The following is a brief summary of some of thoughts said over by R' Frand on the parsha this evening. I have attempted to reproduce these vorts to the best of my ability. Any perceived inconsistency is the result of my efforts to transcribe the shiur and should not be attributed to R' Frand.
The first vort R' Frand said related to the Mikallel. The Torah writes in Vayikra 24:12 that after he cursed Hashem, he was placed in a lockup while Moshe asked Hashem what he should be done to him.
Rashi explains that at the time of this incident there was another person who was being held -the Mikoshesh. Unlike the Mikallel, it was known that the Mikoshesh was going to be put to death, they just did not know which form of the death penalty would be applied.
Rashi further explains that although both of these men were being held, they were not placed together in the same cell. But Rashi does not explain why they were held separately.
R' Frand quoted the Sefer Ikvei Erev who explains that because it was known that the Mikoshesh was going to receive the death penalty but the punishment for the Mikallel was not yet known, they were not put together so that the Mikallel would not have the anguish of thinking that he might be put to death when the rule of law had not yet been established.
R' Frand commented that we see how considerate they were of the Mikallel's feelings even though he was a miserable human being. It is understandable why a person might violate certain rules such as eating non-kosher, working on Shabbos or chasing other desires, there is no Yetzer Hara for cursing Hashem. Yet, his feelings were considered and he was not housed with someone who was known to be facing the death penalty.
R' Frand said a second vort on the mitzva of Kiddush Hashem which is found in Vayikra 22:32 (וְנִ֨קְדַּשְׁתִּ֔י בְּת֖וֹךְ בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל). He quoted R' Ya'akov Kaminetzky who asked - why is this mitzva not a direct command - be Mikadesh Hashem?
R' Kaminetzky writes in Emes L'Ya'akov that the answer can be found in the Rambam Hilchos Yisodei HaTorah (5:5). The Ramam writes that "Kol Beis Yisrael" is required to be Mikadesh Hashem. In so doing he does not write that men and women are required but uses this unusual term of Kol Beis Yisrael. R' Kaminetzky explains that this is because if it was a command, then children would be exempt. However since the requirement is that Hashem's name should be sanctified, it would apply even to children. He further explains that even if a non-Jew sanctifies Hashem's name, he would be rewarded since the end result is Hashem is sanctified.
He also noted that this is the reason why during the Middle Ages during the crusades, people went to their death with their children, rather than allow the children to be raised as non-Jews.
R' Frand said a different answer in the name of R' Nissan Alpert who writes in Limudei Nissan that a person who is not frum would have a hard time with the concept of dying Al Kiddush Hashem. But a frum person who lives his life by eating kosher, keeping family purity, observing Shabbos, being honest in business, not speaking lashon hara - when the opportunity to die Al Kiddush Hashem comes up it winds up being part of his nature - (וְנִ֨קְדַּשְׁתִּ֔י).
He tied this into the Gemara in Berachos when R' Akiva's students were asking him - isn't it enough all the torture you are undergoing and he responded that all his life he was pained about how he could keep this mitzva.
R' Frand closed the vort by telling a few stories about Kiddush Hashem. I will summarize the first here - there was a man who had Hertz President's Club privileges which allows the member to pick any car in the lot and then when he checks out they look at his license, print a contract and he leaves without needing to wait at the counter or in any line.
There was a frum man who went and picked up a car under the program. But when he went to drop off the car he realized that they had misread his license and had charged someone else. He thought about just dropping the car and sending the money to the person by Zelle, but decided instead to go in and tell the attendant.
When he went inside the attendant got the manager who was so amazed by this person's honesty (because he could have just left and someone else would have been charged with no one knowing who he was) that he said to him - even though this cost $217, I am going to comp you because of how honest you are.
This is Kiddush Hashem.
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