Tetzaveh
Shabbat Zachor
Exodus 27:20-30:10
Deuteronomy 25:28-19
I Samuel 15:2-34
A poignant, yet troubling account in the Talmud disproves the efficacy of the rabbinic dictum “Those on a mission to perform a mitzvah will not suffer any harm, neither on the way there, nor on the way back” (Pesachim 8b).
Kiddushin 39a tells of a child sent up a ladder by his father and asked to chase away a mother bird before taking the eggs from her nest. While fulfilling the multiple mitzvot of obeying a parent and not taking the young in the presence of their mother, the child fell from the ladder and died. Here the child was not only perfectly innocent, but he died while fulfilling God’s commands.
This story raises the question not only about the value of mitzvot but also about the system of divine justice that, at times, appears to be random, uncaring or simply cruel. Nevertheless, many Jews continue to observe mitzvot, divinely commanded instructions, meritorious acts or ethical deeds expressed in the Torah, recognizing that although mitzvot may never satisfactorily explain why the evil prosper and the righteous suffer, there are still valid reasons for conducting a life instructed by these commandments.
The rabbinic ideal of performing mitzvot is to accomplish them with joy — simcha shel mitzvah –the joy of fulfilling a sacred command. Mitzvot, as well as the many regulations and customs that have developed over the centuries, and the reward for their fulfillment are the focus of this week’s Torah portion, Tetzaveh, which means, “You shall command.” It provides a student of the Torah with an opportunity to consider the role of mitzvot in the life of any Jew, no matter what the reward or punishment, especially since a cursory study of the Torah indicates that there actually are several thousand mitzvot.
In the Talmud, a remark by Rabbi Simlai states that 613 mitzvot were given to Moses on Mount Sinai — 248 positive commandments, corresponding to the number of parts of the body, and 365 negative commandments, corresponding to the number of days in each year. Ever since that comment was written, the rabbis have argued over which 613 Rabbi Simlai had in mind.
Nevertheless, the remaining number of mitzvot is staggering and may be broken down into three categories: mitzvot bein adam l’makom, commandments between a person and God, commands of the inner spiritual life; mitzvot bein adam l’havero, commandments concerned with relationships between the self and others, including family, neighbors and business dealings; and mitzvot bein adam l’atzmo, concerned with how we take care of our inner life, including matters of self-esteem, and physical and spiritual health. All three categories of mitzvot teach how to bring God’s presence into the world, how to take the ordinary and make it holy, how to add dignity and strength to life.
While those mitzvot that deal with kindness and justice require few, if any, explanation, most commentators suggest that even the ritualistic, cultic mitzvot reflect the will of God. The Levitical author’s comment, “You shall be holy, for I the Lord your God am holy” (Leviticus 19:2), suggests that fulfilling mitzvot offers an opportunity to become holy or sanctified.
Mitzvot are not simply hypothetical or abstract. These rules were designed to counter the legitimization of every conceivable kind of immoral, anti-social and irreligious behavior often justified by a pseudo-sage like Woody Allen, who thoughtlessly defined his marriage to his stepchild with the rationalization, “The heart wants what the heart wants.” In sharp contrast, Maimonides viewed the mitzvot as a preventative against the onslaught of this very kind of behavior, defined as the yetzer harah, the inclination toward evil.
Rabbi Harold Kushner calls mitzvot “spiritual calisthenics, designed to teach us to control the most basic instincts of our lives — hunger, sex, anger, acquisitiveness, and so on.” In Jewish tradition, the performance of a mitzvah is an opportunity l’tzaref et ha-beriyyot –“to refine a person’s character.”
We do mitzvot, not because of anticipation of reward or fear of punishment, but to hold back our lustful, shameless urges, to make us into better human beings. And while a life of mitzvot may not assure external rewards, it will help refine character and develop lives people are proud of, and that is a very important reason to treat mitzvot seriously.