[Avodah] Dying al Kiddush Hashem

[Yitzhak Grossman]

On Tue, 2 Dec 2008 10:19:58 -0500
"Rich, Joel" <JRich at sibson.com> wrote:

...

> Any nafka mina l'dina?

Actually, there is, and quite a fascinating one.  Apparently, in the
late '40s, the question arose [0] if it was appropriate for widows
whose husbands had been killed / murdered / executed in the Holocaust
to remarry, since several Rishonim [1] maintain that widows whose
husbands have been killed Al Yihud Ha'Shem should never remarry,
"mi'shum kevod shamayim u'meshum kevodo".

Rav Yehoshua Ehrenberg [2] vigorously rejects this idea at great length,
and a major part of his refutation consists of my basic point, that
victims aren't necessarily kedoshim:

"But that which people say that even if he has not given up his life Al
Kidush Ha'Shem but he has been murdered by Akum because he is a Jew, he
is also called 'kadosh', this is apparently 'kidushei taus' ... but
certainly those who have been involuntarily killed, not through their
good will to give up their lives for God and His Torah, even though the
killing is because of hatred of Israel it is obvious to the Gemara that
they have not reached the level that no creation can stand in their
'mehizah' ... but ordinary people ('beinonim') who were simply killed
out of hatred of Israel and they did not say that if they violate the
religion they will be saved. even though they receive atonement for
their sins and they have risen to the level of servants of God, to the
level of sanctifiers of God like the martyrs of Lod they have not
reached."

[0] In the journals Ha'Posek and Ha'Pardes.  I haven't yet gotten a
hold of them; I am citing R. Ehrenberg, as below.
[1] See Ozar Ha'Poskim EH end of Siman 1.
[2] Resp. Devar Yehoshua V:Inyanim Shonim:37, and see also I:32:15 and
his letter published in Ozar Ha'Poskim at the end of Vol. 1

> Joel Rich

Yitzhak
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