Q&A: Fulfilling Commandments — Ideally or After the Fact?
Fulfilling Commandments — Ideally or After the Fact?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
Do you think one should actively pursue performing commandments (and if so, why?), or are the commandments only a framework that defines the proper action if I happen to find myself in the relevant situation?
For example, should I go to a store, buy tzitzit, and wear it,
or only if I have a four-cornered garment must I put tzitzit on it?
Thank you,
Nathan
Answer
Specifically regarding tzitzit, there is discussion in the Talmud and among the medieval authorities (Rishonim). The Talmud says that at a time of divine anger, one is punished for evading the wearing of tzitzit. But Tosafot writes that this is only where you are actively avoiding it (where it is customary to wear a four-cornered garment and you wear a different garment just in order to avoid the obligation). In practice, most halakhic decisors disagree with Tosafot, even though his reasoning is straightforward. And so it seems regarding the other commandments as well. Clearly there is no obligation to chase after them, but there is value in fulfilling commandments.
After I sent the question, I realized that if the approach to commandments is as values (religious values), then just as it is right to act actively in accordance with moral values, so too with religious values.
And similarly, it is not right to chase after them obsessively.
Thank you for the answer.