One More Breath of a Yid | Rabbi Reuven Schmeltzer

Much has been said about valuing who we really are and the value of life. The value of even one moment of living as a Yid was portrayed by R’ Ezriel Tauber z”l. He said over a story, There was a Bochur, an 18-year-old from England, who was diagnosed, nebech, with the Machlah. And the doctors told the parents, Just let him relax. Just let him enjoy the last few weeks of his life. Chemotherapy is not going to work. There's nothing to do. They didn't give up. They brought him to America. In America, the doctors said that there's a possible experimental drug that could perhaps extend his life by a few months, if he's willing to take it. It's a painful procedure, but we need the consent of the patient. He has to sign. Now, the boy seemingly had a doubt if he should go through it, and the father asked R’ Ezriel, Please speak to him. The boy says: I don't understand. Why should I do this? I could hardly do Mitzvos. I could hardly do anything. I'm so weak. I'm going to die. I could accept the Mishpat of Hashem. I have no Kashas on the Aibishter. But my parents are going through such agony. It's so difficult for them to watch me wither away. Why should I prolong it? So R’ Ezriel Tauber said: Listen, I could only help educate you on the value of living for a month or two, and then you have to decide. What is the greatest Mitzvah in the Torah? Live by the Mitzvos. Do the Mitzvos and live by them. This means that if, let's say, someone is in a situation of Piku’ach Nefesh, that his life is in danger, all the Mitzvos are going to be transgressed in order to save his life. Except for three, the three cardinal sins. But otherwise, 610 Mitzvos, we must transgress them in order to save his life. That shows us the value of life. Let me ask you, What would be if there's a man who's 100 years old, he's on life support, and to extend his life, he'll live 100 years plus another moment. But to get there, theoretically, let's say it's necessary for all the Jews in the world, 18 million people, to transgress all of the Mitzvos in the Torah, except three. What's the Halachah? Are they supposed to do that, to prolong his life by one more moment? And the answer, of course, is yes. A resounding yes. Because this person will live another moment all of the Mitzvos by all of the Yidden in the world are worth it in order to prolong one moment of life. It says, Each breath, a breath of a Yid, just a Yid living, is the greatest proclamation of a Boreh Olam, there's an Aibishter in the world. There's nothing greater than that. That is what the world is here for. This is what he told the boy. The Bochur thought about it, and he decided: You know, it's a good idea. The boy, takeh, lived another few months and he was Niftar, smiling. He smiled for the next few months, he was Niftar with a smile on his lips, and his parents couldn't understand. R’ Ezriel, what did you say that made him so happy? Which drug did you administer? And the drug was the understanding of life, what it is to be a Yid for a moment. The Rambam says in Avos Perek 2, that if a person considers himself a שפל, insignificant, there's no Aveira that's beneath his dignity. Any Aveira he could do, because he doesn't feel his dignity. And the שם משמואל explains that if a person would have, shining in front of him, his value of what it means to be a Yid, he would never do an Aveira. The reason why a person could possibly do something against Hashem, is because he doesn't realize his own dignity. He doesn't feel the dignity of a Yid, of a חלק אלוק ממעל. If we ponder these things more and more, the more we do so, the easier it'll be to feel, How could I do an Aveira? How could I? I'm a heiliger Yid, I’m a חלק אלוק ממעל. I'm a Nitzchiusdiker person.