My assigned topic tonight is to discuss a little bit why the Torah is preoccupied with details. Why isn't it enough to simply on the whole, as they say here in Eretz Yisrael, b'gadol, to be a good person? Now the question, the topic is undeniably good and correct, but before we try to tackle that, I'd just like to try to, thank you very much, I'd like to try to preempt a misunderstanding. In addressing this question and in posing the question, I don't mean to imply that halacha is only concerned with details. I'm going to use the terms halacha and Torah interchangeably. Now while halacha undeniably does stress details, one passage in the Talmud which is especially emblematic of that, the Talmud in the tractate Bechoros says that if a potential convert comes and he says, he or she says, you know I've reviewed the entire list of 613 biblical commandments and I've reviewed all the rabbinic strictures and I'm willing to sign off on all of them, but with one exception. There's this one little rabbinic restriction that I just don't buy into, it doesn't speak to me, but I'm willing to sign off on everything else. So the Talmud tells us that that person wouldn't be accepted for conversion. So clearly we definitely are interested in the details. But we're also interested, there are also mitzvos, which also commandments, which clearly address again major topics, big topics. The first of the 613 mitzvos which the Rambam, which Maimonides enumerates, is belief and knowledge of God. The first commandment, Anochi Hashem Elokecha, I'm Hashem your God. To the mitzvah of v'halachta bidrachav of to imitate the ways of Hashem, the ways of God, means that a person has to be kind, a person has to be compassionate, a person has to live a holy lifestyle. So halacha is certainly concerned with major issues as well and there are mitzvos which aren't targeting details but are targeting major issues as well. So in focusing on the details let's not lose sight of that. That having been said, so let's, we're ready to address the assigned topic. But before we do that, I'd like to get your reactions to the following scenario. You take your shirt or your blouse as the case may be to the cleaners. Okay. The cleaner gives you a tag, five-fifty for the cleaning. You pick it up two days later and then you find that there's a small stain, small but undeniably visible stain right over here on the shirt or the blouse. So you tell the cleaner that you think that he should clean the shirt or clean the blouse again and the cleaner says stop being so petty, look at the shirt, the shirt on the whole, the blouse on the whole is very clean and I worked very hard cleaning it and I worked very hard pressing it and as they say in French, דריי מיר נישט קיין קאפ, don't bother me, don't be petty, don't be picking on these picayune details. So who's in the right in this scenario? What do you say? Who's in the right? The cleaner's in the right that the customer is being petty or the customer is within his rights to ask the cleaner to redo the cleaning? Customer's always right and but let's say leaving that motto aside, what about in this particular context? Customer's right. I think all of us intuitively feel that way and instinctively react that way. But why? Are we being petty? But what about the gripe of the cleaner, of the proprietor of the store? Maybe I am being petty, look the shirt is a whole. All, I mean, if you sort of measure, measure the shirt and the so I don't know, maybe one percent of the shirt is dirty here. So why aren't I open to this, to this accusation of being petty? Or let's take another scenario. Your friend buys a brand new car. Maybe he's wealthy, maybe he buys a Lexus. Maybe he's not so wealthy, buys a Chevy, buys a Chevrolet. Whatever the case may be. Buys a brand new car, buys a brand new car and you ask if you can borrow it for a day, for a few hours. Okay. He says sure, gives you the keys, you borrow the car. You return it a few hours later, functionally the car is the same. The car runs perfectly. It doesn't even have any big dents on it. Has a few scratches. Again, they're small, but they're undeniably visible. You look at the car, you see that it's scratched. You see that it's missing paint in a few areas. You say, "Here's the car, works perfectly, runs perfectly." And he says, "Go paint the car! I gave you a beautiful new shiny car. You're returning a car to me which is scratched." Again, if you measure the body of the car, one percent, even less perhaps of the car is covered with scratches. So who's in the right in this situation? The owner of the car. So what's the point? What's the point? The point is that even if we're concerned with the big picture, the big picture consists of the little details. The big picture is right only if all the little details are in place. So even if my concern is the shirt as a whole, but the shirt as a whole is only presentable and only allows me to look neat and dignified if the entire shirt is clean. And if one little, there's one little spot on my shirt which isn't clean, so yeah, that's a detail, but what comprises the whole, what comprises