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Trust Me by Rav Moshe Weinberger
From the Fire
Parshas Shoftim Trust Me
By Rav Moshe Weinberger Adapted for publication by Binyomin Wolf
The Sefer Mitzvos Katan (“Smak”) counts one seemingly ambiguous mitzvah as one of the 613 mitzvos (Devarim 18:13): “You shall be wholehearted, tamim, with Hashem your G-d.” The Hebrew word translated here as “wholehearted” does not always have a good connotation. We are accustomed to hearing it in the context of one of the four sons in the Haggada, the Tam, the simple son. When he asks, “What is this,” we recognize that this simple son is not very bright. It seems he is “not the sharpest tool in the shed.” The Yerushalmi even identifies the son as the “fool,” rather than the “simple son.” Even the Maxwell House Haggada’s illustration of the simple son is not very complimentary. In addition, the Even Shoshan dictionary explains that a tam is a “simpleton, naive, not proficient in the ways of the world.” Can it be that one of the 613 mitzvos of the Torah is that we must be naive simpletons?! That is clearly absurd.
While the connotation of the word tam in recent millennia is not complimentary, we see a completely different usage in Tanach. The Torah (Bereishis 6:9) glowingly calls Noach a “righteous man, perfect, tamim, in his generations.” Onkolus, in his Aramaic translation of the Torah, translates tamim as “a righteous man, perfect.” The Torah even calls Yaakov (ibid. 25:27) “a simple man, tam, dwelling in tents.” Onkolus again translates the word tam as “perfect.” Hashem even tells Avraham (ibid. 17:1), “Be wholehearted, tamim.” And the pasuk describes Iyov as “perfect, tam, and straight” (Iyov 1:1). How did the word tam go from describing a perfect tzaddik to connoting a naive simpleton? What is the connection between these two meanings?
Let us return to the meaning of the mitzvah in this week’s parsha. Onkolus, as expected, translates the commandment to be tamim as: “You shall be perfect in your service of Hashem your G-d.” But Rashi, who normally follows Onkolus’s translation, abandons it here, instead explaining as follows: “Go with Him with simplicity and hope in Him. Do attempt to predict the future. Instead, accept whatever happens to you with simplicity. Then, you will be with Him as His portion.”
Why did Rashi choose not to follow Onkolus’s explanation of the mitzvah? Why did he say that it means to accept Hashem’s will simply without trying to predict the future? Why did he not explain, as Onkolus did, that it is a mitzvah to be a perfect tzaddik to the extent one is able?
To understand the answer to this question, we must examine the context of this mitzva to be tamim. It follows a long list of prohibitions against sorcery, witchcraft, divining auspicious times, soothsaying, necromancy, and fortune-telling. Following those prohibitions, the pasuk preceding the mitzvah says, “Because of these abominations, Hashem your G-d is dispossessing them [the nations living in Eretz Yisroel] before you.” According to Onkolus, who maintains that tamim simply means “perfect,” it was not necessary for the Torah to use that word here. It could have simply said, “And you shall fear G-d” like it does after many other mitzvos. But the use of the word is completely understandable according to Rashi’s explanation. Each of the prohibitions which preceded this mitzvah share a common denominator: G-d does not want us to seek out tricks or schemes to predict the future. Our actions must be guided by what the Torah teaches us is Hashem’s will – not that which will allow us to achieve or avoid some prediction made by a fortuneteller. Rashi explains as he does because of the context of the pasuk.
Rashi’s understanding of the pasuk also jibes with the Smak’s explanation of the mitzvah: “To be simple; meaning not to ask sorcerers or astrologers to know the future. Rather, one should say, ‘Whatever Hashem desires will happen.’ As the Gemara in Brachos (10a) says, ‘Why are you concerning yourself with the secrets of Hashem?’”
