why the price for the damage must be paid in a different world. But then Rabbi Yisrael Salanter brings a chidush, an innovation, and he says that to rectify chilul Hashem can be done with Kiddush Hashem.

3:34Why can't it be done with Kiddush Hashem? Because Kiddush Hashem also has an unlimited capacity, unlimited effect. So much so that a single act of a person could literally change the lives of countless people. And I'll show you how. Maybe about five or so years ago, give or take, a story became publicized where there was a religious Jew in Eretz Yisrael whose car broke down on the road, and he didn't notice but ran out of gas. So he was in the middle of the desert somewhere, and he had to get out of his car and take one of these gallon tanks. A story became publicized where there was a religious Jew in Eretz Yisrael, and his car broke down on the road. He didn't notice, but he ran out of gas, so he was in the middle of the desert somewhere. He had to get out of his car and take one of those gallon tanks. and walked to the nearest gas station. He walked, walked, walked, and eventually got to it. As he walked in the scorching heat, about to fill up gas, he saw a huge billboard at the gas station saying "Open 24/7." He quickly turned around and left.

5:01Continued walking, and after a little while, someone with an American accent pulled over next to him and said, in Hebrew obviously, "How can I help you? Are you okay? Where are you going?" "No, my car broke down. I need to walk to the nearest gas station." "Okay, hop in, I'll take you." So, start driving. He says, you know that there was a gas station back there. He says, yeah, but I didn't want to fill up gas over there. He says, why not? He says, because they are mechalel Shabbat. He says, what do you mean? What is that? He says, they work on Shabbat. They have a sign on the gas station, "Open 24/7." He says, why do you care?

6:03The guy was Jewish, the American guy was Jewish, but he didn't know anything about Judaism and he was simply visiting Israel. So the religious guy said, "Let me explain this to you. If somebody made a billboard and on the billboard he wrote all types of insults about your father, like 'Your father is horrible, your father is terrible,' all types of things against him, would you want to do business with that person? What kind of business? I'd burn the place!" Okay, okay, we don't burn places; we don't burn anything. But we don't do business with people that go and desecrate our Father in Heaven's name, HaKadosh Baruch Hu." Your father is horrible, your father is terrible, your father is this, all types of things against him. Would you go do business with him? What business? I'll burn the place. Okay, okay. We don't burn places. We don't burn anything. But we don't do business with people that go and desecrate our Father in Heaven's name. By them saying that they are doing business on Shabbat, the one day that HaKadosh Baruch Hu, Bechvodo U'Veatzmo, said He rested. And he wants us to rest, and He commanded us to rest. That's not just them violating Shabbat; that's them advertising their carelessness and disrespect for my Father in Heaven. They're publicly displaying their insults towards my Father. I cannot bring myself to do business with them, even if that means I have to walk in a desert for several more miles.

7:22So the young man had never really heard such a thing. But he said, "Okay, suit yourself," gave him a ride to the gas station, got the gas, and drove him back. At the end of the meeting, they exchanged numbers. The man said, "If you're ever in America, pass by. If you're ever in Israel and want to come for Shabbat, pass by." But nothing happened. Years passed. Years passed. And one day, this Avrech, this Avrech, gets a phone call in his house. Yes, Rabbi such and such, yes. Are you with Teudat Zehut, identification in Israel? This, this, this, and this number? Yes. You live at such-and-such address? Yes. Okay, we need to see you at our office. What office? Our law office. We are lawyers. We need to see you at the office. Please come to Tel Aviv. Why? Why do you want to see me? What happened? Well, there is a business transaction that we need to complete. No, no, no. Please be sure. I don't do business. I learn Torah all day. I don't do business. Sir, it's worth it for you to come.

8:39but come on, I have to learn, sir. It's just that you need to come; there's a serious, important matter for you to attend to. There's an inheritance here. Inheritance? Are you sure you're talking to the right person? I don't want to go spend seven shekels on a bus and a couple of hours in Tel Aviv. I don't have that kind of time. It's worth it for you to come. The poor guy says, "Okay," goes to the law office, meets the lawyer, shows him the ID. They confirm it's him and say, "Okay." You have an inheritance, a 10% share of the inheritance of so-and-so. He asks, "Why me?" The response is, "That's why you were gifted." He replies, "But I don't know him." The answer comes, "Well, he knows you." He inquires, "Who decided on this?" This individual, you want to call him? Sure, let's call him. They call the number. They say, hey, how are you? Yeah, I'm fine, but who are you? He says, don't you remember me years ago? I'm the one that gave you a ride in the desert to the gas station. Oh, how are you? How are you doing? He goes, what is this? He says, listen, my father, he died, and he left me some money, but he had a unique condition on his will. He said, give 10%.

