Obedience
Thoughts on Parashat BeHukotai 2019
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Parashat
Behukotai begins with God’s condition to Am Yisrael.
He told them that by following His laws – If you will walk by My statutes
(26:3) – they would merit wealth, security and strength. Concluding these
promises of prosperity, God told the nation:
I will walk among you; I will be a God to you and
you will be a people to me. (26:12)
Paralleling His condition of our
“walking by His statutes,” God foresaw “walking among us” – in the sense that
we would feel His presence. Instead of mentioning this reality as the immediate
result of following the missvot, which would then inspire the
possibilities of material success, “I will walk among you” is mentioned as the final
promise to the people who follow His will. It appears, then, that
the promise of “I will walk among you” stands as the reward,
independent of anything else.
Suppose, in theory, that a
mixture of technological breakthroughs and human creativity bring the world to
a state of utopia. Machines would produce stress-free universal wealth,
psychology would vaccinate against mental disorders, and a perfected human
intellect would raise us above all fights and competition. What would we then
do all day? Philosopher Bernard Suits suggested that we would play games. Games,
he explained, are played for their owns sake, irrespective of ulterior considerations.[1]
R. Yisshak Hutner z”l accordingly explained the several biblical
references of Torah as a “sha’ashua’a” – a “plaything” (Tehillim 119:92;
Mishlei 8:30-1), as study of its words and concepts is likewise an
intrinsically motivated activity.[2]
As members of a world and
community which unabashedly value outcome above process, it is no
small feat for us to identify and appreciate any of the intrinsic ideals
that life has to offer. Indeed, the novelist KJ Dell’Antonia recently quoted a Senior
high student who reflected upon her appreciation of extracurricular activities:
“There is definitely this sense that you are putting work into activities so
you can get some sort of payback – admission to a top college – and afterward,
your work is done.” Dell’Antonia remarked:
Ironically,
in placing so much value on activities that our children came to out of love or
interest, we grown-ups replaced the intrinsic motivations we often claim to
value with extrinsic ones. When you’ve been taught that every action has a
purpose, it’s harder to find meaning in just doing something you enjoy, and
much more difficult to persuade yourself to do it.
Our society has effectively
commercialized the sports and activities which kids once did “just for fun,”
and turned them into a means to an end.[3]
The simple activity of taking a
walk, however, has withstood the winds of time as it continues to serve no
function outside of itself. The noted author Erling Kagge mentioned this facet
as a core dimension of his love of walking outside:
I
remember that in school, they strived for objectiveness. Tasks had a beginning
and an end, tests got graded, and behavior had a norm. To walk is about
something else. You can reach your goal, only to continue walking the next day.
A hike may last a lifetime. You can walk in one direction and end up at your
starting point.[4]
The contemporary French
philosopher Frederic Gros similarly contrasted the activity of walking to the
world of “sport.” He began his book, A Philosophy of Walking, by
succinctly stating that “walking is not a sport.” Whereas the sports of today
are a matter of techniques and rules, scores and competition, “Putting one foot
in front of the other is child’s play.”[5]
Rashi commented on God’s promise
of “I will walk among you”:
I
will stroll with you in the Garden of Eden, like one of you, and you will not
tremble because of me….[6]
Harkening back to the original
story of Adam and Hava who, following their sin, “heard the sound of God
walking about in the garden” (Bereshit 3:8), Rashi taught that whereas God was
then “walking alone,” following his statutes will earn us the role of “Divine
walking buddies.” But what will be the purpose of that “walk”? Already
granted the promise of material achievement and security, it appears that the
ideal of His presence would not serve any extrinsic value, but rather
the intrinsic value of “the walk” itself.
Internalizing the fundamental
message of Parashat BeHukotai requires an uphill march against the
pressures of our culture and society. In a world where “walking” remains the
sole vestige of an independently valued activity, “walking with God” must
represent for us the ideal of pursuing a life inspired by intrinsic motivations.
[1] Bernard
Suits, The Grasshopper: Games, Life, and Utopia, 3rd ed.
(Peterborough, Ont., 2014), pg. 182-95.
[2] R. Yisshak Hutner, Pahad
Yisshak: Igerot UKetavim (Brooklyn, NY, 1991), no, 2. See, as well, R,
Moshe Shapiro’s elaboration of this idea in UMessarah LeYehoshua (Jerusalem,
IS, 2017), pg. 72. And cf. Yaakov Elman, “Pahad Yitzhak: A Joyful Song
of Affirmation,” Hakirah 20 (Winter 2015), pg. 49.
[3] KJ Dell’Antonia, “How High
School Ruined Leisure: Will kids still do what they like when it won’t help
them get into college?” The New York Times, May 18, 2019.
[4] Erling Kagge, Walking: One
Step at a Time (New York, NY, 2019), pg. 148.
[5] Frederic Gros, A Philosophy
of Walking (London, UK, 2015), pg. 1-2.
[6] Commentary
of Rashi to VaYikra 26:12, s.v. ve-hit’halakhti.