“If I pursue fleeting pleasures and passing thrills, I miss discovering the source of continuous joy: my own soul” — Hadar Goldin Hy"d
I was very disturbed by the letter criticizing Yonoson Rosenblum for writing about chareidim who refuse to be seated on planes, for religious reasons or other, thus delaying takeoff. The letter implied that Rabbi Rosenblum has ahavas Yisrael for chilonim but not for chareidim.
I strongly disagree. In Rabbi Rosenblum’s great love for all of Klal Yisrael, he is alerting us to our responsibility to live lives of kiddush Hashem. As he writes, the Gemara (Yoma 86a) understands the mitzvah to love Hashem and to “make Hashem’s Name beloved.”
Rabbi Rosenblum focused on how kiddush Hashem can draw secular Jews closer. There is another reason why kiddush Hashem is such an imperative at this particular moment in history. We all know that anti-Semitism, in America and around the world, has become more widespread and open than at any time in recent history. While we cannot totally wipe out hatred of our people, for halachah hi she’Eisav sonei es Yaakov, the Netziv writes that living a life of kiddush Hashem can minimize it to some extent. When non-Jews see observant Jews acting with integrity, pleasantness, and concern for their fellow man, they might be inclined to hate us less. Or not hate us at all.
As an example, someone told me how his lost briefcase, containing valuable business documents, was returned to him by an African American who found it in a subway station. The man traveled to this Yid’s Boro Park home to return it rather than calling him to come pick it up. When he asked the finder what had possessed him to go through so much trouble, he replied, “My father worked for Ossie’s fish store in Boro Park and they were always nice to him. And I worked for one summer in the kitchen of Camp Agudah in Ferndale and they always treated me with respect and paid me on time. When I found your briefcase, I said to myself, ‘The Jewish people were good to me and my father. Now I have a chance to pay them back.’ ”
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