Malbim - Daniel Risks His Life
Malbim (Daniel 1:8) understands Daniel as risking his life by refusing to eat the king’s food. Nevudchadnetzer was, as typical of rulers of his age, ruthless and unrestrained. He would, on a dime, kill anyone who failed to fully comply with his orders and plans, as will become quite evident as we progress in Sefer Daniel.
Rambam vs. Tosafot
However, Daniel’s behavior seems to run counter to the rules of Yeihareig V’Al Ya’avor. Rambam (Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah) rules that we are forbidden to offer our lives for Mitzvot other than the three for which the Torah commands us. How do we reconcile Daniel’s behavior with the Rambam?
Tosafot (Avoda Zara 27b s.v. Yachol) disagree with Rambam and permit voluntary Yeihareig V’Al Ya’avor even for Aveirot for which we are not obligated to die, rather than violate them. Daniel’s stance seems to fit perfectly with Tosafot. However, why do Tosafot support their assertion from an incident quoted in the Yerushalmi instead of from Daniel?
Malbim
Malbim to Pasuk 8 explains that Daniel is not merely trying to avoid non-Kosher food. Instead, the food is from Avoda Zara offerings (Tikrovet Avoda Zara). Moreover, the Malbim understands that Nevuchadnetzar specifically wants Daniel to eat food that is part of an offering to Avoda Zara.
Malbim makes an “Okimta,” assuming that this is the reason for Daniel risking his life. However, an approach that need not make such a leap might be more compelling.
TABC Talmidim’s Alternative to the Malbim – Shimshy Gordon, Shimon Greengart and Ephraim Helfgot
Shimshy, Shimon, and Ephraim suggest that Daniel never placed his life in danger. He was persistent and intelligent but did not directly confront and disobey Nevuchadnetzar. Daniel expected to emerge strong and healthy from eating legumes. He merely had to convince his supervisor to conduct an experiment that would prove Daniel’s presumption.
According to this suggestion, the lesson that emerges from this episode is that a Jew must be willing to remain steadfast in their Torah observance even if it is inconvenient and uncomfortable6Similar to Daniel, Mr. Jack Scharf zt”l of Riverdale, New York, a highly decorated soldier in the American army in the European theater during World War Two, similarly avoided non-Kosher meat as a front-line combat soldier; the only meat he ate was the Kosher salamis that his mother sent him from home, which were occasionally delivered to him. Mr. Scharf did not risk his life by shunning the meat served by the American army. However, it was quite uncomfortable for him to do so. Mr. Scharf recounts the very negative impact of non-Kosher food on the Jewish soldiers who did not have the fortitude to refrain from non-Kosher meat. He recalled that they were wont to flippantly remark, “Uncle Sam taught me how to eat ham,” which unfortunately means, “I became highly assimilated while serving in the American army.” It is no wonder that, on the one hand, Mr. Scharf went on to raise observant Jewish families after the war, while, on the other hand, the experience of the hundreds of thousands of Jews who served in the American army during World War Two contributed mightily to the tragic assimilation of a large percentage of the American Jewish community. I perceive Daniel and Mr. Scharf sitting together in Gan Eden smiling when their heroic behavior continues to inspire generations of Jews young and old..
However, we might argue that even a tiny sliver of non-compliance with Nevuchadnetzar and his underlings is fraught with danger. Daniel’s attempt to seek accommodation for his Jewish practice while in the Emperor’s palace involved high risk.
An Alternative to the Malbim – Rav Yaakov Medan
Rav Yaakov Medan argues that an examination of Daniel Perek 1 Pesukim 3-7 reveals Nevuchadnetzar’s goals. Nevuchadnetzar sought handsome, charismatic, and highly intelligent young Jewish boys. One might understand that the Babylonian emperor sought wise Jewish leaders who would help him manage his empire, as Yosef did for Paroh and Mordechai did for Achashveirosh.
However, we suggest that Nevuchadnetzar had far grander goals. He was not merely looking to develop talented advisors for his empire. If that were his goal, there would be no need to demand that the boys be handsome and descendants of the royal line. There would have been no need for him to change their names and have them eat the royal food.
Instead, he sought to bring these boys to his home at an impressionable age to dramatically change their cultural identities. Nevuchadneztar did not attempt to acculturate the Jewish boys but rather to transform them from Jews to Babylonians. Nevuchadneztar figured that young boys would not be able to withstand the pressure to partake of the most exquisite food in the Babylonian empire and that they would quickly succumb to the efforts to assimilate them.
The plan would not end there. Nevuchadnetzar chose handsome and blemish-free young men because they would be able to become leaders of the Jewish people subsequently. Their royal lineage would serve to enhance their credibility as leaders of the Jews. Nevuchadneztar was hoping that these assimilated young Jews would be accepted as leaders of the Jewish people and serve as role models for assimilation into Babylonian society.
Nevuchadneztar hoped they would convince the Jews, now under Babylonian political control, to adopt Babylonian culture and lifestyle. He thought that the young leaders would be especially successful in reaching out to the younger generation to convince them to abandon the ways of their parents. Once the Jews assimilated, they would serve as loyal servants to Nevuchadneztar and his descendants.
