When Yisro came to visit his son-in-law Moshe Rabbeinu, and he was giving him suggestions about choosing judges and teaching the people, he counseled him, among other things, as follows: “הָבּכו¿ל≈י ך∆ר∆ּ„ַה ̇∆‡ ם∆הָל ָּ̇¿עַ„ֹהו¿ו – You should make known to them the path in which they should go, ןּוֽׂ ֲ̆ﬠַֽי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡ ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּֽמַֽה ̇∆‡¿ו – and the deeds they should do (Shemos 18:20).
Now before we begin, the first thing we must make clear is that when you hear these words, you should know that they’re not merely the words of Yisro; Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave this man a privilege that he said Torah words. Why he merited such a thing, that’s a different subject; but they are Torah words and we study them as such, exactly the same as any other possuk.
“You should make known to them the path in which they should go,” means that there’s a certain thing called a derech – a special way of living, of thinking, of attitudes, of behavior – that the Am Yisroel has to be guided to walk on; a way that is different from the ways of all the other nations. We don’t walk on the same path as the Italians or Americans. It’s an entirely different way.
Volozhiner Torah
It’s like what I remember sixty years ago, more than sixty years ago, a rebbe was learning Mesichta Nedarim with us. Now the rebbe was a big talmid chacham, a Volozhiner talmid, and we stopped once at a mishnah where the expression was ... ך∆ר∆ּ„יםƒמָכֲח י≈„יƒמ¿לַּ̇ – it is the way of a Torah scholar ... (Nedarim 10:4). It was dealing there with a certain halachah – the way of talmidei chachomim is if they want to find out if their wives or daughters have nedarim on them so they have a way of investigating; they have a scheme to find out if they have nedarim.
But this rebbe of mine – may he have a blessing forever and ever in Gan Eden – he made a point of stopping and he said, “יםƒמָכֲח י≈„יƒמ¿לַּ̇ ך∆ר∆ּ„ – We see that talmidei chachomim have a different way in life than other people. They have to have a derech; there’s a certain derech that a talmid chochom must follow.” And he gave a whole talk about derech talmidei chachomim; a way of thinking differently, a way of acting differently than non-talmidei chachomim.
A National Way
Now all the Torah that this rebbe said, I forgot. It’s sixty years already. All the halachos and pilpulim, I forgot. But what he told us then that there is a certain way in life for a talmid chochom, that I still remember to this day. It made an impression on me. And it means a similar thing here; the Torah is telling us that the Am Yisroel, we have our own path different from the rest of the world – our own path in history.
Like Hakadosh Baruch Hu said about our first father Avraham; He praised him for being so loyal, so dedicated, and He said, “I’m choosing you because I’m confident you’re going to teach your children, 'הך∆ר∆ּ„ּרו¿מָׁ ̆¿ו – to keep the derech, the way, of Hashem (Bereishis 18:19). So you see there’s a special way, a Jewish way, the way of Hashem. The way we look at the world, our weltanschauung, and the way we live in the world, it’s something unique.
A Unique Path
Now, to describe the way, that’s not our subject tonight. It needs a separate lecture, a long lecture, because it encompasses many things; it doesn’t mean eating gefilte fish and that’s all. We have a mission in this world and to fulfill it we can’t walk in the ways of the nations. We don’t care what is the style of the day, the fashionable attitudes of the time, because we’re traveling in one direction – we can describe it as a path to Olam Haba – and everyone else is going in the opposite direction.
And that’s the first thing Yisro said: “That’s your job, Moshe, to teach the people that there is a special way, a path in life, that a Jew has to walk.” And not only Moshe; it means that the leaders have to teach that to everyone. Fathers have to teach that to their children. A rebbe has to teach his students. Even we to each other – you have to say it to me; I have to say it to you. Because that’s the first requirement, to know that we have our own way, our own peculiar mission in this world.
Beyond the Derech
But then Yisro added something else: ̇∆‡¿ו ןּוֽׂ ֲ̆ﬠַֽי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡ ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּֽמַֽה – “And you should teach them also the deeds that they should do,” which means we’re not only a nation of ‘ways, of ideas’. That’s the first thing but it’s not enough to just spout noble platitudes. Like some groups of Jews who talk about ideals but when it comes down to practical things, they live just exactly like gentiles do; almost no difference.
No; a derech, a philosophy of life, is not enough. Absolutely there’s a Jewish derech but there are Jewish acts too. And you have to live with acts of Judaism, otherwise it’s nothing.
Many times you experience this; you urge somebody to do this or not to do that, but he pushes you off. “I am a Jew in my heart,” he says. So imagine that this ‘heart-Jew’ went swimming. And he went out a little bit beyond his depth and now he has cramps and he is shouting for help. And the lifeguard is sitting on the beach and looking on.
So you say to the lifeguard, “A man is drowning!” He says, “Is that so?” So you tell him, “Don’t you want to help?!” And he says, “Sure I want to help him. In my heart I want to help.”
True Jews
Well with your heart you are not going to save anybody from drowning. And with your heart you’re not going to be a Jew either. A Jew keeps Shabbos; otherwise he’s not a Jew. If he doesn’t eat kosher and have a mezuzah on his doorway, he can’t call himself a Jew. The fact that he doesn’t do those deeds itself demonstrates that he is a nothing Jew – that’s the very best evidence that it’s not in his heart. The heart, the derech, is only meaningful when it is expressed in actions.
And therefore, these are the two general admonitions that Yisro said to Moshe: the derech and the ma’aseh. First the derech and then number two, ןּוֽׂ ֲ̆ﬠַֽי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡ ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּֽמַֽה ̇∆‡¿ו – they have to be taught the doing; the doing is what counts.
Deeds and Doing Deeds
Now, everything we said till now is an introduction to what I want to speak about tonight because in Mesichta Bava Metzia (30b), the Gemara quotes these words of Yisro, ןּוֽׂ ֲ̆ﬠַֽי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡ ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּֽמַֽה ̇∆‡ – You should teach the deeds they should do, and asks a question. It seems redundant: “You should teach them the deeds,” that’s enough. What’s “that they should do”? Naturally, deeds are something you do.
So the Gemara says that it’s two separate things: ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּֽמַֽה ̇∆‡ – Teach them the deeds, יןƒּ„ַה ה∆ז – means you should teach them the basic requirements of a Torah Jew. There are certain minimum requirements that everybody has to be taught, that every Jew must do. No matter how low you are, no matter how poor in intellect you are, how young you are, even if you’re not well, everybody has to do certain things. You can’t avoid doing it. That’s ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּֽמַֽה ̇∆‡; the minimum that everyone must do. Every Jew puts a mezuzah on his home. Every Jew eats kosher and keeps Shabbos. Every Jew won’t wear a garment of wool and linen or shave with a razor. And a thousand other things.
Beyond the Minimum
But then the Torah adds an entirely new obligation: ןּוֽׂ ֲ̆ﬠַֽי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡ – that they have to do, יםƒנ¿פƒל ֹזו יןƒּ„ַה ַ̇רּוּׁ̆ƒמ – means they have to do beyond the line of duty. Absolutely, they have to fulfill everything but that’s only the beginning, the minimum. You have to teach them also ןּוֽׂ ֲ̆ﬠַֽי, to do beyond the minimum, beyond the line of duty.
And not that it’s voluntary. The second part of the possuk, “that they have to do beyond the line of duty” is just as obligatory as the first part. Everyone is obligated to go beyond the minimum. Of course better people are obligated to do more but no one is permitted to shirk his duty.
Now, that’s a surprise to us. Because people might think, “We approve of going beyond the line of duty; it's a wonderful thing if you want to be machmir and serve Hakadosh Baruch Hu beyond the line of duty. But to be required to do it as a chiyuv? To say we're obliged to do it, that it’s a must?!”
The Wonderful Baal Teshuvah
And the answer is absolutely! That’s ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּֽמַֽה ןּוֽׂ ֲ̆ﬠַֽי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡. You have to do ה∆ׂ ֲ̆ﬠַּֽמַֽה– that’s the din, the minimum – and then you have to go further and fulfill the rest of the possuk: ןּוֽׂ ֲ̆ﬠַֽי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡ – you have to do beyond the minimum.
You know who can get away with the minimum? The minimum you’ll get credit for if you live in a town out west; you come from a family of ignorant people, and all around you are enemies, people who make it difficult for you, and you fulfill the minimum – you keep Shabbos, you put up a mezuzah, you do everything. Fine. You’ll get a big reward. After all, all of your friends are sitting somewhere in India, in a cellar smoking pot; or worse they’re going to university and becoming ruined. And you broke away from that and came back to Torah u’mitzvos! For you the minimum is excellent! That’s why if a man comes from the outside world and he starts keeping the mitzvos, we make a big deal. We praise him, “He’s a shomer Shabbos; he keeps the Torah. Wonderful!”
Frum is the Minimum
But if you’ll say on a frum Jew in a frum community that he’s shomer mitzvos, it’s a bizayon to say that about him because much more is expected from him.
So what if you keep a kosher home? It’s excellent but you’re satisfied with that? Up to a hundred and fifty years ago, every Jew had a strict glatt kosher home. Not in my days – when I went to Europe, it was different already. But in the olden days, about fifty years before World War I, every Jew had a kosher home. They used to say if your name was Mendel you could eat from his fendel. And every Jew was a Mendel; nobody was named with a gentile name.
And so we don’t congratulate ourselves for keeping the Torah. That’s the minimum. They are absolute requirements but they are absolutely the minimum.
And that’s why Hashem is telling us at the very beginning, even before the Torah was given, that the people must learn the necessity to do more than the law requires of them. Because it’s not what we thought, that lifnim mishuras hadin is a voluntary thing. Oh no! ןּוׂ ֲ̆ﬠַי ר∆ׁ ֲ̆‡ – That you must do them, יןƒּ„ַה ַ̇רּוּׁ̆ƒמ יםƒנ¿פƒל ֹזו – is talking about beyond the line of duty.
That’s the introduction to Torah living: “Whatever you’ll learn in the Torah” Hashem says, “don't be satisfied with fulfilling the barest requirements. Kabolas HaTorah means that I expect of My people to do beyond the line of duty.”
