“One way of getting Jews to be in line with Gentile-­approved norms is to invoke the doctrine of חילול השם/’the desecration of God’s name'”

One way of getting Jews to be in line with Gentile-­approved norms is to invoke the doctrine of חילול השם/”the desecration of God’s name.” This refers specifically to the notion that something might be technically permitted under the letter of the law, but actually putting that law into practice would be embarrassing for the Jewish people and lower their estimation in Gentile eyes. Such concerns can indeed be effective motivators for behaving in certain ways, and this concept has a solid history in Jewish law as well. But, at the end of the day, when something is forbidden under the rubric of חילול השם ,it means that when the lights are off and the camera stops running, when the Gentile gaze has been averted, there is no reason to behave in accordance with external Gentile norms. The entire category is essentially about public relations. It is a serious concern, to be sure, but an externally imposed one that would not be operative in the isolated Jewish world of Torah and mitzvot.

Rabbi Ethan Tucker, “Ethical Norms as the Foundation of Torah”, Mechon Hadar Center for Jewish Law and Values (Av 5776) [http://mechonhadar.s3.amazonaws.com/mh_torah_source_sheets/CJLVEthicalNorms.pdf]