Your Money or Your Life
By Rabbi Dovid E. Eidensohn
Your Money or Your Life, sounds like the threat of a thief, but
here we are talking not about a thief, but about a pious Jew, who recites daily
the Shema, where it says, “ואהבת את השם אלקיך בכל לבבך ובכל
נפשך ובכל מאדך”. “And you shall love HaShem your G‑d with all of your heart,
and with all of your life, and with all of your might.”
The gemora in berochose[1] says
that a Jew must display his true love for HaShem with three ways. One, with all
of his heart, then with all of his life, and with all of his might. Rabbi
Eliezar explains that with all of his life means to give up his life for
HaShem. With all of his might means with all of his money. Rabbi Eliezar does
not explain what “with all of his heart” means. But he does explain that all of
his life means to sacrifice his life for HaShem. And with all of his might
means with all of his money.
But Rabbi Eliezar asks, “If we are commanded to love HaShem with
all of our life, why does it then say with all of our might, meaning all of our
money? But we see from this that some people prize their money more than their
lives, and some people prize their lives more than their money.
Rabbi Akiva says that with all of your life means even if you must
die to serve HaShem. But is this not included in the words of Rabbi Eliezar who
says that with all of your life means that he values his life more than his
money? But perhaps Rabbi Eliezar did not say that with all of his life means to
die for HaShem. Maybe it meant to live for HaShem, but to give up one’s life is
a very rare situation. But Rabbi Akiva, who wished always to die for the sake
of heaven, says that the command means to die for Kiddush HaShem.
Let us turn now to the Medrash Tanchuma[2] that
deals with the Jewish people ready to cross the Jordan River and go to the Holy
Land, to make war with the pagans living there and establish communities. It
seems that two tribes did not want to go into the Holy Land but preferred to
stay in the land they had conquered from the giants from pagan nations, because
those were ideal to raise flocks of animals. Therefore, Reuven and Gad, two of
the Jewish tribes, together with half of the tribe of Menasheh, appeared before
Moshe, Eloezar the High Priest, and the leaders of the Jews, and requested that
they should not inherit in Israel proper, but where they were, after winning
the battles with the giants and pagans before the Jews crossed over into the
Holy Land.
Moshe rebuked them for this, saying that what right did they have not
to cross over the Jordan and fight with other Jews against the pagans in Israel
proper? They responded that they accepted the responsibility that their
soldiers would cross the Jordan and stay in Israel until the other tribes
finished conquering the pagan nations there and were firmly settled in their
domains. Only then would the 2 ½ tribes of Reuvan, Gad and Menasheh bring back
their soldiers from Israel proper. In the meantime, the tribes would build
protective things to protect their wives and children, and all those who did
not go with them to war because of old age or whatever. This was accepted and
the tribes did keep their word and performed properly to help the other Jews
gain their properties in Israel proper.
During the discussions between these few tribes and Moshe, it seems
that the tribes said that they would first build structures to protect their
animals, and only then build structures to protect their children. Moshe
responded that first we take care of our children and only then do we take care
of your animals. We see here that these tribes liked their money more than
their children, for which they were rebuked by Moshe. We find that when
eventually the pagans did begin the conquest of Israel from the Jews, the first
one to be taken from their land were these 2 ½ tribes. The fact that they
values money over the holy land resulted in their being the first tribes to be
driven away from Israel or even a territory only secondary to Israel proper.
And as Rabbi Eliezar taught, there are Jews who love their money
more than their lives, and Jews who love their lives more than their money. But
to say that a Jew loves his animals more than his children, that is extreme.
[1]
Berochose 61b
[2]
Bamidbar Matose page 95 in my volume “And the sons of Reuven and Gad had many
animals”
