The Benefit & Limitation of Reason

Rabbi Maury Grebenau When we have an understanding of the rationale behind the role we play it can have two very different effects. It may serve to energize us. We may feel that we are more a part of the venture and we may put even more effort into the actions since we can align ourselves with the mission. One the other hand, we may not agree with the vision behind the process and end up putting less effort into the activities or even ignoring them completely. This construct can be applied to our relationship with Mitzvos and their reasons. Rashi (Avos 2:1) gives a well known parable of a king who has an orchard full of trees. While some of the trees are more important to the king, he does not reveal this to the workers. He fears that if he tells them which of the trees are the most important they will come to ignore the other trees and the orchard will suffer. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 21b) picks up on an anomaly in our parsha and makes a similar point. Our parsha contains the only Mitzvot which clearly sate the reason for their performance. The king should not have too many wives lest they sway his heart. He should also refrain from having too many horses, lest he return to Egypt in order to obtain the finest steeds. The Gemara asks why this construct is not followed for other Mitzvos. The answer given is that Shlomo, the wisest of all men, erred in these two Mitzvos because he relied on his understanding of the reasons. He believed that he could violate the commandments without violating the reasons behind them. If even the wisest of all men erred in his judgment, we certainly may fall prey to such rationalizations. These two examples are the negative side of knowing the reasons for the Mitzvos. We may come to rationalize not following the Mitzvos since we feel we know the root issues. This may be the rationale behind the fact that some suggest that we follow the opinion that we are not darshinan tamei dkrah [see Bava Metzia 115a, Kesef Mishna (Issurei Biah 12:1), Gra (Even HaEizer 16:1) and Tur (Y.D. 181) with Beis Yosef and Darchei Moshe]. However, if we ignore the reasons for the commandments completely we may lose out on the opportunity to enhance our service of the Mitzvos. We can bring much more simcha and enthusiasm to our performance of Mitzvos if we knew the reasons behind what we do. So where is the middle ground? The Gemara (Yoma 67b) tells us that we do not have the right to be meharher after the Mitzvos, specifically the chukim (Mitzvos without a clear rationale). Does the Gemara mean to suggest that we follow the Mitzvos blindly? Wouldnt we miss out on the enthusiasm of being a worker who has a clearer knowledge of the companys mission statement? The Sefer HaChinuch was written with just this middle ground in mind. This famous work, which tries to unearth reasons for all commands, simply suggests a small piece of the puzzle (see his own comments in Mitzva 545). Some of what may be under the surface of our observance. The Rashba (shut 1:94) echoes this idea saying that any taamei haMitzvos (reasons for the commandments) that we have is just a small fraction of the true purpose. We understand that it is not within our abilities to fully comprehend the backdrop of what is at the root of a Mitzva. However, we should certainly try our best to

get at some of the flavor of the Mitzva, since that will help bring more meaning to our kiyum of the Mitzva. The Gemara which tells us not be meharher doesnt mean we shouldnt think about the Mitzvos. On the contrary, we must delve deeply into their reasons, what we do not have the right to do is evaluate the Mitzvos. The word of Hashem is not ours to question, but we must look deeply into its depths and give this over to our children as well. When we educate the next generation in performing the Mitzvos we must celebrate the question of why and explore it with enthusiasm. The Rambam at the end of hilchos meilah weighs in on this issue. He makes a kal vchomer from the whole concept of hekdesh. If I can imbue a mere stone or piece of wood with kedusha merely by dedicating it to the Beis HaMikdash then how much kedusha must the Torah itself possess. The Rambam exhorts us to find the reason behind the Mitzvos to the best of our ability. The goal is not to evaluate the Mitzva or find other ways to accomplish the goal. Rather, the purpose is to inject meaning and excitement into our daily observance.