LEV890 … Maimonides understands [this verse] "as a precautionary measure in order to avoid slaughtering the young animal in front of its mother. For there is no difference between the pain of humans and the pain of other animals in this case, for the love of a mother and her compassion upon a child does not depend on the intellect, but rather upon the power of emotion, which is found with most animals, just as it is found in man" (The Guide for the Perplexed 3:48). [A friend of mine, a jogger, notes that the surest way to be attacked by an animal of any size is to threaten, or even approach, its young: "When, while running, I am inexplicably attacked by a bird, it means that I have inadvertently stumbled across its nesting grounds."

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LEV896 (Continued from [[LEV663]] Leviticus 19:18 love OXFORD 421-2). When the tradition emphasizes the ascendancy side of the dialectic, compassion for animals is understood to be for the sake of the human being, but when he kindness side of the dialect is highlighted, animals are granted a value independent of human beings. Both strains serve as foundations for Jewish animal ethics. Three distinct but overlapping Judaic ideas point to the value of compassion for animals for the sake of humanity: the ideas that (1) compassion to animals is rewarded (as in the story of Rabbi Judah) [See [[GEN1183]] Genesis 24:20 drew BLOCH 80-1], (2) morally outstanding individuals spontaneously show compassion to animals, and (3) sensitivity to animals promotes sensitivity to other humans.… The third theme, that compassion for animals actively promotes kindness to other humans, is articulated by Ramban (Moses ben Nahman, "Nahmanides," 1194-1270) in his commentary on both the Deuteronomic law that one must drive away a mother bird before taking her eggs (22:7) and the prohibition on killing a mother and its young on the same day [this verse]. Ramban goes out of his way to argue that the reason for the law of the mother bird is not--despite the suggestion of some Jewish sources (including Rambam, Moreh Nebukim (The Guide for the Perplexed) 3:48)--the undeniable suffering of the mother bird. Sefer haHinnuch (thirteen century), which provides a numbered, systematic commentary on each of the 613 commandments of the Torah, sites Ramban's view with approval: God's "compassion does not extend over [individual] creatures with animals souls [but only over entire species]… For if so, shehitah [Jewish ritual slaughter of animals] would have been forbidden. Indeed, the reason for the restriction [i.e., of driving away the mother bird] is to teach us the quality of compassion" [(Mitzvah 545) and referring to the commandment in Deuteronomy 25:4 not to muzzle a domestic animal during its work (thus causing the animal suffering by tempting it with food it cannot eat)], another law paradigmatically associated with compassion for animals Sefer haHinnukh, makes the case that "from its root the commandment serves to teach us to make our souls beautiful ones… By accustoming us to this even with animals, which were created only to serve us." (Mitzvah 596). (By Aaron S. Gross, "Jewish Animal Ethics")

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LEV898 "You must not desecrate My holy Name" [this verse] – this is among those [prohibitions] (this is a negative commandment one violates when mentioning Hashem's Name in vain, besides neglecting the positive commandment delineated in paragraph 13) that incur excision, as will be explained (paragraph 143 ff). Know that loss and destruction ("loss" may be an allusion to loss of life in this world, and "destruction" to excision in the World to Come) , which is a common phenomenon among the masses, is the result of [improper] speech, for they mention Hashem's Name in vain, and they also utter it without awe. Our Sages, z"l, commented (In his Igeres HaTeshuvah, Rabbeinu Yonah cites Vayikra Rabbah as the source for this), that what is written in the pasuk (Yeshayahu 1:3), "Yisrael did not know [Me]," is referring to just this. Furthermore, they are not meticulous concerning the cleanliness of the place and clean hands (I.e., when mentioning Hashem's Name. By doing so they desecrate His Name, besides violating the prohibition mentioned in paragraph 44). The Sages of Yisrael would ostracize and excommunicate anyone who uttered Hashem's name in vain, and he was also regarded as suspect when taking an oath. They said (Nedarim 7b), "One who hears another uttering Hashem's Name in vain must ostracize him, and if he refuses, then he himself should be ostracized."

