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By Rabbi Tuvia Bolton, Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim, Kfar Chabad, Israel

This week’s Torah reading contains 63 commandments one is the prohibition against misusing G-d’s name and another is to sanctify G-d’s name;

“Don’t profane My Holy Name and I will be sanctified within the Jewish people.” (22:32)…

What does this mean? Why is G-d’s ‘NAME’ important? How is it possible to profane or sanctify G-d’s name? G-d is infinite and Holy far above our ability to add or subtract. What does He care about His name?

To understand this here is a story that was told by the Lubavitcher Rebbe on the 13th Nisan 5745 that he heard from the Previous Rebbe. (‘Ma Sh’sipair Li HaRebbe vol. 2 pg 55).

Everyone has heard of Romanoff dynasty of Russian Czars but few have heard of a far greater line of kings that ruled in Russia in those times; the dynasty of Chabad.

While the Czars represented only themselves and Russia, the Rebbes (all direct descendants of King David) represented the King of the entire Universe.

And there were times when the two kings met in battle.

One time it was The Tzemach Tzedik versus the Russian Army.

Czarist Russia was, arguably, the most fanatically religious country in history. Everyone, including intelligentsia, government officials, and the royal family, was devoutly and passionately Russian Orthodox. And they devoted much time and energy to ‘converting’ Jews, even Jewish children.

Jewish boys were snatched from their homes at the age of ten or even less to the army and ‘trained’ to be ‘good’ Russian soldiers i.e. with no Judaism. This cruel program lasted some fifty years before it was dropped and resulted in large numbers of Jewish soldiers who were loyal to the Czar but still held on to their Jewish identity.

These Jewish soldiers, even after leaving the army, were known as ‘Cantonists’.

Simultaneously there arose another enemy of Judaism; The Maskilim. These were totally assimilated, anti-religious, Jews who had chosen to ‘illuminate’ as Jews as possible away from the Torah and its commandments into the ‘progressive’ world of the gentiles.

Their main battlefield was Jewish Torah schools where they often succeeded in posing as religious teachers only to poison the minds of their unsuspecting pupils.

But occasionally they forces worked with the Government and one year they succeeded in convincing the government to consider passing a series of laws to secularize Jewish education.

The Tzemach Tzedik. the third Chabad Rebbe; Menachem Mendel was called by the other Chassidic Rabbis of Russia to travel to Petersburg, before the program came into effect, and convince the government ministers there that such a plan would never work.

In the course of the several weeks that the Rebbe was there fiercely debating and arguing against the court and the Maskilim and was put under house arrest some twenty times for defying court procedure, disrespecting the judge, refusing to agree with the government and more, but miraculously his self-sacrifice seemed to be paying off.

It just so happened that near Petersburg was a fortified city by the name of Kronshtot which was the site of a huge army base of several thousands of soldiers and among them were Cantonists.

Although these soldiers had almost no connection to Judaism, except for a few Hebrew prayers some of them knew by rote, when they heard that the famous Tzemach Tzedek of Lubavitch was in nearby Peterburg something pushed them to request from their officers to invite him to visit them and give a speech.

It’s not too clear why but the officers passed the request up to their general who passed to Minister of War and, to their amazement, he agreed!

Some say he hoped to influence the Rebbe to agree to some of their demands and soften his uncompromising stand on genuine Jewish education.

But, as we will see, they were wrong.

The Minister of War ordered the Minister of the Interior to send an official request to the Rebbe to invite him at his earliest convenience, to come to the base and address the Cantonists.

The Rebbe agreed and, sure enough, a few days later the Rebbe, accompanied by many of his Chassidim, was entering the gates of the fortress.

He was taken to a large auditorium where several hundred Jewish soldiers from the infantry, navy and cavalry were standing at attention. He told them to be seated, said a short Chassidic discourse about the importance of renewing their connection to G-d and observing His commandments, quoting and explaining in Russian, several sayings of the Talmud and Kabala about the importance of self-sacrifice for the Torah.

The Rebbe finished by explaining at any moment Moshiach would bring all the Jews to the Holy Land but until then it was their obligation to pray for the welfare of Russia and its leaders.

A few weeks later, when the Rebbe successfully finished his work in Petersburg, the Cantonist soldiers somehow got wind of his plans to return home to Lubavitch and made a second request to their officers. They wanted to hear the Rebbe again and thank him for the trouble he had taken for them.

