This week's parshah contains the episode of akeidas Yitzchak, the seeming martydom of Yitzchak in fulfillment of God's command to his father, Avraham.
Even though martyrdom and the history of the Jewish people are inextricably linked, actual martyrdom is not the preferred goal of Jewish life. Rather, the Torah bids Jews, "vechai bahem," to live by the precepts of Torah and to attempt to avoid having to die because of them.
Thus, the Talmud and Jewish law prescribe the actual circumstances where voluntary martyrdom (an oxymoron, if there ever was one) is permitted. Maimonides, in his famous code of Jewish law, Mishneh Torah, states that one has no right to give up one's life, even for what one feels to be valid and moral reasons, if the circumstances of the situation are not in exact conformance with the halachic norms established in the Talmud.
Dying for the sake of the Torah and the God of Israel is considered a kiddush hashem, a sanctification of God's name. However, living for the sake of Torah and the God of Israel is an even greater kiddush hashem.
Nevertheless, throughout the centuries, millions of Jews have died for being Jews. This ocean composed of the blood and tears of Jewish martyrs reached flood tide in our century.
A history professor of mine once characterized Jewish history to me as "martyrdom and books" but that is a distorted and dangerous oversimplification. Even in the midst of martyrdom, the rabbis of Israel laid stress upon life and not death, upon surviving and prospering and not succumbing and disappearing.
In the parshah of the week, we see this emphasis on life. After the akeidah, Avraham and Yitzchak renew their efforts at spiritual attainment and positive influence in their society. Instead of being paralyzed and traumatized by the akeidah, Avraham and Yitzchak view their Divine deliverance from actual martyrdom as a call to greater efforts on their part to increase life and to improve its spiritual and moral quality.
Avraham and Yitzchak are prepared for martyrdom if that is God's demand, but they see their future accomplishments in perpetuating family, society, righteousness and holiness through living. As such, they are the archetypical "martyrs" of Jewish existence.
The Talmud relates to us that when the great sage of Israel, Rabbi Chanina ben Tradyon, was executed by the Romans for the crime of teaching Torah. He was wrapped in a sefer Torah and set ablaze, yet he proclaimed, "The parchment burns but the letters float undamaged in the air." Parchment burns, bodies decay, empires fall, civilizations wither, but the "letters"--the sanctity of life and human values, of Godly precepts and holy traditions--are indestructible.
Jewish history is not only martyrdom and books. It is life and energy, creativity and holiness, service to God and man, Torah and tradition. It is that sort of life and history that makes the akeidah so memorable and relevant to Jews of all times and circumstances.
Certainly our generation, raised in the shadow of the most fearsome akeidah in Jewish history, should rededicate itself to the strengthening of Jewish family, community, Torah and life. The God of Avraham and Yitzchak will not allow us lesser goals.
Rabbi Berel Wein
Rabbi Wein is Rabbi of Congregation Bais Torah, Suffern, N.Y.
