Therefore, Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave us several Mitzvot that are in the category of חֹק – statutes, like the Parah Aduma. חֻקָּה חָקַקְתִּי גְּזֵרָה גָּזַרְ תִּי – Chukim were given in order to give people strength to withstand the gezeirot, the decrees of Hakadosh Baruch Hu. From the fact that you don’t understand the reason for the Parah Aduma – i.e., חֻ קָּ ה חָ קַ קְ תִּ י – you should understand that you will also not understand גְּזֵרָה גָּזַרְ תִּי. The Be’er Yosef explains this is the meaning behind the Divine statement: חֻקָּה חָקַקְתִּי גְּזֵרָה גָּזַרְ תִּי אִי אַתָּה רַשַּׁאי לַעֲבֹר עַל גְּזֵרָתִי – I have established a statute, I have issued a decree; you are not permitted to transgress My decree. This teaches us that the reason we are not meant to understand the rationale behind certain Mitzvot, but are simply to fulfill them, is to instill within us the foundational approach that even when faced with difficult or tragic decrees in the world, chas v’shalom, we must not question Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s ways. Rather, we are to internalize and believe with full faith the truth of the Pasuk: הַצּוּר תָּמִים פָּעֳלוֹ כִּי כָל דְּרָכָיו מִשְׁפָּט, אֵ-ל אֱמוּנָה וְאֵין עָוֶל – The Rock, His work is perfect, for all His ways are justice; a G-d of faithfulness and without iniquity.
Based on these words, we can understand a wonderful thing. The Gemara (Menachot 29b) says: When Moshe Rabbeinu ascended Har Sinai to receive the Torah, he found Hakadosh Baruch Hu sitting and tying crowns to the letters of the Torah. The words of the Torah were already written in their entirety, but Hakadosh Baruch Hu was adding tagin to certain letters. Moshe said before Him: “Ribbono Shel Olam, who is delaying You from giving the Torah as it is?” Hakadosh Baruch Hu responded: “There is one person who will arise at the end of many generations, Akiva ben Yosef is his name, and he will expound on every thorn of these crowns of the Torah heaps and heaps of Halachot.” Moshe then said: “Ribbono Shel Olam, show him to me!” He said to him: “Turn around and see.” Moshe found himself in the Beit Midrash during Rabbi Akiva’s shiur, and he went and sat at the end of eight rows of students, listening to the discussion between Rabbi Akiva and his students, but he didn’t understand a thing they were saying. Due to his disappointment, Moshe’s strength waned. However, when their discussion reached a certain point, and they needed to identify its source, the students asked him: “Rebbe, from where do you know this?” Rabbi Akiva answered them: “הֲלָכָה לְמֹשׁ ֶה מִ סִּינַי – It is a Halacha given to Moshe at Sinai.” Upon hearing this, Moshe’s mind was put at ease. He then returned and came before Hakadosh Baruch Hu and said: “You have such a person, and You give the Torah through me?! Give it through Rabbi Akiva!” Hakadosh Baruch Hu said to him: “Be silent! Such is My thought.” Moshe returned and said: “You have shown me his Torah; now show me his reward.” Hakadosh Baruch Hu then said to him: “Turn around and see.” Moshe turned around and saw that they were weighing Rabbi Akiva’s flesh in the market to sell it. Moshe said before Him: “This is the Torah, and this is its reward?!” He said to him: “שְׁתֹק כָּך עָלָה בְּמַחְשׁ ָבָה לְפָנַי – Be silent! Such is My thought.”
Why was Moshe’s mind put at ease upon hearing that it was a Halacha l’Moshe MiSinai? The Be’er Yosef explains that when Hakadosh Baruch Hu showed Moshe how Rabbi Akiva answered his students' question by citing a tradition received from Moshe at Sinai, it eased Moshe’s earlier disappointment, as described in the Gemara. But this also hinted at the answer to his later question – ?זוֹ תּוֹרָה וְזוֹ שְׂכָרָה – to which Hakadosh Baruch Hu silenced him. Hakadosh Baruch Hu first showed Moshe how Rabbi Akiva expounded on every crown of the Torah’s letters, revealing layers of meaning Moshe himself had not been shown. Yet even Rabbi Akiva ultimately encountered a Mitzvah for which he had no explanation, only the tradition from Sinai. This demonstrated to Moshe that just as there are parts of Torah that remain hidden, even to the greatest sages, so too there are aspects of divine justice and the conduct of the world that are not meant to be understood – only accepted. By showing Moshe both Rabbi Akiva’s greatness in Torah and his tragic end – tortured and disgraced even after death – Hakadosh Baruch Hu was conveying that “such is My thought” – there are hidden reasons, beyond human comprehension, both in Torah and in life.
