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46 | Harav Daniel Schwab
Avraham and Sarah will live in a different world – a different ‘operating
system’ -- than the rest. So from the moment of the bris onward, Avraham,
Sarah, and all their descendants, including us today, live and thrive only upon
miracles, above and beyond the world observed and foretold by the stargazing
astrologers.
The Maharal tells us that, based on the Torah’s opening revelation that creation
took place in a period that consisted of exactly seven days, the natural world
runs with the number 7 embedded into it. Accordingly, there are not only 7
days in the week, but 7 different oceans, 7 planets in the sky, 7 continents on
the globe, 7 notes in the standard musical scale, 7 different colors to the visual
spectrum, etc. The number 8, on the other hand, represents an existence that
is above nature. We are commanded to perform a bris milah on the eighth day
here in this world, highlighting our supernatural existence, the success of
“Operating System 8,” while yet still effecting and moving amidst this merely
natural world of “Operating System 7”.
The Ramban (“shikchas ha-esin” in the Sefer Hamitzvos) asks why the Rambam
does not count this mitzvah of “Tamim tehiyah››,of not worrying, as one of the
613 Mitzvos, as the Ramban himself does. But the Rashbatz asks back on the
Ramban that, if this is indeed one of the 613, why does it only apply to Jews
and not to non-Jews? For we have a ruling from the Gemara (Sanhedrin 59) that
any mitzvah that is stated prior to Mattan Torah and then repeated at Mattan
Torah applies to both Jews and non-Jews alike. Accordingly, this mitzvah
should apply to all people, yet we have no source that it does. In fact, the
Gemara actually asks that same question regarding the mitzvah of bris milah,
a mitzvah given to Avraham Avinu before Mattan Torah and then repeated in
the beginning of Parashas Ki Seiytzei. The Gemara answers that there is a special
passuk excluding non-Jews from bris,: “licha ulizarecha” -- only to you, Avraham
and the children who will be born afterwards from you, thus excluding non-
Jews from the mitzvah of bris milah. (It is noteworthy that, consistent with
the answer of the Gemara here, the Rambam obligates the Bnei Keturah (non-
Jews from Avraham and Keturah) in milah, as they were born after Avraham
received the mitzvah but before Mattan Torah.)
But while this answer from the Gemara only addresses the mitzvah of bris
milah, what about the mitzvah of “Tamim tehiyeh”? As the Rashbatz points
Agudah Achasgudah Achas
A Agudah Achas
Harav Daniel Schwab | 47
out, that command is also stated twice -- once with Avraham Avinu- “Hisaleich
lifanai viheyey samim”, and again in Parashas Shoftim “Tamim tehiyeh”. Well, the
Maharam Schik asserts that also by “Tamim tehiyeh” there is a passuk excluding
non-Jews: the passuk that explicitly states that the way of non-Jews is to seek
out the stars and constellations for their prognosis of their lives. But the Jew
must be different, wholehearted -- even so much so that at times he will be
granted a Navi to help discern what Hashem wants from him. On the basis
of this distinction explicit in the Torah, it would seem that this mitzvah of
“Tamim tehiya” only applies to Jews. Such is the Maharam Schick’s answer to
the Rashbatz’ question.
But Rabbi Menashe Reizman gives another answer. The Midrash says that
when Hashem told Avraham Avinu “Heyei tamim” (“Be wholehearted, without
worry”), Avram was worried; he was afraid of not having the supernatural
ability to fulfill this mitzvah of bitachon, of relying completely on Hashem
without shrinking from doubt. How could he live in this world of worry, fright,
anxiety, and fear and manage still to be relaxed in bitachon with Hashem? That
is precisely when and why Hashem gave him the mitzvah of bris milah. Avraham
now has a mitzvah to change himself physically and transport himself into
a totally different ‘world’, a different ‘operating system’. Prior to the bris, he
was living in the natural world (“Operating System 7”), whereas after entering
into the bris; he moves within the supernatural world of “Operating System
8. Accordingly, the mitzvah of “Tamim tehiyah” is the exact outgrowth and
purpose of the mitzvah of bris milah. This is why the Rambam doesn’t count
temimus as a separate mitzvah, as it is part and parcel of the mitzvah of bris
milah. Additionally, this is also why the mitzvah of “Tamim tehiyah” only applies
to Jews as it is an outgrowth of bris which explicitly only applies to Jews as it
says “licha ulizarecha”.
So the next time you hear frightening news from the ubiquitous media or from
a concerned friend or family member, take a step back, take a deep breath, and
tell yourself the truth. Think in your mind and know in your heart that all
of the perilous predictions and the doomsday outlooks may be applicable to
those who live in Operating System 7, but not to us. For we live in Operating
system 8. Our ancestors flourished and propagated only because of miracles;
the eternal existence and survival of the nation of the Torah is only a product
of Operating System 8.