Chasidut על מכות 46:8
Kedushat Levi
We now can also understand the Mishnah in Makkot, 23, where Rabbi Chananyah ben Akashyah attributes the many commandments G’d gave us, the Torah and the commandments, to His desire to provide us with many merits due to the frequent opportunities we have to perform His commandments. We need to analyse what the Rabbi meant when he appears to have distinguished between תורה and מצות? Generally we use the terms interchangeably!
Apparently, we must differentiate between Torah and commandments. The latter may be understood on two levels. There are commandments performance of which does not interfere with a person’s natural physical urges. It does not interfere with a person’s natural urges whether he wears a prayer shawl, טלית, or whether he observes the commandment to put on phylacteries every morning, or whether he does neither. Performing these commandments are acts strictly between him and His Creator, there being no interference due to other demands on the wearer by his body.
There are commandments such as eating a number of meals on the Sabbath, having conjugal relations with his wife on Friday nights, concerning the performance of which the demands of one’s body may present obstacles. Whereas when a Jew wears a prayer shawl or puts on phylacteries, it is clear that he does so only because the Torah has commanded it, eating good meals on the Sabbath or enjoying conjugal relations, while a commandment, would most likely have been carried out also if there had not been such a commandment; so who is to say that performing these commandments are proof of one’s piety, or one’s desire to please one’s Creator?
It would have required almost superhuman discipline to observe these latter commandments exclusively because G’d had legislated them. Rabbi Chanayah ben Akashyah reminds us that G’d legislated many commandments that while we perform them also correspond to our physical desires. By according the performance of actions that originate in our bodily desires the title מצוה, G’d has multiplied the opportunities when we can accumulate spiritual credits, זכויות. G’d helps us sublimate our physical desires to the level of making religiously important acts out of them, provided that we do remember to have this in mind also when we carry out these activities.
Not only the body derives satisfaction, joy, from the performance of the last mentioned commandments, but also the soul, so that on account of the soul deriving satisfaction, the personality of the person involved in these activities emerges as being more refined. This will be reflected in the quality of the visions granted to the souls of such people when they will move to the celestial regions after shedding their bodies.
Not only the body derives satisfaction, joy, from the performance of the last mentioned commandments, but also the soul, so that on account of the soul deriving satisfaction, the personality of the person involved in these activities emerges as being more refined. This will be reflected in the quality of the visions granted to the souls of such people when they will move to the celestial regions after shedding their bodies.
Apparently, we must differentiate between Torah and commandments. The latter may be understood on two levels. There are commandments performance of which does not interfere with a person’s natural physical urges. It does not interfere with a person’s natural urges whether he wears a prayer shawl, טלית, or whether he observes the commandment to put on phylacteries every morning, or whether he does neither. Performing these commandments are acts strictly between him and His Creator, there being no interference due to other demands on the wearer by his body.
There are commandments such as eating a number of meals on the Sabbath, having conjugal relations with his wife on Friday nights, concerning the performance of which the demands of one’s body may present obstacles. Whereas when a Jew wears a prayer shawl or puts on phylacteries, it is clear that he does so only because the Torah has commanded it, eating good meals on the Sabbath or enjoying conjugal relations, while a commandment, would most likely have been carried out also if there had not been such a commandment; so who is to say that performing these commandments are proof of one’s piety, or one’s desire to please one’s Creator?
It would have required almost superhuman discipline to observe these latter commandments exclusively because G’d had legislated them. Rabbi Chanayah ben Akashyah reminds us that G’d legislated many commandments that while we perform them also correspond to our physical desires. By according the performance of actions that originate in our bodily desires the title מצוה, G’d has multiplied the opportunities when we can accumulate spiritual credits, זכויות. G’d helps us sublimate our physical desires to the level of making religiously important acts out of them, provided that we do remember to have this in mind also when we carry out these activities.
Not only the body derives satisfaction, joy, from the performance of the last mentioned commandments, but also the soul, so that on account of the soul deriving satisfaction, the personality of the person involved in these activities emerges as being more refined. This will be reflected in the quality of the visions granted to the souls of such people when they will move to the celestial regions after shedding their bodies.
Not only the body derives satisfaction, joy, from the performance of the last mentioned commandments, but also the soul, so that on account of the soul deriving satisfaction, the personality of the person involved in these activities emerges as being more refined. This will be reflected in the quality of the visions granted to the souls of such people when they will move to the celestial regions after shedding their bodies.
Ask RabbiBookmarkShareCopy