the big picture are all the little details. Right? And that's true in a very physical sense in the universe as well. So what are the building blocks? So when I went to school, so the building blocks were atoms. My son told me when I was telling him some of the things I was going to discuss tonight, told me, "No, now they're quarks. They're no longer atoms, but now the building blocks of the universe are quarks." They've found something even smaller than atoms. So if you go see the Sears Tower in Chicago, I think, you go see the Grand Canyon, vast, tremendous. So what does it consist of? It consists of all these tiny little atoms or quarks which are arranged in just the right way. So the same way, just as an aside, the physical universe often, by looking at the physical universe often that allows us to gain some insight and understanding into spiritual matters because the way God created the world is the physical mirrors the spiritual. The blueprint is spiritual and the physical mirrors the spiritual. So the same way in the physical world the big picture consists of all these little details and is only, is only right, the big picture is only right if all the details are in place, so the same is true in the moral and ethical and spiritual realms as well. For instance, to consider a person truthful, to say that this person embodies emes, truth, so let's say he tells the truth eighty percent of the time, ninety percent of the time, ninety-nine percent of the time, tells you the truth for the most part. tells you the truth. Only thing is occasionally, occasionally he says he's going to meet you at two o'clock, shows up at five o'clock. But on other things he's he's very truthful. So is is this person a paragon of truth? Does this person embody truth? So the answer is again, just as in in the physical universe, in in the moral world, in in the spiritual universe, the big picture is is only intact and it only appears the way it should when all of its small constituent little parts, when all of the details are in the right place and in the right order. Let's say if we're trying to take a person's pulse for his honesty, his scrupulousness in financial matters. So if he if he goes into the makolet, he goes into the grocery and gives and is given by accident the owner of the makolet of the grocery when he's giving him change instead of giving him a twenty shekel bill, gives him a fifty shekel bill. Okay. So thirty shekalim is a considerable amount of money, so he he calls the the owner's attention to it. But let's say in giving him change the the owner gives him a ten shekel coin instead of a five shekel coin. No that's it's not such a big deal. He's not going to miss five shekalim that much. So I'll pocket the difference. I didn't I didn't pickpocket him, I didn't initiate it. What's again? So it's a detail. But if he does it even once, he would lose our respect. We would say no, this isn't a person who's fundamentally sound and moral. We'd say no, he's a person who's sort of situationally is is moral. And and the same is true to be genuinely religious, a person can't just be religious on the whole. But the same way to be a truthful person, a person has to be truthful about every detail, to be a moral person, a person has to be scrupulous and accountable for every penny. So to be a religious person, a person has to also be scrupulous about details. And therefore the Torah guides us with regard to details. One perspective. A second perspective, but but maybe just for a moment, where's Rabbi Reichman is here? If if anyone has questions from the program they can they can email you? Sure. You have your address, can you give the people your address? Z as in Zeb, C as in Chana, R-E-I-C-H at AOL dot com. Forget forget forget the dots. Just just just give the important stuff, give the letters, give the words, leave out the inconsequential stuff. Forget the dots. What's what's the address? Z C Reich. Z C Reich, shoin, okay. So if anyone has any any issues that they would like to take up with with Rabbi Reichman, his his email address is Z C Reich, AOL dot com. So go to your computer, go online, send him an email, you can raise any issues you have with him. Now, if if you do that and you leave out these little inconsequential dots, what's a big deal? A dot here, a dot there. What's a dot between friends? So are you going to be successful in in contacting Rabbi Reichman? It's not going to work. So I forget, I either heard or or read this mashal somewhere. This this this example, this analogy, it's not mine. I heard it or read it somewhere, I I can't remember where. So what's the or let's say sometimes you take your car into the mechanic. Take your car into the mechanic. And the car's not starting, you have to have it towed into the towed into the the garage. Okay. And then the mechanic calls you back forty-five minutes later, it's all ready. Forty-five minutes later the the car was dead when I had it towed in, forty-five minutes later he's ready and the bill is is very reasonable. Charges me fifty dollars, it was just a half hour worth of labor and one small part. What is it? Something