Rav Aryeh Leibowitz
Hashem's Torah is the ultimate manual for spiritual life,
and our working assumption should be to follow it to the best of our ability.[1] This is Hashem's advice:
[You shall] keep all of the statutes and laws that I commanded you… And these words [of the Torah]… should always be on your heart. You should teach them to your children, and you should always speak about them: when you are sitting in your home, when you are walking on the way, when you go to sleep and when you awake. (Devarim 6:6-7)
Doing the mitzvos and studying the Torah is not only
what Hashem wants us to do, but He makes it very clear that this is what is
best for man.
Guard and internalize [through study] all of these things that I am commanding you, for then you will have goodness. (Devarim 12:28)
Hashem could not have been clearer of what He advises man to
do than his direct statement to Yehoshua,
You need to be dedicated to observe all the laws [of the Torah], which Moshe, My servant commanded you. Do not veer from it, not to the right hand or to the left. Then you will have success wherever you go. This book of the law should never leave your mouth, rather you should study it day and night, so that you can observe all that is written within. Then you will be prosperous and have great successes” (Yehoshua 1:7-8)
The instructions from The Expert and The Engineer are very
clear: Learn Torah and do mitzvos.[2]
This is the most basic and fundamental perspective that we must
internalize. We must have faith in
Hashem in the value of learning Torah and performing mitzvos. This is the most elementary reason to pursue
Torah and mitzvos.[3]
It has been suggested that this is the reason that the Torah
gave us certain laws that are defined as “chok” – a mitzvah that’s
purpose we do not understand. The
message of the chok is that we must realize that we do not need to
understand everything. Seen in this
light, the chok is not to be looked at as simply a unique category of mitzvos. Rather, the chok’s existence teaches
us how to relate to all the mitzvos, even those we feel we do
understand. The chok teaches that
Hashem is privy to information that is beyond the ken of the average man. Hence, the ultimate reason we do the mitzvos
is because we know that Hashem commanded them and that they are truthful and
correct.[4]
This too is an understanding of the Jewish nation’s response
of, “We will do and we will understand (נעשה
ונשמע),” when Hashem offered them the Torah. They accepted upon themselves the yoke of the
commandments based on a faith that God knows best. Whether they would understand or not, they
were committed to living by the diet prescribed by the ultimate Engineer and Creator,
simply because of who He is.
A similar perspective is found in the pietistic work, Sefer
Chasidim, attributed to R. Yehudah He-Chasid (d. 13th century). The Rambam famously wrote (Hilchos Teshuvah,
Chapter 10) that a person should perform the mitzvos not out of a desire
for reward, but due to a realization that the Torah is the ultimate truth – עושה האמת מפני שהוא אמת. The Rambam’s formulation was borrowed by the Sefer
Chasidim, but altered to reflect the perspective that Hashem as the
ultimate source of truth. Also arguing
that a person should not serve Hashem for reward, the Sefer Chasidim (#14)
changed the Rambam’s עושה האמת מפני
שהוא אמת, which focuses on the truth of Torah, to עובד באמת מפני שהקב"ה אמת, where the stress is
on the truth of Hashem. According to the
Sefer Chasidim (#14) it is one’s realization that Hashem is the ultimate
truth, and knows best, that ought to underlie one’s dedication to Torah and
mitzvos.[5]
If man truly wishes to fulfill his potential and achieve his
elevated position in the hierarchy of creation he should pursue Torah and mitzvos,
as per Hashem’s prescription. Like the
car manual that sits in the glove compartment waiting to be read, the Torah “is
resting, waiting, and ready for any Jew… Whoever wishes may come and acquire
it!” (Rambam, Hilchos Talmud Torah, 3:1). The Torah sits waiting to be consulted.
[1] When we want to have our car run smoothly, we consult the manual – written by
the engineer – and we follow it to the best of our ability. This often involves time and money, but we
sacrifice these precious things, because we know the manufacturer knows
best. So too, Hashem is the manufacturer
of man. Should we not try to follow His
manual to the best of our ability – even if it requires sacrifices? With the car example, we all know that paying
fifty dollars to change the oil is an expense, but nothing compared to the cost
of replacing the engine when it breaks because it never received an oil
change. So too, the sacrifices we make
for a Torah lifestyle are nothing compared to what we gain.
[2] Indeed, Hashem’s diet will also provide us with many other things, such as peace, success, prosperity.
If you follow my Ways (i.e. learn Torah) and perform my commandments… then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield her produce… dwell in your land safely… And I will have respect unto you, and make you fruitful, and multiply you (Vayikra 26:3-9)
[3] The same is true in regards to those who have studied Hashem’s Torah, and
transmitted the Torah tradition from generation to generation. The great scholars of the generations are
also deserving of our confidence, as we turn toward them for advice and
guidance. When we are looking to Hashem,
the creator of man, and trying to get the most out of our lives, why would we
not trust the experts in God’s will? If
we are willing to follow the advice of the Mayo Clinic, and trust their medical
expertise even when it requires us to make many sacrifices, should we not be willing
to do the same with those who have amassed expertise in the divine? Are R. Akiva, Rava, the Rambam, the Chasam
Sofer, or R. Moshe Feinstein less worthy of our confidence in spiritual matters
than the staff of Harvard Medical center or the members of the American Heart
Association are in physical matters?
Certainly the intensity of study, the whole-being dedication, and the
purity of character that R. Akiva, R. Yochanan, Rashi, Rav Akiva Eiger, or R.
Shlomo Zalman Aurbach poured into their study of Torah should be as comforting
to us when we seek expertise as the effort expanded by our doctors in medical
school is when we seek medical expertise?!
[4] See R. Ya’akov Kaminetsky’s Emes Le-Ya’akov, Chukas. Perhaps we can add that maybe for this reason
the Parah Adumah needs to be tamimah. Tam means without chochmas, (as
the Sefas Emes explains regarding the pasuk, “Tamim tehiye im Hashem
Elokecha”), and to serve Hashem because simply because He told us to.
[5] One also can’t help but notice that the Sefer Chasidim also changed “doing
the truth” (עשה)
to “serving faithfully” (עובד).
No comments:
Post a Comment