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LEV900 Our Sages, z"l, said (Yerushalmi Nedarim 3:9) that the sin of desecrating Hashem's Name is greater than all other transgressions, and it cannot be atoned for through repentance and suffering, as will be explained in the Gate dealing with the different categories of atonement (See the Fourth Gate, paragraph 6). Our Sages, z"l, said (Kidushin 40a), "There is no delay of retribution for desecration of Hashem's Name, whether it be unintentional or deliberate." Now pause and reflect upon the great responsibility we have to sanctify His Name. For Hashem sanctified us through his Torah and mitzvos and set us apart as His nation for the primary purpose of sanctifying and fearing Him. It is only appropriate that His sanctifiers be holy, just as those vessels used for service before Hashem must be holy, as the pasuk says [this verse], "You must not desecrate My holy Name; I shall be sanctified among the Children of Yisrael, for I am Hashem Who sanctifies you" (Rabbeinu Yonah interprets the pasuk as follows: "You have a great responsibility to sanctify My Name, for that is the primary reason I sanctified you with Torah and mitzvos".)

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LEV897 ... on the subject of the severe prohibition of idle chatter in a shul, it is worthwhile to mention the grave consequences that result from this practice. Unfortunately, it frequently happens in shul that before the Torah reading, a person will start telling a friend his stories, which are full of lashon hara and rechilus from beginning to end. Before he finishes these stories, the congregation will begin reading from the Torah, yet his yetzer hara it will convince him not to stop in the middle of the story, but rather to continue his lashon hara during the Torah reading. Often, the speaker is a prestigious person who stands at the front of the shul, which means that his sin is witnessed by everyone, resulting in a public desecration of Hashem's Name (public meaning in the presence of ten Jews). His sin is therefore much worse than an ordinary chillul Hashem, as the Rambam explains in negative commitment three of his Sefer Hamitzvos, and he also violates the prohibition of וְלֹ֤א תְחַלְּלוּ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם קָדְשִׁ֔י, “Do not desecrate My holy Name” (Vayikra 22:32).

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LEV899 One who speaks or listens to lashon hara also transgresses the prohibition of לֹ֤א תְחַלְּלוּ֙ אֶת־שֵׁ֣ם קָדְשִׁ֔י, “Do not desecrate My holy Name” (Vayikra 22:32). Since a person has no physical desire for or benefit from lashon hara through which the yetzer hara can prevail over him, this sin is viewed as an act of rebelling and casting off the yoke of Heaven, and constitutes a desecration of Hashem’s name. This applies even to an average Jew, and is especially relevant to a distinguished individual. Since everyone observes such a person's actions, he unquestionably desecrates Hashem’s Name by speaking or listening to lashon hara. Moreover, if one commits this sin publicly, then his sin is all that much worse, for he enters the category of one who desecrates Hashem’s Name publicly.

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LEV901 It is a positive commandment to sanctify Hashem openly as Scripture states, and I will be hallowed among the children of Israel [this verse]. This we must do by submitting our life to death [if necessary], and with all our might, to make His faith widely known (be His name blessed). Thus if others wish to compel someone to turn away from our faith, he should not want at all to listen, but should submit his life to execution on account of this. Neither should he mislead the one compelling him, to make him think that he has turned heretic, although in his heart he believes in Him (blessed be His name) -- so that he should not give the one forcing him to transgress, any grounds to think that he has denied the blessed God. If the one applying the force means to make him change his faith and it is in public, which means before ten Jews, then even over any transgressions, and even if it is not at a time of religious persecution, he has to be killed sooner than transgress. If it is a time of religious persecution, Heaven forbid, and even in private he has to accept death sooner than transgress. If, however, idol-worship, consanguineous sexual relations or adultery, or bloodshed is involved [as the act he is forced to commit], then even if it is private and not at the time of religious persecution, and even if the one forcing him is intent only on his own pleasure and not on making him give up his faith, he is to accept death sooner than transgress. And if it is in public, he thus sanctifies the Divine name openly, and there is no deed higher than that. If someone transgresses this and does not sanctify the Divine name in a situation where he is duty-bound to hallow it, he has disobeyed a positive commandment and transgressed a negative one--not to desecrate the Divine name of Heaven, as Scripture states, And you shall not profane My holy name (Va-yikra 22:32).

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LEV902 See [[LEV271]] Leviticus 19:2 holy AMEMEI 102

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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.

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LEV910 See [[LEV359]] Leviticus 19:13 oppress AHAVCH 185-6

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