Commento su Levitico 18:4

את משפטי תעשו YE SHALL DO MY JUDGMENTS — Matters prescribed in the Torah which are in conformity with the human feeling of justice such as one feels ought to be ordained if they had not been already ordained by the Torah.

MINE ORDINANCES SHALL YE DO. “These are matters prescribed in the Torah which, even if they were not prescribed, one would know that they ought to be prescribed.” Thus the language of Rashi. And in the Torath Kohanim it is stated:²³³Torath Kohanim, Acharei 13:10. “These are matters written in the Torah which, even if they were not written, would deserve to have been written, such as robberies, forbidden sexual relationships, idolatry, bloodshed and blasphemy.”
Now by way of the simple meaning of Scripture, the term mishpatai (Mine ordinances) is to be understood in its simple sense. It is a reference to the laws stated in the section of V’eileh Hamishpatim (And these are the ordinances)²³⁴Exodus 21:1. and in the whole Torah. Therefore He states here, which if a man do, he shall live by them,²³⁵Further, Verse 5. as these laws were given so that man should live, and for the development of countries, and peace among men, so that no one should cause harm to his fellowman or kill him. The prophet Ezekiel likewise mentioned many times with reference to these mishpatim (ordinances), which if a man do, he shall live by them,²³⁶Ezekiel 20:11, 13 and 21. while of the Sabbath he says, to be a sign between Me and them.²³⁷Ibid., Verse 12. Similarly in the Book of Nehemiah it says, Thine ordinances, which if a man do, he shall live by them.²³⁸Nehemiah 9:29. But our Rabbis have said:²³⁹Yoma 85 b. “He shall live by them²³⁵Further, Verse 5. — but not die by them. This teaches that danger to live overrides the Sabbath laws and [all] the commandments.” And according to the Midrashic interpretation it means:²⁴⁰Torath Kohanim, Acharei 9:10. It is also mentioned here in Rashi. “He shall live by them²³⁵Further, Verse 5. — in the World to Come. Should you say it means that he shall live in this world, will he not in the end die!”²⁴¹Hence the Divine assurance that he shall live by them must refer to eternal life. And if so, the expression which if a man do, he shall live by them²³⁵Further, Verse 5. refers back [not only to the mishpatim (ordinances), as we explained before, but] also to chukothai [“My statutes,” those laws for which no reason is given, but the observance of which also assures one eternal life].
Know that man’s [reward in] life for the observance of the commandments is in accordance with his preparation for them. For he who fulfills the commandments not for their own sake, but in order to receive a reward, will be rewarded on account of them in this world with longevity, riches, possessions, and honor. It is concerning this [kind of observance of the laws of the Torah] that it is said, in her left hand are riches and honor,²⁴²Proverbs 3:16. which the Rabbis interpreted to mean:²⁴³Shabbath 63 a. “to those that stand on the left of it [i.e., to those who engage in the observance of the Torah not for its own sake], there are material riches and honor.” Similarly, those who engage in the observance of the commandments so as to merit by them reward in the World to Come, these being the people who serve G-d out of fear [of punishment], will be found worthy on account of their intention to be saved from the judgments that will come upon the wicked, and their souls shall abide in joyfulness²⁴⁴See Psalms 25:13. [in life eternal]. But those who engage in the observance of the commandments out of love, as is right and proper, together with worldly occupation, similar to what is mentioned in the Torah in the section of Im Bechukothai,²⁴⁵If ye walk in My statutes. Further, 26:3. And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage,²⁴⁶Ibid., Verse 5. they will merit good life in this world according to the usual nature of things, and in life eternal, in the World to Come, their merits will still be complete before them [since the reward they received in their lifetime will not reduce that which is to come to them in the hereafter]. But those who abandon altogether the concerns of this world and pay no attention to it, acting as if they themselves were not creatures of physical being, and all their thoughts and intentions are directed only to their Creator, just as was the case with Elijah, [these people] on account of their soul cleaving to the Glorious Name will live forever in body and soul, as is evidenced in Scripture concerning Elijah²⁴⁷II Kings 2:11: and Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. and as is known of him in tradition,²⁴⁸The Talmud and Midrashim abound in instances which prove that Elijah’s removal from earth was no interruption of his earthly existence. On the contrary, in countless appearances he traverses the world in order to protect the innocent etc. (see L. Ginzberg, The Legends of the Jews, IV, pp. 202-235). and as the Midrashim speak of Enoch²⁴⁹Genesis 5:24: And Enoch walked with G-d, and he was not; for G-d took him. Many Midrashim describe his activity after his ascencion into heaven. See, however, Rashi ibid. and of those belonging to the World to Come who will rise at the resurrection. It is for this reason that on the subject of reward for observance of the commandments the verses speak [in various ways, such as]: that thy days may be long;²⁵⁰Exodus 20:12. that thou mayest live;²⁵¹Deuteronomy 16:20. and that thou mayest prolong thy days.²⁵²Ibid., 22:7. For these expressions include all kinds of life, each according to his due.

