When Ignorance Is Bliss
Smack in the middle of our weekly Torah portion Shoftim, amid warnings against black magic and other practices of the nations, there is one verse that seems to come out of left field.
Be wholehearted with G-d, your G-d. [Deuteronomy 18:13]
The Hebrew word for “wholehearted” is tamim, a term with multiple meanings. They range from “complete” and “unblemished,” to the less flattering “unsophisticated” and “artless.” Some of the commentators, including Abraham Bin Ezra and the Rashbam, don’t want to enter the fray and avoid the verse. The Second Temple-era Onkelos, who translated the entire Torah into Aramaic, explores beyond the literal meaning and offers “Be complete in your awe of G-d your G-d.”
Which brings us to the question: What does the Torah mean and how important is this commandment?
As it turns out, the major commentators agree that whatever the literal translation, this verse defines the Jew’s relationship with G-d. You might be a Torah scholar. You might have cracked the code of Creation, understood the language of nature and even foretold the future. But when it comes to G-d, you are indeed “artless” and even “childlike.” As usual, Shlomo Yitzhaki, or Rashi, puts it best.
Follow Him with simple faith and put your hope in Him, rather than obsessively investigating the future. Instead, whatever may happen to you, accept with simple faith, and then you will be with Him and be called His portion. [Rashi on Deuteronomy 18:14]
More than 500 years later, Shabtai Ben Yosef Bass elaborated on Rashi. Perhaps, he was the most apt in understanding the medieval French commentator. As a teenager, Shabtai lost both his parents in war and struggled for the rest of his life with those who wanted to destroy the Torah. The Jesuits were particularly outraged by Shabtai’s printing and distribution of Jewish books in Poland. When censorship didn’t work, the Jesuits inserted anti-Christian propaganda in a popular work Shaarei Zion in an effort to pressure the authorities. After spending time in prison, Shabtai finally completed the work Sifsei Chachamim, an exegesis based on previous commentaries of Rashi.
What he [Rashi] meant to say is don’t do what the idolators do. Rather be innocent — that you should go with Him without guile … [Sifsei Chachamim on Deuteronomy 18:14]
Moses Ben Nachman, or the Ramban, supplies the context. Verse 14 comes in the middle of advice to stay away from black magic, astrology, conjurers and necromancy. All and others have been used by the gentiles to unlock the future. The best of the practitioners were recruited to serve kings, presidents and tycoons to warn of dangers to their power and fortunes.
Ray Kurzweil was a Jewish kid from Queens, N.Y. who became the leading futurist of our century. Author, inventor and musician, he has been hailed by the American elite as the most accurate reader of trends and breakthroughs. At 77, his latest prediction is that medical technology will soon ensure that people can live forever and never need to work.
That is not the Torah’s message. The Jew has no time with the future. Instead, he sees himself as a lowly servant to G-d. Facing the Almighty, he is no smarter than the cow or mule that shuffles behind his master. The Jew’s faith keeps him moving, keeps him alive. He is not impressed by the forecasts from the White House, Wall Street or the mullahs in Teheran. The gentiles might mock the Jew’s faith, but he is unmoved. His aim is not perfection rather devotion.
“But I was brutish, and I did not know; I was [as] a beast with You. Yet I was constantly with you; You grasped my right hand. With Your counsel You led me, and after[wards], You took me [for glory.]” [Psalms 73:22-24]
The late Adin Steinsaltz, one of the greatest scholars in our generation, explains that King David was addressing G-d: “‘I go with G-d not as someone who understands and achieves, rather as a beast that is being led.’ Apparently, this walk after G-d is without reason or knowledge, and in itself is absent of outward achievements.”
What David, or any Jew, knows is that he is blessed merely by accompanying the Almighty. The man holds tight to G-d’s right hand, confident that he is being led by the Creator. That is the truest and most important of human knowledge.
Walk through any crowded street or market, and after the bonhomie listen to the conversations of ordinary people. The concerns are the same: What will be? Will there be another war? Will the current operation in the Gaza Strip finally end? Will the hostages be freed? Is it safe to travel abroad? Will there be layoffs at work? Why can’t I get rid of this throbbing in my temples?
People, and not just the rich, spend large amounts of money and time for answers. During the years of COVID, millions stopped talking to their spouses, children or friends and were glued to their computers determined to survive the pandemic. Many of them remained in front of the screen in an attempt to figure out the Russian war in Ukraine, the situation in Gaza, Donald Trump. They searched and searched and remained dissatisfied. They were angry that others didn’t share their concerns.
The message of Shoftim is that man will never know how G-d works. The events around the world appear random even to the well-trained eye. The Torah stresses that what is important is how to serve G-d. When one is sincere in that service, there are some answers. And the harder questions fade in urgency, replaced by belief that the Almighty runs the world and we simply don’t know or need to know.
And that describes tamim, staying close to G-d and turning your back on all the experts, propagandists, pundits, analysts and anybody else with a claim on the future. Our prophets have already taken care of the future, and it promises to be very good.
