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Sefer HaMitzvot Pos. 8      Rambam-De'ot

Synopsis:

I. In Sefer HaMitzvos, Rambam writes:

The eighth mitzvah with which we were commanded is to en­deavor to emulate Him, may He be exalted, according to our potential, as it is written:1 “And you shall follow His ways.”

This commandment is reiterated in the phrase:2 “to follow all His ways,” which has been interpreted3 as implying: “Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called compassionate, so, too, you shall be compassionate. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called merciful, so, too, you shall be merciful. Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called generous, so, too, you shall be generous.”

{The above concepts are taught by the Sifri.}4 This concept is also echoed by another verse:5 “Follow after G‑d, your L‑rd,” which is interpreted6 to mean that we should endeavor to emulate His positive actions and the noble character traits with which the A‑lmighty, may He be exalted, is described.

In a responsum,7 R. Avraham, Rambam’s son, writes that he was asked to explain his father’s position:

A question was raised, for {this mitzvah} includes all the mitzvos, as do other verses which exhort us in a similar manner, e.g., “Follow the entire path that G‑d, your L‑rd, commanded you,”8 “When you will safeguard the entire commandment that I command you today {to observe it},”9 and “Now, Israel, what does G‑d, your L‑rd, ask of you...?”10

Our master has already stated, {in the general principles outlined in the beginning of Sefer HaMitzvos}, primarily in General Principle 4, that it is not appropriate to include commands of a general nature in the reckoning of the 613 mitzvos.

{To explain an added dimension of the question: All of the mitzvos are called “the ways of G‑d,” not only because G‑d commanded us to follow them, but because He follows them Himself. In this vein, our Sages state that the Holy One, blessed be He, fulfills all the mitzvos, as it were. And they interpret the verse:11 “He relates His words to Yaakov,” commenting:12 “What He does, He tells Israel to do and observe.” (As the Talmud states: “The Holy One, blessed be He, puts on tefillin,”13 “The Holy One, blessed be He, prays,”14 and the like.) Thus the mitzvos are all G‑d’s ways. This concept is explicitly stated in the Zohar,15 which interprets the verse:16 “The ways of G‑d are just,” as implying that the entire Torah is “the ways of G‑d.”}17

R. Avraham, Rambam’s son, continues, offering a resolution to this question:

One of the fundamental principles of our faith... is that we do not rely {only} on the apparent meaning and the simple interpretation of a verse, {as is the approach of the Karaites}. Instead, we rely on the meaning indicated by the verse and the Oral Tradition together....

Thus even though the simple meaning of the verse definitely appears to be referring to all the mitzvos, we are nevertheless obligated to believe that it refers to a particular mitzvah. For the Oral Tradition interprets this verse as meaning, “Just as He is called compassionate....” Thus according to the explanation of the Oral Tradition, this is not a mitzvah of a general nature.

In the remainder of the responsum, R. Avraham explains that the simple meaning of the verses also forces us to accept this interpretation, for:

After stating in the beginning of the verse:18 “When you will keep the commandment of G‑d,” which includes the observance of all the mitzvos, the verse continues: “And you shall follow His ways.” This refers to a particular fiat which one might think is not necessarily obligatory in the way that the other mitzvos are obligatory. For “the commandment” refers to the observance of deeds, while “following G‑d’s ways” refers to qualities dependent on our emotional characteristics, as the Oral Tradition explains: “Just as He is called compassionate....”

To summarize: “following His ways” contributes an added dimension over a person’s excellence in mitzvos as a whole. Thus it has been explained that this phrase focuses on something different from the mitzvos that are mentioned previously.19

In synopsis: “Following His ways” is not a general commandment, because according to the Oral Tradition,20 the verse is not speaking about the observance of all the mitzvos, but rather, those “matters that are dependent on the emotional characteristics” of compassion, mercy, and the like.

II.

There is, however, room to question the matter: If the term “His ways” mentioned in this verse refers to “qualities dependent on our emotional characteristics,” then there is no new dimension in this mitzvah. For conducting oneself in a merciful and compassionate manner is included in the mitzvah:21 “Love your neighbor as yourself.”22 As Rambam writes:23 “We were commanded to show pity, mercy, charity, and kindness, as implied by the verse: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” Thus it would appear that with the command to “follow in His ways” — to borrow Rambam’s wording in General Principle 4 — “G‑d did not command us to perform anything more than what we had known already.”

