To Walk in His Ways

Parshat Ki Tavo

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The bulk of Parshat Ki Tavo is occupied by the Tokhacha, the great Rebuke that is promised to the Israelite nation in exchange for their infidelity to God. Prior to the curses and promises of destruction there are 14 verses of blessing which, were we to keep our end of the deal, paint the Israelite existence in the Land as the most fantastic we could ever dream to experience.

            

In the middle of the blissful depiction of Divine Grace, we read, "The Lord will establish you as His holy people as He swore to you, if you observe the commandments of the Lord, your God, and walk in His ways." (Devarim 28:9)

            

The simple reading of this verse seems to be descriptive and straightforward. God will do "Y" for you on account of your having done "X." Nowhere does there seem to be a commandment in this verse. While not exactly a throwaway line, the phrase "walk in His ways" on a base level does not seem to be an instruction as much as it is an example of how to observe the commandments. In the original text, the phrase is two words, "V'halakhta B'drakhav."

            

Another example of this is the phrase "Zeh eili v'anvehu" (Shmot 15:2) – this is my God and I will glorify Him. In Mesekhet Sofrim 3:17, this verse is utilized to explain how a Jew should go the extra mile to fulfill mitzvot with nicer products rather than with inferior products. Some examples include: decorating the sukkah, finding the best lulav set, using the best materials (ink, quill, parchment, etc) when writing a Torah, mezuzah or putting together tefillin.

            

The original phrase was uttered by the people in the context of the Song of the Sea, and while perhaps not a throwaway line, it is certainly not viewed as a mitzvah! While the people may have accepted upon themselves a commitment to glorifying God, this does not turn their "chumrah" choices (stringencies) into an absolute requirement.

            

Similarly, the notion of "V'halakhta B'drakhav" could arguably be viewed in the same way. How does one best fulfill commandments? Or more accurately, how does one behave in the most complete and perfect fashion? Through walking in His ways. The same source in Mesekhet Sofrim (and Yerushalmi Peah 1:1) quotes Abba Shaul as saying, "Just as He is merciful, you should be merciful."

            

And yet Maimonides takes the verse and extracts what is, in his count, the 8^th commandment in the Torah: To Imitate God. Maimonides claims the mitzvah appears elsewhere as well – see Devarim 8:6, 10:12, 11:22, 13:5, 19:9, 26:17, 30:16 – and yet he uses our verse as his prime example of the mitzvah, utilizing the teaching of "Just as He is merciful…" which also appears in the Sifrei on Eikev to describe exactly how one walks in God's ways.

            

In describing this mitzvah, Ramban quotes the passage in Sotah 14a (Maimonides mentions it in passing) which further describes the imitation of God's ways as "clothing the naked, visiting the sick, comforting the mourner and burying the dead" each of which God did for Adam, Avraham, Yitzchak and Moshe respectively.

            

Considering the 7 other places where this idea occurs in the book of Devarim, it is hard to argue that "Walking in God's ways" should not be a mitzvah. Each verse in its context clearly says it is a mitzvah. But it is still curious that Maimonides chooses the phrase in 28:9 as the poster phrase for this mitzvah. The verse is not quoted in the entire Talmud. And were it to appear alone in the Torah, without the seven supporting verses, perhaps we would be able to argue that "walking in God's ways" is no more of a mitzvah than "this is my God and I will glorify Him." Meaning, it is a nice and helpful piece of instruction, but by no means one of the six hundred and thirteen commandments!

            

I think a difference between this verse and all the others is that 28:9 is the first mention of imitating God that appears after Moshe's big speech. Devarim 5-26 has been one long monologue of Moshe telling the people a mixture of narrative and commandment, perhaps lending itself to people thinking Moshe was adding things of his own accord. Perhaps people felt that "Moshe's 'throwaway lines' were added touches, but were not meant as commandments" because they did not see God's strings pulling Moshe's teachings.

            

Now that the big speech is over and Moshe is once again telling the people that he is quoting God, 28:9 is the first time he mentions to walk in God's ways. Maimonides is merely jumping on this appearance of the idea in order to make it clear to those with doubts that this is not a throwaway line – it is a commandment like any other, and it comes from God.

