"Two Forms of Kiddush Hashem"

19 Shevat 5786

Erev Shabbat Kodesh

Parashat Yitro 

(Excerpted from Parashat Yitro: Two forms of Kiddush Hashem by Daniel Pinner)

...Pharaoh and Yitro, then, are the two paradigms for Kiddush Hashem.  They were both forced to recognise the falseness of polytheism, both were forced to acknowledge that Hashem, God of the Hebrews, is the sole true God.  They achieved this understanding in very different ways – the one through his evil, the other through honest enquiry; the one against his will, the other whole-heartedly and joyfully; the one by attempting to exterminate Israel, Hashem’s nation, the other by hearing about their salvation and rejoicing in it; the one by being destroyed by Hashem, the other by embracing Him.

But despite their polar differences, both these men, both leaders of their respective nations, became tools through which God’s Name became sanctified in this world.

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