Some Things Never Change
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H
ow can our ever-transforming dynamic society be stuck with an archaic outdated code of laws? Reformers might want to adapt to a new reality but some things — like the sun and the human heart — remain eternal constants no matter what new winds are blowing
Way back when it was given in the Wilderness the Torah was concerned about “reformers” who would try to change G-d’s law beyond recognition. In this week’s parshah we are warned in one succinct pasuk against the worldview that gives rise to Reform:
“You shall not add to the word that I command you nor shall you detract from it to keep the commandment of Hashem” (Devarim 4:2).
Keep the statutes and laws of the Torah just as they are without changing them in any way.
But why? Is it even possible to keep the Torah without changing anything in it? How can the Law remain frozen in an ever-changing world in a dynamic society that is constantly advancing with new discoveries? How can we maintain laws that were given thousands of years ago when life was much more primitive integrating them as they are into a world that was then totally unknown? Can we really practice that outdated system without reforming it at all?
Even at the time the Torah was given one might have asked this question. The Jewish People were going to enter their own land where they would establish a state and a society. Human society is dynamic by nature; civilization progresses. The one constant in human life is change and its legal system must be adaptable to the current circumstances. How is it possible to keep things running in an orderly fashion without ever adding to or subtracting from the existing laws? Didn’t Moshe Rabbeinu himself see the contradiction in what he was saying? By demanding adherence to the law while at the same time insisting that it remain static wasn’t he setting up a situation in which the people would inevitably drift away from observance?
Seemingly those who argue that the Torah is not up to date with the real world have a point.
But one who is willing to think a little further will find that the principle of bal tosif — not adding on (or detracting) — actually reveals the depth of authentic Jewish Law.
Dr. Yehoshua Heschel Yeivin (1891–1970) a revisionist-maximalist scholar who disparaged modern Bible criticism gave a fine explanation regarding this idea that the Torah becomes “antiquated.” He writes:
“The claim by our intellectuals that the Torah is ‘obsolete’ stems from an extremely superficial view of the matter. The truth is that the concept of obsolescence applies only to technical and external aspects of our experience. For example the clothing we wear changes according to the dictates of fashion; our means of transportation change with advances in technology — our grandfathers traveled by horse-drawn vehicles our fathers took trains and we fly in jet planes.
“But regarding essential principles changing fashions have no force. We wake up in the morning as the sun rises and our soul sings with joy at the brightness that floods our room; our ear is attuned to the morning chorus of the birds just as Adam Harishon rejoiced on the first day of his creation. We would never think for a moment that when we enjoy the light of the sun which is so old we are not properly modern and that the time has come to replace that ancient obsolete sun with some sort of man-made cubist creation. At every moment we breathe the same air that ancient man breathed and we are never sickened with ennui by this old-fashioned system. We never feel a desire to replace our ‘antiquated’ air with some modern synthetic substitute.
“The bread on our tables is the same product that was eaten in ancientEgypt and we never think of replacing it with some synthetic protein compound produced in a laboratory. Like the sun like bread like the air so is the Jewish faith.” (B’Shvilei Emunat Yisrael p. 105)
As Dr. Yeivin admonished his scholarly contemporaries not everything that’s old is outdated. Not everything that remains with us from the past has lost its application in the present. If the Torah were concerned with the outer trappings of life with the technical changes that take place constantly then perhaps there might be some validity to the approach of those who would make “corrections” to the Torah in order to “adapt it to the times.”
But this isn’t what the Torah is about. The Torah is about training the human heart whether a person travels by horse-drawn wagon or modern jet plane whether he lives in a state governed by a progressive democracy benevolent monarchy or evil dictatorship. These factors make no difference because the tendencies of the human heart always remain the same. And the Torah’s way of educating the wild human heart is suited just as well to modern times as to ancient times. Its message applies to every situation in our lives. It remains relevant as long as the human heart endures.
It is the true yardstick by which to measure our attributes and the solution when we fail to measure up. It sets the boundaries for a heart that loves and hates; a heart that can be jealous cruel and vengeful; merciful and ardent; a heart that longs to purify itself; a heart that can sink to the depths of despair and sin. This heart beats and drives human beings to act just as it did thousands of years ago. True the tools at our disposal have become more sophisticated but we ourselves have not changed. Our inner selves have not been modernized. In the distant past men killed each other with weapons of stone; today they do so with automatic rifles and bombs. Does that change the essence of murder or its motives?
The Torah’s commandments rein in the urges of the heart helping us to overcome them.
The Reform movement’s gradual abandonment of the mitzvos stemmed not from the need to adapt to modern life but from the yetzer hara. They claimed they wanted to save the Jewish People through their “reforms” yet the result was that millions of their adherents have intermarried and assimilated lost forever among the nations in what Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik called “the Silent Holocaust.” Meanwhile those who remained faithful to the eternal unchanging code of the Torah amid the conditions of modern life have endured as the core of the Jewish People even as madness rages all around them.
If we desire life the Torah tells us we must not subtract from the Law nor add to it. Could it be that there are those who don’t desire life?
While the Reform movement has lost ground inAmerica its former stronghold here in the State of Israel it is advancing step by step despite its small number of adherents in the Jewish state. The struggle over their demand for “egalitarian” prayer at the Kosel goes on joined now by their sudden desire for mikvaos of their own. And meanwhile they’ve been taking over the minimal Jewish education curriculum offered inIsrael’s public schools as well as in the army.
Here are a few points in the new doctrine being taught to Israeli soldiers: They shouldn’t be so sure of our people’s right to Eretz Yisrael. It is wrong to pray to HaKadosh Baruch Hu for success in battle because it motivates a soldier to kill innocent Arabs. Since the Israeli nation comprises Jews Muslims and Christians all soldiers — including observant Jewish soldiers — must visit churches and hear lectures on Christianity. It is better to endanger the lives of our soldiers than to risk hurting enemy civilians.
This is just a small sampling of evidence indicating that we are looking at a frontal attack on the soul and spirit of young Jews in Eretz Yisrael.
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