את משפטי תעשו, "You shall carry out My ordinances, etc." In view of the fact that the entire chapter deals only with regulations about forbidden sexual unions, what does the Torah mean by referring to "My statutes and My ordinances?" Besides, what does the Torah mean with the words ללכת בהם, "to walk in them?"

את משפטי תעשו, “carry out My laws, etc.” Rashi says that whenever the Torah refers to G’d’s law as משפטי, what He means is that if He had not spelled out these laws in His Torah, the people themselves should have made laws like this in order to secure the continued existence of civilised society. This is why the Torah adds the otherwise superfluous words אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם, ”which mankind is to observe and live by them.” Nachmanides writes that according to the plain meaning of the text the laws described as משפטים, are the ones written in Exodus chapters 21–24 that comprise in the main inter personal relationships known as מצות בין אדם לחברו. This is why the Torah adds the rider אשר יעשה אדם וחי בהם, ”that man is to carry out in order to live by these laws.” Failure to observe these laws results in anarchy. Our sages interpret the words וחי בהם as a promise that he who observes these laws will enjoy life in the world to come. In that event the words would refer to observing את חוקותי תשמורו, “to observe My statutes,” i.e. the ones whose rationale escapes us, for observance of which the Torah holds out he promise of success beyond this world, seeing that observing social justice is self fulfilling in our terrestrial universe, and does not need the assurance of וחי בהם. We must realize that when the Torah speaks of חיים, “life,” it does so on different occasions in different contexts, i.e. ”life on different levels” as is appropriate to the context in which the word appears.

In the Torah as law. Such as robbery and murder.

ואת חקתי תשמרו AND KEEP MINE ORDINANCES — matters which are decrees of the King (promulgated without any reason being stated) against which the evil inclination raises objections: "Why should we observe them and against which also the nations of the world raise objections, as e. g., the prohibition of eating swine’s flesh, of wearing clothes of a mixture of wool and linen, the purgatory power of "water mingled with the ashes of the Red Heifer" (טהרת מי חטאת) — therefore it is stated: "I", the Lord, have enacted this for you — you are not at liberty to evade the obligation (Yoma 67b).

את משפטי תעשו, “you are to carry out My laws, etc.;” the reason why the משפטים were mentioned first is that once we observe these commandments i.e. performing justice tempered wit mercy, משפט וצדקה, it is easier to also perform the statutes which are basically acts of obedience and faith in the Creator.

You may not evade them. Because if not, why write “and follow them”? Scripture already wrote, “And keep My statutes.”

I believe we may explain this in connection with what we wrote that thinking about the subject of sex increases one's lust at the expense of the power of the will to dominate one's decision-making process. The Torah was afraid to tell us to distance ourselves from the subject of sex absolutely in order that we would not refrain from fulfilling the commandment to be fruitful and to multiply, or to marry the widow of a brother who died without children, and other related commandments. Taking the warnings of the Torah too much to heart would result in something counterproductive to G'd's "statutes and ordinances." Therefore the Torah introduced the subject by first repeating the need to carry out G'd's ordinances, i.e. את משפטי תעשו, referring to the commandment to be fruitful and to multiply, before warning us to observe the prohibitions about to be legislated in that context, i.e. ואת חקותי תשמרו. Sukkah 52 describes man as possessing a small organ which becomes more hungry in direct proportion to the amount of food it is provided with, whereas it feels satisfied with less and less if one starves it. The organ is, of course, man's reproductive organ. Therefore G'd had to tell us to walk in His ordinances, i.e. to perform the basic commandment of procreation, populating earth, etc.. At the same time, and while fulfilling those ordinances, we must be careful also to observe G'd's statutes, i.e. the limitations legislated in this chapter as to who we are allowed to mate with.

ללכת בהם TO WALK IN THEM — do not free yourselves from their environment, i.e. that you must not say, I have acquired Jewish wisdom, now I will go and acquire the wisdom of the other peoples of the world in order to walk in their ways.

Alternatively, we may view the entire legislation about forbidden sexual unions as a form of mental preparation for the performance of the positive commandment to procreate in the proper spirit. If the Torah had not introduced the whole subject matter by asking us to carry out the various positive ordinances and by refraining from the various statutes so that we would be mentally prepared to conform with G'd's wishes, we would have considered indulgence in the sexual act as something which contaminates the soul and body of the human being. We would have thought that it is so fraught with both spiritual and physical impurity that it contaminates each and every organ of a human being as well as all his faculties. As a result, we would have considered ourselves as unable to fulfil any of the Torah's positive commandments properly unless we abstained from all sexual activity. We would have considered ourselves as in the class of the wicked whose מצוה-performance Assaph describes in Psalms 50,16 as: "who are you to recite My laws and to mouth the terms of My covenant?" Assaph implies that G'd is not interested in anyone performing His commandments unless such a person has attained a certain level of sanctity first.

