The Power Of Dying on Kiddush HaShem

0:43and even in Parashat Bechukotai, chapter 26, verse 44, we have another parasha of rebuke, where HaKadosh Baruch Hu scares us to death, tells us not to sin, and gives us a very strong warning if we do. But He says to us, despite all of these things,

1:44So Rav Wasserman says this verse is a promise from HaKadosh Baruch Hu, not from Yaakov Avinu, not from some insignificant source. No, this is a promise from Hashem that doesn't change. No new religion, no new people, nothing will alter this promise. No matter how much damage we will endure as a people, HaKadosh Baruch Hu says, yes, I'll punish you at times, I'll rebuke you at times, I'll reward you at times, but no matter what, I'll never leave you. My covenant with you will never change. Even though it looks like it changed, it's never going to change. And Rav Wasserman says, throughout all of history, the last 2,000 years of agony and pain, we all knew that no matter what was happening, He's still with us. He’s still with us. We felt it. We felt like He's with us. We still saw miracles, we still saw things. But something will change at the time before Mashiach. they knew that they were suffering for their faith in Hashem and that everlasting life, in which nothing in creation could stand within their allotted portion, was waiting for them. It says that throughout the past, all of the agony and the pain that we went through, we were uplifted by the everlasting promise.

3:08We knew that no matter what, we have this promise. We have this promise in writing from Hashem. We have a promise in writing from Hashem that the Gemara in Masechet Bava Batra says that no matter what, no matter who, no matter where, in Hashem's eyes, no one could be like us. No one could be like Am Yisrael. Where the Gemara says that when Am Yisrael... dies for the sake of their belief in God. That's called dying al kiddush Hashem. Whether it be Rabbi Akiva, who was murdered in an awful way, as the Gemara in Masechet Berachot at the end discusses, and also in other Gemara, Masechet Gittin and others, or it be the generation of the Holocaust, where many Tzaddikim, like Rav Elchonon Wasserman himself, were murdered for their beliefs. the sake of their Judaism, not because they went against the Torah and then the goyim decided they are Jews anyway. No, these people defended the Torah while they were alive, while they had the ability, and even when they didn't have the ability. This is when a person dies because they're Jewish. This is a high level, where they are is such a state that it could even mean dying now.

4:34When someone dies, page 10b says that no one can stand next to such a person. What does that mean? The Gemara says that Rabbi Akiva was murdered, even before he got murdered. The Romans took him and literally peeled his skin and then eventually sold his meat in the market. People took Kodesh Kodeshim, took a Sefer Torah, and murdered them in awful ways. Other sages were murdered in equally horrific ways. One sage was exceptionally beautiful, so the Caesar's daughter said, "I want his skin." They took his skin while he was alive and placed it on her wall. Like sick people. Horrible things happened. But these are tzaddikim. So the Gemara says, wait a minute, they didn't need to die this way in order to be exceptional such that no one can stand next to them; they were already tzaddikim. It says, yeah, but even if you weren't the biggest talmid chacham and you died that way, that's what we learn from there. Where did we learn that from? In the...

5:59In the Gemara, it tells the story of two brothers, Lulianus and Pappus. During that time, the daughter of one of the Caesars was murdered by someone among the non-Jews. However, it seemed that they couldn't move forward without blaming a Jew. So, They sent messages to the Jewish people and said, if you don't admit who killed her from among you, we're going to kill everyone here. They knew that the Goyim meant business. So, what did they do? They went to the Caesar and said, "We killed your daughter." They didn't actually kill her, but they admitted, "We killed her." So, after they admitted, the Goyim took it upon themselves to kill both of them. And the Gemara says that their death, even though they weren't as great as Rabbi Akiva, and they weren't as great as any of the other sages that we mention in shiurim on a regular basis, they are on a level in Gan Eden that no one can stand next to them. They're on such a high level. Why? Because they died al kiddush Hashem. They died al kiddush Hashem.

7:21Now, the commentary called O'alei Yaakov, page 46b, says that on Yom Kippur, one of our prayers is like a song. We say, Adiyu v'ne'elu, you know, And we also say that Hashem is not only great, but He also is Kovesh Avonot. Kovesh Avonot. He's a conqueror of sins. So the Oha'lei Yaakov says, what does it mean that Hashem is a conqueror of sins? It explains that through His mercy and compassion, He holds back the immediate repercussions that might befall a person due to their wrongdoing. Further, it implies that Hashem provides opportunities for teshuvah (repentance) and growth, allowing a person to return to Him in earnest. This characteristic of Hashem is vital to understand as it highlights His kindness and patience with His creations. Once in a while, the Satan comes to Hashem, and he says, Hashem, you said in your Torah 12 times that a Mechalel Shabbat should get the death penalty. You said in your Torah, every time you talk about Shabbat, you talk about homosexuality. You said that person also gets the death penalty.

