V'Chai Bahem - Truly Living

Parshat Acharei Mot

by Rabbi Avi Billet

God instructs Moshe to tell the people about the importance of observing His statutes and laws. “Keep my decrees and laws that a person can do – and live with them. For I am God.” While that is a more accurate translation, Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan has a keen interpretation as his translation, which he credits to the viewpoint of Ralbag, saying, “Keep My decrees and laws, since it is only by keeping them that a person can [truly] live. I am God.” His footnote explains “This teaches that one may violate any commandment of the Torah to save a life” – with the exceptions of murder, idolatry, and immorality.

The focus on “living” is an open question of how life is defined. There are different schools of thought in the works of the rabbis. Rabbenu Bachaye quotes a number of interpretations which will now be presented, as we sort this out together.

The Talmudic view: One should live with the [laws] and not die with them. Don’t have these statutes cause you to lose your life.

The Midrashic view: Live with them – in the world to come. Your performance of mitzvot will give an indication of what your life in the next world will look like.

There are four types of living, of the body and the soul, that are associated with the act of doing mitzvot.
 1. A person who has intent when performing mitzvoth, and is doing them to be rewarded with wealth, property, honor, and long life.
2. Someone who has intent when performing mitzvoth, and is doing them to be rewarded in the world to come.
 3. A person who has intent to fulfill mitzvoth out of love, with no condition or contingent to be rewarded in this world. This person merits to have a meaningful life in this world and in the world to come. [An example of this kind of living was modeled by our Forefathers – Avraham, Yitzchak and Yaakov]
4. Someone who is involved in mitzvoth only, with no physical concerns, to the point that he seems to be without a body, simply that his heart and thoughts are with God all the time. This person merits to live forever, and death has no power over him. Examples are Hanokh and Elijah.

There are also 4 kinds of lives people merit to have through observance of Torah and mitzvoth.
1. One lives as people live, with longevity, and their souls are maintained in their bodies on account of their attention to their health.
2. Some almost have a rebirth after an illness, and after having a close brush with death.
3. There is a life that comes after forgiveness – after having been wicked (which is considered “like dead”) – after a person has repented and changes one’s ways, and the person is now considered “alive.”
4. Finally, the life that exists after death – which is referred to in the term “techiyat hamaytim” (resurrection of the dead).

When we look back at Rabbi Kaplan’s translation of the phrase “V’Chai Bahem,” perhaps we can now appreciate the depth of how a person can “truly live” through the observance of Mitzvot. While I think we can all agree that the life of the evil and wicked is antithetical to a Godly existence, and antithetical to the normative experience of normal people who want to go about their lives doing good and avoiding harming others, the question is what makes a life truly worth it, what fills a life with meaning?

Every religion has their own answer. Philosophers have their explanations.

For the Jewish people, since the time of the Exodus, when we switched from being slaves to Pharaoh to being subjects of the Almighty, we have made the choice that the meaningful life is the one which is dedicated to serving God through the study of His Torah, and the performance of His commandments. What would the world look like if all Jews tapped into this truth? What kind of higher level of meaning could be attained through the influence of people who understood completely what it means to live a life of “Kiddush Hashem” – giving a good name to God and Jewish people?

Sometimes some of us forget how identifiably Jewish we are when we go to a store or on vacation or to a ball game. It behooves us to always remember that others are watching. And that “V’Chai Bahem” also means to model a life of meaning when around other people – a life which is defined by humility, graciousness, and a sense that we are truly servants of the Almighty.