Again their officers agreed. But this time when they went to the Rebbe to convey the soldiers’ request they added a warning. They informed him that his previous speech had caused quite a stir among the soldiers and that he better not do it again. One more incendiary word and he would be in danger.

This time, six hundred Jewish soldiers were gathered in a large open square in Petersburg and listened in silence as the Rebbe spoke.

Again the Rebbe said a Chasidic discourse but this time he finished with the following words: “If ever anyone tries to force any Jew to change their religion and deny Judaism, G-d forbid, then that Jew is obligated to actually give his life rather than give in! Even if the King himself demands that you leave Judaism you must sacrifice your life rather than listen to him.”

The Rebbe asked the soldiers to advertise his words, blessed them and bade them farewell.

The soldiers were deeply affected by these two visits but, being that the only connection most of them had to Judaism were vague memories of their early youth, there was little chance that the effect would last.

Five years later the entire camp was on its feet; for weeks they had been cleaning, painting and polishing every corner of the fortress in preparation for the ultimate honor. His glorious majesty; the Czar HIMSELF with his royal honor guard and the highest ministers in Russia were coming for an official visit to their camp!

It is hard for us today to imagine the awe, fear and trepidation the very mention of the Czar’s name evoked in the heart of every Russian soldier, how much more so a visit from the Czar HIMSELF! The soldiers were in a frenzy.

When the Czar finally arrived the trumpets blared, the band began to play, thousands of soldiers from all branches of the Czars armies stood at attention in shining uniforms holding colorful banners. Then suddenly thirty or so chosen soldiers stepped forward and began to dance and do acrobatic feats before His Majesty.

The Czar was enthralled. He turned to the various ministers at his right and left, a broad smile of contentment on his face, nodding and raising his hands with approval as the soldiers flipped in the air and lifted heavy burdens.

“Who are these men?” He proudly asked the commander of the base, “What are their names?”

The commander raised his hand, they stopped their performance, stood in a line before the Czar, sweating and trying to catch their breaths and he read off their names.

As he read, the Czar’s smile faded into a frown, his body stiffened, he leaned forward and hissed “Why, those are Jewish names! Jews!!”

He straightened up, tried to regain his composure but did not succeed… he simply could not control his anger and disappointment. He scanned the soldiers and announced out loud. “Here, sitting with us here is a priest. I command you, all of you, to change your names and your religion …. NOW and you will all be elevated to the rank of officers!!”

The soldiers glanced briefly at one another, briefly behind them, and then straightened their gaze and stood at stiff attention. One stepped forward, saluted the Czar and spoke.

“Your majesty! Five years ago, the Rebbe of Lubavitch visited here. He told us that it is forbidden for us to change our religion even if the Czar personally demands it. He said we must sacrifice our lives rather than do that.”

And saying this they all spun around, ran to the bridge behind them, climbed over the rail and gracefully dived into the churning river… never to return alive.

When the previous Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Yosef Yitzchak, told this story he explained that there are two miraculous details here. First, that they remembered what the Rebbe said five years earlier. And second, that what he said affected them so deeply that they actually gave their lives!

This answers our questions about G-d’s name.

The Torah tells us that G-d created the world with His words.

That’s why we can’t see or feel that there is a Creator. All we perceive is His speech (the world) but cannot see the speaker. His very speech conceals Him from us.
But a NAME is different. When we call someone’s name it causes that person to turn and face us; to REVEAL himself. That is the Torah. The Torah is the NAMES of G-d.

So profaning G-d’s name means to ignore G-d and His Torah and act as though there is no meaning to the creation; no Creator. In other words, making the world profane and empty (the word for mundane ‘Chalal’ also means ’empty).

But ‘Sanctifying’ G-d’s name means revealing the Creator in every aspect of the creation … Just like a NAME reveals the one who is being called.

As the Cantonists did after the Rebbe spoke to them.

The lesson here is… the future of the world is in our hands. We can treat it as G-d’s name not only G-d’s words.

That will be the job of Moshiach which has been begun by the Chassidic writings of Chabad and others.

Moshiach will reveal that the world and, even more so the Torah, is G-d’s name …….. and that G-d and His NAME are one (Zecharia 14:9).

And, as the Rebbe said repeatedly; this should happen at any moment. We are standing on the merits of thousands of years of Jewish service, hopes, prayers and suffering. It all depends on us!

One more good deed, word or even thought, can bring …….

Moshiach NOW!

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