Shabbat Shalom: Parshat Emor Leviticus: 21:1-24:23

By Shlomo Riskin

Efrat, Israel - “ And I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel” (Leviticus 22:32).

The biblical portion of Emor opens with a very strange commandment to the Kohanim - priests of Israel: “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘Say to the Kohanim - priests children of Aaron and tell them: Do not defile yourself by contact with the dead of the nation’” (Leviticus 21:1). And the bible goes on to delineate the only dead with whom the Kohen - priest may have contact: his wife, his mother, his father, his son, his daughter, his brother and his unmarried sister. In previous commentaries, I have explained the fundamental prohibition against Kohen - priestly involvement with death and cemeteries as a ringing declaration that Judaism - unlike all other religions from the dawn of history to present day - is not chiefly concerned with the other world but rather is concerned with this world, is not interested primarily in death and the hereafter but is rather principally engaged with life and the here - and - now. Our major religious question is not how to ease the transition from this world to the next but in rather how to improve and repair the society in which we are now living.

What does seem strange, however, is that our same Biblical portion goes on to command: “You shall not desecrate the name of my holiness; I shall be sanctified in the midst of the children of Israel.” (Leviticus 22:32) Our Talmudic sages derive from this verse the necessity of sacrificing one’s life - sanctifying the name of G-d (Kiddush Hashem) - for the sake of the commandments of the Bible: under all circumstances an individual Jew must give up his life rather that transgress any of the three major prohibitions of murder, sexual immorality or adultery, and, in times of Gentile persecution of the Jews, a Jew must die rather than publicly transgress even the simplest or most “minor” of Jewish Laws, even a Jewish custom referring to our shoe-laces (B.T. Sanhedrin 74a,b). If indeed the preservation of life in this world is deemed to be important, that our Kohen - priest may have virtually no contact with the dead - and the Talmudic Sages even insist that when the Jews are not being persecuted, it is actually forbidden for a Jew to forfeit his life in order not to desecrate the Sabbath, for better he desecrate one Sabbath and remain alive to keep many Sabbaths (B.T. ibid, Maimonides, Laws of Torah Fundamentals 5) - then why command martyrdom in any situation at all? And the truth is that our history is tear - drenched and blood - stained by the many sacred martyrs of our faith who have given up their lives in sanctification of the Divine Name!

I believe that the answer to our question lies in the very juxtaposition of the law of priestly defilement emphasizing the importance of life to the law of martyrdom enjoining death within the very same Biblical portion. Yes, preservation of life is crucial and this world is the focus of the Jewish concern - but not life merely for the sake of breathing and not the world as it is, with all of its imperfections, after all, anyone who lives only to keep on living is doomed to failure, for no one has gotten out of this world alive. Living, and not merely existing, means devoting one’s life to external ideas, ideals, and values which are more important than any individual life; one enables one’s life to participate in eternity by dedicating it to the eternal values which will eventually repair the world and establish a more perfect society. Hence we must value and elevate life, improve and enable this world, but always within the perspective of those principles which will lead us to redemption, those beliefs and actions which are more important than any individual life. Yes, “live by these (My laws),” but external life can only be achieved by a dedication which includes the willingness to sanctify G-d’s name with martyrdom, albeit only under very extreme circumstances.

But then how can we justify martyrdom - even if only during periods of persecution - for the sake of a Jewish custom referring to our shoe-laces? What can there possibly be about a shoe-lace which strikes at the heart and essence of our Jewish mission? The Talmudic commentary of the Ashkenazik (France - Germany) Sages of the eleventh - twelfth centuries, when many Jews were martyred by the Crusaders, suggest that the general custom in Rome and its numerous colonies during the second century was to wear white shoelaces; the Jews, however, wore black shoelaces, as a memorial to the loss of our Holy Temple and the disappearance of the Jewish National Sovereignty in Jerusalem. When Gentiles in times of persecution attempted to force Jews to wear white shoe-laces - and thereby force the Jewish Community to cease their mourning for the loss of our national homeland - the Jew must respond with Martyrdom (B.T. Sanhedrin 74b, Tosafot ad/oc).

My revered teacher Rav Joseph B Solovetchik added one crucial point. Among the many Jewish laws, decrees and customs which have developed from Biblical times to the present, the Jews themselves do not always realize which are truly vital for our national and religious preservation; the Gentiles who are persecuting us always do, because they - wishing to destroy us - strike at the jugular. Hence whatever they insist we abandon, we must maintain even at the price of our lives!

From this perspective, it becomes easier to understand why the current claws of anti - semitism - especially throughout Europe - is expressing itself in acts of persecution specifically focused against the state of Israel and her policies. The double standard of condemning us for fighting back against terrorists without so much as censoring those responsible for the terror, the disenfranchisement of our right to a State while championing the cause of our non-democratic (as yet) enemies to a State and the de-humanization and demonization of our political leadership in the enemy press and media might only emphasize to us how crucial and vital the State of Israel is for Jewish survival today.

The memorials of Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron quickly followed by Yom HaAtzmaut and Yom Yerushalayim must remind us that Israel is not merely a destination but is truly destiny; Israel is not only the means to our survival, but it is also our mission for world salvation, from whence the word of G-d, a G-d of life, love and peace - will spread to all of humanity.

Shabbat Shalom.