Readiness for Mitzvot.Shney Luchot HaBrit

(16) In the book Shushan Eydut the point is made that all the 613 commandments are an integral unit, similar to a garment knitted from a single thread. Any break in the thread threatens to destroy the entire garment, since it will unravel. It follows that if a person has failed to fulfill all the commandments he is incomplete, to say the least.

(17) Since no individual can fulfil all 613 commandments, even at the time when the Temple is standing, we must ask ourselves how one can attain one's שלמות, perfection, both the perfection of one's body and that of one's soul. There are three reasons that some people cannot fulfil all the 613 commandments. Either a certain category of commandments applies only to a certain category of Jews, and such categories are determined at birth, or they cannot be fulfilled because certain events have not occurred during one's lifetime. A person cannot perform the commandment of the levirate marriage or the giving of חליצה, (an act demonstrating that one refuses to marry that sister-in-law) to his sister-in-law of a brother who died without issue, since such situations are beyond his control. One cannot take refuge in a city of refuge unless one had killed someone inadvertently. One cannot make the payments imposed by the Torah for having accused one's wife of not having been a virgin at the time of the wedding, unless circumstances had made such an accusation possible. The examples of all the commandments that most people are never called upon to fulfil are too numerous to list here. There is a third category of commandment which though easily capable of fulfilment, requires certain conditions, such as the affixing of a Mezuzzah on one's door post. If one dwells in a tent, this commandment does not apply since the entrance to a tent does not meet the requirements necessary to make that commandment applicable.

(18) From all the above it is clear that there never has been a Jew who was able to perform all the commandments listed in the Torah. Even the patriarchs, of whom our sages said they kept the entire Torah, (Yoma 28), observed only what they were able to. They had not been commanded to do so. They are referred to as the מרכבה, the carrier of the Divine entourage, even though their performance of the commandments was of a lower order because they were not an act of obedience to G–d.

(19) It is important to appreciate that the מצות are so interwoven with one another, that each מצוה contains a part of all the spiritual aspects of every other מצוה. The מצות are bound up with the emanations, which are also interwoven with one another as will be explained on another occasion. This means that there is a general as well as a specific significance or purpose of each מצוה. As soon as man was created, G–d gave him a מצוה. We read in Genesis 2,16: "G–d commanded man saying, etc." The Talmud Sanhedrin 56 understands that verse to mean that the seven Noachide laws were commanded to Adam at that time. The Talmud dissects the verse to show how different ones of the seven commandments are alluded to in the various words. At any rate, these seven commandments conceal within them all the 613 commandments. The elite of mankind, men such as Chanoch, Methuselah, Noach, Sem, Ever, the patriarchs and their respective sons, all observed seven Noachide commandments until G–d decided to reveal the 613 commandments. Since attaining one's perfection is impossible unless one observes them, they had to do so even though each commandment contains spiritual elements of all other commandments also. Nonetheless, unless one translates the potential of the מצוה into an "actual" through its specific performance, one has not done what our sages call הוציא את הכח לפועל.

(20) Should you ask that, in view of the foregoing, the patriarchs and the other pious men who lived prior to the giving of the Torah, did not succeed in converting this potential into actual valid performance, know that they did manage to do so nonetheless. The key to perfection is the desire to joyfully perform the will of G–d to the extent that it has been revealed. Seeing that they were all prepared to do this, the latent elements of the 613 commandments -which are part of the seven Noachide commandments- provided the vehicle through which they observed the principles expressed in all the 613 "commandments." The only thing that was missing prior to the giving of the 613 commandments was the כסא למטה, "a throne of G–d's Presence in this world." Someone who was prepared to perform all the details of G–d's revealed will would have been able to focus this preparedness onto that "throne."

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(22) G–d saw fit to reveal the remainder of the 613 commandments to man in His own good time, i.e. to the generation of Israelites who were released from bondage in Egypt. Since that time every Jew is expected to perform as many of these 613 commandments as his particular station in life enables him to perform. The key to his achieving perfection by such מצוה performance lies in the manner in which these מצות are fulfilled. If they are all fulfilled joyfully, then the "preparedness" of which we spoke earlier is enough to credit such individuals with also having fulfilled those commandments which they were unable to fulfil through no fault of their own.

