Truth vs Life

I smile when I’m angry.

I cheat and I lie.
I do what I have to do
To get by.
But I know what is wrong,
And I know what is right.
And I’d die for the truth
In My Secret Life.

(Leonard Cohen, In My Secret Life)

א"ר יוחנן משום ר"ש בן יהוצדק נימנו וגמרו בעליית בית נתזה בלוד כל עבירות שבתורה אם אומרין לאדם עבור ואל תהרג יעבור ואל יהרג חוץ מע"ז גילוי עריות וכו

כי אתא רב דימי א"ר יוחנן לא שנו אלא שלא בשעת שמד אבל בשעת שמד אפי' מצוה קלה יהרג ואל יעבור ... מאי מצוה קלה אמר רבא בר רב יצחק אמר רב אפילו לשנויי ערקתא דמסאנא

Strange paradox the Gemara is presenting: If you need to eat pig in order to live then "do what you've got to do" but the moment you're being forced to eat pig (or tie your shoes) as an expression of a statement of Existential Truth, you must die for it. You must die rather than give up your faith (אמונה) in that which is Truth (אמת) even though, in action, you may have to live by that which is False.

Part of a larger thought I had about הויה vs חיים or as I like to capture it as the paradox in Dan Akroyd's selling a $12,000 Swiss watch in Harlem for $50 (in the movie Trading Places) because "In Harlem it's worth $50." This Gm' is essentially saying you're permitted to sell that watch for $50 so that you can survive but only so long that you're allowed to maintain your position/belief that in Truth the watch is really worth $12k. The moment the world is demanding of you to not only live as though the watch is $50 but also maintain existentially that's it's only $50 is the moment you have to give up your life.

וצדיק באמונתו יחיה

I smile when I’m angry.
I cheat and I lie.

I do what I have to do
To get by.
But I know what is wrong,
And I know what is right.
And I’d die for the truth
In My Secret Life.


[Additionally can be seen then as the paradox between normative v. empirical or מצוי נגד רצוי]