to do with the piston, with the with the ignition, something needed a small adjustment. So for this small adjustment, this small imbalance, so my whole car was rendered useless. The car couldn't even start because of this tiny little imbalance that it takes my mechanic five minutes to fix. What happens God forbid, what happens God forbid, if a person has a little blockage? A person has a little blockage. He has a little blockage in a vein leading to the heart. A tiny little, tiny little blockage, not—it's not two feet long in diameter. Tiny little blockage. What happens we know what can happen God forbid. So what's the point, what's the point of the what's the point of aol.com? What's the point of aol.com and what's the point of the piston inside the car being calibrated and cleaned exactly the way it's supposed to be? Is that for a system to work, all the details have to be in place. Now, this is different than what we spoke about before, and let me try to explain. This is an idea which is developed more in the mystical tradition of Judaism. For instance, one work which discusses this is one of the giants of Jewish history, was known as the Gaon of Vilna. He lived during the last three quarters of the 18th century. His leading disciple was Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin, who's the founder of the modern yeshiva movement. So he has a classical work on Jewish thought which is called Nefesh Hachayim, literally the soul of life. It's a play on words, his first name was Chaim as well. So he discusses in that work how basically again we don't necessarily fully understand God's system of Torah and mitzvot, God's system of Torah and commandments. But mitzvot, commandments, are not just a collection of dos and don'ts, but it's a system. It's a system through which again we not only serve God but through which we impact the world and through which we elicit blessing from God because he created the world according to this system that he designed. Now, I don't really understand too much about the mechanics of a car. I don't necessarily understand why it's so crucial for me to turn the key in the ignition. But the fact is that whether I understand the system or not, in order for that system to function, so I have to—I have to play according to its rules. So too he explains that that Torah and its commandments with all its details, exactly what time is candle lighting this Friday? 7:10 in Jerusalem. And exactly how much matzah do I have to eat at the Seder Pesach night? The amount of an olive. That these details are part of God's system, and the system doesn't work if one of the details is off. Right? So the first perspective we gave was more from the human vantage point, right? From the human perspective, that from our vantage point, from our perspective, we understand that for a person to be genuinely truthful, he has to be truthful down to the most minute detail. For him to be genuinely moral, he has to be moral in every situation down to the most minute detail. And so too to be religious and spiritual, he has to be religious and spiritual down to the most minute detail as well. So that's from our vantage point. Now we're suggesting a complementary perspective which is that more from Hashem's, from God's vantage point, which is again that Torah and commandments, Torah and mitzvot are a system. And the system doesn't work. The email doesn't go. The dot seems to someone who doesn't understand the email, the dot seems inconsequential. It seems a detail. It seems like you're making a big deal about something very small when you insist. that you have to put the dot in the right place. But if you understand the system, so then you realize no, of course that dot is crucial. The functioning of the whole system depends upon that dot. The same is true for Torah and Mitzvos, Torah and Mitzvos also comprise a system, and the system depends upon the details. Now, the the third and and final perspective which I wanted to share with you on the question of why the Torah concerns itself so much with details is is a little bit difficult to understand. I'm going to try to explain it. I'm not sure how good a job I'm going to do. I don't know, see Rabbi Oliner about getting your money back if I don't do a good job. Rav Soloveitchik explains that the basis of the entire halachic system, the basis of all Torah observance is the following axiom, the following axiom which the Torah teaches, which upon which the Torah is predicated. And that is that of course the Torah wants us to have genuine religious experience. The Torah wants us to lead a deeply meaningful and spiritual life. But the ultimate genuine religious experience and spirituality has to be objectified. It has to be, it has to be translated into specific forms, specific actions. For instance, prayer is certainly an inner experience, right? The essence of prayer is not to, not to read through from page 29 to page 42 in the Siddur, but clearly it's to experience standing before Hashem. It's to experience the sense of vulnerability and dependence upon Hashem. And it's that experience which is the essence