Taryag Mitzvos – Part 1: The Heart Beats…the Odds

Author’s note: In honor of Shavuos – Z’man Matan Torasenu – and in honor of the upcoming “bar-mitzvah” anniversary of the release of my book, I am interrupting the series on Techeiles to insert a special series on Taryag mitzvos. This series is an actual chapter from my book, One Above and Seven Below, which I edited to make it more blog friendly. The original title of this chapter is Getting to the Heart of the Matter.

I plan to reprint this chapter in four parts and this is Part 1, the pilot portion. My next Techeiles post should come out shortly after Shavuos. Thereupon, Part 2 of this series will converge with the Techeiles series. I hope to have it out by Parshat Shelach Lecha.

“I’m a good Jew at heart. G-d understands me.”

How many times have we heard this sentiment, emanating predominantly from a non-observant or marginally observant Jew? The observant Jew will typically respond with, “Try telling the tax authorities that you have been paying your taxes at heart. I’m sure they will understand.” or “I suppose your heart will go to Gan Eden but we can’t be sure about the rest of you.”

Regardless, it cannot be said that this sentiment is totally without basis for even (especially) chareidim are wont to quote the well-known Talmudic phrase רחמנא ליבא בעי - "The Holy One requests the heart”. It must be that the chareidim understand this phrase differently than the average consumer.

What lies at the heart of the chareidi mindset?

In One Above and Seven Below, we defined a chareidi as one who adheres to the directive of the pasuk in Vayikra 26:3 to observe the mitzvos with ameilus (toil) b’Torah. Thus far, we have elaborated on the import of the ‘toil in Torah’ aspect to imply that this aspect is what distinguishes the chareidi from the non-chareidi Orthodox Jew (NCOJ). It would seem that in the ‘mitzvos’ department, the chareidi and NCOJ stand on equal footing. But even this can only be true if both entities conceptualize the significance of mitzvos in the same way; and I, for one, am not convinced that such is the case. I am not clear as to how NCOJs conceptualize the significance of mitzvos nor does it seem as if there is total collusion among their ranks.

The chareidim have a bit of an edge. They can learn these concepts from the words of Chazal; however, their words are succinct. Their implications must be excavated from beneath the surface - and this requires a bit of toil.

The last words of the Mishna in Makkoth (23b) characterize the chareidi perception of mitzvos:

Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya says: The Holy One wanted to confer merit on Israel, accordingly, He increased for them [the quantities of] Torah and mjitzvos as it is written, “G-d desires, for the sake of deeming him (i.e., the individual Jew) as righteous, [that he is] to enlarge the Torah and to strengthen it.”

This statement implies that G-d did not ‘have to’ give us such an extended list of mitzvos nor such a vast and complex Torah, but that He did it in order to enable every Jew to readily attain righteousness. How are we to understand this? Can mitzvos be superfluous? Isn’t every mitzvah essential? Doesn’t each one embrace a unique and vital purpose?

The gemara (ibid.) gives us a clue:

Rabbi Smalai expounded: 613 mitzvos were dictated to Moshe - 365 negative mitzvos corresponding to the days of a solar year and 248 positive mitzvos corresponding to the number of organs in a human being. Said Rav Hamenuna: What is the [indicative] pasuk? “Torah was commanded to us by Moshe as a legacy…” Torah has a numerical value of 611; Anochi (I am the Hashem your G-d) and Lo Yihiyeh Lecha (There shall not be any other gods before Me) were heard directly from the mouth of the Almighty. 

David came and reduced the amount to eleven as it states (Tehillim 15:1-5), “A song to David. G-d, who will reside in Your tent, who will dwell in Your holy mountain? One who walks with simplicity, one who performs righteousness…” Yeshaya came and reduced the amount to six as is written (Yeshaya 33:15), “One who goes with righteousness, one who speaks with straightforwardness…” Michah came and reduced the amount to three as is written… Yeshaya returned and reduced the amount to two as is written… Chabakuk came and reduced the number to one as is written (Chabakuk 2:4), וצדיק באמונתו יחיה “And a righteous man with his loyalty (emunah) shall he live.”

Hey, hold on there! How many mitzvos are there? Weren’t there supposed to be lots of them – for our own benefit?

