Does "if" really mean optional?

 There is always a lot more than meets the eye in the Torah.  Beyond the simple meaning, word usage reveals many hidden secrets, and these have been recorded in the Oral Torah.  An example is the beginning of the second Parsha of this week’s double Parsha reading: “If you walk in My commandments… (Im bechukotai telechu)” What follows is a list of the many blessings that Hashem promises.  Commandments are not optional.  Throughout the Torah we see words like “command the Jewish people,’ or “tell the Jewish people that they shall…” etc.  While in context perhaps it makes sense to say that the reward is conditional, so the simple meaning is that if we walk in the commandments we will receive the reward, nevertheless there is something to learn from the opening “If you walk in my commandments.”  Perhaps the wording could have been “Walk in my commandments and I will give…”  The term “walk in” My commandments is also a little strange.

 

In the book “Hayom Yom,” a unique book with a spiritual thought for every day of the year composed by our Rebbe in his pre-Rebbe days, today’s entry addresses this question.  He quotes “our Sages” as explaining the word “im” (pronounced “eem”) – “if”, has the connotation of “if only.”  In other words, it is a plea from Hashem, if only, or please, walk in My commandments.  Hayom Yom continues that the very plea from Hashem gives us the strength to stand by our good decisions.  In addition, it helps us not only to observe, but to “walk”, meaning to progress and move forward.

 

By Rabbi Yosef Levin | I was thinking about this today: What does it mean that Hashem pleads with us to observe the commandments?  Hashem has laid down the law and told us the consequences of our actions, and offered reward for observance and punishment for the opposite.  Why plead?  And does it make any sense that Hashem needs to plead with us?  Here is what I have been thinking, partly influenced by last night’s amazing JLI lesson.  Each part of the following deserves reams of paper to explain, but I’ll just summarize very briefly.

 

Hashem of course doesn’t need anything.  Without a world, Hashem lacks nothing.  To say otherwise is to limit Him.  However, for reasons unknown to us, Hashem chose to desire a world, a world in which His presence is hidden, and therefore a world that is imperfect and needs improvement.  The purpose of this imperfect world is that it should be perfected by human beings.  By penetrating the spiritual darkness of the world, or as expressed in Chassidus, by removing the concealment of Hashem’s light in the world, we perfect the world and reveal its true life-force – Hashem the Creator.  Every time we connect our minds to Torah, every time we observe a commandment because Hashem commanded it, we are pulling back the curtains that hide the light.  More revealed light brings more repair and perfection, and more blessing.  Hashem did all this because He wanted to have us as His partners to create and perfect the world, and He wanted us to be the ones to do it.  So He created us imperfect with the ability to choose, so that when we do the right thing and bring light to the world, it is really our own work.

 

So it’s not like a strict teacher or parent who tells a child: “You’d better do your homework or else you’ll get punished, or “you must do such and such if you want to get the reward.”  Rather Hashem is pleading with us to see the value and greatness in fulfilling our mission.  It is more like a parent who is ending their child off on a mission and begging them to follow instructions and succeed.  Or a loving mentor who shows a person how to do something and then lets them do it on their own, while encouraging them to succeed and telling them how much goodness they will achieve if they do.

 

Hashem has created us in His benevolence and given us an opportunity to join him in the work of making the world a wonderful place.  He has given us all the tools with which to do it, explained how in the Torah, and encouraged us to succeed.  The greatest reward of all is when we complete the job, the world reaches perfection and all the curtains are removed.  Then Moshiach will come and we will see the power of what we have accomplished.  It’s happening, and we can be part of it.