Success Not Dictated By Law

by R. Gidon Rothstein

Parshat Va-Etchanan
We will look at two comments on Devarim 4;6, a verse my teacher, Prof. Twersky, z”l, often pointed to because of the weight Rambam gave it. The verse says non-Jews will look at our observance of mitzvot and declare what a wise and insightful nation we are, for Rambam proof that mitzvot have reasons anyone can understand.

Don’t Pay Attention to the Non-Jews!

Chatam Sofer’s reading of our verse jumps out for its disinterest in what Rambam found a clear value. He sees no reason to care whether non-Jews appreciate our observance, cannot imagine the Torah had any interest in what they think of our observance. He takes it further, any reason that convinces non-Jews it is a wise system will not be the true reason. The true reasons, in his view, are all hidden and esoteric, an idea he thinks is proven by the idea our observance brings us closer to God [since God is metaphysical and wholly Other, I think he means; anything that brings us “nearer” must touch on realms where human intuition fails, and therefore cannot be the ones we come up with on our own].

For one example, he says the impact of people’s Torah study and/or reciting Tehillim on behalf of someone who is ill has no rational explanation, is obviously an element of the Torah hidden from ordinary humans. So we should be careful about investing any energy, value, or joy in whatever the non-Jews decide to think about our Torah.

In the face of the simple reading, in the face of Rambam’s enthusiastic acceptance of that reading. Torat Moshe goes his own way.

It’s Our Creativity They Will Admire

Netziv’s comment to our verse, 4;6, moves away from reasons or conclusions to process of study. He reads u-shmartem, you shall observe or keep, to adjure us to know what has been said until now, where va-asitem calls us to innovate, find new ideas in the Torah, expand and make it greater, warns us against passive conveyance of the traditions of the past to the next generation.

Remarkably, he thinks our creative readings are what will garner respect from non-Jews, where today I think the malleability of Torah leads Jews and non-Jews to dismiss it as another man-made system. In his view, the 13 rules for how to derive new ideas will impress other nations, because they will know they could not themselves have come up with such a body of knowledge, given only the Torah and those middot. [it reminds me of a joke my father a”h loved, a version of which is here].

With All Our Hearts, Soul, and Might

The commandment to love God in the first paragraph of Shema, Devarim 6;5, says to do it be-chol levavecha, be-chol nafsheha, u-v-chol me’odecha. Meshech Chochmah elegantly links the three to Baba Kamma 30a, where the Gemara has three options for one who wants to become a chasid, someone of noted piety. to fulfill issues of berachot, blessings, Avot, or nezikin, damages.

Meshech Chochmah parallels those three to our verse. Blessings tie in to be-chol levavecha, all your heart, because “heart” means intellect (he says), and when we bless God, we use our intellect to understand and appreciate what God does for us. Avot improves character, similar to be-chol nafshecha, all your soul, of our verse. [Note his assumption heart means intellect and soul means character; I could have imagined the reverse.]
Finally, nezikin, civil law, reflects me’odecha, your strength, because man is a political animal (he says, borrowing Aritstotle’s idea), and appreciates society, as a way to make up for his lacks. It is why Ben Zoma, Berachot 58, celebrated his advantage over the first Man, who had to plow, plant, water, harvest, mill, etc., to get bread, where Ben Zoma awoke to fresh bread daily.

We become chasidim, notably pious, by turning one of our strengths completely to God. Care about berachot does it for our intellects, about Avot for our souls/character, and nezikin for what makes us human, our cooperative societies. [He has made this verse in Shema seemingly a choice of ways to serve Hashem, like Baba Kama, a seeming choice which of the three to love God with. While Baba Kama said that about becoming a chasid, a simple reading of this verse would have required us to love God with all three.]

The Extra Yard

When the Torah commands hayashar vehatov, 6;18, to perform that which is straight (or right) and good in Hashem’s eyes. I would think it means keep the mitzvot, what Hashem clearly defined as the ways to live. Ramban quotes what he calls a midrash yafeh, a nice Midrash of our rabbis, that this refers to lifnim mi-shurat ha-din, to going beyond the letter of the law, better than the merely obligatory. He stresses the need for an ethic of lifnim mi-shurat ha-din, because legal systems can never fully define what people should or should not do (an idea R. Yochanan, Bava Metzi’a 32b captures when he says Jerusalem was destroyed because they judged cases by pure law; in our week of comfort, we can hope to do better).