Another question: What is the significance that Moshe relayed to us 611 mitzvos and that we received two mitzvos directly from HKBH? Didn’t all of the mitzvos emanate from HKBH? Many of us are familiar with the Talmudic legend (Shabbos 88b) that as HKBH uttered the first mitzvah the entire nation fell dead. HKBH dispersed a divine dew and revived them. He then uttered the second mitzvah and, once again, the entire nation fell dead and were again revived. Thereupon, they insisted on hearing the mitzvos only via relay through Moshe. It seems that the direct mitzvos were limited to two only for this ‘technical’ reason. If the Jews would have had more stamina, perhaps they would have heard three or thirty or all of them. Is this truly so, or is there some special significance that they heard these two, not more and not less?

Lastly, it is a splendid bit of symbolism that the number of negative mitzvos corresponds to the days of the solar year and that the number of positive mitzvos corresponds to the number of organs in the human body, but are we to understand this as merely a mnemonic symbol or is something deeper than that being implied?

The Maharsha confronts all of these issues and presents a detailed explanation of this obscure Talmudic passage. He begins by quoting some earlier commentaries, one of which maintains that the later prophets (David, Yeshaya, etc.) were not actually reducing the quantity of mitzvos but were merely categorizing them into groups to enable people to reach great levels. The Maharsha rejects this idea by noting that at one point the Talmud derives that one need not cover all eleven line items (in the case of David’s list) to qualify for the trophy, but, actually, any one of them will suffice.

The Maharsha goes on to offer his explanation. He begins by quoting the commentary of Rambam to the aforementioned Mishna comprising the statement of Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya. Rambam states:

And it is among the principles of our faith in the Torah that if a person should fulfill any one mitzvah of the Creator’s 613 mitzvos as it should be fulfilled, and he does not combine with it any intent of an earthly nature whatsoever, but rather that it is done for its own sake out of love [for G-d]… he is deserving of life in the World to Come.  This is because, as there are numerous mitzvos, it is not possible (i.e., likely) that a person, over the duration of his life, will not perform at least one mitzvah fully and as directed.

To summarize, Rambam is telling us that we need only perform one solitary mitzva with complete devotion and our fortune is made.

Based on Rambam, Maharsha interprets the statement of Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya to mean that there are two vantage points – that of Man in the physical world and that of G-d in the spiritual world. From G-d’s spiritual ‘vantage point’ physical embodiments have no significance in and of themselves. They are only tools or instruments that enable the physical man to enact a spiritual impulse. This means to say that the physical form of the daily tefillin and tzitzit, the matzo of Passover, the shofar of Rosh HaShanna, the sukka of Sukkot, etc., are, in actuality, nothing but instruments through which Man can display his allegiance to HKBH and forge a connection. This is all that Hashem requests from Man.

In other words, to G-d, there is only one mitzvah – EMUNAH (Loyalty to G-d). This automatically splits into two mitzvos, the positive and the negative, similar to a Venn diagram – A and A-complement. A is Anochi Hashem (I am Hashem your G-d…). This is the positive – to be loyal to HKBH, to acknowledge G-d as One, to fulfill Anochi Hashem. A-complement is Lo Yihiyeh Lecha (There shall be no other gods before Me). This is the negative - not to be disloyal to G-d, to disavow any other power, to observe Lo Yihiyeh Lecha.

All that Man has to do to merit Olam Habah is to fulfill this one mitzvah of Loyalty or Emunah (or, as Chovos Halevavos calls it: Yichud Hashem), which, in effect, means to fulfill Anochi and to observe Lo Yihiyeh Lecha. This is what Dovid HaMelech refers to as Sur MeRah (turn away from evil) i.e., observe Lo Yihiyeh and VaAseh Tov (do good) i.e., fulfill Anochi. Hence, he writes: “Who is the man who desires life (World to Come) who has a longing for days to see [pure] good? ...Turn away from evil and do good, seek peace and pursue it.” Fulfilling Anochi and observing Lo Yihiyeh is the complete ticket. Rambam implies that this goal is achieved by a single pristine fulfillment or observance. What a deal!

It pays to waste no time to achieve this one mitzvah of Emunah. Paradise awaits! But, wait just a second – slow down. How exactly does one fulfill this mitzvah in ‘real-time’?

We physical beings cannot connect to the spiritual CPU without a graphical user interface. (No, Maharsha does not use this terminology.) So HKBH has developed one for us with a full set of applications and utilities. 611 to be exact. There are 247 positive mitzvos, all of which are applications for accessing Anochi. Likewise, there are 364 negative mitzvos, all of which are ‘bugs’ that will trigger Lo Yihiyeh Lecha (and crash the system).  According to Rambam, any single time we access Anochi or consciously avoid a ‘bug’ (observe Lo Yihiyeh Lecha) we ‘score a hit’. Rabbi Chananya ben Akashya is telling us that G-d, in His unbridled benevolence, gave us a host of methods of achieving this single mitzvah of Loyalty to G-d (Emuna) to facilitate each of us to make the grade at least once in his life and to earn a share of Eternity.

