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Rabbi Simlai expounded: 613 commandments were revealed to Moses... David summed them up in eleven principles....Micah summed them up in three: "It has been told you O man, what is good and Adonai requires of you. 1. Only to do justly, 2. love mercy, and 3. walk humbly with your God.
Isaiah summed them in two: keep justice and do righteousness. Habakkuk came and said: 1. The righteous shall live by faith.
Makkot 23b
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This week, our short parasha contains Moses' third and final 'discourse' which reiterates the message we've seen numerous times before: You stand in a covenant relationship with God. Do not turn away and worship other gods, or bad things will happen. And then, perhaps as motivation, Moses adds, that this 'mitzvah' is not beyond our reach. It is not 'in heaven,' but in our heart and mouth.
The question is, which 'mitzvah' is Moses referring to? Ramban and others identify this mitzvah with teshuvah, repentance, the subject of the previous 10 verses. (The root of the Hebrew word teshuvah appears seven times.) The text says the 'thing is very close to you', not necessarily easy. It is true that repentance, or returning to God, (as hard as it sometimes is), is not dependent on external conditions. Many mitzvot, one could argue, require the right setting, the right equipment, the right skills. But doing teshuvah is purely a matter of individual free choice. The additional phrases, "in your mouth and in your heart" support this view. Medieval Jewish philosopher Joseph Albo writes, "Teshuvah involves confession of the lips and remorse of the hearts" (Sefer Ikkarim).
However, the majority opinion considers this view too narrow. Moses isn't referring only to teshuvah when he says 'it is not in heaven,' and 'it is not too baffling.' Torah study itself, or all of Torah, all of the mitzvot are within our grasp. The entire Torah is meant for everyone and accessible to all. Traditionally, the Torah contains 613 mitzvot, and the minutiae of Torah observance can often seem overwhelming. One might think, "I can't possibly fulfill all the commandments of the Torah, so what is the point of trying." Moses is therefore reassuring the Israelites, "no, it is simpler than you think."
Perhaps, this verse that refers to the whole of Torah as 'this mitzvah' is the inspiration to try and encapsulate all of Torah into one simple rule. According to the rabbis, the Torah can be condensed into a few, short, easy to remember principles. The Talmud relates how King David summed up the Torah into eleven principles, Isaiah reduced the 613 to 6, Micah summed up them into three. Isaiah is quoted (again) summarizing the Torah in two principles and Habakkuk distilled the Torah into one.
The rabbis tried their hand at it too: In the story of the proselyte who challenged the rabbis to teach the whole Torah while 'standing on one foot', Hillel famously reduced the Torah to Judaism's version of the Golden Rule (stated in the negative) "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbor. This is the whole Torah; all the rest is commentary. Go and learn it." (Shabbath 31a). According to Ben Azzai, the most important idea is the commonality of all humanity, reflected in the verse, "These are the generations of Adam" (Gen. 5:1). On the verse (Lev. 19:18) "You shall love your neighbour as yourself " Rashi commments: "Rabbi Akivah said: this is the great principle in the Torah." What one rule or general principle would you reduce the Torah to?
The chasidic Rebbe Zusya of Anipol reduced the Torah to five verses:
- Be whole hearted with Adonai your God.
- I set Adonai before me always.
- Love your neighbour as yourself.
- In all your ways acknowledge God.
- Walk humbly with your God.
Lessons for Today
Over the past year, I've written on a wide variety of topics, but the message invariably is fairly consistent. Basically, a variation on Reb Zusya's list: Love God, and take care of the world around us, and remember that every person is created in the divine image and treat them accordingly. And study Torah, for Torah leads to practice.
"This commandment which I command you this day." Is it teshuvah or all of Torah? The Baal Haturim commentary harmonizes the two opinions by suggesting that 'this commandment' [of teshuvah] is, in fact, equal to all of the mitzvot. Teshuvah is the essence of Torah because we must first do teshuvah. As the Hebrew graphic illustrates, the initials of Reb Zusya's list create an acronym that spells the word teshuvah.
What are the rules to live by? Can we distill the Torah into a few basic principles? Whatever our list, this is the last Shabbat of the year. Next week is Rosh Hashanah. There is no better time to do Teshuvah.
Shabbat Shalom & Shanah Tovah
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