By Rabbi Moshe Pogrow
Every mitzvah we were given must be carried out as we received it. We are not allowed to treat mitzvos arbitrarily by adding and subtracting from them. Rather, we must fulfill them as they are prescribed: exactly four passages in the tefillin, exactly four minim on Sukkos, exactly three sentences in birkas kohanim. The mitzvos are G-d’s Word—whoever adds or subtracts introduces human opinion into the truth of G-d’s eternal thoughts, drags Divinely ordained commandments down to the level of human superficiality.
Keeping the mitzvos to the standard of “no more and no less” has the effect of fulfilling G-d’s commandments in integrity and purity. One who adds to the commandments out of conscientiousness, and concern to fulfill them to perfection, is not in violation of lo sosifu; rather, he fulfills the mitzvah of guarding the mitzvos.
According to the Rambam, the prohibition here also includes a warning to chachmei Yisrael, who enact takanos and gezeiros in order to safeguard the observance of the mitzvos. Lo sosifu is a warning not to make their takanos and gezeiros appear to be integral parts of the Torah itself, as mitzvos d’oraisa. They are obligated to make it clear that these safeguards are d’rabbanan, that their essence is that of siyagim. Our Sages abided by this warning in their explanations, and with meticulous care they distinguished between d’oraisa and d’rabbanan.
The fact that the prohibitions of lo sosifu and lo tigra’u are immediately followed by a pasuk reminding klal Yisrael how ovdei avodah zara were annihilated is highly significant. It proclaims the following truth: Arbitrariness that denies the inviolable Divinity of the Torah—even for one single mitzvah—and equates human discretion with Hashem’s commandment is equivalent to idolatry.
We find this in the Navi, in the case of Shaul Hamelech: his subjective opinions affected the way he carried out the Divine command that had been given to him. Instead of meticulously fulfilling the mitzvah that had been clearly communicated to him, he allowed himself to do both more and less. Less: he refrained from executing upon Agag and upon the spoils of war the Divine judgment that he had been commanded. More: he dedicated the best of the spoils as an offering, and imagined that he was doing something even better than what he had been commanded.
Thus, Shaul violated the prohibition of lo sosif v’lo tigra. Hashem immediately sent a message to him through Shmuel: “Does G-d delight in olos and zevachim ... Obedience is better than sacrifice, to listen is better than the fat of rams” (Shmuel I 15:22-23).
Based on the commentary of Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch zt”l on Chumash, with permission from the publisher.
