פרשת בחוקתי
This week’s parsha opens with the verse, “אם בחוקותי תלכו…”. “If you go in my ways”. Rashi comments that this concept of “Going in Hashem’s ways” is referring specifically to those who toil in Torah study. This Rashi is slightly difficult because Torah study, as we all know, covers a very broad range of topics. Amongst these topics are those Mitzvos which we understand, and can relate to such as honesty in monetary laws, and kindness to others, and those that are slightly more esoteric, such as the laws of purity and impurity, and the red heifer. However the verse which is supposedly referring to all the Mitzvos, as Rashi says, seems to only mention the “Chukim”, or the esoteric laws and not all the laws.
Many Seforim generate a foundation in Judaism based on Rashi’s choice of words. They say that by Rashi purposely referring to all Mitzvos in the Torah as “Chukim”, Rashi was teaching us that in fact, although some of the Mitzvos seem more “rational” or understandable than others, the only reason why we keep the Torah at all is because it is the will of God. In essence, every Mitzvah is a “Chok”, or a decree from God, and there is not necessarily any logic that we can understand. Indeed to label any of the Mitzvos as “morally correct” would be an extremely presumptuous move on our part. This understanding should instill in us a very important Jewish trait – the trait of guilelessness and complete trust in God and foster in us an ironclad belief that all that Hashem does is for the best.
We find that this attribute of “Temimus” was present in the Jews throughout every pinnacle that they reached. When the Jews left Egypt, they left with virtually no food or shelter, into the abyss of the desert, and their doom was almost guaranteed. Any rational person would have predicted their demise shortly thereafter. However, this “rational” explanation was no match for the Jews’ simple and pure faith in God. Although they were not naïve, and they were certainly aware of the dangers, they entered into the wasteland of the wilderness with complete trust in the God that commanded them to do so. If one looks at scripture, one sees that this decision of the Jewish people was a constant source of great pride for Hashem and is mentioned frequently in Tanach.
An even greater example of the Jews’ great purity of faith was during the revelation at Sinai. Hashem went around to all the nations asking them if they were willing to accept the Torah. They all asked what the nature of the Torah was, as perhaps any responsible person might do. However, only the Jewish people accepted the Torah with complete purity and faith that their beloved Hashem would never command them to do something that they couldn’t handle. Indeed, this great faith was what earned them the right to become God’s chosen people and to receive the Torah. Such is the importance of this attribute of simple faith in God.
During the period of Sefiras Haomer that we currently find ourselves in, this attribute is particularly relevant for us to attempt to acquire. As we count each day of the Sefira, we are getting closer to our own personal “Sinai”, and we must prepare ourselves by becoming vessels which are fit to receive such a lofty endeavor. One way that we can do this, is by emulating what the Jews did so many years ago at the original event – to perfect our simple belief in God and in the fact that everything that He has commanded us to do is the penultimate goodness in this world, and that by keeping his commandments, we, and the people we associate with, will only gain in the final analysis.
The Sefas Emes adds, that there is an interesting allusion to all that we have said in the Torah itself. The counting of the Omer is kicked off with an offering to God which consists mainly of barley which is more of an animal food than a human food. He says that this is alluding to the fact that during this period, we must view ourselves as animals who do not think for themselves, or consider what the results of their work may ultimately produce, bur rather do the will of their master with no real thought about the “grand scheme of things” as Chazal say in Chulin (5), “Man is endowed with great wisdom, but must view himself in this respect as an animal who subjugates his will to that of his master.”
Another interesting explanation which one could derive from the fact that Torah study is referred to as a “Chok”, is an understanding in the quality of the Torah itself. Just as the Mitzvos are beyond human understanding, a Jew has to accept the fact that true understanding of the Torah is beyond his grasp because of the physical nature of human being and therefore cannot come without great toil and labor. The reason for this is because a person is a physical being, and in addition to that, he is drawn after the comforts and the allures of this world which all draw him away from spirituality. All of these pursuits make the Torah, which is entirely spiritual in essence, completely foreign to an individual who is drawn after them. Only a person who toils in Torah constantly, and detaches himself from the physical world to the extent that he can, will be successful in grasping the spiritual Torah and inculcating it into his heart. This is perhaps why the Mishnah in Avos says, “Eat simple bread and water, sleep on the floor, such is the way of Torah, and lucky is the man who follows these instructions, for he will be happy in this world, and the next”. This Mishnah implies that if these instructions are not heeded, a person will not be successful in pursuing and acquiring the Torah.
Perhaps we could end with the Gemorah in Bava Metziah (85b). The Gemorah says that R’ Chanina and R’ Chiyah were having a certain Halachic debate, and R’ Chanina concluded the argument by saying that the Halacha should be like him because he had reached the level that if the entire Torah were forgotten, he could return it to the Jewish people. This argument requires explanation. What does R’ Chanina’s ability to rehash the entire laws of the Torah have anything to do with his correctness in that particular argument that was ensuing? Based on all that we have said, we could explain this Gemorrah beautifully. R’ Chanina was not attributing his Torah knowledge to memory or to ability and intelligence. R’ Chanina knew that the only way he acquired his Torah knowledge was through unimaginable toil and labor. He held that this arduous effort allowed him to reach the stage where his entire thought process and system of value judgments was completely governed by the Torah. This being the case, he wasn’t arguing that he could return the Torah to the Jewish people by mere rote, but rather he would be able to regenerate each and every Halacha in the Torah because he had reached the level in which he lived and breathed the Torah during every step of his life. This being said, it is certainly understandable why he felt that the Halacha should be like him in his debate with R’ Chiya.
May we all merit to serve God by toiling arduously in the Torah in order to escape our physical limitations!