For ten years after graduating from the Hebrew university with an MA in Holocaust studies I taught young people about it in various settings. I met repeatedly with a basic religious concept from rabbinic sources when many of the survivors interviewed referred to it - this was Kiddush Hashem (The Sanctifcation of God's Name). The concept reappeared in my life when I began to pray according to Jewish tradition and keep the commandments. It was used in public prayer (in the Yizkor for instance) in reference to those who had died in the Holocaust and in the wars of Israel. The text said of them that "they died for Kiddush Hashem" (i.e. were martyrs).
This concept has a "twin" of sorts in the tradition which is sometimes referred to as its antithesis - Kiddush HaHaim (the sanctification of life). There is indeed great tension between this idea of self-sacrifice for the sake of a principle, whether it be the nation or the faith, and the assertion of the value of life as an overriding Jewish principle. During the Holocaust when the goal of the Nazis was the extermination of the Jewish people saving lives became the essential and was translated into the religious concept of Kiddush Hahaim. People risked their lives to save others and struggled to survive at all. The concept of Holiness ("Kedusha") that is so central in the book of Leviticus provides us with an emphasis on the value of life.
Both these concepts are hinted at in our Torah reading in the instructions given to the priests regarding what is permitted and forbidden to them in the Temple service. On the one hand they must distance themselves from the impurity of the dead, to avoid contact with a human corpse or parts of a body of the dead, but, on the other, they are obligated to act to "respect the dead" (kevod hamet). According to the rabbis, in addition to mourning immediate family, they must become impure and set aside their priestly duties to take care of burying an unknown who has no one else to do that. Below are two rabbinic references to this requirement:
"For his father or mother he may not become impure. This doesn't come to tell us other than that he is permitted to become impure to take care of the burial of an unclaimed corpse." (Rashi on Leviticus 21,11, Sifra; Nazir 47)
"When a priest - even a High Priest - encounters an unattended corpse on the road, he is obligated to become impure for its sake and bury it. What is meant by an unattended corpse? A Jewish corpse cast away on the road without anyone to bury it. This is a halachah conveyed by the received tradition.
When does the above apply? When the priest is alone and there is no one else with him; even when he calls out on the road, no one answers him. If, however, when he calls, and others answer, this is not considered an unattended corpse. Instead, he should call the others and they should come and tend to the corpse." (Maimonides, Mishne Torah, the rules of bereavement, 3:8)
In our day, after the terrible slaughter of our people on 7th October, the subsequent brutal war, the fall of many soldiers, the killing of so many civilians, particularly in Gaza, as well as the heart-breaking off-again-on-again negotiations for captives, prisoners and corpses of those dragged into the Hamas tunnels these concepts of respect for the dead, Kiddush Hashem and Kiddush HaHaim are poignantly relevant.
Here is Rashi's interpretation of the relevant verse in our Torah reading:
"You shall not desecrate My Holy Name. I shall be sanctified amidst the children of Israel. I am the Lord Who sanctifies you") Leviticus 22, 32)
"You shall not desecrate [My Holy Name]: By transgressing My commandments intentionally. Now, is it not already implied by the verse “You shall not desecrate [My Holy Name,” that if you do not transgress, God’s Name will be sanctified? So] what do we learn by Scripture adding “I shall be sanctified [amidst the children of Israel]?” [It teaches us:] Surrender your life [and do not transgress God’s commandments], and [thus] sanctify My Name. Now, one might think [that this commandment applies even] in private [i.e., if he is not in the presence of ten or more Jews]. Scripture, therefore, says here “[I shall be sanctified] amidst the children of Israel” [i.e., one is obliged to sacrifice one’s life to avoid transgressing God’s commandments only in the presence of ten or more Jews]. And when one sacrifices oneself, one shall do so with the willingness to die, anyone who [submits to] sacrifices himself while assuming [that God will surely perform] a miracle [for him and save his life], for this person, God does not perform a miracle, for so we find in [the case of] Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, that [when the evil Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into a fiery furnace], they did not submit themselves on the condition [that God would perform] a miracle, as Scripture says, “[Behold, there is our God Whom we worship; He can save us from the burning, fiery furnace and from your hands, O king!]"
Rashi here presents the notion of Kiddush Hashem to mean willingness to sacrifice one's life. How does he reach this conclusion from this verse that deals specifically with the rules of the priests? The "amidst the children of Israel" are the basis of his expansion of its meaning referring us to the history of Jewish martyrdom for their faith when given a public choice between accepting another creed or death.
Rashi's words were written in the time of the horrendous massacre of Ashkenazi Jews during the medieval Crusades when the concept was understood as requiring self-sacrifice for the sake of God, willingness to go to this extreme in devotion to the faith. There are, however, other ways to under this concept as life-asserting rather than legislating martyrdom. In the Torah reading for "Achrei Mot" which we read two weeks ago, we read about life following the Torah commandments in the sense of "You should live in them - to live, not to die in them."
There is a verse there that says: "You shall observe My statutes and My ordinances, which a man shall do and live by them. I am the Lord."
The Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Yoma, 71b) attempts to clarify from whence do we learn that Pikuah Nefesh (saving a life) overcomes Shabbat observance, and brings various views based on different sources. Eventually Raba concludes that the correct understanding of our verse is according to the sage Shmuel we quoted - "You should live by them, not die by them."
Pikuah Nefesh does not only overrule Sabbath observance but rather the entire Torah, based on the above-mentioned teaching, with just three exceptions: false worship, sexual immorality (such as incest) and bloodshed of innocents – about which the rabbis ruled, rather die than transgress (TB, Tractate Sanhedrin, 74a) but this is only in the public sphere, "amidst the children of Israel." When not in public, there are poskim who rule that one may transgress to save one's life.
The value of life is a core value in the Torah, but for the sake of protecting life and giving life meaning, there are times that a person should be willing to sacrifice themselves and fight. We are in such a time today. There is no "good" war but there are situations in which there is no choice. The question whence from there? Beyond the initial defensive response to the massacre carried out by Hamas where do we go? How much killing and sacrifice of lives is justified? The question of the relationship between Kiddush Hashem and human rights then becomes acutely relevant.
Could we not say that to take risks to protect human rights is an aspect of Kiddush Hashem? I think so. To stand up and not follow the herd, to be willing to demand restraint and humanity in a time of war is difficult but it is Kiddush haHaim (a way to Sanctify life) as is the defense of basic human rights in this horrific reality. Perhaps this is the meeting point of the two concepts. To act at one's own risk to prevent bloodshed beyond natural self-defense is the central task of a human rights organization today. To continue pursuing the hope of peace is also an aspect of Kiddush Hahaim which is a kind of Kiddush Hashem as well.
One other aspect of this issue which I no longer have the possibility to pursue at depth here is the question regarding which God it is we are talking about sanctifying. I follow the teachings of teachers such as Maritn Buber and Abraham Joshua Heschel on this in saying that the God I want to sanctify is not a tribal god demanding revenge and repression of others but the universal God of Life.
May it be God's will that the devotion and sacrifices of so many in our time will not be wasted but instead the beginning of a way to real security for all and peace based in respect for all humans.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann
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Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann was ordained as a Masorti rabbi at the Schechter Seminary in Jerusalem (1991), graduated from the Hebrew University with an MA in Holocaust history and Jewish education in 1979. He served as a congregational rabbi for ten years, specialized in teaching modern Jewish Thought for adult education. He was a field activist and senior staff member and is now active in the organizations Rabbis for Human Rights and Tag Meir, and an active congregant of Kehillat Yedidya in Jerusalem. Before retiring he taught at the Massuah Holocaust memorial centre, served as director of the Ot VeEd institute for Holocaust education and as a high school teacher in Jewish history and civics for ten years. In recent years he has authored two novels: "Far Away From Where?" and "The Partisan's Coat" (Mazo Publishers).
This concept has a "twin" of sorts in the tradition which is sometimes referred to as its antithesis - Kiddush HaHaim (the sanctification of life). There is indeed great tension between this idea of self-sacrifice for the sake of a principle, whether it be the nation or the faith, and the assertion of the value of life as an overriding Jewish principle. During the Holocaust when the goal of the Nazis was the extermination of the Jewish people saving lives became the essential and was translated into the religious concept of Kiddush Hahaim. People risked their lives to save others and struggled to survive at all. The concept of Holiness ("Kedusha") that is so central in the book of Leviticus provides us with an emphasis on the value of life.
Both these concepts are hinted at in our Torah reading in the instructions given to the priests regarding what is permitted and forbidden to them in the Temple service. On the one hand they must distance themselves from the impurity of the dead, to avoid contact with a human corpse or parts of a body of the dead, but, on the other, they are obligated to act to "respect the dead" (kevod hamet). According to the rabbis, in addition to mourning immediate family, they must become impure and set aside their priestly duties to take care of burying an unknown who has no one else to do that. Below are two rabbinic references to this requirement:
"For his father or mother he may not become impure. This doesn't come to tell us other than that he is permitted to become impure to take care of the burial of an unclaimed corpse." (Rashi on Leviticus 21,11, Sifra; Nazir 47)
"When a priest - even a High Priest - encounters an unattended corpse on the road, he is obligated to become impure for its sake and bury it. What is meant by an unattended corpse? A Jewish corpse cast away on the road without anyone to bury it. This is a halachah conveyed by the received tradition.
When does the above apply? When the priest is alone and there is no one else with him; even when he calls out on the road, no one answers him. If, however, when he calls, and others answer, this is not considered an unattended corpse. Instead, he should call the others and they should come and tend to the corpse." (Maimonides, Mishne Torah, the rules of bereavement, 3:8)
In our day, after the terrible slaughter of our people on 7th October, the subsequent brutal war, the fall of many soldiers, the killing of so many civilians, particularly in Gaza, as well as the heart-breaking off-again-on-again negotiations for captives, prisoners and corpses of those dragged into the Hamas tunnels these concepts of respect for the dead, Kiddush Hashem and Kiddush HaHaim are poignantly relevant.
