Judaism and Arithmetic: No Adding or Subtracting
Egos are strange. Our ego can diminish us by ostensibly getting us to do more.
JUDAISM AND ARITHMETIC: NO ADDING
OR SUBTRACTING
Adding, Subtracting and Idol Worship
In this week’s parsha, Moses continues his final monologue to the Jewish nation. He exhorts them to follow the commandments so that “they will live, come to and inherit the land that G-d, the G-d of your forefathers, is giving you.”
Following this general exhortation, Moses adds the following:
“Do not add to the words of that I am commanding you, nor subtract from it, in order to preserve the commandments of G-d your G-d, which I am commanding you.”
This admonition not to add or subtract from the commandments is followed by the following, apparently unrelated words:
“You eyes have seen what G-d did at Ba’al Pe’or, for G-d your G-d has eliminated every man who went after Ba’al Pe’or from among you, but you—who remain attached to G-d, your G-d, are all alive today.”
Even a cursory examination of the above calls for clarification:
What is the connection between the prohibition against adding or subtracting from the commandments to the worshipping of Ba’al Pe’or? When the Torah juxtaposes two subjects there is usually a thematic connection between them.
Moreover, the worshipping of Ba’al Pe’or was outright idolatry, the most serious of offenses. This tragic episode to which Moses refers brought about the deaths of no less than 24,000 Jews. Adding on to or subtracting from a commandment hardly warrants being compared to idol worship!
Does this Belong in an Introduction?
Another question that arises upon reflection:
When one surveys the beginning of the book of Deuteronomy, through most of this week’s parsha, we see that Moses was giving them a “pep talk” to inspire them to observe the commandments. He was not interested, at this point, in discussing the details of the commandments themselves. Only after he concludes his inspirational monologue—later in the parsha—does he proceed to enumerate hundreds of the commandments, beginning with recounting the Ten Commandments and continuing from there for most of the balance of this book.
The question therefore arises: Why did Moses include the specific prohibition of not adding onto or subtracting from the commandments here in his introductory monologue?
Moreover, later in chapter thirteen, when Moses enumerates the specific commandments, Moses repeats this admonition not to add onto or subtract from the commandments. Why then was it necessary for him to mention these admonitions here if he was planning to mention it later?
Another set of questions that can be raised: Why is the Torah so opposed to adding onto the commandments? Isn’t the desire to always add in our commitments a noble one?
And why was it necessary for the Torah to tell us that we should not subtract from them? Isn’t that quite obvious?
Volunteerism not the Ideal!
To answer all these questions we must first preface an enigmatic statement in the Talmud that “one who is commanded to do a mitzvah and does it, is greater than the one who does it voluntarily.” This seems to be counterintuitive. And indeed, the Talmud relates that the great sage, Rav Yosef, initially thought that it was the other way around.
Tosphos (the principal Talmudic commentators who thrived in the 12th through 15th centuries in Germany and France) commentary explains that a person who is obligated to perform the Mitzvah is always anxious lest he or she might forget or neglect to do it, whereas one who does it voluntarily has no pressure or anxiety. Thus, the one who is obligated gets more credit for the anxiety that goes along with the fulfillment of the commandment.
Other commentators provide us with a deeper spiritual explanation. When we are obligated to do a mitzvah our yetzer hara-evil inclination tries to get us not to do it. When there is no outright commandment to perform the Mitzvah, the evil impulse within us has less of a problem if we do good, because the things that we do on our own do not go against our ego. On the contrary, it boosts our ego. The evil inclination is quite happy when our egos are stroked even if it is by doing the right thing. Our yetzer hara knows that once the ego is nurtured it will slowly but surely get us to distance ourselves from doing the things that go against our egos.
However, when we fulfill a Mitzvah because we are compelled to do it by dint of a Divine command it does not normally feed our egos. On the contrary, it forces us to acknowledge that there is a Divine Commander whose will we must follow regardless of what we want and what we think is in our self-interest. That sense of acknowledgment and obligation, the evil impulse within us strongly opposes.
