LEV903 The subject of suicide is intertwined with the topic of martyrdom since many suicides are committed as an act of martyrdom. The Jewish attitude toward martyrdom is based upon the following passage in Leviticus (18:5): "Ye shall therefore keep my ordinances and my judgments which, if a man do, he shall live in them: I am the Eternal." The rabbis deduce from the words "he shall live" that martyrdom is prohibited save for idolatry, adultery and murder (Sanhedrin 74). All other commandments maybe transgressed if life is in danger in order that "he shall live." Martyrdom includes both the ending of one's own life for the sanctification of the name of God [this verse] or allowing oneself to be killed in times of religious persecution rather than transgress Biblical commandments. Perhaps the best known example of martyrdom in Jewish life are the ten famous scholars executed or murdered by the Roman state at different times for their insistence on teaching the Torah.