of prayer. Nevertheless, according to the Halacha, let's say a person gets up to pray and doesn't articulate the words. He only thinks. He thinks about God. He thinks about his relationship or she thinks about her relationship with God. So according to the Halacha, the person hasn't fulfilled the mitzvah, the commandment of praying. The in the halachic jargon is a person doesn't fulfill his or her commandment of praying through Hirhur, just through thinking. Why? Because the Halacha says that every inner experience has to be objectified, it has to be translated and channeled into an objective form. The way we channel and the way we translate the experience of prayer is through utilizing the words, the texts which we find in the Siddur and articulating them. That's the way we objectify that experience. That the real experience, the experience which is most real and which is most enduring is one which doesn't remain so totally amorphous, but is one which is objectified, and which is objectified not according to what feels good to me, but which is objectified according to what God through His Torah, through the Halacha instructs me is the right way to objectify this religious or spiritual experience. Now, the very, it's a difficult concept, it's a difficult concept, but the truth is again, it's something which I don't know, if you're into, I don't know, music appreciation or art appreciation, So if you don't really understand music like me and you hear someone play piano, I say, ah, sounds nice, sounds nice, Beethoven's third or sixth or whatever it is, it sounds very nice. If you're into music appreciation, so then you say, here, here Beethoven is expressing his sadness, and here he's expressing his euphoria, and here he's expressing his outrage that someone cut him in line at the bank, and here he is. So he's successfully, he's objectifying, right? He's able to translate, to translate again the inner subjective mood into something which is enduring, into something which is more real because it's objectified. So obviously not to equate, lehavdil as we would say, that's what the axiom of Halacha is. The axiom of Halacha, Rabbi Soloveitchik explains, is again that the spiritual can't remain something just amorphous, but it has to be something which is translated into concrete actions and concrete performances, and that translation is done according to the guidelines which the Torah provides us. Now the very minute you seek to objectify, by definition you're gonna have details. By definition you're gonna have details. If I'm supposed to remember the Exodus, I'm supposed to remember that we left Egypt. So if that's gonna be objectified, so you have to tell me, well exactly how should I remember it? Okay, I should have a Seder. Okay, but if it's gonna be objectified, you have to tell me when should I have the Seder? Do I have all night to conduct the Seder, or perhaps I only have the first half of the night to conduct the Seder, because after all the plague of the firstborn was at the strike of midnight. So the very minute you deal with objectification, so automatically that's going to introduce details into your system. Okay, so those are three perspectives on why mitzvot, why commandments are detailed, why Halacha is concerned with details. But there is another aspect to this as well. Halacha is not only concerned with details in the sense that I have to know exactly when Shabbos begins to make sure that I don't continue my involvement in non-Shabbos activity too long, I have to know exactly when Shabbos ends so I don't resume weekday activity too soon. That's one type of detail in Halacha. There is another type of detail in Halacha which is the comprehensiveness of Halacha. The fact that Halacha has a prescription for virtually every situation. To the extent that, I don't know whether one could describe this as Halacha, one would describe it more as custom, but it's custom which is recorded in Rabbi Yosef Karo, the sixteenth, of the sixteenth century, the author of the Shulchan Aruch, of the, of the guide to normative Jewish practice, he records the custom that we have a custom in what sequence we tie our shoes in the morning. To that, to that degree, to that degree, which shoe you tie first. Now why in the world is the Halacha, now again, I don't know that one would describe that as a law, I think one would more accurately and appropriately describe that as a custom, but even so, tying my shoes, that's also falls under the jurisdiction of the Halacha, albeit a custom, not a law. So how are we to understand that? So the answer is that the comprehensiveness of Halacha, the all-encompassing nature of Halacha is a tremendous blessing in that it allows us to elevate everything we do. It allows us to integrate everything we do into the service of God. Now I may or may not understand why the custom is that I should tie my left shoe and then only afterwards tie my right shoe. Maybe I understand it, maybe I don't understand it. Even if I don't understand it, the very fact that there is such a custom means that something which would otherwise be as mundane as just putting