emor - kiddush hashem

first of all, ive been told that i was "misleading" in last week's dvar torah - pretending i answered for the ramban when i really didnt.  i think i put 2 disclaimers in there to the effect that i do not have any clear resolution to all the issues i brought up.  but let this be a third.

second, further support for the notion that the rambam paskins like ben petura can be found in the omission of the rambam of the entire sugya in nedarim (80b) based off r akiva's shita of chayecha kodmin.  the gemara there debates when a community with water has to give of its water to the other community - the entire premise of the sugya, as the ran points out, is that if giving water endangers the first community, then they should not give, as per chayecha kodmin.  the rambam's ommission of this sugya points again to his rejection of r akiva.

on to this week's parsha.  parshas emor has lots of stuff about the moadim, but i dont want to talk about that now.  lets look at the mitzvah of kiddush hashem (and the prohibition of chilul hashem), learned from the pasuk "vilo sichalelu es sheim kadshi vinikdashti bitoch bnei yisrael..." - do not profane the name of g-d, and I (g-d) will become sanctified in the midst of bnei yisrael" - what exactly does this mitzvah entail.

explains the ramban: על דעת רבותינו (תו"כ פרק ט ד) מצות עשה, שנקדש את שמו במצות ליהרג עליהן ולא נעבור

the mitzvah of kiddush hashem is to die al kiddush hashem.  the beis yosef on the tur in yoreh deah siman 157 asks a question: והא דבשאר עבירות מפלגינן בין בשעת השמד לשלא בשעת השמד ובין בצינעא לבפרהסיא ובין להנאת עצמן לשלא להנאת עצמן ובג' עבירות לא מפלגינן בינייהו כתוב בנמוקי יוסף (סנהדרין יז סוע"ב) דטעמא משום דהני לאו משום חילול השם הוא דאסירי אלא מפני חומר עצמן הילכך בכל ענין אסירי. 

we know that there are various halachos about when we say yehareg vial yaavor.  the big three (avodah zara, shfichus damim, giluy arayos), are yehareg vial yaavor even bi-tzinah (not in front of ten jews).  other aveiros are only yehareg vial yaavor if they're (a) front of ten jews and the goy forcing one to do them is miskavein not lihanaas atzmo but rather, solely lihaaviro al hamitzvos (b) bishaas hashmad, in a time of general religious persecution   says the beis yosef, this distinction reflects the fact that there are different reasons why these different categories are yehareg vial yaavor.  the big 3 are yehareg vial yaavor not because of kiddush hashem, but rather, because of "chumras atzman" - the severity of the issurim themselves. kiddush hashem, however, is the reason that other mitzvos are yehareg vial yaavor bifarhesya or bishaas hashmad.

this would seem to make sense.  as the lechem mishna (yesodei hatorah 5:4) points out, the simple understanding would be that there is only a kiyum of kiddush hashem bifarhesya - hence it is impossible that kiddush hashem would be michayev one to die bi-tzinah for the big three.

the rambam, however, disagrees.  says the rambam:  וכל מי שנאמר בו יהרג ואל יעבור ונהרג ולא עבר הרי זה קידש את השם - ALL the yehareg vial yaavors are a kiyum of kiddush hashem.  that presumably includes those that are not bifarhesya, i.e. the big three.  (i note for the sake of honesty that the lechem mishna does not understand this way.  however, his understanding seems impossible in the rambam here, and even more so in iggeres hashmad.)  so we have to understand how the rambam understands kiddush hashem to be broader than the conventional definition.

there is a fascinating machlokes between the rambam and the ramban concerning why avraham avinu gets the special title אַבְרָהָם אֹהֲבִי (yeshayahu 41:8).  the ramban writes in parshas yisro that it is because avraham was willing to die al kiddush hashem when he threw himself into the fire at ur kasdim.  but the ramban says, there is another explanation some chachamim hold of.  while he doesnt mention the rambam by name, he is clearly referring to the rambam at the end of the tenth perek of hilchos teshuva, where the rambam writes: העובד מאהבה עוסק בתורה ובמצות והולך בנתיבות החכמה לא מפני דבר בעולם ולא מפני יראת הרעה ולא כדי לירש הטובה אלא עושה האמת מפני שהוא אמת וסוף הטובה לבא בגללה. ומעלה זו היא מעלה גדולה מאד ואין כל חכם זוכה לה. והיא מעלת אברהם אבינו שקראו הקב"ה אוהבו לפי שלא עבד אלא מאהבה והיא המעלה שצונו בה הקב"ה על ידי משה שנאמר ואהבת את ה' אלהיך, ובזמן שיאהוב אדם את ה' אהבה הראויה מיד יעשה כל המצות מאהבה: 

whats so amazing about this rambam is the fact that he could have said like the ramban, but chose not to.  in other words, the maalah of throwing himself into the kivshan ha-eish wasnt enough to merit avraham with his special status.  what was enough?  the fact that avraham loved g-d in his general mitzvah performance and day to day life.

the ramban suggests that this machlokes between himself and the rambam is actually a machlokes in the mechilta.  the first opinion in the mechilta seems to  attribute avraham's status as an ohev shel hashem to his special avodah me-ahava, while the second opinion in the mechilta connects between avraham and all the others who throughout the generations have had to die al kiddush hashem. מה לך יוצא ליהרג, על שמלתי את בני. מה לך יוצא לישרף, על שקראתי בתורה. מה לך יוצא ליצלב, על שאכלתי את המצה. מה לך לוקה מאפרגל, על שנטלתי את הלולב. (the ramban writes that this was during a shaas hashmad when even regular mitzvos  are yehareg vial yaavor - see beis yosef who cites this same medrash from vayikra rabba and disagrees).

i wonder if according to the rambam, we can suggest there is no machlokes in the mechilta. kiddush hashem includes within it that some of the mitzvos are yehareg vial yaavor.  but what that reflects is that we have to dedicate ourselves in our entirety to ahavas hashem - the real mitzvah of kiddush hashem is to live our lives in accordance with ahavas hashem.  hence, it was this that merited avraham his special status.

the rambam basically says this explicitly.  in sefer hamitzvos, the rambam writes that kiddush hashem is מסירת נפשנו למות ביד האונס על אהבתו ית' - (notice the mention of ahavas hashem.) but in iggeres hashmad, the rambam writes that kiddush hashem also includes much more:   וקדושת השם היא הפך חלול השם, וזה שהאדם כשיעשה מצוה מן המצוות ולא יערב עמהן כונה מן הכונות אלא אהבת ה' יתעלה ועבודתו לבד, הנה הוא קדש את השם 

the rambam also agrees that there is a concept of kiddush hashem birabbim.  but as much as thats important, equally important is the kiddush hashem just between us and hashem.  what really is kiddush hashem?  its when we act in a way that hashem can look at us, ויאמר לי עבדי אתה ישראל אשר בך אתפאר.  may we all be zocheh!