Musar for Berakhot 126:14
דבר אחר הסכת ושמע ישראל כתתו עצמכם על דברי תורה כדאמר ריש לקיש דאמר ריש לקיש מנין שאין דברי תורה מתקיימין אלא במי שממית עצמו עליה שנאמר (במדבר יט, יד) זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל
Another explanation of "Attend [hasket] and hear, O Israel" (Deut. xxvii. 9) — i.e. submit to blows [kattetu] on behalf of the words of Torah ; according to the statement of R. Simeon b. Lakish who said : Whence is it learnt that the words of Torah endure only with him who would suffer death on its behalf? As it is said, "This is the law : when a man dieth in a tent" (Num. xix. 14).
Shenei Luchot HaBerit
A rather striking problem in the text is the description of the purifying waters as מד נדה, "waters of a menstruant," surely a very derogatory term in view of the purpose of these waters! And especially, since the Torah on occasion uses clumsy language in order to avoid describing something in derogatory terms (Rabbi Joshua ben Levi in Bamidbar Rabbah 19,2). It is also unusual that the Torah does not report that "Israel and Eleazar did so," as is the case after similar instructions in the Torah on other occasions. The expression in 19,14, זאת התורה אדם כי ימות באהל, is unusual, as is the statement of our sages that it teaches that "the words of Torah are fulfilled only on people who are prepared to kill themselves on its behalf" (Berachot 43). How does this comment apply in this connection? Defilement through contact with the dead is usually involuntary!
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