(23) Bear in mind that all 613 commandments are capable of being fulfilled collectively by the Jewish nation. The commandments which are designed specifically for the priests are performed by them, whereas the commandment to perform the levirate marriage is performed by whoever finds himself in the situation where this commandment applies to him. If someone was unable to perform certain מצות, but has fulfilled all those he was capable of fulfilling in the optimal manner i.e. לשמה, the merit of having studied the מצות which he had not been able to perform will accrue to himץ The meaning of לשמה is that he studies in order to be able to teach and to perform the commandment in question; this is called the proper הכנה, preparation. It will be accounted for such an individual as if he had actually performed the commandment which he had familiarized himself with in such a way that he could have performed it in all its details had the opportunity arisen. This is called הוציא מכח לפועל מתוך ההכנה שלו, "he translated a potential into an actual due to his intensive preparation."

(24) Our sages had this in mind when they said that if someone intended to perform a מצוה, but did not get to perform it through some accident, it is considered as if he had performed it (Berachot 6).

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(26) Our sages have taught that anyone who nowadays studies the details of the sacrificial service in the Temple, is as if he had actually offered those sacrifices (Menachot 110). When someone observes that a second party is able to perform a certain מצוה that he himself is unable to perform, the "preparation," הכנה, that we described includes his advising the second party how best to fulfill such מצוה which he himself is unable to perform. If he does that, he too will be considered as if he had performed it.

(27) We read in Deut. 30, 11-14: "Surely, this Instruction which I enjoin you this day is not too baffling for you, nor is it beyond reach. It is not in the heavens that you should say 'who among us can go up to the heavens and get it for us and impart it to us that we may observe it?' Neither is it beyond the sea that you should say 'who among us can cross to the other side of the sea and get it for us and impart it to us, that we may observe it?' No, the thing is very close to you, in your mouth and in your heart to observe it.' The verses above reveal all that I have written concerning observance as well as vicarious observance of the Torah laws, i.e. that everyone is obligated to fulfill all the 613 commandments. When there are some מצות that he is unable to fulfill in practice, there are ways in which he can acquire the merit of having practiced them.

(28) There are four causes that may prevent a person from observing the commandments. One cause is that the specific commandment in question is applicable only to certain groups of people, such as the priests, i.e. people of superior parentage. Concerning such commandments, the Torah says: לא נפלאת היא, "you should not say that it is only for people of superior status." The second reason for not performing commandments is that they are of the kind that most people never have an opportunity to perform, such as remarrying one's divorced wife. Concerning such commandments the Torah says: "Do not say it is beyond reach," i.e. too unlikely. The third reason for not fulfilling some commandments, though the opportunity presents itself not infrequently, is one where the cause that triggers the applicability is absent, i.e. affixing a מזוזה to a door-frame, something that requires one to live in a house. Another example would be the law requiring that four-cornered garments be provided with ציצית. One cannot fulfill that commandment unless one owns a four cornered garment. Concerning such commandments the Torah says: "Do not say that this commandment is in the heavens," i.e. unattainable for you. Finally, the fourth reason for not observing certain commandments is that they are applicable only in ארץ ישראל, and you are unable to go there, seeing it is beyond the sea. Concerning this too, the Torah says: "Do not say that it is beyond the sea." All these obstacles are not really a hindrance to acquiring the merit of having fulfilled that commandment and thereby helping to achieve one's personal level of perfection, since the properly oriented study of these commandments affords one an opportunity to be as good as the people who actually live in ארץ ישראל Concerning all these four apparent obstacles to מצוה fulfillment, the Torah says: "For the matter is very close to you (to observe it) in your mouth and in your heart." In those four verses in Deuteronomy, the Torah alludes to exactly what I have been writing about in this chapter.

(29) The Torah requires in the first instance: לעשותו, "to do it." If this proves impossible, the Torah settles for: בפיך, "in your mouth." When you use your mouth, i.e. study, this may replace doing in certain instances. How does all this apply to the negative commandments, which by their very nature can hardly be the subject of the instruction לעשותו, to perform it?

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(33) The upshot of all the foregoing is that we must study Torah לשמה, as is spelled out beautifully in the benediction preceding the קריאת שמע prayer every morning. We say there: ללמוד וללמד לשמור ולעשות ולקים, "to learn and to teach to observe and to do and to fulfil the words of Your Holy Torah." This means that we ask G–d's assistance to fulfil all that is given to us to fulfil personally. Anything that through no fault of ours we cannot fulfil personally, we should teach others to fulfil -wherever possible. When this too is impossible, we ask G–d's assistance in what we recited a few lines earlier in that benediction, namely to enlighten us to gain insight and understanding of His Holy Torah. This is similar to King David's prayer in Psalms 119,18: גל עיני ואביטה נפלאות מתורתך, "Open my eyes that I may perceive the wonders of Your teachings." He meant, of course, the mystical aspects of the Torah.