For those readers who like to ponder a point and reflect on the perhapses and possibilities of life, Eternal Ethics from Sinai by Rabbi Yaakov Hillel can make quite scary reading. Rabbi Hillel’s detailed and forthright account of Pirkei Avot is not for spineless speculators or doubting Thomases. He writes for those who want confident, no-nonsense and reliably authentic orthodox pronouncements on the meanings of the mishnayot of Avot, for those who are troubled by questions but comforted by answers.
An example
of what I mean can be seen in Rabbi Hillel’s approach to Avot 1:1, in which the
Men of the Great Assembly advise us to “build a fence round the Torah”. Citing
the Shelah HaKadosh he writes:
“Moshe Rabbenu gave our people the basic 613 commandments as he received
them at Sinai, among them 365 negative commandments. He added a few
precautionary decrees as necessary. In succeeding generations the Prophets, and
later the Tannaim, instituted additional enactments and decrees in
keeping with the needs of their times, a process that has continued throughout
the centuries. An increasing number of humrot have become part of our
accepted practice.
Why is this so? Surely we are not more pious than our saintly ancestors.
The imposition of additional strictures was essential precisely because
of the ongoing deterioration in our nation’s spiritual level. A variety of
decrees and restrictions were introduced not because we of the later
generations are more meticulous in our religious observance, but because we
face challenges more difficult than our ancestors ever knew. As we said, the
closer we come to the era of Mashiach, the more virulent the attack of
the Forces of Impurity.
At the time of the Giving of the Torah, 613 commandments were enough to
keep the evil inclination at bay. Today we would need at least 5,000. Our only
defense against the onslaught is humrot: the numerous stringent pious practices,
customs, and observances that safeguard our fulfiillment of Hashem’s
commandments. These stringent practices all attain the status of Torah-ordained
commandments”.
On one
level this trenchant summary of our position and of the utility of additional
stringencies is unassailable. Almost every word of Rabbi Hillel can be sourced
and supported by sound and respected rabbinical authority (I don’t know where
the figure of 5,000 commandments comes from. Can anyone let me know?) But this
should not preclude us from encouraging debate.
For one
thing, the Torah itself cautions against adding anything to it. This does not
mean that the rabbis have not been given a fair measure of discretion but,
rather, that the rabbis themselves should be careful to do so only where and
when a positive outcome can be predicted. We know that this has not always been
the case: the Talmud itself records rabbinical decrees that were not accepted
by the very people they were supposed to benefit.
There is a
final point to ponder. While an increase in humrot and restrictions may
indeed achieve the desired result of keeping Jews within the flock, as it were,
it also means that those who leave the flock are infringing an increasing
number of rules of conduct that have achieved the status of Jewish law. Apart
from the obvious impact that this will have on such judgement as they may face
when their lives reach their end, there is also the worrying possibility that
the increased quantity of laws and stringencies may serve as a bar to
repentance and return to Jewish practice.
Rabbi Hillel is right. Fences round the Torah have an important part to play in preserving Jewish observance, culture and identity. But they must be the right fences, and they must not serve as a barrier to re-entry for those who have strayed “off the derech”.
