The Kiddush Hashem Foundation has made it their mission to help bring awareness of the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem to Klal Yisrael

Clang, clang.

The police led a Muslim woman into the court room. She was dressed in black and her entire face was covered with a black cloth.

“You are accused of carrying a gun and stealing from a store!” The judge said sharply. “And we’re here to decide if you are innocent or guilty.”

Sitting in the audience was an entire Jewish Denver day camp. They were fascinated; they’d never seen court proceedings up close before. What a great camp trip!

The lawyers presented their cases and one by one, witnesses were brought in and cross-examined. But each said something else: one said the shoplifter was light-skinned, the other said she was dark-skinned.

There was only one way to find out…

“Take off your veil,” the judge ordered. But the woman shook her head, refusing.

“We need to see your face,” the judge said sternly and ordered a police officer to pull her veil off. The officer stepped toward her, yanked, and — SURPRISE!

It was one of Denver’s Jewish day camp counselors, his face painted blue and green!

“Color war!” he yelled and all the campers gasped in shock and delight.

Believe it or not, the camp had managed to get a REAL judge, REAL lawyers, and REAL police officers to participate in this elaborate color war breakout scheme!

“Order in the court!” The judge called and banged his gavel. The counselors had provided him with a short speech to read about sur mera and aseh tov (the two teams!). “It isn’t enough to just stay away from evil,” the judge read aloud. “A person must also contribute to goodness.”

When the camp counselors thanked the judge for his part in the scheme, the judge thanked them, saying he’d learned a lot from the experience.

But that wasn’t all: A week later, the camp director got a phone call. The caller said, “My son was caught shoplifting and has been sentenced to 16 hours of community service. The judge suggested he work for your religious camp where children are taught and practice high standards of behavior. We hope you’ll have a positive influence on him.”

(Adapted with permission by ArtScroll, from A Life Worth Living, Dazzling the Judge)

I’m sure you’re reading this and marveling, “Wow, what a kiddush Hashem!” I heard this story from Rabbi Shraga Freedman, formerly of Denver, now of Baltimore, who is the educational director of the Kiddush Hashem Foundation. He’s written several books on the subject and with the help of his partners, Shabsey Gartner and Moshe Firestone, has made it their mission to help bring awareness of the mitzvah of kiddush Hashem to Klal Yisrael.