The
joy man feels when performing a mitzvah and loving G-d,
Who commanded
the mitzvos, is a great avodah. Whoever
prevents himself from
feeling this joy deserves retribution,
as the Torah states, "Because
you did not serve Hashem your G-
d with joy and with gladness of
heart! therefore you shall
serve your enemies... (Devorim
28:47- 48) (Rambam,
Hilchos Lulav 8:15).
The wording
Rambam uses here is unusual for him. His treatise
Mishneh
Torah, where these words were written, is a
halachic work.
The word "deserves" is too ambiguous --
either the person is punished
or not.
Furthermore, where is the basis of this halachic
ruling in the verse he quotes?
The Maggid Mishnah
explains:
The words of Rabbeinu [Rambam] are explained in the
gemora, which states, "I have praised this joy of
performing
a mitzvah" (Shabbos 30b). The idea here is
that it is not
fitting for a person to perform a mitzvah only
because he is
obligated to do so. Rather, he should feel joy
in performing the
mitzvos, to do what is good simply because
it is good. Similarly, he
should choose truth for the sake of
truth. The burden of the mitzvah
will be lightened through
his understanding that he was created just
for this purpose --
to serve his Master. When he fulfills his
purpose, he
rejoices, because the joy of other things is dependent
upon
trivial things and does not last. It is the happiness that
comes from performing the mitzvos and the study of Torah and
its
wisdom that is the true joy.
The joy a person feels when
performing the mitzvos and
studying Torah is a reflection of his
genuine desire to serve
Hashem. If that feeling of happiness is not
there, it is an
indication that he is doing it only because he must,
because
he is obligated.
Father and Son or Master and
Servant?
Chazal define the relationship between Hashem and
Yisroel in
two ways -- as a relationship between a father and son and
as
that of master and servant. The difference between these two
types of relationships manifests itself in several ways,
which are
illustrated in the following gemora:
This is the question
Turnusrufus the wicked asked Rabbi
Akiva: "If your G-d loves the
poor, why doesn't He provide
for them?"
Rabbi Akiva answered, "So
that through [helping the poor] we
will be redeemed from the judgment
of Gehinnom."
Said Turnusrufus: "On the contrary you
deserve
Gehinnom precisely for this reason. I will draw a
parable: A king became angry at his servant and imprisoned
him,
decreeing that he must not be given food or drink. A
person went and
fed him and gave him to drink. Wasn't the
king angry when he heard
about this? You [too] are called
servants, as the Torah states,
`Bnei Yisrael are
servants to Me' (Vayikra 25:55)."
Rabbi
Akiva replied: "Allow me to draw a parable. A king
became angry at
his son and imprisoned him, decreeing that he
was not to be fed or
given to drink. Another person went and
fed him and gave him to
drink. When the king heard of this,
did he not send a gift to that
person? And they are called
sons, as the Torah states, `You are sons
of Hashem your G-d'
(Devorim 141)."
Turnusrufus said to him, "You
are called sons and servants --
when you do His will, you are called
sons, and when you do
not do His will, you are called servants. Now
you are not
doing His will."
Rabbi Akiva said: "The Torah states,
`You shall break your
bread with the needy and bring the destitute
into your home .
. . ' (Yeshayahu 58:7). When does one bring
the
destitute into his home? Now, today and therefore the rest of
the passage also relates to our time. Even though bnei
Yisrael are not doing Hashem's will, they are like sons,
whom we
are required to feed and help" (Baba Basra
10a).
At times
Yisrael is referred to as a servant and at times as
a son. What is
the difference between the two
relationships?
A son does not just
fulfill his responsibilities toward his
father. He goes even further -
- he seeks to know his father's
wishes and needs and will fulfill his
obligations above and
beyond what is expected of him. A servant, on
the other hand,
will not necessarily do more than what his duty
demands of
him.
Performing Mitzvos as a Son to a
Father
The difference between the two forms of relationships
manifests itself in the way one performs the mitzvos. The son
will
do a mitzvah with joy, with a genuine desire not only to
fulfill his
own responsibilities but also to satisfy his
father's wishes. A
servant will do as he has been commanded.
He certainly does not do it
out of joy and the goodness of
his heart -- he does it out of
necessity, with a distinct
lack of interest.
The way a father
relates to a son also differs from the
manner in which a master
treats a servant. A father would
never allow his son to be harmed or
saddened, even if the son
is in the wrong. He will do his utmost to
protect his son
from all harm. Such is the compassion a father feels
for his
son. The master does not owe his servant a thing; he is
merely property in which the employer has a vested interest.
Even if
the master would come to the servant's aid, he does
so only to
protect his interests, to make sure he is getting
his money's
worth.
The words of the Rambam are easy to understand now. The
verse
"Because you did not serve Hashem your G- d with joy and with
goodness of heart" is written at the conclusion of the sharp
admonitions and severe retributions described in Ki Sovo,
known as the Tochechah. The Rambam asks, how is it
possible that joy, or the absence of it, in the performance
of Torah
and mitzvos prevents or is the cause, G-d forbid, of
these
punishments?
The Rambam concludes that in truth bnei
Yisrael
transgressed and deserved the punishments described in
the
Tochechah. However, if they would have performed the
mitzvos with joy, they would have been judged as sons to
their
Father, Hashem. In the reciprocal relationship of a
father to his
son, the father stands up to his son's accusers
and creditors; he
intervenes and detains them on his son's
behalf because he cannot
bear to see his son despair. As sons
to their Father in Heaven, even
if Yisrael sinned Hashem
would seek to prevent their pain and
anguish.
But that only holds true when Yisrael does the mitzvos
"with
joy and with goodness of heart." If Yisrael performs the
commandments only because they are an obligation, Hashem
judges them
as a master to his servant, and the judgment will
not be tempered by
the mercy of a father. Rambam says that
one who does not serve Hashem
with joy is judged as a servant
and therefore "deserves retribution";
in other words, his
Master will stand by and allow the accusers to
demand the
servant pay his debts. Rambam gleaned this from the verse
"Because you did not serve Hashem your G-d with joy and with
goodness of heart" -- this is what reverted Yisrael's
judgment to
that of a servant of whom retribution may be
demanded. There is no
admonition or punishment stated here;
rather, there is only the
possibility of payment, for the
master does not intervene and allows
the creditors to demand
their payment while the father has mercy and
seeks to absolve
his son of his debts.
The performance of mitzvos
with joy is not simply a form of
fulfilling a mitzvah. It has a
distinct effect on the essence
of the mitzvah. The joy of performing
the commandment, or
lack of it, is a reflection of the true motive of
the
mitzvah. When there is joy, Yisrael are judged as sons to
their
Father in heaven, Who has mercy on them and protects
them from all
evil.
HaRav Walkin is the mashgiach of Ateres Yisroel
Yeshiva in Yerushalayim. This essay is a chapter from his new
book,
The World Within: Contemporary Mussar
Essays.
