22- And You, Israel
“And you, Israel, listen to the laws and the judgments...You shall not add to the matter that I command you, nor take away from it, to keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you.”
We should understand what is a law and what is a judgment. The verse makes a precision, “You shall not add… nor take away… that I command you.” In both addition and reduction, everything must be only precisely as He commands.
There is a difference between those who walk in the work in order to bestow or in order to receive reward. Those who walk in order to bestow begin the work anew each day in both mind and heart. They cannot receive any support from “the day before, for it has passed.” Rather, they truly have no choice, but each day they must return to the foundations of the work, to the reasons that compel them to walk on the path of truth.
It is as though each day he should speak with himself that it is worthwhile to be a servant of the Creator, and the body asks him every day when he begins the work, “Give me the reasons why you are forcing me to give all my powers for the sake of the Creator.” And if it asks, we must answer; otherwise, it does not want to work. Thus, each day there are the same arguments and the same questions and the same answers.
When a person is drawn to work in the Torah and prayer and good deeds, but does not remember the purpose of the work, which is in order to bestow, the work is easier for him, since at that time he follows the general public. But when he remembers the goal, which is mind and heart, “the world darkens for him” because it is against the body, which is called “self-love.”
At that time, he has nothing to answer to the body, but it is a law that the Creator wants us to believe him that it is for His sake, that specifically through work in mind and heart, a person is rewarded with achieving his wholeness, and then his enemies, too, become his friends. This is called “with all your heart, with both your inclinations, the good inclination and the evil inclination.”
It is written about this, “You shall not add,” meaning to increase mind and reason in a place that should be specifically above reason. It follows that if he tries to understand and learn it within reason, if he thinks that by this he will be able to do more work because the body agrees where it understands within reason, this is called “You shall not add.”
Instead, we must believe in the Creator, that precisely through Him we will achieve completion, called “faith above reason.”
However, there is the matter of “judgment,” which is the opposite. There, a person must try to understand the Torah within reason. A person should try to understand the Torah that the Creator gave him as much as he can. If he sees that he does not understand the words of Torah, he should increase the prayers and litanies, where there is the matter of “understanding, growing knowledgeable, hearing, to learn and to teach.”
Here comes the second matter, “Do not take away,” but rather increase the Torah, as is explained about the hand Tefillin, called “faith,” as it is written, “And it will be a token on your hand.” Our sages said, “A token for you and not for others,” meaning that the hand Tefillin should be covered because it implies faith above reason, called “kingdom of heaven.”
Conversely, the head Tefillin represents the Torah, called Zeir Anpin. Our sages said about it the verse, “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that the name of the Lord is called upon you and will fear you.” These are the head Tefillin, where there is revelation, as it is written, “shall see.”
Torah is called “revealing,” when the peoples of the earth within a person feel the quality of the Torah that they extended, they “will fear you,” for then the evil surrenders and the good governs. This is call “judgment,” for “judgment” is revealing, and we must not take away from it but increase the knowledge of Torah. Conversely, a “law” means covering, which is above reason, when it is forbidden to increase knowledge.