44 | MAY 4 • 2023
SPIRIT
Life Here & Now
T
he portion of Emor
opens with a strange
commandment to the
kohanim: “
And the Lord said
to Moses, ‘Say to the priests …
and tell them: “Do not defile
yourself by contact with the
dead of the nation.
’”
(Leviticus 21:1).
The Bible goes on
to delineate the only
dead with whom the
kohen may have contact:
his wife, his mother,
his father, his son, his
daughter, his brother and
his unmarried sister.
Judaism is not chiefly
concerned with death
and the hereafter; rather
it is principally engaged
with life in the here-and-
now. Our major religious
question is not how to ease the
transition from this world to
the next, but how to improve
and repair our own society.
What does seem strange, how-
ever, is that our same portion
goes on to command: “You
shall not desecrate the name of
my holiness; I shall be sancti-
fied in the midst of the children
of Israel.
”
Our sages derive from this
verse the necessity of sacrific-
ing one’s life — sanctifying the
name of God — for the sake
of the commandments of the
Bible. Jews must give up their
lives rather than transgress any
of the three major prohibitions
of murder, sexual immorality
or adultery; and, in times of
persecution, Jews must die
rather than publicly transgress
even the simplest or most
“minor” of Jewish laws.
The sages insist, however,
that when Jews are not being
persecuted, it is forbidden for
Jews to forfeit their lives in
order not to desecrate Shabbat;
it’s better they desecrate one
Shabbat and remain alive to
keep many Shabbatot. Then
why command martyrdom at
all? And the truth is that our
history is filled with the many
sacred martyrs who gave
up their lives in sanctifi-
cation of the Divine.
The answer lies in the
very juxtaposition of the
law of priestly defilement
emphasizing the impor-
tance of life and 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. Living, and
not merely existing, means
devoting one’s life to ideals and
values that are more important
than any individual life. One
enables one’s life to participate
in eternity by dedicating it
to the eternal values that will
eventually repair the world and
establish a more perfect society.
The memorials of Holocaust
Remembrance Day and
Remembrance Day for the
Fallen of Israel’s Wars quickly
followed by Independence
Day and Jerusalem Day must
remind us that Israel is not
merely a destination but is truly
destiny. Israel is not only the
means of our survival, but it is
also our mission for world sal-
vation, from whence the word
of God, a God of life, love and
peace — will spread to all of
humanity.
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin is chancellor
of Ohr Torah Stone and chief rabbi of
Efrat, Israel.
TORAH PORTION
Rabbi
Shlomo
Riskin
Parshat
Emor:
Leviticus
21:1-24:23;
Ezekiel
44:15-31.
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