Similar concepts are stated by Rambam with regard to visiting the sick, comforting mourners, and burying the dead. {These are acts that reflect G‑d’s attributes. Thus in tractate Sotah,24 the verse: “Follow after G‑d, your L‑rd,” is interpreted as meaning:

Emulate the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He. Just as He clothed the naked,... so should you.... The Holy One, blessed be He, visited the sick;... so should you. The Holy One, blessed be He, comforted mourners;... so should you. The Holy One, blessed be He, buried the dead;... so should you....}

In this context, Rambam states:25 “All of these acts and other similar ones are included in one mitzvah... ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

{Rambam does not mention these particulars in this portion of Sefer HaMitzvos.26 Nevertheless, he does state: “This concept is also echoed by another verse: ‘Follow after G‑d, your L‑rd.’ This was interpreted {in the passage from Sotah cited} to mean that we should endeavor to emulate His positive actions and His noble character traits,” indicating that Rambam maintains that these particulars are also included in the mitzvah of “following His ways.”}27

III.

In resolution, it is possible to explain that R. Avraham’s intent in stating that “the mitzvos refer to the observance of deeds, while ‘following G‑d’s ways’ refers to qualities dependent on our emotional characteristics” is that the mitzvah of “following G‑d’s ways” (does not refer to the performance of deeds of mercy, but rather) on developing such feelings in our hearts.28 This is the new dimension contributed by this mitzvah that we would not know from other sources:

This, however, is not a sufficient explanation, because:

a) The apparent meaning of Rambam’s words (both in Sefer HaMitzvos29 andin the Mishneh Torah30 ) is that the commandment “Love your neighbor as yourself” includes not only conducting oneself in a brotherly manner towards one’s fellow man,31 but also loving him — having such feelings in his heart.32 And when a person has feelings of love in his heart, he will naturally be aroused to feelings of mercy33 and the like to his colleague.

b) The expression “And you shall follow His ways” points to the performance of deeds, i.e., one’s actual conduct, not (only) to feelings in one’s heart. This is reflected in our Sages’ words that speak about clothing the naked, visiting the sick, and the like. Similarly, the conclusion of Rambam’s statements in Sefer HaMitzvos articulates: “This concept is also echoed by another verse... that was interpreted to mean that we should endeavor to emulate His positive actions.”

{As explained in another source,34 it is possible to explain that this is the difference between the two statements of our Sages that address this issue: One states:35 “Follow after the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He.” (This reflects the wording of the verses: “Follow after G‑d, your L‑rd,” “Follow His paths,” and “And to follow all His paths.”) The other states:36 “Cling to His ways” (reflecting the word­ing of the verses: “And to Him, cling”37 and “And cling to Him.”)38

Following His ways and attributes implies conducting oneself in actual practice according to the attributes of the Holy One, blessed be He. Clinging to His attributes refers to arousing feelings in one’s heart. (This can be understood from the expression “clinging” which indicates emotional arousal.)39 }

This is also indicated by Rambam’s statements in Moreh Nevuchim:40

The ultimate fulfillment of man is to emulate Him according to his potential {this reflects the commandment “And you shall follow in His paths,” as explained in Sefer HaMitzvos}; i.e., to have our deeds resemble His deeds.... As our Sages say: “Just as He is compassionate.... Just as He is merciful....”

As he emphasizes there at length, the ways of the Holy One, blessed be He, are His attributes, “the description of qualities that would lead to His deeds.” For “He performs actions that resemble the actions that we perform as a result of feeling, i.e., our character traits. The intent is not, however, that He possesses character traits.”

This — Rambam maintains — is the ultimate perfection of human conduct: “To perform these actions in the appropriate measure and in relation to the appropriate people, not simply as a result of emotional arousal.... All emotional arousal is undesirable.”41 Note Rambam’s lengthy treatment of the subject there. See also sec. VI below.

IV.

Therefore it appears that the new dimension of the command to “follow His ways” which we would not have known otherwise is reflected in Rambam’s own words: “To emulate Him, may He be exalted, according to our potential.” “Following His ways” is not merely a command that obligates us to conduct ourselves (with regard to our behavior) in mercy, compassion, and the like,42 but rather a command to emulate Him according to our potential,43 i.e., that our conduct in mercy and compassion should be carried out with the intent and purpose of emulating the Creator. (Needless to say, as a result, these qualities will also be expressed in the person’s conduct.)

Thus this mitzvah is one of the “duties of the heart.” Implied is that a person should conduct himself with mercy and compassion {not (only) because his understanding obligates him to act in this manner because these ways represent good and upright behavior, but also} “to emulate Him.” Since these ways are the ways of G‑d, he should endeavor to emulate Him. This is also reflected by the wording of our Sages: “Just as the Holy One, blessed be He, is called..., so, too, you shall be....” For man’s intention in following G‑d’s paths should be to emulate His Creator.

