A person should do them and live by them. (Vayikra 18:5)
The Torah tells us to live by the mitzvos. On the one hand, this teaches us that preservation of human life supersedes the laws of Shabbos:
One should “live by them,” and not die by them.
On the other hand, we see from Jews of the previous generation who suffered in Nazi concentration camps and Soviet work camps how much it pained them to desecrate Shabbos, even if it was just to stay alive. There were individuals who went beyond the requirement of Halachah and put their lives on the line for Shabbos observance.
We will not discuss here how much beyond the requirement of Halachah one is permitted to go in such cases, but we do see that mesirus nefesh for Shabbos observance seems to be something special and praiseworthy.
There are three cardinal sins that one must rather die than transgress. Similarly, in a time of shemad, if an attempt is made to force Jews to abandon their religion, they must die rather than commit any sin in public, so as not to desecrate Hashem’s Name. This is because a Jew’s very soul depends on these matters, and we can’t save our soul by cutting off our soul.
It would be like someone who fell into a pot on the fire, and “saved” himself by jumping out of the pot and into the fire. A Jewish soul can’t be saved by doing severe sins that cut off the soul.
This is how those righteous Jews felt when they were forced to desecrate Shabbos. Because Shabbos is our very connection with Hashem, our very attachment to the Source of life. Even though Halachah does not require giving up one’s life for Shabbos observance, those tzaddikim felt that if they have to break Shabbos, even if it will save their soul, it would be better to give their soul back to its Creator for the sake of Shabbos kodesh, our most precious spiritual possession.
However, this does not apply in cases of illness and so forth. If one is ill enough that Halachah permits breaking Shabbos, according to all views it is a big aveirah to refrain from doing so. On the contrary, even if the danger to life is relatively remote, one must be very careful to do whatever is necessary for the sake of pikuach nefesh.
What we do learn from these stories of tzaddikim in the past generation is how very important it is to keep Shabbos, especially in tough moments, such as when guests are on their way and it is very embarrassing that something important will be missing from the table, thus tempting the host to be lenient about matters that he normally would not consider doing.
The nisayon could also present itself in matters pertaining to speech, such as talking about business on Shabbos. A person might hear an important piece of information affecting his financial matters and feel a burning desire to discuss it with someone. All these are formidable nisyonos.
The Chazon Ish wrote something that can be applied to our topic:
There is a story about a certain Torah-observant individual of this type. A prominent guest came to his town, and the Torah-observant individual asked him to come and visit him at home. The guest promised to come for a visit on Shabbos night. The Torah-observant individual was very happy about this promise because it was an honor and a pleasure for him.
What did the Satan do? He made the Torah-observant individual forget to add kerosine to his lamp, and he lit the lamp before Shabbos with the small amount of kerosine remaining from Thursday night. And it was a Shabbos night in the winter [when the nights are very long]. The guest didn’t come yet, and the lamp started to die out.
The Torah-observant individual was unable to bear the shame of the guest coming and finding him sitting in the dark, so he added kerosine to the lamp on Shabbos.
In this story of the Chazon Ish, it was truly a big nisayon that required a lot of dedication to pass, because Chazal say that undergoing serious embarrassment is almost like dying.
However, most Torah-observant people nowadays probably would not perform a Biblically forbidden form of work in order to save themselves from such an embarrassment. Nevertheless, we still need a lot of self-strengthening when it comes to matters that we are unsure whether they are forbidden, or the issur involved is not so severe.
In such moments we should recall those tzaddikim of the past generation who willingly went through a Gehinom of fire and ice rather than desecrate Shabbos kodesh in any way. This is because chilul Shabbos uproots a Jew from the Source of life. And mesirus nefesh for Sabbath observance attaches a Jew to the Source of life and the Source of blessing, forever.
