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Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: “The only way to bridge two otherwise infinitely divergent and uncommunicative poles.”

 

Consider a scenario where someone throws a stick to his dog, and shouts, “Catch!”

The intellectual gap be- tween the owner and his dog remains unchanged, but there is one point at which
they experience complete congruity.

The moment the dog catches the stick, he fulfills his master’s will.

Were the dog to begin meditating, in efforts to connect with his owner’s will, it is doubtful whether the dog would succeed.

Yet the instant the dog hears “catch!” and he does so, in that moment there is total unity among the one possessing the will, the will itself, and the one fulfilling that will, between the commander, the command, and the commanded.

Some suggest that the word “mitzva” (commandment) is related to the word tzavta, meaning “together”.  

The idea here is that the only way to bridge two otherwise infinitely divergent and uncommunicative poles is through a mitzva.

The fact that a commandment is, at its essence, beyond our comprehension is the very thing that allows for the creation of a true bond.

Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz