Kiddush Hashem

This post is for links to two recent Kiddush Hashem news items.  The first one you may have seen, since it has been posted many places.  The second is not as well known.

 

Kiddush Hashem #1

 

Kiddush Hashem #2

 

What I like about the first one is that it wasn't even an extraordinary act that made the Kiddush Hashem.  It was Jews doing what Jews do, in daily life.  Numerous Jews live this way.  We don't always realize how our Jewish routines make an impact, not only in the spiritual realms, but right here.

 

What's nice about the second one is the breaking of stereotypes.

 

Sometimes, a Kiddush Hashem is made when Jews return money that does not belong to them.  True, it's a Kiddush Hashem, but non-Jews also return money that does not belong to them.  These two stories are special because it is the very Jewishness of the protagonists that make it a Kiddush Hashem. 

 

 

The Dog Knew Better

I heard this remarkable story from an eye witness:

She grew up in Strasbourg and lived on a fancy avenue on the fourth floor with her family.  The next door neighbor was a virulent anti-Semite who yelled epithets whenever he saw her father with his beard and Chassidic garb.

One seder night, Leil Shimurim, her father led his sons and sons-in-law and grandchildren downstairs and out to the street to sing Chasal Siddur Pesach.  They sang and danced and the infuriated gentile neighbor ordered his huge German Shepherd to attack her father (who was oblivious to what was happening with the neighbor).

Instead of attacking, the dog just crouched there quietly.  The women on the balcony watched this.

From then on, the neighbor did not say another word.  He saw that G-d was with this man and feared messing with him.

Feeding the Hungry

Today, before leaving the house, I prepared a snack of cashews in a baggie to take along.  I was sitting on the subway and, as happens periodically, someone announced that he was homeless and diabetic and hungry.  Did we have anything to give him?

I don't give money because you don't know what they'll do with it.  And I usually don't have anything else to offer.  But this time, I had nuts.  So I took out the baggie and when he came by, I asked - would you like these?

He gave a big "yeah!" and grinned and moved on.  I was hoping everybody else saw whitey give him food, and if they were discerning, Jewish whitey, while most of his kinsmen gave him nothing.  I feel that if someone says he's hungry, and you can feed him, then you do.  I should have thought, but forgot, that I am emulating Hashem by providing the man with food.

I hope it made a Kiddush Hashem.  I really missed my snack later in the day.