What Should We
Think when Performing Mitzvos Whose Reason We Do Not Know?
In the Hagadah the wise son asks, “What are the testimonies,
statutes and laws that God our Lord commanded you?” The Sfas Emes understands that the wise son
is asking to understand the reasons for the laws, not the actual laws. It is to be assumed that he knows the
laws. The question arises, how can he
ask for a reason for the statutes?
Statutes do not have a reason.
Included in statutes, for example, are the red heifer, sha’atnez
(garments made from wool and linen) and eating non-kosher animals. These mitzvos have no apparent reason. How, then, can the wise son ask for the
reason for these mitzvos?
David HaMelech, though, taught us,
“מַגִּיד דְּבָרָיו לְיַעֲקֹב חֻקָּיו
וּמִשְׁפָּטָיו לְיִשְׂרָאֵל/He told his words to Ya’akov, His statutes and laws to
Israel.” (Tehilim 147:19) We see
that really, statutes have meaning as well.
How can we come to know the reasons for the statutes? The Sfas Emes explains that the way to attain
an understanding of the statutes is by doing them even without understanding
but with the faith that they have meaning.
By performing these mitzvos without knowing or understanding the reason,
we will merit knowing the reason as well.[1]
The mitzvah of eating matzah alludes to this. Matzah is made of nothing but flour and
water. It contains no additional spices
or flavors. It has no additional taste. In Hebrew the same word is used for taste and
for reason – טַעַם. We eat the matzah without adding any other
flavor to it to show that the mitzvah itself, sans any reason, is enough for
us.
Appropriately, the answer we give the wise son is, “one is not
to eat any dessert after the Pesach-lamb.” He wants to know the טַעַם/reason for the mitzvos including the
statutes. We tell him that the way to
know the reasons is to do them without knowing the reason but with faith in God
who commanded us. We give him a hint
when we tell him not to add to the טַעַם/taste of the Korban Pesach.”
Even though we do not bring the Pesach lamb as a sacrifice
today, this halachah applies nowadays as well.
We eat matzah at the end of the Seder to commemorate the Korban
Pesach. We do
not eat anything after the matzah so that only the taste of the matzah
lingers. This year let us contemplate,
as we eat the Afikoman, the words of the Sfas Emes. Let us associate the טַעַם/taste of the Afikoman with the טַעַם/reason for the חוּקִים/statutes and may we
merit understanding them as well.
[1]See Parshas Parah 5631 First and
Second Ma’amarim 2 for more detail on the reasons of חוקים/statutes.
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