Here is Rashi's interpretation of the relevant verse in our Torah reading:
"You shall not desecrate My Holy Name. I shall be sanctified amidst the children of Israel. I am the Lord Who sanctifies you") Leviticus 22, 32)
"You shall not desecrate [My Holy Name]: By transgressing My commandments intentionally. Now, is it not already implied by the verse “You shall not desecrate [My Holy Name,” that if you do not transgress, God’s Name will be sanctified? So] what do we learn by Scripture adding “I shall be sanctified [amidst the children of Israel]?” [It teaches us:] Surrender your life [and do not transgress God’s commandments], and [thus] sanctify My Name. Now, one might think [that this commandment applies even] in private [i.e., if he is not in the presence of ten or more Jews]. Scripture, therefore, says here “[I shall be sanctified] amidst the children of Israel” [i.e., one is obliged to sacrifice one’s life to avoid transgressing God’s commandments only in the presence of ten or more Jews]. And when one sacrifices oneself, one shall do so with the willingness to die, anyone who [submits to] sacrifices himself while assuming [that God will surely perform] a miracle [for him and save his life], for this person, God does not perform a miracle, for so we find in [the case of] Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah, that [when the evil Nebuchadnezzar threatened to throw them into a fiery furnace], they did not submit themselves on the condition [that God would perform] a miracle, as Scripture says, “[Behold, there is our God Whom we worship; He can save us from the burning, fiery furnace and from your hands, O king!]"
Rashi here presents the notion of Kiddush Hashem to mean willingness to sacrifice one's life. How does he reach this conclusion from this verse that deals specifically with the rules of the priests? The "amidst the children of Israel" are the basis of his expansion of its meaning referring us to the history of Jewish martyrdom for their faith when given a public choice between accepting another creed or death.
Rashi's words were written in the time of the horrendous massacre of Ashkenazi Jews during the medieval Crusades when the concept was understood as requiring self-sacrifice for the sake of God, willingness to go to this extreme in devotion to the faith. There are, however, other ways to under this concept as life-asserting rather than legislating martyrdom. In the Torah reading for "Achrei Mot" which we read two weeks ago, we read about life following the Torah commandments in the sense of "You should live in them - to live, not to die in them."
There is a verse there that says: "You shall observe My statutes and My ordinances, which a man shall do and live by them. I am the Lord."
The Babylonian Talmud (Tractate Yoma, 71b) attempts to clarify from whence do we learn that Pikuah Nefesh (saving a life) overcomes Shabbat observance, and brings various views based on different sources. Eventually Raba concludes that the correct understanding of our verse is according to the sage Shmuel we quoted - "You should live by them, not die by them."
Pikuah Nefesh does not only overrule Sabbath observance but rather the entire Torah, based on the above-mentioned teaching, with just three exceptions: false worship, sexual immorality (such as incest) and bloodshed of innocents – about which the rabbis ruled, rather die than transgress (TB, Tractate Sanhedrin, 74a) but this is only in the public sphere, "amidst the children of Israel." When not in public, there are poskim who rule that one may transgress to save one's life.
The value of life is a core value in the Torah, but for the sake of protecting life and giving life meaning, there are times that a person should be willing to sacrifice themselves and fight. We are in such a time today. There is no "good" war but there are situations in which there is no choice. The question whence from there? Beyond the initial defensive response to the massacre carried out by Hamas where do we go? How much killing and sacrifice of lives is justified? The question of the relationship between Kiddush Hashem and human rights then becomes acutely relevant.
Could we not say that to take risks to protect human rights is an aspect of Kiddush Hashem? I think so. To stand up and not follow the herd, to be willing to demand restraint and humanity in a time of war is difficult but it is Kiddush haHaim (a way to Sanctify life) as is the defense of basic human rights in this horrific reality. Perhaps this is the meeting point of the two concepts. To act at one's own risk to prevent bloodshed beyond natural self-defense is the central task of a human rights organization today. To continue pursuing the hope of peace is also an aspect of Kiddush Hahaim which is a kind of Kiddush Hashem as well.
One other aspect of this issue which I no longer have the possibility to pursue at depth here is the question regarding which God it is we are talking about sanctifying. I follow the teachings of teachers such as Maritn Buber and Abraham Joshua Heschel on this in saying that the God I want to sanctify is not a tribal god demanding revenge and repression of others but the universal God of Life.
May it be God's will that the devotion and sacrifices of so many in our time will not be wasted but instead the beginning of a way to real security for all and peace based in respect for all humans.
Shabbat Shalom.
Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann was ordained as a Masorti rabbi at the Schechter Seminary in Jerusalem (1991), graduated from the Hebrew University with an MA in Holocaust history and Jewish education in 1979. He served as a congregational rabbi for ten years, specialized in teaching modern Jewish Thought for adult education. He was a field activist and senior staff member and is now active in the organizations Rabbis for Human Rights and Tag Meir, and an active congregant of Kehillat Yedidya in Jerusalem. Before retiring he taught at the Massuah Holocaust memorial centre, served as director of the Ot VeEd institute for Holocaust education and as a high school teacher in Jewish history and civics for ten years. In recent years he has authored two novels: "Far Away From Where?" and "The Partisan's Coat" (Mazo Publishers).