MAKING A KIDDUSH HASHEM
Chazal explain that the mitzva to love HaShem requires that a Yid should act in a way that makes Him beloved by others. When a person learns Torah and deals honestly in business, people will say, "How great is he who learns Torah; how wonderful are his ways! Woe to one who does not learn Torah! We promise that we too will now learn and teach our children Torah as well." But when (chas veshalom) a person who learns Torah does not act honestly, people will say the opposite, causing a chillul HaShem.
The Rebbe explained that dealing honestly means going even beyond the requirements of halacha. One should do so also when dealing with goyim, thus creating a kiddush HaShem.
(יומא פו ע"א, תו"מ תשמ"ד ח"ב ע' 612)
The tanna, Rebbi Shimon ben Shetach, used to sell flax, which he would carry from place to place. Seeking to ease his work, his talmidim went off to the marketplace and bought him a donkey from an Arab merchant. On their way home they noticed that he had accidentally left a valuable jewel hanging on the donkey's neck. Excitedly, they hurried to Rebbi Shimon and told him that HaShem had sent a bracha and he would no longer have to work.
Rebbi Shimon asked, "Did the owner know about it?" "No," they replied.
"If so," he told them, "you must return it immediately, for he sold you a donkey and not a jewel."
When the goy received the gem, he exclaimed, "Blessed is the G-d of Rebbi Shimon ben Shetach!"
(דברים רבה ג,ג, בשילוב ירושלמי בבא מציעא פ"ב ה"ה)
AT ALL COSTS
Alexander the Great once visited the King of Katzia to observe that country's laws and customs. Just then, two citizens were admitted to have their judgment rendered by the king.
"My master, the King!" called out the plaintiff. "I bought a desolate piece of land from this man here, dug it up, and discovered a buried treasure. So I told him to take the treasure; I bought a ruin, not a treasure!"
"Just as you are afraid of being punished for stealing, so am I!" responded the other. "I sold the ruin to you, including everything in it, from the depths of the earth, until the sky!"
The king asked one man if he had a son, and the other, if he had a daughter. He advised that their children get married and the treasure be given to the new couple. Alexander looked on in amazement.
"Didn't I judge well?" queried the King of Katzia. "Sure!" replied Alexander the Great. "But if I had been the arbitrator, I would have killed them both, and taken the treasure for the kingdom's coffers..."
The King of Katzia then asked, "Does the sun shine in your country?" "Yes," replied Alexander.
"Does it rain?" He nodded affirmatively.
"Do you have animals?" "Yes," he said.
"Well, then," declared the King of Katzia, "the sun shines and the rain falls in the merit of those animals."
(ויקרא רבה כז, א)
When he was a lad of fourteen, Reb Baruch, the Alter Rebbe's father, left his hometown, Vitebsk, and traveled through many villages. Arriving in Dobromysl, he settled down to learn in the beis medrash. One day, a man came over to him and introduced himself, "My name is Eliezer Reuven, and I have a smithy on the outskirts of town. I live nearby, and I could use some help, so if you would care for such a job, I would provide you with food and drink and a place to sleep."
Baruch was overjoyed, for this was exactly what he had wanted. He was prepared to do the hardest labor as long as he would earn his own piece of bread, without having to rely on anyone's tzedaka, but asked to be paid with money, so he would not have to eat and sleep in the homes of strangers.
He worked conscientiously at the smithy throughout the day, and in the evening, he would go to the beis medrash to learn. And the more he observed Eliezer Reuven, the more did he respect him, for all day, as he stood hammering the red-hot iron, he would recite Tehillim by heart, kapitl after kapitl.
The smith's customers were the peasants of the surrounding villages, who would bring their wagons and tools to be repaired. Baruch noticed the exceptional honesty and devotion with which Eliezer Reuven treated his customers, never overcharging them even a fraction of a cent. One day in particular, Baruch noticed something which made a deep impression on him. A peasant from a nearby village had brought his horse to the smith for shoeing and at the same time he brought the wheel of his wagon to be fixed. Another peasant had brought his horse to have four new shoes put on. When the time came to ask for the money, Eliezer Reuven mistakenly charged the second peasant the amount he should have charged the first one, overcharging him six groshen.
Both peasants had already left when Eliezer Reuven realized his mistake. He was so upset about it that he immediately set off on foot to this peasant's village about three miles away, to give him back the tiny overcharged amount. Baruch was astounded. He had never seen such meticulousness on the part of an ordinary person. He asked the smith if he really thought it had been worthwhile to walk the six-mile distance for a matter of a mere six groshen.
Eliezer Reuven replied, "About the people who lived before the mabul, it is written that they were so corrupt that they were not even bothered when robbing from someone less than a little prutah. Would you really want me to behave even worse than the people of that wicked generation and rob a man of six groshen?!"
(ספר הזכרונות ח"א ע' 75)
CONSIDER
Why is a kiddush HaShem specifically related to going beyond the requirements of halacha?
Is a kiddush HaShem more important than the loss of money, or will no loss be incurred?