            

The preparations for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur require us to square away wrongs we have committed against our fellow man and wrongs we have committed against God. The mitzvah of imitating God is meant to help us accomplish both. If we are always being like God, we can not possibly wrong God. And if we follow the examples that the Talmud brings of how we are to treat man through imitating God, we will become the most caring individuals.

            

May we merit to utilize this mitzvah of imitating God to become the most wholesome people in our relationships with God and our fellow Man.

God, Egypt, and Care for Our Fellow Man

Parshat Behar Bechukotai

by Rabbi Avi Billet

The Torah gives three examples of "Your brother becoming impoverished." (V'khi yamukh achikha). The first has to do with selling family property, and how it returns to the original owners at the Jubilee year.

            

The second and third examples deal with a case where he can not sustain himself and is relying on community assistance (25:35-38), or even needs to be sold into slavery to support himself (25:39-42), respectively.

            

At the end of each of the latter segments, a similar statement is made:

"I am God your Lord who brought you out of Egypt to give you the land of Canaan, [and] to be a God for you," (25:38) and "This is because I brought [the Israelites] out of Egypt, and they are My slaves. They shall not be sold [in the market] as slaves." (25:42)

            

The idea of being slaves to God instead of slaves to men, or of God's intent to "be a God for you" would likely make for a great psychoanalytical study, were we not speaking of God.

            

But the truth is, it doesn't end there. The next section begins with a reference to the "brother becoming impoverished" (though with a different language) (25:47), and it concludes with instructions for when the Jubilee comes, and all slaves are freed, as God says, "[All this] is because the Israelites are [actually] My slaves. They are My slaves because I brought them out of Egypt. I am God your Lord." (25:55)

            

This last summary sentence actually brings together the notions set forth by the earlier verses – Israelites are slaves to their God, Who is their God because He took them out of Egypt. The focus on Egypt is so significant, not only because it reminds us of the other times in the year when we mention Egypt (ever evening Kiddush, during the Shema, and otherwise on a regular basis), but also because it is how we remind ourselves of which precise moment turned a group of slaves who happened to share a common ancestor, into a nation sharing a destiny forever.

            

Most significantly, the Exodus from Egypt is mentioned in the first sentence of the Decalogue as well [Shmot 20:2 – "I am God your Lord, who brought you out of Egypt, from the house of slavery"] – an obvious connection on account of the next two verses in the Torah here, which happen to be the last two verses of Parshat Behar, whose parallel to the Decalogue is unavoidable: "[Therefore,] do not make yourselves false gods. Do not raise up a stone idol or a sacred pillar for yourselves. Do not place a kneeling stone in your land so that you can prostrate yourselves on it. I am God your Lord. Keep My Sabbaths and revere My sanctuary, I am God." (26:1-2)

            

We can argue that it is hard to come to grips with the seeming obsession over our being God's servants or slaves.

            

But when we look at the setup of all the different examples of the "brother becoming impoverished," and how not to lose focus of who we really are and how we should really respond, it gives us a brand new look at what the Aseret HaDibrot (Decalogue) is meant to represent for us.

            

Many are familiar with the notion that the first five of the statements in the Decalogue refer to one's relationship with one's Creator, while the last five statements refer to relationships between men and fellow Man.

            

But in the Aseret HaDibrot, all the commandments between fellow Man are written in the negative. Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't swear falsely, don't covet. There are no instructions for how to positively relate to fellow Man.

So perhaps here, in Parshat Behar, we have the underlying unified message: Caring for another person means picking the other person up when he is down. It also means respecting the humanity of the "other," never blurring the lines between slaves of God and slaves of men, and being sure to help a brother in his hour of need.

Remembering Egypt and of our being "slaves to God" both serve as grounding principles for how we live out our Jewish lives with the proper foci.

We must know who we are and what values we espouse. We must continue to model what it means to look out for one another, to help others who are needy, and to look for positive ways to be of assistance – not just negative things to avoid, in staying out of people's way, but proactive care for our fellow Man.

And above all, remember Egypt. Remember what binds us to one another. Remember what binds us to our God, to our Torah and to our Land. Remember that being a slave to God is very different from being slaves to men. Particularly nowadays, in a free society, when people choose whether to be slaves to God, we appreciate our commitment and dedication to a "mitzvah-focused" life which grounds us and keeps us connected to our God who took us out of Egypt.