8:41On top of that, you said that anyone who goes against converts is at odds with you. At least 36 different issues arise with you. Moreover, you mentioned that people who cheat in business empower Amalek. Additionally, you mentioned that those who don't eat kosher... Makes them spiritually foolish. And he lists all of the sins, as if he knows everything by heart. He knows the whole Torah. So he comes to Hashem with a comprehensive list, but he doesn't just mention the sins; he puts a name next to each one. Name next to it. Name next to it. All the sinners. Look, at all Your people. This guy, Mechalel Shabbat. He and his friends, his cousin, his uncle, his this, his that. They just know this. They just did that. They don't want to come. They don't... This guy is this, this guy is that. And he gives a whole list of the sinners. He says, Hashem, let me at them. It's my job. You told me I'm the Malach HaMavet too. I'm out of work already for a while. I got to do something. So HaKadosh Baruch Hu, at the time that the Satan, the Malach HaMavet, comes and tries to prosecute against Am Yisrael, HaKadosh Baruch Hu, the Midrash Or HaAlei Yaakov says, has a special cloak, has special clothing.

9:57That's called Purpura. What is this Purpura? It is a special robe. Now obviously, this is in a spiritual sense, but this special robe has the image of every single person that ever died al Kiddush Hashem on it. And at that moment when the Satan comes and tries to prosecute all of Am Yisrael, Hashem looks at that. He says, yeah. Look at this tzaddik who died al Kiddush Hashem for me. Look at this guy. They told him to take off his tzitzit and he died just for refusing to take off his tzitzit. Why do you want me to kill these other people? Look at this guy. They told him to violate Shabbat. He died for that. He died not to violate Shabbat. Look at this guy. He died not to become a Christian. Look at this guy. He died not to become a Muslim. Look at all these tzaddikim. They all died because they're Jews. Look at those tzaddikim. Why do you want me to kill tzaddikim? He looks at this.

11:04And he says, he's kovesh avonot, he conquers the sins. He says, kovesh avonot lovesh dakot. He conquers sins and he wears righteousness. So Doale Yaakov says, that's what that prayer means. How do you wear righteousness? That's the cloak, the porfait. He wears the righteous people on him, and that clothing is what conquers the sins. He pleads, "No, no, give him more time. Don't do teshuva. Give him more time to do teshuva." So now, throughout all of the exile, we have had this strong belief in HaKadosh Baruch Hu that He's still with us. Rabbi Wasserman says that's another difference between 2,000 years ago and the last stage before Mashiach. The recognition of this fact did much to lighten their burdens.

12:13The fact that we knew that Hashem is still with us and that even if we die, we're going to die al Kiddush Hashem. We're dying for being Jewish. We're dying for being Haredim. We're dying for loving Hashem. Even if we die, all that it is, is just taking off your jacket and going to a different clothing. That's it. A person that is close to Hashem, deveiked to Hashem, is not scared of death for death itself. Oh, I'm going to miss my family. No, he's not scared of that. Yeah, sure, you love your family, you love your life, but if you're glued to Hashem, you can't wait to complete your mission and go to Olam Haba. Can't wait. So he's not scared of death. So all of the suffering that we went through for the last couple of thousand years, we weren't scared of death because we know that if they kill us because we're Jewish, anyway we're going to heaven. Because we keep Shabbat, we keep Taharat HaMishpacha, we keep this, we keep that, we're going to heaven anyway. So you're taking me to a place where I'm working day and night just to pay a mortgage, working day and night just to eat some cheese, working day and night just for somebody else to steal my money anyway.

13:23You're taking me from there to a place where I don't have to work anymore, and I can just relax forever? Baruch Hashem, thank you. And on top of that, you're killing me because I'm doing it? You're actually helping me get to a better level than I was able to achieve by myself. I learned a certain amount of Torah that got me, let's say, to level A in Gan Eden. But you, because you killed me because I'm Jewish, now I'm going to get to the highest possible level with Rabbi Akiva, even though I don't even know 1% of the Torah that Rabbi Akiva knew. I'm going to be at the same level as Rabbi Akiva. Oh, Hashem. So for 2,000 years, that understanding, that faith in Hashem, that emunah in Hashem, gave us comfort. We knew that no matter what, we're going to heaven, we're going to be okay, and because of this, you're actually helping me out, Mr. Nazi. You're going to get punished, you're going to Gehinnom, but thank you very much though. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for killing me because I'm a Jew. Thanks. Fantastic. I hope you die tomorrow, and everybody that's connected to you. But thank you very much now. Appreciate it though, because I'm going to a higher level of Heaven because of you, because you killed me because I'm a Jew. We're very excited to offer you the new Be'ezrat Hashem app 3.0. It's a newer, faster app, full of Torah, lots of Kedusha, by the shiurim that we do. Myself, Rabbi Ephraim, Rabbi Chaim.

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