Daniel’s Resistance
Daniel, despite his youth, grasped the plan and its far-reaching consequences. The future of the Jewish people was at stake, for if the young leaders of the Jews set a poor example to their brethren and young counterparts, the Jews would assimilate and cease being Jews. Daniel and his friends acted correctly, for the future of our people was at grave risk.
Preserving Jewish identity might be why Mordechai refused to bow to Haman, an issue which has puzzled many of the commentaries to the Megillah7See our essay which summarizes the major opinions, archived at https://www.koltorah.org/halachah/why-did-mordechai-refuse-to-bow-down-to-haman-by-rabbi-chaim-jachter.. Mordechai recognized that the Jewish people in the Persian Empire were assimilating (Megillah 12a famously records that we enjoyed Achashveirosh’s extreme parties). If Mordechai, a great leader of his people, were to acculturate and bow to Haman, then the Jews would soon assimilate into Persian society and cease identifying as Jews. Although refusing to bow to Haman placed our people at high risk, bowing to Haman would have been a nail in the coffin of our people.
Eating serves as a powerful bonding experience, as is evident from Bereishit 26:26-30 and 31:43-46. Shemot 34:15-16 and Bemidbar 24:1-3 describe a shared meal with idolaters as a prelude to our worshipping Avoda Zara8Yoma 39a records how non-kosher food makes one unreceptive to spirituality, Timtum HaLev..
Avoda Zara 36a
Avodah Zarah 36a states that Daniel made the Gezeira forbidding us to eat even kosher wine and oil prepared by a non-Jew. According to this Gemara, it is also possible that Nevuchadnetzar prepared kosher food for Daniel, and he nevertheless refused it.
Daniel’s refusal to eat Nevuchadnetzar’s food was critical for the future of our People. Right at the start of the Jewish presence in Bavel, Daniel declared that we would remain Jewish even under Babylonian dominion. Daniel set an example of the sacrifice we must be willing to make to resist the prevailing culture and retain our Jewish identity9The Nimukei Yosef (Sanhedrin 18a in the pages of the Rif) asserts that “a prominently pious individual who fears Hashem and recognizes the generation’s spiritual decline may sacrifice his life even if not technically required by Halacha, in order to inspire the nation to fear Hashem”. Although a young lad, Daniel sensed the great communal need and responsibility thrust upon him and he risked his life despite his tender young age..
Interestingly, TABC Talmid Menachem Kravetz suggests that once Daniel established that he would maintain his Jewish identity in Nevuchadnetzar’s palace even at very high cost, Daniel was comfortable serving as an advisor to the Babylonian emperor. He no longer feared that this would cause him to lose his Jewish identity10Similarly, Yosef’s willingness to refuse Eishet Potiphar’s advances made him comfortable serving as an advisor to Paroh..
Conclusion
Sefer Daniel opens with an allusion to rebellion against Bavel. Daniel, following the example set by Yosef resisting Eishet Potiphar11Yosef resisting Eishet Potiphar may be seen not only as avoiding the heinous Aveira of Gilui Arayot but, in a certain way even more importantly, refusing to assimilate into the mores of Egyptian culture., rebels against Nevuchadnetzar to retain his Jewish cultural independence.
The major theme of Sefer Daniel is that absent willingness to engage in dramatic Mesirat Nefesh (sacrifices), Jews will assimilate in exile. Daniel would have severely jeopardized the Jewish future had he been unwilling to risk their lives to refrain from eating non-kosher food12TABC Talmid Levi Langer expresses the point beautifully: Perhaps Daniel is not responding directly to the attempted Avoda Zara-ization. BUT he is heroically taking his life into his own hands (in two senses), he is controlling his destiny, and he is standing up for his identity: I am a Jew, regardless of where I am, and regardless of the pressures on me, (and I will not submit to the broader theme of Avoda Zara) and I WILL NOT surrender an inch and become the tiniest bit Megu'al (spiritually degraded) by consuming foreign food and wine. Bnei Yisrael are in dire need of this crucial message of resilience, speaking truth to power, and zero tolerance of assimilation..
The same applies to every generation. Had the Hasmoneans not made extraordinary sacrifices to resist Antiochus’ program of Hellenizing our ancestors, Torah observance might not have survived. Those Jews who did not make extraordinary sacrifices to refrain from Chillul Shabbat during the time (until the 1950s) when the United States ran on a six-day workweek, most often did not have Jewish grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Each generation has its own unique Nisayon (test or trial). For our generation, our Nisayon is not Shabbat or Kashrut, which are relatively easy to observe in today’s multicultural society. Yeshiva tuition and Aliya are among the great contemporary Nisayonot. If we step up to the challenge and are willing to make extraordinary sacrifices like Daniel, we will join the long chain of Jews who have heroically preserved the Jewish heritage. In doing so, we will be, with God’s help, blessed with Jewish grandchildren and great-grandchildren.