It is very instructive to read the context of that Gemara, which explains the back-story of the encounter between King Chizkiyahu and Yeshayahu Hanavi when Chizkiyahu was critically ill (Yeshaya 38:1-5). According to the Gemara, after Yeshayahau told Chizkiyahu, “You are dead and will not live,” Chizkiyahu asked “Why is this?” In other words, Chizkiyahu was a great tzaddik. Why was he suddenly facing death? Yeshayahu answered him, “Because you did not involve yourself in the mitzvha to be fruitful and multiply.” Chizkiyahu responded that it was “because I saw with my Divine inspiration that I would produce sons who would not be worthy.” Yeshayahu answered, “Why are you concerning yourself with the secrets of Hashem? Do whatever it is that Hashem expects of you.” Yeshayahu essentially gave Chizkiyahu a lesson in the mitzvah to be wholehearted with G-d according to Rashi’s explanation.
Taking that lesson to heart, Chizkiyahu said to Yeshayahu, “Now, give me your daughter [as a wife]. Perhaps my and your merits will cause [the decree to be changed, and I will live and have children who will not be wicked].” But Yeshayahu answered, “The decree [that you will die] has already been made.” Essentially, “Your future is that you have no future.” Seeing the irony in Yeshayahu’s response, having just told Chizkiyahu not to base his actions on predictions about the future, he responded, “Ben Amotz [a derogatory way to address Yeshayahu], finish your prophecy and go. I received a tradition from my grandfather [Dovid Hamelech’s] house, ‘Even if a sharp sword is placed on one’s neck, do not give up hope of [Hashem’s] mercy.’”
Chizkiyahu internalized the lesson and realized that a Jew must not be concerned with people’s predictions for the future, even if those predictions are based on Divine inspiration or prophecy. A Jew is obligated to focus on prayer, mitzvos, and Torah. He must do what Hashem demands of him, regardless of whether experts predict that he will be “successful” if he does so. Vindicating this approach, Hashem answered Chizkiyahu’s sincere prayer and granted him an additional fifteen years of life.
This lesson is certainly fitting this time of year, having just entered the month of Elul, the time of teshuva and preparation for Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur. We are preparing to say, “Teshuva, prayer, and tzedakah re-
move the evil decree.” The mitzvah to “be wholehearted with G-d” frees us of the shackles of the fortunetellers of today, whether they are statisticians or political analysts.
A Jewish publication recently printed an article claiming that if a girl is not married by a certain age, she only has a 15% chance of getting married.
While it is certainly important to evaluate any situation using whatever data we have at our disposal, still, the effect such statistics can have upon individuals can be devastating. Can you imagine a girl reading that article who is probably already broken-hearted in what is often a difficult situation? Does the author believe that Dovid Hamelech’s exhortation that “even if a sharp sword is placed on one’s neck, do not give up hope of [Hashem’s] mercy” does not apply to this young woman? Does he believe the Jewish people are subject to statistical calculations? Does he think that G-d and the Jewish people are not above all of that?
The mitzvah to be “wholehearted with G-d” tells us to put our trust in Him alone, and not in the modern-day sorcerers and fortunetellers. Just as Hashem told Chizkiyahu (Yeshayahu 38:5), Hashem tells each of us, in whatever straits we find ourselves, “I have heard your prayers, I have seen your tears.”
Being a tamim, a perfect, whole person means being childlike (not childish) in a sense. One must look past all of the evil, complications, deficiencies, and cynicism of the world. It does not mean that one must not be sharp, bright, or deep. But it means that he lives with the knowledge of the presence and providence of G-d such that he knows that all of the negativity, uncertainty, confusion, and evil are not the whole picture. Material existence may seem bleak
and pessimistic but one must know that this is only one part of reality. Hashem and spiritual realty extend far beyond that which we can grasp intellectually. We must have wholehearted, simple trust in G-d that He knows what He is doing. All we have to do is fulfill His will to the best of our ability and trust that He will work everything else out in the end.
A Jew must re-center himself and realize that there is a G-d in the world. The Jewish people are not the hapless subjects of statistics and political realities. We are children of the Living G-d, and there is much more to His plan than any of us can possibly know. We need not become stressed about the unknown future. Instead, let us simply trust in G-d and rely on Him.
May Hashem soon send the ultimate redeemer who will unravel all of the puzzles of this world, when we will finally see how all of the twists and turns of life in this world were all pieces in the great puzzle of the ultimate revelation of His will.
Rav Moshe Weinberger, shlita, is the founding Morah d’Asrah of Congregation Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, NY, and serves as leader of the new mechina Emek HaMelech.