10:00give 10% to someone that cares about God. And I don't know anybody that cares about God. I'm a business guy. I don't know anybody. I just, I do my thing. But then I thought, how could I? I can't get the inheritance. until I meet this condition and I thought, oh yeah, you know what, there's one guy that I know who cares about God. Why? Because he cares enough to go walk five more miles in a desert and almost put his life on the line just because some gas station operates on Shabbat. That guy cares about God, and that's you. He says, thank you very much. What do I need to do? He replies, just sit over there. The lawyer is about to give you a check for a million dollars. Excuse me? What do you mean a million dollars? Is that my inheritance? He goes, no, no, that's your portion. The inheritance was ten million dollars, and you receive ten percent. Are you sure? That's a substantial sum of money. I mean, I make five hundred dollars a month. That's adequate for me. I don't know what to do with a million dollars. He says, it's not even enough for you. You care about HaShem. You deserve more.

11:09And this Avrech Rabotai HaYekarim got a million dollars. Why? Because he cares about Hashem. Now, of course, the million dollars is nothing compared to what he's going to receive in Olam Haba. Not only for sanctifying Hashem's name when no one was watching. No one was there to see him walk away from the gas station. He never knew that anyone would identify him walking away. No one was there to witness it. It's not like a story he could tell his friends, "Oh yeah, I was in the desert and the guy was working on Shabbat and I said, 'No, I'm going to walk another five miles and put my life on the line.'" No one would see it. No one would know it. No one would believe it if you didn't hear it today. It was a Kiddush Hashem at the highest level. But you know what? That Kiddush Hashem doesn't end. You know why? Because that Kiddush Hashem led to the other guy, and the other guy saw it. And the other guy ended up understanding what it means to care about Hashem. And then the other guy ended up doing the mitzvah of helping a ben Torah learn Torah.

12:12But that's not even it. Today, years later, you're all learning from it. You're all learning that HaKadosh Baruch Hu, b'chvodo u'v'atzmo, He Himself is watching everything. And He doesn't stop paying reward for people that sanctify His name. So that little walk away from the gas station, that Kiddush Hashem has no limitation. And just like that, Kiddush Hashem has no limitation. And that's why Rabbi Yisroel Salanter gives a Kiddush. He says the only way to fix a Chillul Hashem that has no limitation is with Kiddush Hashem with no limitation. Why? They both simply are the only things that can match each other. The only thing that can match each other, because nothing else, nothing else is unlimited like it, is Hashem. This is why, Rabotai, we try to do as much as possible, Kiddush Hashem, any opportunity that we can. But again, it's not an easy mitzvah. It's not an easy mitzvah. The Chachamim, not all of them will have the same opinion on every single thing. Some people, some Chachamim, will outright say that, yes, the Kiddush Hashem is not going to fix it. This is why, Rabotai, we try to do as much as possible, Kiddush Hashem, any opportunity that we can. But again, it's not an easy mitzvah. It's not an easy mitzvah. The Chachamim, not all of them will have the same opinion on every single thing. Some people, some Chachamim, will outright say that, yes, the Kiddush Hashem is not going to fix it fully.

13:32not going to fix it will have its punishment; will have its reward. This is not accepted by everyone, but Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, many of his followers, and many of the rabbis that he learned from, of course, said the same exact thing. They said, yes, this can wipe out that. Because HaKadosh Baruch Hu is not looking for ways to punish us; He's not looking for ways to get back at us. So, if we have an opportunity to get close to Him and fix our mistakes, we should take it. to fix something that we did, of course he's going to give it to us. So that's the point. So yes, you're going to have some Chachamim that say, no, this one gets his reward, this one gets his punishment, but you're going to also have Chachamim you can rely on, like Rabbi Yisrael Salanter, his Talmidim, and his Rabbis, and so on, that will say that, yes, this can actually wipe out that. And that's also some of the things that I learned myself. Next question. We're very excited to offer you the new Be'ezrat Hashem app 3.0. It's a newer, faster app, full of Torah, and embodies much Kedusha (holiness) through the shiurim that we provide. Myself, Rabbi Ephraim, and Rabbi Chaim,

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