During the course of this week, I had the opportunity of conversing with a young man that had lapsed somewhat in his religious observance for – in his words – some negative experiences with “organized” religion.
Of course he appreciated and very much understood that the actions of one or two should not reflect negatively on the entire community, and indeed, he took great pains in informing me, that there were many of the Mitzvohs of the Torah that he and his family thoroughly enjoy, and observe! It was just that there were a “few” Mitzvohs that -- for whatever reason -- did not resonate with him, and he didn't understand (very well), just what difference it would make, if he did or did not observe those.
What a good point I thought. Why would we expect of someone to observe what they do not understand. Is there really any value in an perfunctory performance of Mitzvohs? Yes, and here's why:
If a doctor were to instruct a patient to take penicillin to fight an infection G-d forbid, would the patient refuse to take the medicine if he could not understand just how the medicine works, or would he take the medicine regardless, and then learn just how the medicine worked. One would expect that most people, would swallow the pill so to speak, and then learn how the pill works.
The truth of the matter is that this tension and struggle plays itself out in this week’s Torah portion. Following the great excitement of last week’s Torah portion; Sinai; the grandeur and splendor of the revelation of the Torah at Mount Sinai - which remains unmatched and unparalleled in human history – one would have expected some deep spiritual discussion in the following pages, and yet, as we turn the proverbial page this week, we discover in the very first verses of this week’s Parsha such seemingly obvious laws, that govern and are the basis of any civilized society -- laws that we would surely have enacted (even if only by osmosis!) even if the Torah had not mandated them.
Yet therein lies the secret of Torah’s enduring relevance both to one's personal psyche, and to our national psyche as well. The uniqueness of Torah is that in the seemingly obvious Mitzvohs, one finds the deep spiritual expression of our creator. Our approach to Torah and the Mitzvoth must never be governed by the limits of our own knowledge and the subjectivity of our opinions and experiences; for that would at best, rob one of the fulsome experience the Torah has to offer; and, at worst, it would cause a person to deny him - or herself the connection and spiritual healing the Torah has to offer.
By juxtaposing the excitement of Sinai and the laws governing interpersonal relationships, the Torah is teaching us that both the experience of Sinai, and the laws governing the punitive damages assessed to the owner of a “goring Ox”, share a common theme of reflecting the total submission in our efforts of observing the Torah, independent of our level of understanding, or -- better yet -- despite our personal definitions of what makes sense or does not make sense.