Shabbat Parashat Vayechi 5786

Moreshet Shaul: Introduction to Midrash Rabba – part II

[We saw that Aggada provides the spirit behind the Halacha of the Oral Law, and that the nations of the world do not accept the Torah with Am Yisrael’s enthusiasm.]

A major difference between Israel and the nations is that Israel received the Torah with its spirit. In contrast, the nations received only the dry laws, which do not bring life to or nourish the spirit. The Torah did not become a drug of life for them but of death, causing death and destruction.

They accepted the laws as a revelation of a stubborn, strong power, to which one is compelled to surrender, as he cannot survive without appeasing Him and following His dictates.  At the same time, Israel found in the laws their own internal qualities and spirit, and when they became united with this spirit, they became to some extent, the initiators of the laws. The commandments whose reasons are not known, received their true reason – the upper purpose that was placed within them. Therefore, their fulfillment is not done out of coercion, but willfully, not as an obligation but as a joy. “Serve Hashem with happiness” (Tehillim 100:2) was said about Israel (Tanchuma 58:19). The happiness works toward the service of Hashem and becomes part of it. This is impossible for the nations of the world, as is written, “Do not be happy, Israel, to joy like the nations” (Hoshea 9:1). Their service of Hashem is accompanied by sadness, a feeling of servitude, and limited activeness.

The difference is that Israel looks at mitzvot as an intrinsic goal. The Jew sees that the very fulfillment of mitzvot improves oneself and improves the whole world. In contrast, the nations see the mitzvot as ways to do Hashem’s will, which do not have a direct impact on the world.

Typical of the nations’ outlook is the expression, “The end justifies the means.” There is a goal to which one aims, and to reach this goal everything is permissible. We, in contrast, convey intrinsic importance to the actions. When we posit that a good or bad action has a positive or a destructive impact, it turns out that the end and the means are the same. Therefore, the end never justifies the means. In any case, we never allow the end to justify [forbidden] means.

Rav Kook (Orot Hateshuva 6:7) explained Chazal’s intention in saying that originally, a tree’s taste was supposed to be like that of its fruit. Rav Kook explained that the divine intention was that a person would find in the means the same “taste” as in the goal. When that did not happen in Creation, the Torah came to renew the idea. This is along the lines the midrash learns from Mishlei (8:30) that the Torah is Hashem’s craftsmen’s tool. “Hashem created the world with reshit (see Bereishit 1:1) – with the Torah which is called reishit” (Bereishit Rabba 1:1). If so, it turns out that the laws of the Torah are not external to the world but rules that work within the world, like the known rules of nature do. Furthermore, the rules of nature are only expressions of the word of Hashem and His laws of the Torah.

Our good and bad actions have the power to improve and ruin just like our physical actions do. Our spiritual actions actually have broader impact than physical ones. When we have the opportunity to do something good, it should make us happy. We create and improve. When we lose an opportunity, it saddens, as a tool to bring much good for us and the world slips by.

This spirit is included in the Aggadic Rabbinical writings and is foundational to many halachot found in the Oral Law. This includes many rabbinical injunctions, to try to avoid the violation of a Torah law, by providing many protections. This stems from a recognition that the drug of life and of death is in our hands, so that we must be very careful. In this context, the element of doing that which one is required to do is particularly noticeable. Also, the fact that the Rabbis legislated something that the Torah did not command represents the highest level that the whole mitzva came for. Through the expansion of the mitzva, Israel reaches beyond the mitzva.  

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