OF TORAH AND TAXES
In this week’s Parsha, Nitzavim Vayeilech, Moshe tells his people that at the end of Jewish history, after all the blessings and all the curses will pass over us, we will come back to HaKadosh Baruch Hu. In all the lands that HaKadosh Baruch Hu dispersed us, even if we will be in the corners of the heavens we will return to Him.
”Because this mitzvah that I prescribe to you is not mysterious or remote from you. It is something that is very close to you. It is in your mouth and in your heart, so that you can keep it.”
The verse quoted in italics is referring to the entirety of Torah. Moshe is saying that Torah is neither hidden from us nor is it far away from us rather it is very close to us, in our mouth and in our heart to do it. The question is that we know that so many of the mitzvos are, in fact, very far from us. There are perhaps hundreds of mitzvos that are impossible for us to do because we are dispersed throughout the world and even those of us who are fortunate to live in our Land cannot perform all the mitzvos. Furthermore, we need to understand the flow from the previous verse that states that we will return to HaShem, to our verse that states how the Torah is so close to our mouths and hearts.
The Torah teaches us all the mitzvos and their specific details. Our Sages teach us that if one studies the laws of any given mitzvah but has no opportunity to actually perform that mitzvah, he is credited as if he performed that mitzvah. Would that be wonderful if anyone who studies the laws of income tax but has no possibility to pay that tax would be credited as if he paid it! Why is Torah any different than other legal systems, it is not the thought that counts, it is the deed.
The IRS has no interest in having a relationship with its citizens. They only want our money. If the money is paid, good. If not, no good. If HaKadosh baruch Hu needed the mitzvah to be performed like the IRS needs our money, learning Torah would just not work. However, HaKadosh baruch Hu is interested in our relationship. He wants us to develop our relationship with Him. The mitzvah is the vehicle by which we build that relationship.
Every mitzvah is rooted in the Torah. If one is not capable of fulfilling a given mitzvah he is still able to grab on to the root of that mitzvah through studying the parts of the Torah which explain and direct us to do that mitzvah. It is understood that if one is able to perform the mitzvah and passes over the opportunity by learning the Torah portion instead, he loses the credit. This is because the Torah teaches us to perform the mitzvah. If after learning what HaShem expects of us we refuse to perform it, that would be a blatant act of rejection. But if there is no opportunity to perform the mitzvah then the Torah study creates the same connection to HaKadosh baruch Hu as the mitzvah itself.
Moshe is telling his people just a month before his passing, that at the end of Jewish history after all the predictions will have passed, they will return to HaShem because no matter where a person finds himself, he is never far away from HaShem. Because the Torah carries within herself all the mitzvos of HaShem. As long as we hold on to our Torah, even in times when we are distant from Him and we seem to be on the other side of the ocean, or He seems to be in the heavens, we are so close to Him and to His mitzvos. All we need to do is to keep His Torah nearby. To study His Torah and to cherish it. If the Torah is in our mouths and in our hearts we are connected.
I wish you a sweet New Year in which we find our way back to the performance of the all the Mitzvos of HaShem.
Have a wonderful Shabbos.
Paysach Diskind