Community Magazine July 2016

18 COMMUNITY MAGAZINE good. It is only because of the inherently limited human intellect that these laws seem peculiar. The Midrash relates that even King Shlomo, the wisest of all men, despaired after trying to understand the rationale behind the parah adumah . He said about his failed efforts to understand this law, “ Amarti ehkema vehi rehoka mimeni – I said I am smart, but it remains distant from me” (Kohelet 7:23). Brilliant minds like King Shlomo’s could understand many things and uncover the profound depths of the Torah, but certain information lies outside even their intellectual reach. And this was the case with the parah adumah . The mysterious nature of this law was not lost upon our ideological foes. Rashi comments that enemy nations taunted our ancestors when they heard about this law. They viewed it as proof that our religion is illogical and silly, Heaven forbid. The institution of parah adumah is so peculiar to the human mind that our enemies used it as a weapon in their campaign to ridicule Judaism and lure us away from our faith. We, however, have remained steadfast in our belief in the profound wisdom underlying each and every one of the Torah’s laws. We have not and will not be swayed by the pressures imposed by our foes or by our own intellectual dissatisfaction. We firmly believe that there are deep reasons behind every mitzvah , even behind those whose rationale we cannot possibly begin to understand. Robotic Obedience vs. Fiery Enthusiasm This belief, however, presents us believing Jews with a difficult dilemma of sorts. If, indeed, we firmly believe in the profound wisdom of mitzvot regardless of whether or not we understand their reasons, then perhaps we should not even bother trying to understand. Maybe we are better off blindly complying, without even thinking about the message behind any given mitzvah . This approach has the distinct advantage of avoiding the pressure to reject mitzvot which we do not understand. If from the outset we don’t expect to understand anything, then we will more easily free ourselves from the instinct to do only that which makes sense to us, and this will help ensure that we faithfully observe even those laws which seem irrational. There is also, however, a distinct disadvantage to this approach, which cannot be overlooked. If we make no effort at all to try to understand why we do what we do, then our observance will, in all likelihood, be lifeless and robotic. We might compare this to an American being hired to copy Japanese texts. He understands not a word of Japanese, and does not even recognize any letters of the alphabet. Eight hours a day, he sits and copies the images with perfect precision, having absolutely no idea what he is writing. He performs his work diligently and capably, as he needs this job to support his family, but quite obviously, there is no passion or emotion whatsoever. He works like a robot, doing exactly what he is told to do. Essentially, he is a human copy machine. Clearly, this is not what our Torah observance should look like. Many sources speak of the importance of joy, enthusiasm and vitality in the service of Gd. Emotions play a crucial role in religious life. But how can we be expected to perform mitzvot Dedicated in memory of the pure neshamot of the Sassoon children Fixtures Faucets Hardware accessories 1663 coney island avenue Brooklyn NY 11230 Monday–wednesday 9am–5:30pm thursday 9am–7pm sunday 11am–5pm Valet Parking appointments welcome 718.787.1000 www.homeandstone.com Home & stone