In one particularly mysterious verse from yesterday’s Torah reading we are told “The hidden matters are for Hashem our God, and the revealed matters are for us and our children…”. Yet the identity of these “hidden matters” is not revealed to us!
Needless to say, the commentaries step into the breaching to offer a range of suggestions. One that tends to be overlooked, however, is that of Ralbag who understands the verse to be addressing the rationales and reasons behind mitzvot – some of which we are aware and other which remain “hidden” and beyond our comprehension. In keeping with this analysis, Ralbag’s Torah commentary highlights “benefits” rather than stating “reasons” for the commandments.
It can be argued that Rambam adopts a very similar approach towards reasons for mitzvot. On the one hand he appears to provide comprehensive practical reasons for mitzvot which fulfil the functions of establishing a functioning moral society that directs its members towards religious and spiritual accomplishment. Yet at the same time he also adds emphatically at the conclusion of these reasons that “We only appreciate the justice of some of His commandments...what is hidden from us...is much more considerable than what is manifest”.
Talmud Reclaimed explores an additional fascinating dimension of Rambam’s approach to offering reasons for mitzvot.
In the third section of Moreh Nevuchim, Rambam undertakes a comprehensive study of ta’amei hamitzvot – the extent to which we can propose reasons for divine commandments. Addressing the broader question of the extent to which we can expect mitzvot to impart positive benefits, he cites two apparently contradictory midrashic positions. The first, found in the Talmud Yerushalmi, expounds a verse in Devarim:
“The matter is not empty for you” – if it is [i.e. seems] empty then it is [on account of] you. For you have not adequately delved into the Torah.”
Rambam explains that this Midrash refers to reasons for the Torah’s commandments – that none of the mitzvot are “empty” and devoid of a positive function – and that, if it appears to be so, the lack is only in the reader’s comprehension of the Torah.
However, a very different approach appears to be taken in Bereishit Rabbah:
“Does the Holy One Blessed be He really care whether an animal is slaughtered from the front or back of its neck? Rather, the mitzvot were given only to refine the creations [i.e. people].”
Rambam proposes a controversial solution to this contradiction, asserting that
"The generality of the mitzvah has a certain reason, and was commanded for a clear benefit. But details which it contains are only for [the sake of fulfilment of] the commandment."
He continues by explaining how the command to slaughter an animal is primarily concerned with using a sharp knife in order to give the animal a quick death. Similarly, with regard to the details of sacrifices, he explains that the reason for them is to withdraw the Jews from pagan culture, adding:
“Anyone who troubles himself to offer reasons for all its minutiae is in the grip of a prolonged madness…Necessity determined that there should be details for which no reason could be given. It would be something impossible within the context of the Law not to have contained this type of detail.”
It is pointless to ask why detail A rather than detail B was selected, since the very same challenge could have been made if detail B had been selected in its place. It is crucial for us to determine, therefore, how exactly Rambam distinguished between (i) the “generality” of commandments that are taken to relate to and further their function, and (ii) the details which are “necessary for the commandment” but do not relate to its basic purpose.
Fortunately, Rambam’s lengthy study of hundreds of commandments and their reasons—which spans a full fifteen chapters of Moreh Nevuchim—provides copious material for examination. These 15 chapters see Rambam systemise the commandments into their respective categories, before moving methodically through them in order to elucidate their underlying functions and the benefits that they confer. While some commandments merit only a fleeting generalised mention, others are analysed by Rambam in greater detail – drawing upon some of the more specific laws which govern their practice.
Talmud Reclaimed then proceeds to combine this distinction that Rambam makes here between core aspects of each commandment in terms of the function of each mitzvah together with another Maimonidean distinction between core and peripheral aspects of mitzvot: Rambam’s distinction between core aspects of each commandment – which he understood to be transmitted intact from Sinai and immutable – and the finer rabbinically-derived details of biblical law which could be subject to dispute and altered by future Sanhedrin.
What emerges is a fundamental distinction, within Rambam’s understanding of Talmudic law. A distinction which, when fully internalised and applied to one's Talmud study can brilliantly illuminate many of the perplexing problems that one encounters in the vast and often confusing sea of the Talmud.
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