[Avodah] The Jewish View of Self-Sacrifice

[Yitzchok Levine]

Is complete self-sacrifice required by the Torah?

In his commentary of Devarim 22:4

You shall not see your brother's donkey or his ox lying on the way 
and to hold yourself back from them; you shall raise them up with
him.

RSRH writes

It is permissible to take
compensation for t'ena. So, too, the duty to restore lost property without
taking compensation devolves only on someone who has no other employment,
but a person who is employed is not obligated to neglect his
own livelihood without appropriate compensation. These halachos are
deeply characteristic of Jewish law's outlook on the fulfillment of duties
in society.

Jewish law does not subscribe to that extravagant zeal which demands
complete self-abnegation as a general rule in communal life, and
which equates virtue with self-sacrifice. Jewish law does not accept such
a philosophy, because it could never become a universal standard. Indeed,
if it were to be put into practice, it would spell the end of all
social commerce. If such an impracticable ideal were to be accepted as
the standard for everyday conduct, "practical-minded" people would
feel they would have no other alternative but to adopt an attitude of
rank egotism. The universally binding Jewish social principle accords
full moral validity to man's need to provide for his own existence and
independence. At the same time, however, the Law demands that, in
addition to, and simultaneously with, seeing that our own needs are
met, we cooperate, with equal seriousness, in attending to and assisting
in the preservation of our neighbor's property and the furtherance of
his endeavors.

As we have already noted (Commentary, Vayikra 19:18), Jewish truth
denies that any selfishness attaches to striving for one's own interest;
indeed, it views such striving as a duty commanded by God. Only thus
could it truly place the Divine seal, Ani HaShem, on its rule, "Love 
your neighbor
as yourself." 
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