Q&A: Practical Commandments
Practical Commandments
Question
Hello Rabbi, following up on the discussion from a week or two ago in which you argued that there is no point in dealing with the reasons for the commandments, I wanted to ask what your attitude is nevertheless toward a commandment at the time of performing it. Do you experience it in any way beyond the dry act itself, or is its fulfillment only in the sense of “the Merciful One said: blow,” with no particular relation to the event of performing that specific commandment and its experiential ramifications—not the reasons for it?
Thank you in advance for everything.
Answer
Usually I have no feeling toward the commandment beyond the fact that it is a commandment.
Discussion on Answer
So what about it, really?
First, even if the Merciful One desires it, who says I can provide that?
Second, “heart” could certainly mean intention (to fulfill one’s obligation).
So what did you mean when you wrote that the reasons the commentators give are usually things we already know? What kind of reason can be known with regard to a commandment?
What I wrote was two things: 1. What the commentators say regarding the reason for a commandment does not give me any new moral insight. That is, I will not learn from it a value I would not have thought of beforehand. If it is such a value, I would not accept it as the reason for the commandment. Their novelty is at most interpretive (that this known value is what underlies the commandment). 2. What they say is usually not at all convincing as the reason for the commandment. It does not fit its details. And even if it is correct, the matter could have been fulfilled in another way (for example, with tzitzit I could remember all the commandments and be reminded of tekhelet even if I put a sign in front of me in the color of tekhelet, or if I dyed my pants tekhelet).
And what about “the Merciful One desires the heart”?