Comments on: Reasonable Reasons for Performing Mitzvot — Mahara”t Sara Hurwitz

By: Steve Greenberg

Steve Greenberg — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 13:49:00 +0000

Thanks to Rabba Sarah Horowitz for this sharp and thought
article. Just one additional thought. The hesitation to locate the
authority of mitzvot in their reasons is well known. Such a move
shifts the center of normative power from the law giver to the
presumed purposes of the laws. Once that happens control is placed
in the hands of individuals who interpret for themselves, and on
the basis of reasons decide if and when the law applies to them.
Every parent knows that when asked why, the most effective answer
is often, ‘because I said so ” So it should be clear why reasons
weaken law. However, the opposite is true as well. If the lawgiver
can demand obedience on a whim, then we soon experience the law as
oppressive. Unless we trust that the lawgiver has our best
interests at heart, unless we understand that the law is right and
useful, good and wise, the law becomes an alien imposition and God
an irrational and imperious dictator. Rationales restore our sense
that the Torah is “our wisdom and understanding in the sight of the
nations who upon hearing of these laws will say “Surely that great
nation is a wise and discerning people.” Lastly, while law is
probably enforced best without reasons, it cannot be adjudicated
without them. There is no formal means of textual interpretation,
of rule making with its exceptions and conditions, of navigating
conflict between different rules, and applying broad rules to
individual circumstances without some intuited or reasoned sense of
the purposes at play and the outcomes desired. While the faith of
the rank and file may well require divine service as a primary
motive, such a limit would not have worked at all for those
empowered to insure that the Torah is read and applied in wise and
understanding ways.

By: me loves me

me loves me — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:29:52 +0000

i still dont understand reasons for following the mitzvah
help i think that a reasonable mitzvot leads a jew to a sensible
life…

By: hjbfdlfdbhdfb

hjbfdlfdbhdfb — Fri, 24 Dec 2010 17:28:20 +0000

i still dont understand reasons for following the mitzvah
help

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[...] Reasonable Reasons for Performing Mitzvot — Mahara”t Sara Hurwitz [...]

By: Gedalia Walls

Gedalia Walls — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:22:46 +0000

I respectfully disagree with the assertion that the Rambam gave reasons for the mitzvos in order to perfect a person’s devotion or commitment to their performance. Look at his comments on Hilchot Me’ilah 8:8 regarding the importance of performing those mitzvos “whose reasons are not given and whose purpose is unknown”: that one should not tread lightly with chukim because he does not understand them, for they are not like “divrei ha’chol”- secular matters.
The impetus for performing mitzvos does come from an external place, as it is mentioned for example in the first chapter of Mesillat Yesharim: A person works in this world for his station in the next, quoting a very similar statement in Eiruvin.
Also noteworthy is the Gemara Shabbos 58a on “Naaseh v’Nishma” and the story of Rava and the min. The nations of the world rebuke the Jewish people for not having read what was inside before signing on!
One final point from the Rambam- he makes the point very clearly in Hilchot Teshuva ch. 9 and 10 that the performance of Mitzvos brings us closer to Hashem and we do it out of love for Him and our desire to grow closer. I do not understand why these cannot be the impetus for anyone to convert. It is not our job to understand why we do it:
“Hayom La’asotam, u’Machar l’Kabel s’charam” Today we do them, tomorrow we worry about the payback (which is in contrast to the normal worker who according to Halacha must be aware of his wages to receive them at days end).

By: Michael Feldstein

Michael Feldstein — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:52:17 +0000

Excellent article!

I think there is a difference between the reason for a mitzvah and the meaning behind a mitzva. One can believe that the reason for a particular mitzvah is because Hashem commanded us to do them, but still find significant internal meaning to performing this commandment, thereby gaining a greater appreciation.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 21:24:41 +0000

Interesting post, thanks for writing about this.

By: Hyim Shafner

Hyim Shafner — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 20:19:32 +0000

Recently after reading Yeshayahu Leibowitz and his extreme approach to taamey hamitzvot, that no mitzvot have any reasons except to do God’s will, I felt conflicted. On one hand his approach solves many theological problems, retains the Rambam’s God Who has no needs, no changes of mind, no definition (very different than Moshe Rabbaynu’s God; on the other hand Prof. Leibowitz’s approach sucks all the meaning out of my davening. He of course would say that is the point, davening has no meaning other than to accept the yoke of heaven by saying the words, on the other hand its hard to buy and I find I have to learn some Sefat Emet to take the edge off!