Martyrdom
The idea of martyrdom is an uncomfortable one for Jews. Yet respect for religious self-sacrifice finds its very origins among them, as I saw on Mount Herzl this summer.
In the Talmud, living for God is even greater than dying for Him.
“We ask for forgiveness” if a body is moved.
A leading rabbi looks at the theological significance of the honorific given to a Jewish martyr, and explains how it differs from the typical honorific given to the Jewish dead.
It is praiseworthy to die for God, but even better to live for Him.
Y.H. Brenner “sanctified his life through his death and his death through his life.”
The four rabbis murdered in last week’s terrorist attack on a Jerusalem synagogue came to Israel to devote themselves to the study of sacred texts,. . .