{This does not contradict the above explanations that following G‑d’s ways is not a command involving only the feeling in one’s heart, but rather it focuses on one’s conduct and deeds. For this explanation does not negate the importance of deed. (On the contrary, it also emphasizes deed, as stated above.) It underscores, however, what the intent and the purpose of one’s following G‑d’s ways should be: to emulate Him. This is a concern of the heart and of a person’s intent — that his following these paths of conduct should be carried out because they are G‑d’s ways.}

This also explains why “following His ways” is not a command of a general nature. For the new dimension it communicates is the intent in following these ways: “to emulate Him.”44

V.

According to the above, it is possible to explain that there is also a difference in the way one actually conducts oneself. As a preface, let us focus on the manner in which Rambam explainsthe mitzvah of “following G‑d’s ways” in his Mishneh Torah. At the beginning of Hilchos Deos, Rambam explains45 at length that “The straight path is the intermediate quality in each of the character traits that a person possesses, the quality that is equidistant from both extremes.” He continues bringing examples: “One should not become angry except because of troublesome matters over which it is appropriate to become angry...; One should not desire anything except matters that the body needs.”

After explaining at length the intermediate quality of each character trait, he continues:46 “We are commanded to follow these intermediate paths. They are the good and just ways, as it is written: ‘And you shall follow His paths.’”

In the following halachah, Rambam continues:47

Our Sages taught the following interpretation of this mitzvah: “Just as He is called compassionate, so, too, you shall be compassionate. Just as He is called merciful, so, too, you shall be merciful. Just as He is called holy, so, too, you shall be holy.”

For this reason, the prophets described the A‑lmighty with all these different adjectives:... To make known that these are good and just paths in which a person must conduct himself to emulate Him according to his potential.”

In the halachah that follows,48 Rambam explains how “a person should train himself in these character traits... according to the intermediate qualities.” He then concludes: “Since the Creator is called by these names, compassionate, merciful, etc., and they represent the middle path that we are obligated to follow, this path is called ‘the way of G‑d.’”

On the surface, the statements in Hilchos Deosare difficult to comprehend, for Rambam includes two different and seemingly unrelated points in his explanation of the commandment to “follow His paths”:

a) “the intermediate quality in each of the character traits”;

b) “the good and just paths...” in which “a person is obligated to conduct himself...”; i.e., “the adjectives,” e.g., compassionate and merciful, “with which the prophets called the A‑lmighty.”49

Therefore we are forced to say that these two seemingly different positions are in fact alike. When a person follows these “good and just paths” in order to “emulateHim according to his potential,” this endeavor will obligate him to “follow these intermediate paths.”

VI.

The uniqueness of the above can be understood based on the passage from Moreh Nevuchim, loc. cit., which describes G‑d’s ways and attributes as “the description of qualities that would lead to His deeds... actions which resemble the actions that we perform as a result of emotional arousal and our character traits.”

There Rambam continues, explaining that:

It is appropriate for the leader of a country... to emulate these attributes and perform these actions in the appropriate measure and in relation to the appropriate people, not simply as a result of emotional arousal.... All emotional arousal is undesirable.

Illustrating by example, Rambam continues:

There will be times when he will be merciful and compassionate to certain people. He will act not merely out of ordinary feeling and generosity, but as is appropriate. And at times, he will seek revenge and bear a grudge against some other people, manifesting anger as is appropriate for them without feelings of anger.... His purpose should be for this activity to produce the greatest possible good for people at large.

And Rambam concludes:

The ultimate fulfillment of man is to emulate Him according to his potential, i.e., to have our deeds resemble His deeds.

The continuation of Rambam’s statements clearly implies that his original statement — that all of G‑d’s attributes are modes of expression that do not result from emotional arousal — is not merely intended to clarify that the concepts of emotional arousal and change are not appropriate to mention with regard to the Creator.(As he emphasizes there, G‑d’s attributes are expressed “without emotional arousal or change.... They emanate from Him, blessed be He, without bringing about any new quality extrinsic to Himself at all.”) Instead, Rambam is explaining a further concept that relates to the nature of the functioning of the emotions themselves.50 Because these attributes emanate from Him without emotional arousal, they are truly good and just paths. For every attribute is expressed in an appropriate and fitting manner.51

On this basis, we can appreciate the sequence of Rambam’s statements. After he explains the nature of the functioning of the Divine attributes, he states that it is fitting for man to conduct himself in a similar manner: “The ultimate fulfillment of man is to emulate Him according to his potential; i.e., to have our deeds resemble His deeds.... As our Sages say: ‘Just as He is compassionate.... Just as He is merciful....’”

When a person emulates his Creator and controls the expression of his attributes as G‑d controls the expression of His attributes, as it were, then man’s attributes will be expressed in an appropriate manner and will accomplish the objective desired for this particular attribute.

On this basis, we can appreciate the connection between the two concepts stated in the Mishneh Torah: “the intermediate quality in each of the character traits,” and the commandment to “emulate G‑d according to his potential” by conducting himself in the good and just paths which reflect the adjectives used to describe the A‑lmighty.

