Mitzvot: Deed and Intention

Rabbi Adin Even Israel Steinsaltz, Shefa Quarterly No. 2, January 1976

The performance of the commandments (mitzvot) has traditionally been

conceived as a dual imperative: the contemplation of the content and inner meaning of

the mitzvah, and its physical expression. Jewish writings have dealt extensively with

the questions arising from this duality, weighing the value of deed against that of

intention and seeking the relationship between the two.

Devout men throughout the ages have generally stressed the intention over the

deed. Nevertheless, they also felt that while a deed without intention is like a body

without a spirit, intention without deed is similarly imperfect, like an illusive

apparition, having existence but no substance. Thus for these men, in the real of

mitzvoth, there was no deed without intention, and no intention without deed.

The questions that prompted the continual re-discussion of this issue are still

with us today. However, what was for our forefathers a complex problem of vital

importance has become for us just another question for which a pat, uncritical answer

will suffice. The modern Jew tends to avoid confronting this problem by stressing

intention to the detriment of deed, resulting in a disintegration of the totality of the

mitzvah.

For some people, the mitzvah-act (deed) becomes a mere expression of good

intention, while for others it is even an obstacle to attaining the true sense of love, awe

or communion with the Divine; thus the physical expression or deed itself is nothing

more than a symbol, an empty gesture devoid of essential religious content.

This grasp of religion so prevalent in our time has been seen to differ radically

from that of previous generations. To fathom such differences in religious outlook, anunderstanding of three integral elements is necessary: an understanding of the nature

of man, an awareness of the relation between God and man, and an apprehension of

the essence of Divinity. In Judaism, as in other religions, the changes of attitudes and

thought that have taken place with the passage of time have affected each of these

elements, and thus religious outlook as a whole. Furthermore, the interrelationships

between the factors themselves have often accelerated such changes. For example,

any development in the understanding of the nature of man alters the substance of

man's relation with God: as the self-esteem of man increases, acknowledgement of his

dependence on God decreases. The greater man grows in his own eyes, the more God

seems to diminish.

Just as increased emphasis on the value of man influences the quality and

force of religion, so do today's humanistic aspirations have their effect on the

perception of Divinity. If religion requires fulfilling the will of God, then whatever

one understands of Divine will influences the essentials of religion, such as the nature

of Divine service and the tension between intention and deed.

Although a detailed philosophical discussion of theology cannot be presented

here, it will, nevertheless, prove useful to inquire into the essence of Divinity as

understood by religious people. Consider the following list: table, stone, bird; idea,

ideal, dream; God. In which category should God be placed: in the category of

concrete objects or in that of the abstract concepts, idea, ideal and dream?

Most people, religious and non-religious, would quite likely place God in the

category of spiritual or abstract concepts, rather than with the concrete and

substantial. Such a classification has far-reaching significance. It is an evaluation

deying God many of the attributes of physical reality and concrete existence. If theDivinity is an abstraction, an idea without substance, one may question the degree of

reality of God and be led to doubt His very existence.

The God of such a believer is a shadow – a shadow resting on the soul – about

whose reality there is often grave doubt. It is an intellectually experienced Divinity.

Once God is apprehended in this fashion, certain consequences are unavoidable. If

God is a spiritual concept, He should be served with ideas, silent prayer or meditation.

Is it not a contradiction to serve an abstract spiritual Divinity by concrete physical

actions?

However, all Jewish thinkers and philosophers have rejected the view that God

is a spiritual concept. They stress that just as God is infinitely above and removed

from the familiar, physical universe, so He is removed from man's conception of

spirituality – even in its highest form. It is, therefore, as sacrilegious to attribute

spiritual qualities to God as it is to attribute physical ones to Him.

The question that then arises is: If God is neither substance nor spirit, what is

He? The answer often given is that man cannot even begin to know the essence of

God. One can only hope to experience the actuality of His being. Such an experience

of Divinity cannot proceed by a logical or inferential analysis of various aspects of

His existence; it is based on the actual experience of His presence. God, then, is a

reality. He is the real substantivity, and there is no "reality" outside of His being.

This brings us back to the problem of the preference of intention over deed.

When God is recognized as infinite, there is no significance to the distinction between

His substantiality or spirituality. Therefore, the spiritual intentions of man, no matter

how pure or noble, are not necessarily closer to the Divine will than the most

concrete, physical actions – in the eyes of God they are equal. God is as close to, orremoved from, the corporeal as he is to the spiritual, and the simple, physical aspects

of the mitzvoth have as great a religious relevance to the doer as do the spiritual ones.

The essence of this conception is a physical, as well as spiritual, perception of

the actuality of God at each and every moment, the feeling that "He fill His world and

activates all His worlds." For He is able to manifest Himself in every physical

sensation just as in the most sublime, spiritual awareness. In performing the mitzvah

of winding the phylacteries, for example, one is as conscious of performing the

Divine will in winding the straps as one is in making the spiritual effort to realize

"And thou shalt love the Lord they God." Such a Jew is in true harmony with the

Divine will.

BY: Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz.

This article is taken from Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz’s Official Facebook.

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ABOUT: Renowned author, revered spiritual leader, innovator, legendary Talmudic scholar, educator, pioneer; Rabbi Adin Even-Israel Steinsaltz is an amalgamation of knowledge, talents, and characteristics. See the books published of Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz at Koren Publishers Jerusalem.