The Torah added the words ללכת בהם as a reference to the raw material the human being represents when performing G'd's commandments. If man has performed the sexual act after proper spiritual and mental preparation he will be able to father children whose natural tendency it will be to observe G'd's commandments. David referred to something like this when he said in Psalms 119,59: "I have considered my ways and have turned back my feet to Your decrees." Our sages in Vayikra Rabbah 35,1 understand these words to mean that David had so trained himself that his feet automatically would walk towards the Torah Academy out of habit and out of a desire to study G'd's Torah. When the Torah asked us ללכת בהם, it urged us to so relate to G'd's commandments that we would develop a "natural" tendency to walk in the paths of Torah.

Another meaning of the words ללכת בהם may be similar to the meaning of Ezekiel 33,12 who said: "the righteousness of the righteous one will not save him on the day of his iniquity." Ezekiel meant that even if a person had lived a perfectly righteous life all his years but turns to sin in the end he has lost the merits he accumulated during the years prior to his turning to sin. His merits will not accompany him on his way to judgment after death. [According to the Talmud this is so only if he regrets having lived a righteous life before he turned to sin. Ed.] When we consider the words of Ezekiel we must understand the words ללכת בהם to mean that a person has to walk in the path of the Lord's commandments in order that his merits will accompany him on his most important journey, i.e. on the way to the last judgment.

Another meaning of the Torah's admonition to walk in G'd's ordinances and statutes is to remind us not to perform them in order to receive our reward in this life. Our sages in Eyruvin 22 phrase the line in Deut. 7,11 היום לעשותם as meaning "you are to perform the commandments this day (in this life) in order to receive your reward tomorrow, i.e. in the hereafter." It is a warning to us not to want to cash in all our rewards in this life.

Another meaning of the expression ללכת בהם may be related to the verse in Proverbs 6,23: כי נר מצוה ותורה אור, that a single commandment is like a lamp whereas the Torah in its entirety is compared to Light with a capital L. The celestial universe is distant and when the soul of man ascends from this world to the celestial regions he will find the road dark if he lived the life of a sinner. On the other hand, if a person lived a life filled with מצוה- performance, the commandments he performed will light up the way between this world and the celestial regions. We have a verse in Psalms 119,105: "Your word is a lamp at my feet, a Light for my path," expressing a similar sentiment. What the Psalmist means is that both the lamp and the Light possess features not shared by the other. The advantage of a lamp is that its source of light is close to the person holding it, and this is why our sages in Pessachim 2 insist that the search for leavened things on the evening prior to Passover must be conducted in the presence of a lamp, i.e. at night when there is no light. A lamp's advantage is that it illuminates all the dark corners in the room, something the brightest natural daylight fails to do. On the other hand, Light possesses a great advantage compared to a lamp as it enables one to see for great distances. This is why David said that performance of G'd's commandments results in two benefits to the person performing them; 1) he will be able to see what is nearby, i.e. נר לרגלי; "they are a lamp at my feet," at the same time it also provides Light increasing the ability to see for long distances ahead. This is why David said ואור לנתיבתי. When the Torah said that the function of the ordinances and the statutes is ללכת בהם, to walk by them, it referred to both the lamp and the Light which performance of the commandments secures for the people performing them.

In the Zohar volume 1, page 170 Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai states that the 613 commandments which are divided into 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments, are symbolic of man's bones and sinews respectively. The performance of each commandment provides a positive momentum for the respective bone or sinew it represents. The words ללכת בהם refer to the power of מצוה-performance to move man's limbs. Performance of each מצוה also results in G'd's name, or rather part of it, coming to rest on the limb or sinew which that מצוה represents. The word מצוה is equivalent to the 4-lettered name of G'd י־ה־ו־ה, when one employs the system known as א־ת,ב־ש,ג־ר i.e. that one reverses the sequence of the letters in the aleph-bet. Inasmuch as we subscribe to the principle of ה׳ אחד ושמו אחד, that the unity of G'd is expressed also in His very name, this is the mystical dimension of Exodus 25,8: ושכנתי בתוכם. "I will be present within them." In that verse G'd demonstrated that we, the Jewish people, have become the carriers of the מרכבה, the presence of G'd and His entourage. The same idea is also found in Leviticus 26,12 where G'd speaks of "walking" amongst us. All of this is provided we fulfil what is written in Deut. 4,4: "you who cleave to G'd are alive this day."