Chasidut zu Dewarim 4:2
לֹ֣א תֹסִ֗פוּ עַל־הַדָּבָר֙ אֲשֶׁ֤ר אָנֹכִי֙ מְצַוֶּ֣ה אֶתְכֶ֔ם וְלֹ֥א תִגְרְע֖וּ מִמֶּ֑נּוּ לִשְׁמֹ֗ר אֶת־מִצְוֺת֙ יְהוָ֣ה אֱלֹֽהֵיכֶ֔ם אֲשֶׁ֥ר אָנֹכִ֖י מְצַוֶּ֥ה אֶתְכֶֽם׃
Ihr sollt dem Wort, das ich euch gebiete, nicht hinzufügen und nicht davon abnehmen, damit ihr die Gebote des HERRN, eures Gottes, hält, die ich euch gebiete.
Kedushat Levi
Deuteronomy 4,2. “and as far as you who have cleaved to the Lord your G’d is concerned, etc.;” when the Torah employs the name elo-him when referring to G’d, this means that it refers to Him as the ultimate root cause of every phenomenon and as the ultimate height of all that has been spiritually elevated. Our G’d combines within Himself all aspects of all that surrounds Him. All this is due to the existence of the Jewish people, so that indirectly the Jewish people have a hand in whatever occurs in the world.
This answers a question which has bothered members of ancient cultures when they look at the first line of the k’riyat sh’ma שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד, “hear O Israel the Lord our G’d the Lord is One.” They could not understand the need for the words: אלוקינו ה' “the Lord is our G’d,” when they had already been told that there is only One G’d. The simple answer to this question is that the words ה' אלוקינו, mean that this G’d of ours combines within Him all the subsidiary causes in the universe. None of these so-called “causes,” are independent and do not owe an accounting to Hashem. Seeing that this is not something that is visible and traceable by scientists, the Torah had to assert that it is so nonetheless. Due to the fact that Israel is the vehicle through which the entire human race will eventually realize the unique Oneness of G’d, Moses tells them that they have this distinction with the words: ואתם הדבקים בה' חיים כולכם היום, “and you who have cleaved to G’d are therefore alive this day.”
This answers a question which has bothered members of ancient cultures when they look at the first line of the k’riyat sh’ma שמע ישראל ה' אלוקינו ה' אחד, “hear O Israel the Lord our G’d the Lord is One.” They could not understand the need for the words: אלוקינו ה' “the Lord is our G’d,” when they had already been told that there is only One G’d. The simple answer to this question is that the words ה' אלוקינו, mean that this G’d of ours combines within Him all the subsidiary causes in the universe. None of these so-called “causes,” are independent and do not owe an accounting to Hashem. Seeing that this is not something that is visible and traceable by scientists, the Torah had to assert that it is so nonetheless. Due to the fact that Israel is the vehicle through which the entire human race will eventually realize the unique Oneness of G’d, Moses tells them that they have this distinction with the words: ואתם הדבקים בה' חיים כולכם היום, “and you who have cleaved to G’d are therefore alive this day.”
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Kedushat Levi
Still on the subject of ועתה מה ה' שואל ממך, we know that it is an ironclad rule neither to add to the basic laws of the Torah nor to detract from them, (Deut. 4,2) such as adding extra tzitzit, or putting fewer than the required number of the fringes of a four-cornered garment, for instance. There is only one exception to this rule, and that is to keep increasing the qualitative and quantitative degree or amount of reverence and awe for our Creator.
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