The choice between commandment and sin is as stark a decision as whether or not to give one’s life in order to sanctify God’s name.
Thousands of years of Jewish history and thousands of terrible trials have taught us that when a Jew is faced with this existential question–Are you for or against God; do you desire to cleave to God, or are you prepared to be severed from Him?–he answers clearly that he will choose God, no matter what the cost.
The Jew will not allow anything to remove him from God, even if he will be killed as a result.
His decision is not subject to discussion, nor is it amenable to reconsideration.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz