ייִדישער מחשבֿה אויף דברים 5:24

On the other hand, one could argue the reverse. As long as all performance is merely potential and has not yet been brought to fruition, it is still in the realm of imagination only, and therefore not worth a great deal at all. The concept of "the reward of a good deed is another good deed," (Avot 4,2) suggests that if an effect of a good cause exists, it in turn becomes a cause for another good effect. The Aggadah in Shabbat 119, about the two angels that accompany man on the Sabbath eve on his way home from the synagogue, and who respond to the evidence of the Sabbath preparations which either have or have not been made, by saying "Amen, may it be likewise next week," represent the same viewpoint. Once one sets out on a certain path, one builds a certain amount of momentum. Whether this momentum is positive or negative is irrelevant; the momentum has been built. There are no bad angels, but there is a yetzer hara, an urge to do evil, and it is this that the Talmud refers to when it uses the expression "bad angel." Deeds become causes. The amount of self discipline needed to accomplish certain moral objectives, diminishes in relation to the frequency of the occasions on which this self discipline needs to be exercised. If a sick person finds it an extreme effort to swallow food, after a while the strength that food has given him makes the effort to swallow further amounts of food seem progressively less strenuous. We can understand why our ancestors expressed themselves in three different ways regarding their acceptance of Torah. 1) (Exodus 19,8) "All that G-d has said, we will perform." 2) (Exodus 24,3) "All that G-d has said we will perform and hear." 3) (Deut.5,24) "All that the Lord our G-d will say to you (Moses) we will hear and perform." The first time the word na-asseh, we will perform, refers to the successful end product. They undertook to achieve the task that had been set out for them. The second time, they referred to the process which would lead to the successful achievement of what they had promised in the first verse, namely acquiring the good habits of doing the right thing through repetition, i.e. following instructions. The people had realised that achievements of Torah's purpose does not get accomplished by a single act or gesture. The sequence of study/performance is based on the manner in which angels, i.e. the Lord's messengers address themselves to a task. (compare Talmud Shabbat 88 and our commentary in chapter 44) When the people said "we will hear and perform," they referred to the manner in which the perfect assiyah performance would be assured, namely through study of the objective. As the Torat Kohanim explains (Leviticus Acharey 9) ushmartem va-assitem you will study and comply. In this instance the word "shamar," means study. Proper performance is possible only after study. From the foregoing we see that refinement of one's personality is achieved even when the deeds are deficient in quality, even though the objective is performance of a perfect deed. We have the paradox that both action and study seem superior. The solution is that evaluation of the merit of something may either be based on objective, absolute criteria, or on subjective, relative criteria. From an objective point of view, study is superior to performance since it involves man's finest part his brain, the potentially divine within him. Also, study precedes action chronologically. Man's creation itself had to be preceded by the concepts calling for his creation. Subjectively, however, performance is superior, since without it, theory, study etc. can never be put into practice. (Theory, i.e. the result of study cannot be proven correct without having been put to the practical test.) The training of wild beasts, domesticating them to become beasts of burden, proves the impact of study and habit.

Rabbi Akiva perceives study as priority number one. Rabbi Tarfon views performance as priority number one, seeing that Torah demands deeds, and provides penalties for misdeeds, sins of ommission. Of course, Rabbi Tarfon sees action as the result of study, not uninformed action. We can compare the situation to that of teacher and student. The former is important not only objectively, seeing he is the fountain of the student's knowledge, but also subjectively, since the student's importance is not independent of his relationship with the teacher. The Jewish people recognised that proper study requires that one dissociates from bodily concerns. This is why they said to Moses that he should approach G-d, and that he in turn would communicate the instructions to them. The use of the feminine gender for "you" when addressing Moses in that verse, (Deut. 5,24) indicates that they were well aware that what they would hear from Moses the intermediary would be weaker, i.e. would not equal in communicating perceptive powers, that which would be heard from G-d directly by those tuned in properly.

Leviticus Rabbah 1, illustrates the point made previously, beautifully. Under natural law, a load that appears heavy to one person, appears relatively light when shouldered by two people. Similarly, something difficult for six hundred thousand people to suffer, should be impossible for a single person to endure. So we find the whole people telling G-d that they could not continue to listen to G-d’s voice. Yet Moses, alone, was able to listen to G-d’s voice without difficulty. (Deut. 5,24) This fact illustrates the principle of quality versus quantity. When the Talmud (Shabbat 94) describes the qualities required to attain the level of moral and intellectual greatness of a prophet, we can see that such people were extremely rare even amongst the Jewish people. The people of Deut. 5, realising their lack of moral preparedness knew that under the prevailing conditions they could not both survive physically and be recipients of G-d’s direct communication all at the same time.