Rabbi Frand on Parshas Acharei Mos
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi
Yissochar Frand's Parsha Perceptions Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah
portion. Good Shabbos!
The pasuk [verse] says, "You should keep My statutes and My laws, which if
a man obeys, ('v'chai bahem') he shall live through them, I am Hashem."
[Vayikra 18:5] The Gemara [Talmud] learns from this source that if a
person is faced with the choice of committing a sin or being murdered [or
alternatively, neglecting a mitzva or being murdered], the halacha requires
the person to commit the aveira [sin] or neglect the mitzva, and not die.
However, there are three exceptions: avoda zarah [idol worship], shfichas
damim [murder], and giluy arayus [illicit relations].
Barring these three exceptions, the halacha says that one should eat pork,
violate the Shabbos, eat bread on Pesach, and do not die. Why? Because we
learn from this verse: these are the mitzvos that I gave you, "v'chai
bahem," and you should live by them. The Gemara [Sanhedren 74a] interprets
this to mean that "you should live by them, and not die by them."
A cursory examination of this pasuk would seem to indicate that the Torah
is telling us that human life is more precious than keeping the mitzvos.
Therefore, if you have a choice between observing Shabbos or staying alive,
your life is more valuable than the mitzva. This is a general rule: life
is more important than the mitzvos, with just three exceptions.
Rav Moshe Feinstein Zt"l, in his sefer [book] "Igros Moshe," says (in the
course of answering a query on a different subject) that this common
understanding of the pasuk is incorrect. That is not what the pasuk is
saying, and this is as basic as a Targum Onkelos. [The Targum Onkelos is a
nearly-literal translation to Aramaic of the words in the Torah, with a
minimum of interpolated commentary.]
The Targum Onkelos translates this verse as: "and you should live through
them in the World to Come." In other words, the verse is not telling us to
stay alive and neglect the mitzvos, because life is more precious than
mitzvos. The pasuk is telling us that the most precious thing in life is
keeping mitzvos, because they bring us to olam haba, the World to Come.
Therefore, if I have a choice between observing the Shabbos or being
murdered, the Torah says, "live!" Why? Not because life, for its own
sake, is more precious than G-d's Commandments. Rather, life is precious
because you can do those Commandments! Therefore, do work on this Shabbos
so you can keep so many more Shabbasos in the future. Eat chometz on
Pesach. Why? So you can go on and do more mitzvos, and be worthy of life in
the world to come.
This is an entirely different perspective. Life is not valuable just for
the sake of life itself, without a purpose. Life is not valuable simply in
order for a person to work, do errands and go to ball games. That is not
what makes life worth living! What does make life worth living? "V'chai
bahem" - "l'chayei alma" [in the world to come]. This life leads to a goal.
The Torah is telling us to violate the Shabbos and to eat chometz [leaven]
on Pesach. Why? Because a human life is valuable because it can do so
many more mitzvos in this world. Therefore, violate the Shabbos once so
that you can observe Shabbos many more times.
This week's write-up is adapted from the Rabbi Yissochar Frand's
Parsha Perceptions Torah Tapes on the weekly Torah portion. The
halachic portions for Parshas Acharei Mos from the Commuter Chavrusah
Series are:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection
of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through Project Genesis On-Line Bookstore:
http://books.torah.org/