The point is that, although each mitzvah is indeed different and has a distinct physical imprint, at the ‘receiving station’ they all accomplish a like result – lighting up a display of Emuna. All of the mitzvos of the Torah are a light switch for this one light. Therefore, performing one mitzvah properly has the same result as if one has performed numerous mitzvos or even the entire Torah. It is similar to the quaint carnival game where one has to hit a disk with a sledgehammer whereupon a puck flies up a shaft. If it flies high enough it rings a bell and the contestant wins a prize. It shouldn’t matter if he uses a sledgehammer, a baseball bat, a paddle, a shoe, or whatever. If he hits it hard enough the bell rings and sounds exactly the same. One cannot discern what striking implement was used by the sound of the bell. Even if he uses two or more items to do the job, the bell sounds the same as if he used one. So, whether with one stick or 100 sticks, if he hits it right and rings the bell, he gets his prize, and if not, not.

Of course, he is well advised not to quit after one success, but this is not merely because the goal is to win more prizes, but because a Jew must be loyal to G‑d (and display said loyalty) all of the time.

The Maharsha goes on to explain the significance of the symbols. Man was given a body to enable him to ‘do’ – to perform positive actions – and, consequently, to fulfill Anochi. Therefore, the quantity of mitzvos (bell ringers or light switches) was set to correspond with the quantity of parts of the body. The most vital human organ is the heart and every other organ is subordinate to it. Therefore, says Maharsha, the heart represents the parent mitzvah of Anochi that we heard directly from G-d and all the other organs represent the physical manifestations of Anochi, i.e., the 247 positive mitzvos that we heard from Moshe.

On the flipside (literally), the negative mitzvos are represented by the number of days in the solar year. This is because the observance of Lo Yihiyeh Lecha and negative mitzvos is fulfilled when we have the opportunity and temptation to transgress them. G-d empowered our yetzer harah, also called the Satan (Bava Bathra 16a), to present us with ample opportunity to transgress. This is actually for our benefit as in this way we can ‘ring the bell’ of Emunah by, technically, doing nothing. The Hebrew term השטן (the Satan) has a numerical value of 364. This is because the Satan is empowered to test our Loyalty 364 days a year. Only one day is his power restrained, Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur almost all physical activities are prohibited and we focus on refraining from all of the negative mitzvos on the list. This is the purest manifestation of the Lo Yihiyeh Lecha side of the Loyalty mitzvah. By restraining ourselves on the Yom Kippur we make a clear declaration (ring the bell) of Lo Yihiyeh Lecha and in this way we likewise merit a share in Olam Habah. Since Hashem’s Lo Yihiyeh Lecha is equivalent to all of Moshe’s 364 negative mitzvos, when we observe Lo Yihiyeh Lecha on Yom Kippur it is considered as if we observed all 364 earthly prohibitions (which, in effect, we have) and thus we are atoned for the failed opportunities that transpired throughout the year.

With this in mind, the Maharsha offers an explanation to a puzzling passage in masechet Eruvin (13b). The gemara relates that the students of Shammai and the students of Hillel debated (for 2 ½ years) the issue of whether it is more ‘convenient’ for Man to have been created or more convenient to not have been created. The gemara resolves that they ‘counted’ and concluded that it would be more convenient for Man to not have been created and now that he is created, he should scrutinize his actions.

The questions abound: What is the crux of the argument? What is meant by the adjective “more” and what is meant by the term “convenient”? What was counted and how does that resolve the issue? (Note - The classical interpretation is that they simply took a vote and concluded as they did based on the opinion of the majority. The notion that a deep philosophical issue is resolved based on how many members of either party showed up to the plenum on that day is a bit difficult to digest, especially if the vote fell squarely along party lines.) And, most vexing: if the merciful G-d created Man and said “and behold it is very good” (Breishis 1:31) then is it not obvious that being created is to our advantage?

Says Maharsha that in line with our discussion we can explain it as follows. From G-d’s vantage point there is only one two-sided mitzvah - Loyalty to G-d (Emuna) – which can be achieved via either of two approaches: action, by fulfilling Anochi, or inaction, by observing Lo Yihiyeh Lecha.

