Living the Purpose of Our Redemption

In Parshat Emor, we read a powerful command: “You shall not desecrate My holy name, and I shall be sanctified among the Children of Israel.” (Vayikra 22:32)
Immediately after, the Torah reminds us: “I am Hashem who took you out of Egypt to be your God.”  Rashi explains: The purpose of the geula from Mitzrayim was kiddush Hashem—to sanctify Hashem’s Name.

Redemption wasn’t just an escape from slavery. It was an opportunity to live lives that reveal Hashem’s greatness in the world. We weren’t just freed from something; we were chosen for something. We became Hashem’s representatives in the world.

But when we betray that mission—when we live in a way that causes a chillul Hashem—the consequences are devastating. Chazal teach that the first Beit HaMikdash was destroyed because of the three cardinal sins: murder, adultery, and idolatry. These are such severe desecrations of Hashem’s Name that we’re commanded to give up our lives rather than transgress them. When we failed to live the role for which we were redeemed from Egypt, we were exiled once again.

But the Torah doesn’t leave us in despair. Rabbeinu Bachya offers a path back saying if a person sins, they should rectify it in the same way they sinned.
If one desecrated Hashem’s Name, they must now sanctify Hashem’s Name. If one spoke lashon hara—let them now speak words of Torah. If one used their eyes for forbidden sights—let those same eyes now weep in teshuva. If someone broke Shabbat—let them now inspire others to love and keep Shabbat.

Redemption is not just about being freed—it’s about being transformed.

The Gemara in Yoma 86a defines kiddush Hashem through the pasuk “Ve’ahavta et Hashem Elokecha”—you shall love Hashem your God.

How do we show that love? By learning Torah. By serving Torah scholars. By treating others with kindness, respect and pleasantness. When someone lives this way, people look at them and say “Fortunate is his father who taught him Torah. Fortunate is his teacher who taught him Torah.”  But when we live the opposite way, the Gemara says, it’s a chillul Hashem.

If we want to bring the geula, we must become the reason it comes. That means living the very mission for which we were taken out of Egypt. It means repairing the chillul Hashem that led to the destruction of the first Beit HaMikdash. The second Beit HaMikdash lacked what the first had—but the third will surpass them both. The ultimate redemption will come when we live lives of kiddush Hashem—lives that make Hashem beloved in the eyes of others.

And it doesn’t take grand acts. Every smile. Every act of kindness. Every moment we dress with dignity, speak gently, and carry ourselves with integrity… it all builds kiddush Hashem.

When we live for Hashem, the world sees it. As David HaMelech says: “Then the nations will say: ‘Hashem has done greatly with these!’” (Tehillim 126:2) The world itself will acknowledge the holiness of our lives. And they will say: “How fortunate is their Father.”