The Torah teaches us that the mitzvot were given to us to sanctify our lives and not be the death of us as it is written “You shall keep My laws and My rules, by the pursuit of which man shall live (my emphasis): I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 18:5) from this verse the rabbis deduced that the mitzvot are given to us to live by and not to die by. Nevertheless, the rabbis also teach that there are three cardinal sins one must choose martyrdom and sanctify God’s name rather than transgressing them. They are idolatry, incest and adultery, and murder. Martyrdom in Hebrew is Kiddush Hashem (קִידוּש ה'), the sanctification of God’s name.
Today’s daf TB Pesakhim 25 is one of the sources where the rabbis explain why these three important commandments take precedence over one’s life.
Concerning idolatry Rabbi Eliezer learns this from the very first paragraph of the Shema where we are commanded to love God and the words with all your soul and with all your might (money) seem extraneous. “Rabbi Eliezer says: If it is stated: “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul,” why is it stated: “And with all your might” (Deuteronomy 6:5)? And if it is stated: “With all your might,” why is it stated: “With all your soul”? One of these statements appears to be superfluous…one must be willing to sacrifice his life to sanctify God’s name. And there is a person whose property is more beloved to him than his body, therefore it is stated: “With all your might.”[1] Rabbi Eliezer understands the phrase: “With all your might,” to mean: With all your possessions. Apparently, there are circumstances in which a person must be prepared to die rather than be healed with a prohibited substance.
“From where is this halakha derived with regard to forbidden sexual relations and murder? As it was taught in a baraita that Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi says: The verse says about one who rapes a betrothed woman: “But you shall do nothing to the young woman; the young woman has committed no sin worthy of death; for as when a man rises against his neighbor, and slays him, so too with this matter” (Deuteronomy 22:26). What does a murderer have to do with a betrothed young woman who was raped? Why would the verse mention murder in this context? Rather, the mention of murder comes in order to teach a halakha about the betrothed young woman, and it turns out that, in addition, it derives a halakha from that case. The Torah juxtaposes a murderer to a betrothed young woman to indicate that just as in the case of a betrothed young woman one may save her by taking the rapist’s life, so too, one may save a potential murder victim by taking the pursuer’s life. Conversely, it is possible to learn about the case of a young betrothed woman from the case of a murderer. Just as with regard to a potential murderer the halakha is that if one is being forced to murder someone else, he should allow himself to be killed and not transgress that prohibition, so too, with regard to a betrothed young woman the halakha is that she should allow herself to be killed and not transgress the prohibition of forbidden relations. (Tosefot ד"ה אַף נַעֲרָה הַמְאוֹרָסָה יֵהָרֵג וְאַל יַעֲבוֹר. emends the text to read that he (the rapist) should allow himself to be killed. Only the man is liable because he actively violates the prohibitions of raping a married woman which is considered adultery on his part. Since the woman only passively violates the prohibition because she is the victim and not the co-perpetrator she is not obligated to commit Kiddush Hashem.)
“The Gemara asks: And from where do we derive this halakha with regard to murder itself? The Gemara answers: It is based on logical reasoning that one life is not preferable to another. The Gemara relates an incident to demonstrate this: This is similar to a certain man who came before Rava and said to him: A local official said to me: Go kill so-and-so, and if not I will kill you. Rava said to him: It is preferable that he should kill you and you should not kill. What did you think, that your blood is redder and more precious than his? Perhaps that man’s blood is redder. Apparently, one may not save his own life by taking someone else’s.” (Sefaria.org translation) Each human being is created in God’s image; consequently, each one of us is as important as the next in God’s eyes.
Too many times in our history have our people willingly committed Kiddush Hashem and not transgress these three cardinal sins. High Holiday prayer
books from the liberal streams of Judaism include readings of martyrdom of Rabbi
Akiva and his colleagues, the Crusades, the Inquisition, the too many pogroms,
and the Nazis' final solution in the section entitled martyrology. I hope and
pray that from now on the only way we sanctify God’s name is by the way we live
and not die.
[1] For
an example listen to this classic Jack Benny routine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-tVzdUczMT0
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