I must thank you for this question as you have brought into focus a point which I have been mistaken about for over 40 years. It is indeed famous that "whoever is killed just because he is a Jew is called that he died 'Al Kiddush Hashem'" and it is attributed to the Rambam. I was fully intending to open my remarks with this "fact" but have a policy that, as much as I can, I do not answer the Kollel questions without a source. Well, I searched the Rambam in several works and it is not at all simple that the Rambam says such a thing. There are some who say (and in fact I cannot find them either; rather, I find people quoting "some who say") that this is Peshat in the Rambam. Now this fact is so well known, even though it seems to be baseless, that I suspect that there must be a source somewhere, and if our brothers in all the generations were not prophets, they were certainly the descendants of prophets. So, I personally am not ready to dismiss this as a mistake, but it does require some serious research. (I saw one source that quotes Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt"l as saying that one who is killed just because he is a Jew is not considered "Al Kidush Hash-m"; however, it could be out of context and he was only addressing the question of making a Berachah before giving up one's life.)

The clear and definite understanding is that one who is killed for refusing to commit an Aveirah is called that he died "Al Kidush Hash-m." However, even if we will find that it is true that anyone killed merely for being a Jew is considered a Kidush Hash-m, Olam ha'Ba is reserved for those who believe in it. If a person is basically a believer, but for whatever reason he is lackadaisical in his observance, then being killed "Al Kidush Hash-m" atones for his sins and gives him a great Madreiga in Olam ha'Ba. But if he is a Kofer and does not believe in Olam ha'Ba he will not receive this special treatment.

I hope this is an answer to your question. Take a look at the Rambam, Hilchos Yesodei ha'Torah, chapter 5, and Michtav me'Eliyahu, vol. 3, page 348. This is certainly a topic that deserves further study. Thank you for the question.

Shimon Brodie

The Gemara in Sanhedrin 47a says that a Jewish sinner who is executed by a foreign government receives atonement for his sins. It is not clear from the Gemara that Teshuvah is required, and the Me'iri says that he must do Teshuvah. The Rabeinu Yonah in Sha'arei Teshuvah (4:20) also mentions that Teshuvah is needed, but he says too that the horror that a person feels before being executed in such a way is a Kaparah.

The Chasam Sofer (Even ha'Ezer 2:133) says that even an apostate who is killed during a decree against Jews attains atonement and Kadish is recited for him. See also the responsum of the Maharil (72) and the notes of the Vilna Ga'on on the Tikunei Zohar (21) and the Zohar Bereishis (38b).

Aharon Steiner