Emes can sometimes be defined as personal integrity - maintaining deeply held values, even if it comes at great personal cost. When Rabbi Yaakov Kamenetsky ZT”L was serving as the rabbi of a small town in Lithuania before World War II, his salary was paid from the tax that the town levied on Kosher meat. During this period, he noticed that some poor families were buying meat that was not kosher because it was cheaper, even though they really wanted to keep kosher.
Instead of ignoring the situation or simply condemning the purchase of the non-kosher meat, Rabbi Kamenetsky took a voluntary pay cut. His reasoning was that since his salary was contributing to the higher cost of kosher meat, and this was causing people to compromise their religious observance, he could not in good conscience take his full salary.
He explained to the community council that he would rather manage with less than know his wages were inadvertently causing fellow Jews to eat non-kosher food. This decision, made at personal cost during already difficult economic times, demonstrated his understanding that true integrity sometimes requires real sacrifice – be it financial or otherwise.
