Q&A: Why Do Commandments Exist?
Why Do Commandments Exist?
Question
Hello Rabbi,
During the holiday I was reflecting on why God needs to give such strange commandments. Doesn’t that seem bizarre to the Rabbi?!
And also, why do we need to observe all the enactments of the Sages? It sounds really strange.
Doesn’t the Rabbi think there is no logic at all in God giving commandments? If anything, it would make more sense for Him either not to give any, or to give only commandments between man and his fellow. Therefore, a tradition that has come down to us claiming that such strange commandments exist ought to be rejected.
Answer
Not to me. Why do you assume that you know everything He knows?
Of course, if tradition had no weight at all, there might be room for your argument. But if you grant tradition credibility, then it depends on its strength as against the strength of your confidence in the argument you raised here. For morality, revelation is unnecessary (even people who do not believe practice it). Beyond that, at the end of the first notebook I wrote that it is unlikely we were created for the sake of morality (because morality is a means to a properly functioning society, and then it would make sense simply not to create society and not to require fixing it. It is more plausible that society has a purpose beyond its mere existence and improvement).