Walk in His Ways!
Art is imitation of the physical world, which is itself an imitation of the spiritual worlds. When we imitate G-d we experience the ultimate art-form because we are imitating something real.
Imitating G-d
In this week’s Parsha the Torah commands us to: “walk in His [G-d’s] ways.” Maimonides, the great Talmudist, philosopher, physician and Jewish leader, lists this statement as one of the 613 commandments and cites the rabbinic explanation of this Mitzvah as follows:
“Just as G-d is called gracious, you too should be gracious; just as G-d is called merciful, you too should be merciful; just as G-d is called kind, you too should be kind.” In other words, this commandments exhorts us emulate G-d.”
Commentators raise the question: Why is this commandment listed as one of the 613 commandments of the Torah? What is so novel about it? Don’t we already know from other parts of the Torah that we must be gracious, merciful, and kind, as well as all the other positive attributes that are associated with G-d?
A Traveling Mitzvah
What is unique about this commandment, however, lies in the way it is phrased. The Torah does not say “Emulate G- d,” but rather “And you shall walk in His ways.” The implication of this is that one’s performance of the commandments should be in such a manner that it transforms the person to such an extent that the person has left the “place,” i.e., spiritual state, where he had been situated before he did the Mitzvah and has entered into a new “location.”
One can be kind, gracious and merciful, as well as all the other Mitzvos, and yet they cannot be characterized as having “traveled” outside of their previous environment. Only when one performs the Mitzvah as a way of emulating G-d and connecting to Him, can one truly change.
This is why the statement to “walk in His ways” is a separate command, because it demands of us to not only be kind, for example, but to be kind as a way as “walking in His ways.”
This calls for further explanation. Haven’t we been told by our Sages, particularly from the perspective of Kabbalah and Chassidic thought, that every Mitzvah we perform has a refining character to it? We are never the same after we perform any Mitzvah, even if it was not done to emulate G- d. In fact, we are changed even when we do a mitzvah for the most ulterior of motives. Why then does the Torah identify the process of emulating G-d as the only way we can actually “walk?” in His ways?
Human versus Angels
The answer, given by the Rebbe (Likkutei Sichos, volume 4) lies in the true definition of “traveling” in the spiritual realm. The Prophet Elijah describes, and Chassidic thought elaborates on, the difference between an angel and a soul. An angel can never go beyond itself. Sure, the angel grows and constantly rises to higher levels. But, because an angel is finite, it can only rise to a higher level that is within sight of the level before it. The changes are incremental and relative. There are no quantum leaps in the world of finite creatures. Angels thus are describes as “standers” and not “walkers.”
When we, finite human beings, perform a Mitzvah — no matter what the motivation for the Mitzvah may be — we are definitely affected in a positive way. We grow and rise to higher levels. But, in truth, we do not really move to a new plane. We are forever connected to where we were previously. It is only logical that a finite being cannot transcend itself.
Quantum Leaps
However, the Torah, in this week’s Parsha, introduces us to the novel and revolutionary idea that when we do a Mitzvah as a way of emulating G-d, we acquire G-d’s infinite power to grow exponentially. Then we can truly be considered to have “walked in His ways.” We have traveled infinitely, in terms of G-d’s infinite capacity.
And while we rarely feel these changes that occur, even when we do a Mitzvah to emulate G-d, it is because we are still living in exile, which has a tranquilizing and desensitizing effect.
Future Dynamics
When Moshiach will come and usher in the Age of Redemption, not only will we perform Mitzvos with much more feeling and connectedness to G-d, but we will also feel the effects of those Mitzvos that we already performed in the days of exile.
In the Messianic Era we will experience the exponential leaps that are achieved through the performance of every Mitzvah including the one we do to emulate G-d. While in the present exile era we cannot feel these accomplishments, they will become manifest for all in the Messianic Era.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Ki Savo by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