Instead of trying to be comprehensive, the Torah mentions many laws, like not talebearing, taking revenge or holding a grudge, not standing by while a fellow Jew is murdered (or bears financial loss), and so on. Then it gives a principle, what’s right and good, in which Chazal included compromise, going beyond the letter of the law, the dina de-bar metzra, offering a piece of property to one’s neighbors before selling it on the open market, and (as Yoma 86a says) being a person of good reputation, who speaks pleasantly with others.

All unlegislated, yet still right and good, what will let someone be a tam ve-yashar. [In our times, there are some who say that if halachah doesn’t explicitly prohibit something, it’s allowed. This Ramban shows the error in such thinking. The reverse is also a problem, thinking that unless the Torah spefically allow something, it’s not allowed, but this Ramban doesn’t help with that.]

Don’t Like Them, Don’t See Anything Attractive About Them

Moshe promises God will help vanquish the seven nations of Canaan, then warns the Jews to remove those other nations from Israel completely (the expectation is they will have to kill them, although they were welcome to run away; I understand Western values do not see that as morally all that much better). The Torah specifically prohibits reaching a pact with them, 7;2, and says lo techanem, don’t let them find favor (with you).

Onkelos translates lo teracham alehon, a phrase I would have thought bans compassion for them. My quick check shows Onkelos used this Aramaic verb, racham, both for the Hebrew rachamim, compassion or mercy, and for chen, favor (see the end of Parshat Bereshit, the Torah says Noach found chen, favor, in Gd’s eyes. Onkelos has rachamin).

Aside from fusing two Hebrew words, it seems to expand its meaning. He seems to be telling us lo techanem prohibits a broader range of emotions than just showing favor or giving quarter, it prohibits us from racham, from feeling the underlying emotions that fuel good treatment of the other. It will be bad if Jews let them live there when they should not, but they will already have gone wrong if they allow that feeling towards them.

A parsha for treading our path, ignoring non-Jews’ reasons for mitzvot and not letting them grab an emotional hold on us, while we study our own texts creatively, earning admiration, taking paths that lead us beyond bare observance to chasidut and lifnim mi-shurat ha-din.

Other Comments We Saw on VaEtchanan:
Rashi, Devarim 3;23, Ba-et ha-hi, 3;24, Atah hachilota
Ramban, Devarim 3;24, Hashem Elokim
Onkelos, Devarim 3;25, ve-haLevanon
Emet LeYa’akov, Devarim 4;2, Lo tosifu
Ramban, Devarim 4;5, Re’eh limadti
Kli Yakar, Devarim 4;5, Re’eh limadti
Rashi, Devarim 4;6, U-shmartem va-asitem
Rashi, Devarim 4;9, Rak
Ramban, Devarim 4;9, Rak hishamer
Meshech Chochmah, Devarim 4;15, Ve-nishmartem
Ramban, Devarim 4;25, Ki tolid
Onkelos, Devarim 4;28, Va-avadtem sham
Rashi, Devarim 4;28, Va-avadtem sham
Onkelos, Devarim 4;34, Elokim
Meshech Chochmah, Devarim 5;12, Shamor
R. David Tzvi Hoffmann, Devarim 5;12-15, Shamor
Ramban, Devarim 5;15, Al ken
Rashi, Devarim 5;24, Ve-at tedaber
Or HaChayim, Devarim 5;26, Le-yir’ah oti
Ramban, Devarim 6;2, Lema’an tira
Ramban, Devarim 6;3, Eretz
Sforno, Devarim 6;4-5, Hashem echad…Ve-ahavta
Rashi, Devarim 6;5, Ve-ahavta
Rashi, Devarim 6;6, Ve-hayu
Rashi, Devarim 6;7, Ve-dibbarta
Ramban, Devarim 6;7, Ve-shinantam
Ramban, Devarim 6;10, Ve-hayah
Ramban, Devarim 6;13, U-vishmo tishave’a
Ramban, Devarim 6;16, Lo tenasu
Malbim, Devarim 6;18, Ve-asita
Ramban, Devarim 6;20, Ki yish’alcha
R. Samson Raphael Hirsch,Devarim6;21, Avadim
Rashi, Devarim 7;2, Lo techanem
HaKetav VeHaKabbalah, Devarim 7;4, Ki yasir
Rashi, Devarim 7;7, Lo me-rubchem
Ibn Ezra, Devarim 7;9-10, Le-elef dor…le-ha’avido
Onkelos, Devarim 7;10, el panav