A couple of weeks ago my brother from Lakewood NJ was picking up a prescription at a local branch of CVS and felt compelled to compliment the pharmacist. While some employees at the drug store tended to be brusque and abrasive, he was impressed with this man’s patient and pleasant manner and made a point of telling him so. The pharmacist’s response was eye-opening.
“To tell you the truth,” the pharmacist said, “I always enjoy dealing with your community. It is always a very pleasant experience to serve Orthodox Jews at the counter.” He paused for a moment and then added, “There is one thing in particular that has always impressed me. We tend to hear all sorts of foul language from other customers; people are sometimes frustrated when they can’t fill a prescription or when something else goes wrong, and they let loose with all sorts of profanities. But I don’t think I have ever heard a religious Jew uttering a single bad word.”
The pharmacist turned to his coworker to corroborate his assertion. “Jim, have you ever heard anyone from the Jewish community use foul language?”
“Nope,” the other employee replied flatly. “Not even once.”
Kedushah, sanctity, is one of the most powerful means for creating a kiddush Hashem. When we demonstrate that we are holy and imbued with a sanctity that distinguishes us from the people around us, we bring great honor to Hashem. As we declare in the chazzan’s repetition of Mussaf on Rosh Hashanah, “Na’eh l’Kadosh pe’er mikedoshim — It is proper for a Holy One [Hashem] to be glorified by holy ones.”
5TC thanks Rabbi Shraga Freedman for sharing this story. R’ Freedman is the author of Sefer Mekadshei Shemecha, Living Kiddush Hashem, and A Life Worth Living. Email [email protected] for a free sefer. Visit LivingKiddushHashem.org for more resources