my shoes on in the morning is now infused with tremendous meaning because now this is also an opportunity for me to serve God because if I comply with what's right so then it's not something mundane it's not just dealing with the necessities of life but it transforms everything everything now becomes an opportunity and an occasion to serve God so everything becomes elevated everything becomes sanctified because halacha is so concerned with the details. If halacha would disregard details that to the same degree that much of my life would sort of be at best neutral it wouldn't be integrated into into my service of God. The very fact that the halacha prescribes the halacha prescribes again details in all all areas of life gives me an opportunity again to integrate everything I do into the service of God it allows me to elevate and sanctify everything I do. Now I'd like to just close with a comment from the Maharal. When the Maharal of sixteenth century wasn't busy making a Golem according to some accounts he found time to author an entire shelf if not bookcase full of volumes on Jewish thought and Jewish law and he's one of the great thinkers of Judaism. So he comments there is a Mishna towards the end of tractate Makkot it's a Mishna which is often recited this time of year on Shabbos afternoon in conjunction with the weekly chapter from Pirkei Avos Ethics of the Fathers that it also has been put to music if there's overwhelming demand maybe I'll consider singing it for you that אמר רבי חנניה בן עקשיא רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא לזכות את ישראל רבי חנניה בן עקשיא
says the Holy One Blessed Be He wanted to bestow merit on the Jewish people לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצות therefore he commanded an abundance of mitzvos he imposed more mitzvos a multiplicity of mitzvos upon them and then he cites his prooftext. So everyone asks the question what do you mean if Hakadosh Baruch Hu if God wants to do us a favor so if you have a teacher you have a professor and the professor says I want to do you a favor so for the next class today's Tuesday we meet next on Thursday so instead of doing the regular fifty pages of reading I want you to do a hundred pages of reading and instead of thinking about one question in conjunction with the reading I want you to think about five questions so we'd be a little skeptical as to whether or not he was really doing us a favor. So what do you mean that Hakadosh Baruch Hu that the Holy One Blessed Be He wants to bestow merit on us so therefore he imposed even more commandments on us how are we to understand that? So the Maharal says something unbelievable he says something unbelievable the Maharal says Hashem programmed us for success. Hashem didn't send our souls down into this world that we should fail he sent us down to this world that we should succeed that we should thrive that we should flourish in our service of God. That therefore means that for every commandment he imposed upon us he endowed us with a capacity with an additional spiritual capacity to perform that mitzvah to carry out that task. If Hashem would send us down here with five tasks so that would be the extent of our spiritual capacity we'd be spiritual midgets. God wanted us to be spiritual giants so God said since for every commandment I'm imposing upon them, I have to program them that they should be able to deal with it, that they should have the capacity. If I'm hiring a worker, and I'm telling him he has to not only be able to take care of of this stage in the assembly line, but I want him to be conversant and expert on every stage in the in the in the assembly line, so then I have to train him. I have to give him the the talents and I have to give him the skills and I have to give him the training to be able to cope with all of that. Says the Maharal, רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא לזכות את ישראל, God wanted to to bestow merit upon the Jewish people. So what did he do? God said if I'll give them one mitzvah, I'll give them one commandment, so then this is this is going to be the extent of their spiritual capacity. If I'll give them 613 commandments, so then they'll be spiritual giants, because I have to endow them with the skills, with the talent, with the with the predispositions, with the inclinations to be able to rise to that challenge. So what we were talking about tonight, the attention to detail, striving to integrate details into a life of service of God is a big challenge. It's a big challenge. But we should know that for every challenge we identify, we discover something about ourselves. And if we discover a challenge that we're challenged to pay attention to details, not just on the whole be honest, on the whole be moral, but be honest to the nth degree about every last minute detail, so if we discover that we're being challenged in that way, then we discover a profound truth about ourselves. We discover that we have the capacity for that. And we have the capacity to live such a consistent life in the service of God. I hope we should all be privileged and merit to do so. Amen.