A Taste of Torah in Honor of Shabbat

Shabbat Chukat 5757

7 Iyar, 5757

Rabbi Avi Weiss, Hebrew Institute of Riverdale

There are differing opinions concerning the meaning of 'hok' (commonly translated as statute), the type of law discussed in this weeks portion. (Numbers 19)

Some maintain that 'hok' is a law which although not understood today, one day will be understood.

The most mainstream approach to 'hok' however, is that it is a law that will never have a reason. It is nothing less than a decree from God, and therefore must be kept. In the words of the Talmud"It is an enactment from Me, and you are not permitted to criticize it." (Yoma 67b)

The idea that a law must be observed even if it has no rationale, runs contrary to the American way of thinking--that everything must have a reasonable explanation. However, it is this mainstream approach to hok that is at the very core of the Jewish legal process.

That process is based on a belief in Torah mi-Sinai,the law given by God at Sinai to which the Jewish people committed itself. Torah mi-Sinai is a form of heteronomous law, a structure of law which operates independent of any individual, imposing its standards and guidelines.

Torah mi-Sinai reflects a system of God ethics, that is, a system of ethics which comes from God. Halakha (from the root halakh, "to go,") is not blind; it rather guides us, and is the mechanism through which individuals and society can reach an ideal ethical plateau--"Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace." (Proverbs 3:17) Oneairing of the world (tikkun olam).

The system of God ethics differs from ethical humanism which is solely based on what human beings consider to be proper conduct. Human thinking is relative. What is unethical to one person is ethical to another. Freud is purported to have said, "When it comes to self deception, human beings are geniuses."

If however, the law at its foundation comes from God, it becomes inviolate.

No human being can declare it null and void. Heteronomous law assures that one does not succumb to one's subjective notions. Therefore the law ought be kept even when its ethical underpinnings are not understood.

And this in no small measure is why the idea of 'hok' is so central. It reminds us of the limits of the human mind. The ArtScroll commentary on the Bible gleaning from the teachings of Rabbi Elie Munk says it this way: "An essential component of wisdom is the knowledge that man's failure to understand truth does not make it untrue."

SHABBAT SHALOM

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