Over Rosh Hashanah I read an excellent paper in the current
issue of JQR (Volume 3 number 3 Summer 2013) by Professor Don Seeman which
opened for me a whole new avenue of thought and was very much at the forefront
of my thinking during Yom Kippur (which by the way is my favorite day of the
year). Rambam’s Ta’amei Hamitzvot, the last section of the Moreh, which
comprises more than half of part 3, has raised the hackles of thinkers since it
was published in the 12th century. Ramban attacks it several times
in his commentary on Chumash; the most famous attack is the one against
Rambam’s explanation of Korbanot (animal offerings in the temple). The biggest
criticism is that they seem very utilitarian and as the Rav writes in his
Halachik Man as quoted by Seeman, the reasons of the guide “neither edify nor
inspire the religious consciousness” and are “valueless for the religious
interests we have most at heart”. Many
attempts have been made at dealing with this but Seeman shows how the criticism
is a misreading of the Rambam and that Ta’amei Hamitzvot are indeed in line
with his general philosophy of Judaism, an intense religious idea. What is
really extraordinary is that Seeman proves this textually through a comment of
the Rambam in MN and its connection to Sefer Hamitzvot,
In sefer Hamitzvot positive commandment 3 Rambam defines the
Mitzvah of loving God as follows:
היא הציווי שנצטווינו על אהבתו
יתעלה, והוא: שנתבונן ונסתכל במצוותיו וציווייו ופעולתיו, כדי שנשיגהו ונתענג בהשגתו
תכלית התענוג - וזוהי האהבה המצווה [עלינו].
“By this injunction we are commanded to love God that is to say to dwell
upon and contemplate his commandments, his injunctions and his works so that we
can obtain a conception of Him and in conceiving Him attain absolute joy. This
constitutes the love of God and is obligatory.”
God is unknowable as He is a transcendental entity and
unique. He is beyond the realm of human comprehension. However man can see
God’s traces by contemplating his surroundings, the world he lives in, the
universe it is part of, how they came into existence, in short God’s works. But
what does Rambam mean when he says that we can obtain a conception of God by
contemplating and dwelling on His injunctions and commandments? Students of
Rambam have understood it to mean that by studying the Laws of the Torah in
great detail and devotion one is indeed studying God’s words and thus reading
the mind of God. That has been the classical explanation and to me it was
always discordant. It sounded like sophistry. And as Seeman points out,
commandment 11 deals with the mitzvah of Talmud torah, which is clearly
learning the details of the Law, why duplicate it? Furthermore in 11 there is
no mention of Talmud torah bringing about a conception of God.
Here is where Seeman’s great insight sheds light connecting
this commandment 3 with what seem almost an offhand Rambam comment and a
digression in MN 3:49. Rambam is discussing the reason for the commandments and
injunctions the Laws that deal with forbidden relations. As he discusses the
laws of Yibum (levirate) he seems to digress and talk about the story of Yehuda
and Tamar, how Yehuda was honest and just, and how the story teaches the
descendants of Yaakov about how their forefathers dealt with others justly.
Rambam then shows how equitable justice plays an important role in the Laws of
the Torah.
“Thus are these bad habits cured when they are treated
according to the divine Law; the ways of equity are never lost sight of; they
are obvious and discernible in every precept of the Law by those who consider
it well. See how, according to the Law, the slanderer of his wife, who only
intended to withhold from her what he is bound to give her, is treated in the
same manner as a thief who has stolen the property of his neighbor; and the
false witness (Deut. xix. 16, seq.) who schemes to injure, although the injury
was in reality not inflicted, is punished like those who have actually caused
injury and wrong, viz., like the thief and the slanderer. The three kinds of
sinners are tried and judged by one and the same law. Marvel exceedingly at
the wisdom of His commandments, may He be exalted, just as you should marvel at
the wisdom manifested in the things He has made. Scripture says: "The
Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment" (Deut. xxxii. 4.
It says that just as the things made by Him are consummately perfect so are His
commandments consummately just. However our mind is too limited to
comprehend the perfection of all His works, or the equity of all His laws;
and as we are able to comprehend some of His wonderful works in the organs of
living beings and the motions of the spheres, so we understand also the equity
of some of His laws; that which is unknown to us of both of them is far
more than that which is known to us. I will now return to the theme of the
present chapter.”
Besides knowing the Laws in detail, which is the mitzvah of
Talmud torah, Rambam suggests that one should step back and contemplate the
Laws in their entirety how perfect and just they are. By placing this
contemplation together with contemplation of the universe, Rambam is telling us
that both contemplations have the same purpose and result. Just as contemplating the elegance of the
universe points us to God so too the justice and equity of His Laws point us to
Him. MN here is thus an expansion of what he said in Sefer Hamitzvot, a kind of
Gemara to a Mishnah. Seeman explains that now we understand how the chapters
about Ta’amei Hamitzvot are sandwiched between the chapters that talk about
Providence and the last chapters which talk about devotional worship. It is the
Ta’amei Hamitzvot that when the Mitzvot are contemplated from their perspective
lead to that devotional worship. It also explains the seemingly mundane reasons
for the commandments, it is the contemplation of these reasons that lead us to
be aware through the Mitzvot God’s wisdom in promulgating these Laws and we
gain a conception of Him. It is the latter idea that I would like to expand a
little upon and that has been central to my thinking in the short time since I
read the article.
The Law changes the individual and society by inculcating
good habits and beliefs thus changing the way people act with each other,
individuals as well as nations, by being more equitable and just. These habits
and beliefs indeed changed the course of human history. Judaism has influenced
the trajectory of western civilization and by extension the rest of humanity.
Contemplating how these Laws started at Sinai with Moshe Rabbeinu, have changed
the course of human history, one apprehends the wisdom of God the Giver of
these Laws, and we develop a conception of His Being. So when Rambam defines the third commandment
to love God as contemplating His commandments and his works, he is talking
about this type of contemplation not the details of the Law. When Rambam
explains that Korbanot are a concession to human frailty, he is telling us that
they are there to help us in the process of abandoning idolatry, the bane of
humanity, the great barrier to scientific understanding of the universe. (See
my article in Hakirah on the subject here
) When justice is done equitably society
is impacted and consequently the trajectory of that society is affected as are those
impacted by that society. Sometimes the Law be not work for an individual, but
the Law is still valid because it is good for the great majority of people and
impacts society favorably (see MN 3:34). This contemplation is the underlying
purpose of the need to know the Ta’amei Hamitzvot. This idea also dovetails
with Rambam’s concept of providence – Hashgacha as I explained Providence in my
article here. All actions have consequences and if one calibrates his action to
conform with God’s will and plan, one is acting within the parameters of
providence otherwise ones actions are purely chance. The Mitzvot have propelled
mankind along the path of divine Providence. Contemplation of that confirms and
illuminates how one understands God’s will and wisdom, pointing to His
existence and a conception of how He acts.
Professor Seeman has contributed greatly with his article to
a better understanding of the thinking of the Great Eagle and has completely answered
all criticism of his Ta’amei Hamitzvot. Understanding the Ta’amei Hamitzvot in
this context has made what seemed a mundane and historical explanation of many
Mitzvot into an intense religious experience.
This short post does not do justice to Professor Seeman’s
article which should be read in its entirety, but it triggered some thoughts
which I wanted to put down on paper.
(See also Ibn Ezra on Tehillim 19:8 and Redak on the same verse
who probably got it from Ibn Ezra which could be read in a similar vein.)
Chag Sameach.
