Yes or No?

Responsive

Our sages describe the scenario of the giving of the Torah at Sinai in the following manner:

When G-d would make an affirmative declaration (Such as “Remember the Shabbos”), the Jewish people would respond with the word “yes. Conversely, when G-d would utter a proscriptive statement (such as “Do not commit murder”), their response was “no.” This scenario is recorded in the name of the Talmudic sage, Rabbi Yishmael.

Rabbi Akiva, however, disagrees. According to Rabbi Akiva, the Jewish people’s response was a uniform yes for all of the commandments. Whether it was an affirmative commandment or a proscriptive one, they responded with but one simple word: “yes.”

A question begs to be asked: What difference does it really make what their response was? Does it really make a difference if in response to the commandment “You shall not commit murder” they said “Yes,” meaning that they will comply with G-d’s will, or if they would have said “no”, implying they will not go against His will? Either way, it was clear that their intention was to totally accept all that G-d was commanding them. The entire dispute seems to revolve around semantics.

Furthermore, everything we learn about in the Torah must impart a crucial lesson for us. What possible lesson can be derived from the two opinions concerning the Jewish people’s response to the Ten Commandments?

Two Approaches

Upon deeper reflection, one can discern two legitimate, but diverse, approaches to the observance of Torah and its Mitzvos. The following is based on a discourse of the Rebbe who discerned these two approaches and discovered that they were consistent with the spiritual stature of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael.

One can take the approach that it really makes no difference what G-d tells us to do or not to do. The essential thing is to accept His authority and agree to do everything that He so desires. Whether G-d tells us to do something or not to do something we respond with the same determination and unequivocal commitment to conform to G-d’s will. It is not the substance of the command that we dwell on, but on the fact that it is G-d’s will regardless of the character of the Mitzvah.

In such an approach there is no room for subjective feelings. We perform the most enjoyable and exciting Mitzvah with the same sense of duty and “acceptance of the yoke” that characterizes our compliance with His directive to not do something we might be tempted to do.

Similarly, with this approach, there can be no distinction between one mitzvah and the other. Whether it is a rational mitzvah or one that defies logic, we observe each and every Mitzvah with a uniform sense of duty.

This approach is expressed in the view of Rabbi Akiva that the Jewish people responded “yes” for all the commandments. The same affirmative declaration that accompanied their acceptance of the most dramatic and dynamics actions demanded by G-d, also accompanied their acceptance of G-d’s commandment not to commit murder. Whatever emotional ties and subjective leanings they may have had to either of the categories did not register in their responses. The main sentiment was their complete surrender to G-d’s will.

Working With Your Ego

There is, however, a second approach to Judaism, reflected in Rabbi Yishmael’s view that they responded differently for the different categories of commandments. In Judaism, Rabbi Yishmael insists, one must go beyond surrender of ego and total unequivocal acceptance of the Divine will.

A Jew must also allow the Mitzvos we perform to reach into our psyches, emotions and individualistic characters. Yes, even our egos and subjective characteristics must be affected by and involved in the process of serving G-d. A human being is not just a body and a soul. A human being has emotions, ideas and wants. And the Torah must relate to these individual human properties.

There are Mitzvos that are geared to activating our love for G-d and there are Mitzvos that are designed to activate our fear/awe of G-d. There is not a single human expression, whether intellectual or emotional, that is not in some way touched and refined by this or that Mitzvah.

Rabbi Yishmael, thus, insists that the Jews had to have responded differently for the different categories of Mitzvos. A mitzvah to do something positive – such as remembering the Shabbos – demanded an affirmative response that said: “Not only am I ready to surrender myself to G-d but I am also allowing the mitzvah of Shabbos to strike a responsive chord in my mind and heart. I will even have my feelings of joy and pleasure gravitate towards the Sabbath.

Conversely, the negative response to murder and other prohibitions was our way of declaring that not only will we not commit them, but also that they will be so utterly objectionable to us. Every fiber of our being cries out: “No! We will never countenance anything that goes against G-d’s commandments.” The utter revulsion that one experiences for one abominable act will never be the same for another one when one follows the path of Rabbi Yishmael.

Synthesis

The ultimate goal is to synthesize both views, of total surrender of our will to G-d’s and to allow every commandment to strike a responsive chord within our souls.

True synthesis of opposite traits is easier said than done.

Just as we cannot imagine the co-existence of fire and water, so is it unthinkable to be consumed with a sense of dedication to a cause to the point of completely surrendering our egos—the approach of Rabbi Akiva— while, simultaneously, savoring the taste and “getting into” the nuances and delight sof each and every Mitzvah experience—the approach of Rabbi Yishmael.

To achieve this extraordinary synthesis, we must express the essence of our soul, which is connected to the very essence of G-d. From G-d’s vantage point, all opposites can be seamlessly harmonized.

The soul’s essence does not easily express itself. Due to exile circumstances, the soul’s essence is confined and unable to asset its dominance over the individual. At certain times of inspiration, such as on Yom Kippur, or during the Shavuos Holiday, we can feel our essential G-dly identity manifest itself.

It is this synthesis that will be attained, on a consistent level, in the imminent Age of Redemption. At that time, the obstructive elements that do not allow our essential G-dly nature to function will be removed.

We will then fully experience the Divine symphony, the combined and complementary benefits of Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yishmael’s approaches.

From the book Light from the Future: Shavuos by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.