Emor: To Give One's Soul – and Live

by Rav Yisrael Ariel, Head of the Temple Institute, Jerusalem, yeshiva.org.il, translated by Hillel Fendel.

This week's Torah portion of Emor – Vayikra 21-24 – mentions one of the cardinal concepts of Judaism: the Sanctification of G-d's Name. Regarding this the Rambam writes in his Laws of Torah Fundamentals (5,1): "The entire House of Israel is commanded to sanctify G-d's great name, as is written: 'I will be sanctified among the Children of Israel.'"

The typical example of this commandment is where a non-Jew holds a sword over a Jew's head and issues a simple threat: "Bow down to this idol, or else I will kill you!" The Jew must then sanctify G-d's name by refusing to do so, and allow himself to be killed instead. This appears to be the traditional division of labor, wherein the Gentile seeks to convert Jews to his religion or kill them, while the Jew's job is to extend his neck and be slaughtered. The Rambam, in his famous Epistle of Kiddush Hashem, admiringly applies to this situation the verse, "We have been slain for You all the time" (Psalms 44,23). 

The Sages also lavished great praise upon those who give their lives for G-d, saying, for instance, "Those who were killed by the regime rather than betray G-d – no one can stand in their vicinity… such as Rabbi Akiva and his colleague" (Pesachim 50a). 

This type of Kiddush Hashem is for times of emergency. But there is another type which is even more exalted and desirable to G-d, and that is the level of he who lives for the Sanctification of G-d's Name. This refers to one who sanctifies His name while living and breathing, not in his death. For example, Mattathias of the Chanukah story was given an ultimatum to bring a sacrifice to pagan gods ,or else – and instead of refusing and then being killed, he arose and killed the Greek who dared to threaten him! It is precisely this type of Kiddush Hashem that the Nation of Israel has been singing about and praising for over 2,000 years! For "it is not the dead who will praise You," we say in Hallel, Nor does G-d want His nation of Israel when they are dead, Heaven forbid – but rather when they are sanctifying His name through life! This is the main charge of the Torah, as it states: "These are the mitzvot that a person must do and live through them" (Vayikra 18,5) – and the Sages derived: "live through them, and not die by them."

Another example of one who sanctified G-d via life is cited in the Talmud (Sotah 37a): "When Israel stood by the Red Sea with the Egyptians chasing them, Nachshon ben Aminadav of the Tribe of Judah was the first to enter the water [thus meriting this tribe, via its descendant David, with the kingdom of Israel]… At that time, Moshe was busy praying, and G-d said: 'My beloved people are [about to] drown in the Sea, and you extend your prayers before Me?!... 'Tell the Israelites to go!' 

Our Sages praise Nachshon's act profusely, saying that this is precisely the type of Kiddush Hashem that G-d loves! It was an act of total trust in G-d, and it brought about life and Redemption to Israel. Nachshon ben Aminadav became the prototype of what "Kiddush Hashem through life" is all about, and it is a part of the song of Hallel sung by Israel throughout the generations [in the paragraph of B'tzet Yisrael… Hay'ta Yehuda l'kodsho, Yisrael mamshelotav].  

R. Akiva is remembered in the Talmud as he whose flesh was plowed with combs of iron until his soul left him as he recited Shma Yisrael. However, he is also remembered, inter alia, from another very important side, one that manifests the spirit of vitality that pulsed within him. It was R. Akiva who stood with his colleagues at the ruins of the Holy Temple and while they cried, he chuckled. Why so? He explained that the fulfillment of the prophecies of desolation meant that the other prophecies, those of Redemption, would surely also be fulfilled. He saw in his mind's eye Israel being redeemed! This is how he lived: by sanctifying G-d's name and bringing Redemption to the world! 

The Nation of Israel has had no shortage of heroes who died for G-d's name, whether under the Roman regime, during the Crusades, in the Inquisition, during the recent Holocaust, and much more – such as the victims of Hamas 2023. Such self-sacrifice has no parallel in any nation or tongue. Nevertheless, the Holy One, blessed be He, expects to see sanctification of His name especially in life, by those who bring the people of Israel from destruction to building-up.

In our generation, there are plenty of us who bring light to Israel, who are pioneers in both the physical and spiritual planes, who build the Land in the face of those who come to destroy it, both from within and without, and who build Yeshivot and Torah centers, in the face of those who would promote foreign culture.  It is these who bear the Redemption of Israel on their shoulders: "Israel, in whom I take pride" (Yeshayahu 49,3).