Clearly, if Man was not created, he would be incapable of the Anochi aspect though he would excel at observing Lo Yihiyeh Lecha (see Note at the end of this paragraph). The observing of Lo Yihiyeh would be quite convenient. Conversely, if he is created, he now has the opportunity to fulfill Anochi but is likewise vulnerable to transgress on prohibitions and negate Lo Yihiyeh Lecha. In this case, only the Anochi aspect is convenient.

Each situation has a gain and a risk. The debate centers around which of the two positions is comparatively the “more convenient” approach of achieving Loyalty.

(Note - I must postulate that the intention here is not to say that Man would not be created at all, but rather, that he would exist without any physical form. This would help to alleviate the obvious question as to how is it possible for Man to be virtuous in his observance of Lo Yihiyeh Lecha if he does not exist?)

To resolve the dilemma, the group took a rather mathematical approach – they simply counted and compared the quantity of positive mitzvos versus the quantity of negative mitzvos to determine what are the true ‘odds’. The resulting tabulation was, as we know, 365 negative mitzvos versus 248 positive ones. This means that for every two opportunities that we have to earn paradise we have close to three opportunities to botch it up. Not such favorable odds. Based on this calculation, the group concluded that it would be more convenient for Man to have not been created because, in that condition, it would be a cinch to observe the numerous negative mitzvos although he is thereby hindered from performing any positive ones. The fact that he is created into a physical form is not a convenience as the odds are not in his favor. Therefore, now that he is created, his only recourse is to overcome the odds by “scrutinizing his actions”, i.e., by capitalizing on his ability to perform actions and focusing those actions on those that fulfill Anochi.

With this, the Maharsha goes on to interpret the pasuk (Shir HaShirim 5:2), “I am asleep, yet my heart is awake.” (אני ישנה ולבי ער)

Ani yeshaina – I am asleep. We would be at an advantage were we to be asleep – i.e., not physically created – because, in that way we would be in full compliance of the 365 negative mitzvos. Maharsha notes that the numerical value of ישנה (asleep) is 365.

V’Libi ehr – yet my heart is awake. Maharsha quotes a Midrash on this pasuk:

Says Rabbi Chiya bar Abba: From where do we know that the Holy One is the heart of Israel? As the pasuk states (Tehillim 73:26), “The rock of my heart and my portion is G-d”.

In G-d’s realm there is but one mitzvah, the positive side of which, Anochi Hashem, is represented by the heart of the human body which is the root of vitality for all of the other organs. As Man was indeed created, he must activate his heart, i.e., scrutinize his actions to fulfill Anochi.

We now have a clearer understanding – the chareidi understanding – of the Talmudic edict רחמנא ליבא בעי - “The Holy One requests the heart.” The heart represents the sole positive mitzvah from G-d’s vantage point and likewise translates into all of the positive mitzvos in our physical world. To be a “good Jew at heart” one must focus his actions toward fulfilling Anochi and ‘beating the odds’. And he must undertake those actions for, if not, it would be more convenient if he were not created.

Finally, the Maharsha offers his explanation to the ensuing lines of the Talmud which states that David reduced the number to eleven, Yeshaya reduced it to six, Michah to three, Yeshaya again to two, and, ultimately, Chabakuk reduced it to one.

He says that we now understand that every physical mitzvah is merely a method of fulfilling Anochi and that any individual one is equally capable of achieving this goal and conferring the doer with a share in Olam Haba. Nevertheless, not all the mitzvos are equally accessible as some only apply to certain classes (e.g., Cohen or Levi), to particular callings (e.g., farmers, landowners, moneylenders, employers), to the different genders, and at specified times (e.g., day or night, festivals, Shmitta and Jubilee, etc.)

As such, King David endeavored to isolate those mitzvos that are accessible to all people at all times and to package them into categories to facilitate the individual to find at least one convenient mitzvah by which to merit Eternity. He compiled eleven categories. Subsequently, Yeshaya merged them into six categories that are more rudimentary and that every human being is expected to uphold. Michah was able to further glean the list into three fundamentals: doing justice, loving kindness, and behaving modestly before G-d. Yeshaya further presents that of these three, the two that involve inter-human relations are the primary ones. Finally, comes Chabakuk and brings us right back to where we started; that all of the mitzvos are actually exercises in one grand undertaking: Emunah – faith and loyalty to G-d – and that this endeavor is in affect for all Jews at all times.

End of Part 1.

Chag Sameach!!!