Q&A: And in Salem Is His Sukkah, and His Dwelling Place in Zion
And in Salem Is His Sukkah, and His Dwelling Place in Zion
Question
They say in the name of the Vilna Gaon: When is a person complete? When he fulfills commandments with his entire body. And there are only two such commandments: dwelling in the sukkah and settling the Land of Israel. A person is complete when he fulfills commandments with his entire body.
A common question:
Immersion in a mikveh is also a commandment involving the entire body, since “his flesh must be in water” — his whole body.
I thought there is no commandment to immerse in itself; rather, only if one wants to eat sacrificial foods, enter the Temple, purify himself from leprosy, or live a married sexual life, then he is obligated first to immerse.
But he could choose not to eat sacrificial foods or not to purify himself from leprosy, etc., and then he would not be obligated to immerse. That is unlike sukkah and settling the Land of Israel, which are actual obligatory commandments.
Is my answer good?
Answer
Your answer is good, but the question is less good. And even if mikveh is also such a case, what exactly is the problem? That the Vilna Gaon said only those two? Well, nu, so what.
Discussion on Answer
Maimonides, in the Book of Commandments, explains that immersion is not a regular commandment; rather, if one wants to become purified, he should do such-and-such. And that too is called a commandment. Meaning: there is a particular way to do something — even though the thing itself is not commanded, the procedure is indispensable.
Absolutely. See Maimonides’ words in positive commandments 95 and 96. These are procedural commandments. In my article on Root 12 I wrote about this, and explained that “commandment” is the halakhic translation of the term “law.” Just as a law book contains clauses that explain and define, so too does the Book of Commandments.
A person’s whole body also has to go up to Jerusalem on pilgrimage and at the assembly ceremony.