How to Keep Chukim
Matt Schneeweiss
The Rambam, in Hilchos Me’ilah 8:8, defines mishpatim and chukim:
“The
mishpatim are those mitzvos whose benefits in this world are evident, such as
the prohibitions of stealing and murder, and honoring one’s father and mother.
And the chukim are those mitzvos whose reasons are not evident . . . such as
the prohibition of pig’s meat, meat and milk, the decapitated calf, the red
heifer, and the goat which is sent away.”
How are we supposed to view chukim? The Rambam explains:
“It is
proper for a person to think into the statutes of the Holy Torah and to know
their underlying concepts in accordance with his ability. If he
doesn’t find a reason and doesn’t know a cause of something, it should not be
of a lesser stature in his eyes, nor should he break forth to ascend to Hashem
lest He burst forth against him, nor should he think of it as a mundane matter.”
According to the
Rambam there are three groups of people who relate to chukim incorrectly.
Understanding these incorrect approaches to chukim will equip us to
fully appreciate the correct approach.
In the eyes of
the first group, chukim are “of a lesser stature.” They are
perceived as inferior to mishpatim, and are performed in an
irreverent, annoyed manner - like a person who wishes to rid himself of a
burdensome chore which he views as absurd and pointless.
In order to
understand the second group, we must first examine the phrase “break forth
to ascend to Hashem lest He burst forth.” The Rambam borrowed this phrase
from Shemos 19:24. Hashem cautions the Jews not to attempt to draw close to His
Glory at Sinai lest “He break forth against them” – lest they cause
irreversible damage to their souls [1].
This metaphor is utilized by the Rishonim to warn people not to delve into
esoteric areas of knowledge which they are not emotionally and intellectually
equipped to handle. If they do so, they will inevitably arrive at false ideas -
rooted in imagination and unconscious desires - and project them onto God and
His Torah, thereby endangering their souls and jeopardizing their portion in
the World to Come [2].
The people in
the second group “break forth to ascend to Hashem” by inventing
speculative, mystical explanations for the chukim, infusing the
otherwise bland or perplexing mitzvos with cosmic, spiritual significance. The
Rambam warns such people not to take this approach to chukim, lest “He
break forth against them” – lest they arrive at false ideas about God and
forfeit their portion in the World to Come.
The third
category of people “think of [the chukim] as mundane matters.” They
neither denigrate them nor imbue them with mystical significance. These people
are not bothered by the fact that they are obligated to perform actions which,
to their mind, are senseless. They perform these mitzvos perfunctorily and do
not give them any more thought than their brushing teeth or tying their shoes [3].
All of these
attitudes, the Rambam warns, are incorrect. Rather, writes the Rambam in
Hilchos Temurah 4:14: “Even though all of the chukim of the Torah
are scriptural edicts, it is proper to think into them, and attribute reasons
to them to the best of one’s ability.” The Torah urges us to
invest all of our intellectual ability into analyzing the chukim in
order to find rational reasons.
To what extent
must we understand the chukim? The Rambam continues:
Behold! The
Torah states, “You shall keep all My chukim and all My mishpatim and do them”
(Vayikra 19:37, 20:22). The Sages say that we must “keep” and “do” the chukim
just like the mishpatim. “Doing” is obvious, namely, that we should observe the
chukim. “Keeping” means that we must be careful and not regard
the chukim as inferior to the mishpatim.
In other words,
the obligation to understand the chukim is not confined to the world
of the theoretical, but it must actually affect our “keeping” of the mitzvos.
According to our Sages, “we must ‘keep’ and ‘do’ the chukim just like the
mishpatim.” Our conviction in the rational reasons for chukim
should be as strong as our conviction in the rational reasons for the mishpatim.
This degree of
“keeping” is beautifully expressed in the Meiri’s commentary on the verse: “I
will keep your chukim; do not forsake me utterly” (Tehilim 119:8). The
Meiri interprets this to mean: “I shall keep your statutes to the greatest
degree of keeping, as if my intellect obligated me to keep
them.”
In other words, we are obligated to find reasons for all of the mitzvos - chukim and mishpatim - which are so clear and rational that it as if they were mandated by our intellects. Only then have we succeeded in fulfilling the Torah’s commandment, “You shall keep all My chukim and all My mishpatim and do them.”
[1] Avraham ben ha’Rambam on Shemos 19:21.
[2] See the end of the Ramban’s introduction to
Sefer Bereishis.
[3] This, I believe, is why the ben sh’eino
yode’a lishol (the son who does not know to ask) receives the same answer
as the ben rasha (the evil son). The ben sh’eino yode’a lishol
is faulted because he is not bothered by the chukim of the seder.
He sees people involved in apparently crazy actions - cramming matzah
down their throats, double-dipping vegetables, guzzling wine, and rushing to
finish before midnight - and is not curious or bothered enough to ask a
question: a symptom of a severe imperfection of the soul.