Q&A: The Axes of Reality of the Believing Person
The Axes of Reality of the Believing Person
Question
Hello Rabbi,
According to what is written in the Torah and with the additions of the Rabbi’s explanations, a believing person exists on several axes:
1) The axis of commandments (the Torah axis) — that is, fulfilling the Creator’s will through the framework of the commandments
2) “And you shall do what is right and good” — from this we learn (not only from this) that God wants us to conduct ourselves according to the moral law
3) “You shall be holy” — this is not a commandment (according to those who argue that it is not a commandment), but it seems from here that we are expected to try to behave with holiness in everyday life as well, and not only regarding matters that require holiness within the axis of commandments (a side question: is this an expectation that we be holy enough to be able to enter the Temple at any given moment?)
4) Torah study — which, as you said (in “Study and Ruling”), is a value in itself, and may even be more stringent than the commandment of Torah study (whose obligation is discharged with the recitation of the Shema morning and evening).
1) According to the division I made here, are there additional axes that I missed? That is, are there further values that emerge from the Torah that are not necessarily included in the four I listed above?
2) Do the Torah axis and the moral axis have stronger value than the axes of holiness and Torah study? (I know that with regard to the Torah and moral axes there may be contradictions between them that force a decision, but in dilemmas between Torah and holiness, or morality and Torah study, is it possible that we would always prefer the Torah and moral ones? I can’t think of a situation of conflict, but on the level of principle.)
Answer
Regarding 3: it has no connection to the Temple. The holiness being discussed is not the opposite of ritual impurity, but rather conducting oneself beyond the letter of the law and not being a scoundrel within the bounds of the Torah (as Nachmanides writes there).
1. I can’t think of anything else at the moment.
2. I didn’t understand the question. Conflicts can arise between any two axes. The decision between them is not made according to sweeping principles.
Discussion on Answer
Because Nachmanides doesn’t write that, and also, in the simple sense, there is no issue of guarding oneself from ritual impurity (although from Rashi on the Torah it does sound like there is).
Okay, thank you.
That is actually my question on the topic (admittedly a side question): why shouldn’t we understand “You shall be holy” as meaning caution regarding ritual impurity?
This is not a commandment, and there really are ways to purify oneself in order to be in holiness when one needs to fulfill commandments that require holiness.
True, Nachmanides indeed doesn’t talk about this, but again, who says he is right on this issue? (And especially since Rashi says that one should, why shouldn’t we follow him?)
In any case, I assume that if there were something to this interpretation, many people would adopt it and try to act accordingly.
Thanks for the answers
Thank you for the response.
2) What I really wanted to ask is whether, in your opinion, there is a prioritization of the Torah and moral axis over the axis of holiness and Torah study. You taught us that the Torah and moral axes work in parallel, so there is no prioritization there and one must decide based on common sense. But the other two axes, holiness and Torah study, on the face of it sound secondary to the Torah and moral axis.
So you’re basically saying that they all run in parallel, and no general decision rule can be given regarding one axis over another. Understood.
3) I did hear that somewhere you pointed out what Nachmanides’ view is regarding “You shall be holy.” I wanted to ask whether it is possible to interpret it as really meaning holiness in the sense of the opposite of ritual impurity. You wrote that it is not. I wanted to understand why that interpretation is ruled out.