By Rabbi Dovid Sapirman, Dean, Ani Maamin Foundation
The Sefer Hachinuch makes a noteworthy statement, one that is very relevant to our times. In mitzvah 117, he discusses the issur to add chametz or fruit juices to korbanos: “The roots of this mitzvah are very concealed from finding even the slightest hint. However, I have stated in the introduction to this work that my intention in offering rationale for mitzvos is merely to accustom the youth to have a pleasant feeling when they are first introduced to the words of our sefarim. They should know that words of Torah have reasons and benefits. Then they will accept them with their immature understanding, and the mitzvos will not seem to them like a closed book. Otherwise, in their adolescence, they may rebel forever and go off into empty ways of life.” This pleasant feeling is not a luxury—it is a vital necessity, whether in thirteenth-century Barcelona or anywhere else.
Sometimes we may forget that the mitzvos are not a favor we do for Hashem—the favor is for us. Hashem lacks nothing. What we do does not affect Him at all. “What does Hashem ask of you? Only to fear Him...for your good.” Another pasuk elaborates, “Hashem commanded us to keep all these chukim, to fear Hashem our G-d, so that it should be good for us all the days, to give us life.”
The Midrash makes an intriguing statement: “What difference does it make to Hashem if a person slaughters an animal at the neck or at the back of the head? So you see that the mitzvos were given to purify Hashem's creatures.” This means, says Ramban, that each mitzvah has its own unique way of purifying us. The benefit is for us, not for Him.
To return to the words of the Sefer Hachinuch: “Know, my son, that all that Hashem derives from people doing His mitzvos is that He wants to do good for us. When a person is ready, through doing the mitzvos, to receive good, then Hashem will grant him good. Therefore, He informed them of the good path, the way of the Torah, so that they can become good people...Hashem asks nothing of you in your doing His mitzvos, other than that he wants, in His great goodness, to do good to you. As is written, ‘Behold! Hashem your G-d owns the heavens, the heavens above the heavens, the earth and all that is in it. Only in your forefathers did Hashem delight to love them. He chose their descendants after them [that is you], like this very day.’
“This means that He does not need your mitzvos, but only out of His love for you to give you merit.”