Not Just Self-Actualization
This explains why the Torah commands us not to add or subtract from the Mitzvos and why Moses wanted to introduce us to these admonitions even before he was ready to discuss the particulars of the commandments. Moses wanted to impress upon us that observing the commandments is not an exercise in self-actualization and as a boost to our egos.
To be sure, every Mitzvah helps us to nurture and reveal our inner soul. But, that is a secondary aspect of a Mitzvah, Its primary focus is surrender of our will to the will of G- d.
By adding on to or subtracting from a Mitzvah, we are transforming the Mitzvah from a G-d ordained act designed to express our devotion to Him exclusively into an act that is self-serving and ego driven. By artificially “enhancing” the Mitzvah we are guilty of turning the Mitzvah from an act of devotion to G-d into an act of selfglorification.
Thus by subtracting from a Mitzvah, or even by adding on to it, we are not just undermining that particular Mitzvah that we added on to or subtract from. It represents a far more serious breach of our relationship with G-d if it is motivated by our egos. It becomes a form of idol worship.
The Good in Doing things for Ulterior Motives
One could argue that the foregoing appears to contradict another statement in the Talmud that we should not desist from doing a mitzvah even if we do it for ulterior motives as long as we do the Mitzvah. That suggests that even if we were to give charity, for example, because we want to be praised and loved, it would still be a good thing. But isn’t that expressing one’s ego?
One simple answer to this question is that when we add on to the Mitzvah we alter it and transform it into a different act. To illustrate, one who adds a fourth compartment to the Tefillin alters the very character of the Tefillin. So it ceases to be the Mitzvah that G-d has ordained. Instead it becomes a creation of the person. It’s like taking flour and baking bread. It is no longer flour. It may be better than flour, but if someone asks you for flour and you bring him bread, you’ve not done what the other person has asked for.
But when we execute the performance of the mitzvah properly we have fulfilled our obligation to G-d, although we might be lacking the proper intention and mindset.
In other words, the difference between adding on to a mitzvah and doing a mitzvah with ulterior motives even though in both cases our egos are being nurtured is that in the former one’s mitzvah is solely an expression of our own feelings and ego, whereas in the latter it is a combination of serving G-d the way He desires, coupled with an expression of our personal interests.
As long as we have subdued our ego by doing the Mitzvah as it was commanded, our ego will be refined, even as we feel that our ego has been stroked because of the ulterior motive we have in doing the Mitzvah. By continuing to do the Mitzvah, our ego will be checked, little by little. Eventually we will perform the Mitzvah for pure motives.
This sheds light on the Talmudic statement: “One should always do a Mitzvah even if it is for ulterior motives, for from doing it for ulterior motives one will eventually come to do it for pure motives.” Any proper Mitzvah observance will slowly but surely change us and ultimately also our motives, because a Mitzvah is objectively a G-dly force that can change a person.
However, when we alter the very character of the Mitzvah as a means of self-expression there is no redeeming and G-dly aspect in its observance. It only serves to enhance our ego, which will ultimately cause us to slide down the “slippery slope” of egotism until we can even worship the idol of Ba’al Pe’or— arguably the most depraved form of idol worship.
A Message for Today
Moses’ admonition to them before their entry into the Promised Land conveys a message to us in our own lives as we are poised to enter into the Messianic Age:
Anticipating and preparing for the coming of Moshiach is one of the foundations of Judaism. However, misguided Messianic beliefs can actually distance us from the Jewish view of Moshiach and the Age of Redemption that we so eagerly await.
Messianism in Judaism is not an antinomian ideology. We don’t believe that in the Messianic Age the commandments will be altered, diminished by us, or entirely discarded.
On the contrary. Judaism’s belief in the Moshiach is that he will lead the Jewish people to an age when the teachings of the Torah will become more manifest and accessible. Our observance of the Mitzvos will be observed even more meticulously than we can observe them today.
Jewish Messianism is not about expressing our own desires, even if they are of a spiritual nature. It is entirely about a world that conforms to G-d’s will, which in the end will be the best and most delightful experience for us as well.
From the book Light from the Future: Parshas Voeschanan by Rabbi Heschel Greenberg, published by the Jewish Discovery Center.