Generally, a person acts in an extreme manner (with regard to each of his emotion attributes) because he responds to (emotional) arousal which does not leave room for an opposite perspective. He does not exercise his intellectual faculties to determine whether it is appropriate to act in this manner or not. Hence, his conduct is extreme.

When, however, a person expresses his emotions with the intent of “emulating G‑d according to his potential,” he does not exercise his emotions (only) as a result of emotional arousal. Instead, his intent is to reflect the true positive dimension of these emotional attributes (as they are expressed by G‑d). Accordingly, he will express the intermediate quality in each emotional attribute, manifesting each — as Rambam states in Moreh Nevuchim — “as is appropriate.” Therefore, “There will be times when he will be merciful.... And at times, he will seek revenge... against others.”

VII.

Based on the above explanation that the new dimension of the commandment to “follow His ways” is to “emulate Him... according to our potential,” it is possible to explain the choice of the verb והלכת, which is translated as “follow.”52

הליכה means “progress” or “going.” In the most complete sense, it refers to ascending from level to level (as reflected in the verse:53 “They shall proceed from strength to strength.”) Primarily, it refers to an ascent to a rung that is incomparably higher than one’s previous rung.

{From this reason, the angels are referred to as “these who stand,” as in the verse:54 “I shall grant you progress among these who stand.” They are referred to in this manner “because throughout their existence, they remain on one level.”55

On the surface, this requires explanation: In several sources it is explained that the angels are continually ascending from level to level. Their progress is reflected in their song.56 Why then are they described as “remaining on one level”?

In resolution it is explained57 that all of the ascents experienced by the angels are gradual, i.e., they ascend to a level that is relative and comparable to their previous rung. As such, even though they “proceed from strength to strength,” they have not left their initial rung entirely. (For even the highest rung they attain has a connection to the lowest rung at which they started.) Hence, they are considered as remaining on one level for their entire existence.}

This is the (inner) interpretation of “following His ways”: that the two implications of the verse — הליכה, “progress,” and “His ways,” the emulation of G‑d — are dependent on each other. When is it possible for a person to “emulate G‑d according to his potential,” “following (G‑d’s) ways?” When he progresses,ascending from level to level, each rung incomparably higher than the previous.

It is human nature for the expression of a person’s emotional attributes to stem from the arousal of feelings in his heart. For his emotional expression to be in emulation of G‑d’s qualities, he must lift himself above his natural emotional tendencies, proceeding to higher rungs until he acts in a manner comparable to his Creator.

On this basis, we can understand our Sages’ emphasis that the “ways” mentioned in the verse refer to the emotional attributes (and not to the mitzvos which are deeds), although there are several sources that refer to all the mitzvos as G‑d’s ways.58 A person’s actions are limited. His emotional attributes, by contrast, are “the characteristics of his soul (i.e., spiritual qualities) and can be considered unlimited when compared with his deeds. Therefore our Sages interpret the phrase “And you shall follow His paths” which speaks of הליכה, incomparable progress and ascent, as referring to “qualities dependent on our emotional characteristics.”59 For primarily, the ascent that a person can make from level to level (and even an ascent that reflects progress which transcends all previous levels) is relevant with regard to his emotional attributes (and not with regard to his deeds, for his deeds are limited).

VIII.

A deeper interpretation of “following His ways” can be offered (based on the teachings of Chassidus): Every Jew’s soul is “an actual part of G‑d from Above.”60 From this it can be understood that the soul itself is utterly unbounded. It is only that its manifestation in the body is limited. From this it is understood that when a person is aroused to Divine service from the essence of his soul, this lifts him up and brings about an unlimited ascent. In simple terms, he has such an unbounded degree of vitality in his Divine service that he is motivated to a level of self-sacrifice (that transcends the limits of intellect).

This is the intent of the command to “follow His paths,” i.e., “to emulate Him... according to our potential.” A person’s Divine service in his observance of the Torah and its mitzvos (which are all called “His ways,” as above) should be characterized by הליכה, incomparable progress,61 extending beyond all limitations. This is possible when a person arouses and reveals the essence of his soul, which is an actual part of G‑d. In this way he “emulates His Creator” “according to his potential.”62

(Adapted from the Sichos of Shabbos Parshas Vayechi, 5741)

https://www.chabad.org/therebbe/article_cdo/aid/2295056/jewish/A-Knowing-Heart-Parshas-Ki-Savo.htm
FOOTNOTES (Footnotes in link)

Translation:

Links:

https://www.sie.org/templates/sie/article_cdo/aid/2419939/sc/pt_share/jewish/A-Knowing-Heart-Parshas-Ki-Savo.htm
Gutnick Chumash pp. 145
Gutnick Chumash pp. 153ff
Gutnick Chumash pp. 363-5