The Rule Book
For if you are careful to keep all of this commandment which I am commanding you to do, to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways and cling to Him, Deuteronomy 11:22 NASB
To keep all – Are you careful to keep all the commandments? Are you meticulous, diligent, dutiful, missing nothing? Great! Ah, but there’s a difference between the “letter” and the “spirit,” isn’t there? Even if you’ve got the 613 in your pocket, that doesn’t quite fill the bucket. As Sacks points out:
“ . . . there is a dimension of the moral and spiritual life that cannot be specified in the form of precise legislation. It has to do with self-restraint, moderation, gentleness, sensitivity, and the many other forms of moral literacy which you cannot learn from a book of rules, but only from experience and example.”[1]
The young man came to Yeshua with a completed list in his pocket. But it wasn’t enough. Something else is needed besides rule-keeping. Why? Because the Torah isn’t really a rule book at all. It’s a story about what it means to be devoted to God. The rules are just a part of that journey. “Halakha defines the basic parameters of a Jewish life. It is within those parameters that the search for moral wisdom takes place. Halakha is a necessary but not sufficient condition of a life lived in pursuit of the ideal.”[2] That’s why Judaism needs rabbis. Life copying life is the way to find moral wisdom within the system.
“A great sage is a living Torah scroll. There are textbooks and there are textpeople. We learn from books. But we learn virtue by finding virtuous people and observing how they behave.”[3]
So, we’re in pursuit of two things: God and a virtuous person. Of course, the prophets tell us that we won’t find the perfect virtuous person. “All have sinned” is a reminder that those we try to copy still have faults. That’s the human condition. What we want to learn is how to deal with those faults—and stay devoted to the God these virtuous people serve. Perhaps understanding that the Torah isn’t a rule book will help us choose a model from those who have been burned by God’s instructions. You know what I mean. It’s hard to copy a person who has never made a mistake. I need role models who have struggled with life—and persevered (oh, isn’t that what the word “Israel” means?). I need to follow someone who has dealt with the complexities—and ambiguities—of the “rule book” and come out better for it. I’m looking for someone who has dirt on his hands and mud on his shoes—and still knows how to worship. Maybe that’s why the book of Job is in the canon. Rules are necessary, but not sufficient. If only I’d known that years ago I might not have suffered so much with guilt.
Topical Index: rules, halakha, moral wisdom, Torah, Deuteronomy 11:22
