Vaetchanan 5779
โBut you shall greatly beware (โvโNishmartemโ) for your souls, for you did not see any likeness on the day Hashem spoke to you at Chorev, from the midst of the fire.โ (Devarim 4:15)
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Several Pesukim earlier the Torah states:
โOnly beware for yourself (โRak Hishamer Lechaโ) and greatly beware for your soul, lest you forget the things that your eyes have beheld and lest you remove them from your heart all the days of your life, and make them known to your children and your childrenโs children.โ (4:9 ibid.)
To what do these two Pesukim (โvโNishmartemโ and โRak Hishamer Lechaโ) refer?
The Gemara (Brachos 32b) tells the following anecdote:
There was a certain pious man (Chasid) who was Davening on the side of the road. A government officer came and greeted him but he did not reply. The officer waited until the man had finished Davening and said to him, โEmpty one โ surely it says in your Torah โOnly beware for yourselfโฆand beware for your soulโ (โRak Hishamer Lechaโ) and it also says โBut you shall greatly beware for your soulsโ (โvโNishmartemโ). If so, when I greeted you, why did you not return my greeting? If I would have beheaded you with this sword, who would have held me accountable?โ
The Chasid replied โ โAllow me to appease you. If you were standing in front of a human king, and your friend had greeted you โ would you have replied to him?โ โNoโ, said the officer. โAnd if you would have replied what would they have done to you?โ โThey would have beheaded me with a swordโ, he said.
โIf soโ, said the Chasid, โthere is a Kal vaโChomer: If that is the mode of behavior when one stands in front of a human king, who is here today but may be in the grave tomorrow, then I who was standing in front of the King of Kings, HaโKadosh Baruch Hu, who endures for all eternity, all the more so!โ
Immediately the officer was appeased and the pious man was able to return to his house in peace.
The officer who accosted the pious man, cited the two Pesukim of โvโNishmartemโ and โRak Hishamer Lechaโ as proof that a person must guard his life. However, he appears to have taken both out of context. The Pasuk of โRak Hishamer Lechaโ is explained by the Ramban (Devarim ad. loc.) to be an admonition not to forget oneโs Torah learning. He proves this from the Mishna in Pirkei Avos (3:8): โRebbi Dostai bโRebbi Yanai says in the name of Rebbi Meir: The Torah considers anybody who forgets anything of his learning as though he was liable to the death penalty, as it says โOnly beware for yourself and greatly beware for your soul, lest you forget the things that your eyes have beheldโ.
The Pasuk of vโNishmartem that was also cited by the officer (and countless others over time) as a source for the Mitzva of guarding oneโs life, also seems to have been taken out of context. Rather than exhorting a person to guard his life, it appears to command him to take care not to believe in Avodah Zarah!
The Mitzva to guard oneโs life can, in fact, be derived from the Mitzva of erecting a Maโakeh โ a fence surrounding a parapet, balcony or roof. Ostensibly, the purpose of the Mitzva, is to ensure the safety of those who frequent the area โ a clear source for the obligation to guard oneโs life in general. The Rambam (Sefer haโMitzvos, Mitzvas Aseh 184 & Mitzvas Lo Saโaseh 298) and Sefer haโChinuch (546 & 547) both write that this is indeed the source for this Mitzva.
If so, why are the Pesukim quoted above commonly assumed to be the source of this Mitzva? We cannot attribute this to the officerโs erroneous citation that subsequently became entrenched on the basis of this famous story as it was not only the officer that did so โ the Gemara in Shavuos (36a) also cites the Pasuk of โRak Hishamer Lechaโ as proof that one may not curse oneself! This Pasuk is quoted by the Rambam (Rotzeach 11:4-5) and Shulchan Aruch (C.M. 427:8) as well, as the source for the obligation to remove obstacles that could cause harm. How can the Gemara, Rambam, and Shulchan Aruch all cite a Posuk seemingly out of its context?
The Minchas Chinuch discusses this and writes that while it is very possible that the officer in the Gemara in Brachos was deliberately quoting the Pesukim of โRak Hishamer Lechaโ and โvโNishmartemโ out of context (for this was common among the heretical nations of the time), the Rambamโs usage of the Pasuk it very puzzling. He concludes that the Rambam must have had some source in Chazaโl that we are not aware of.
The Chafetz Chaim (Shem Olam 2:10) writes as follows:
A man should accustom himself during all of his days to the following thought: He has been sent to this world by the Blessed Almighty to do His will and to direct all of his actions to this goal. For the reality is that there is no moment in all of a personโs life in which he can consider himself to be acting only for himself. Not only while he learns Torah or performs Mitzvos where he is clearly acting as G-dโs agent, but even when he takes care of his physical wellbeing (such as eating, drinking or conducting business) he should know that that is also a part of his mission. For it is Godโs will that man should sustain his body as it says โBut you shall greatly beware for your soulsโ (โvโNishmartenโ), and it also says โbeware for yourself and greatly beware for your soulโ (โRak Hishamer Lechaโ).
In both of these verses, the Torah commands us to guard our โNefeshโ (literally โsoulโ) when issuing the command to guard our bodies (or health). This teaches us that when a person is occupied with guarding his health, he should see to it that he is not damaging his soul in the process. For it is common that the very acts of guarding oneโs health can often bring harm to the soul. For this reason, the verse concludes with the words โand greatly beware for your soul, lest you forget the things that your eyes have beheldโ.
These seminal words of the Chafetz Chaim give us a new perspective on the Mitzva of guarding oneโs health. The terms coined by Chazaโl to describe this Mitzva and the terms used by the Torah itself, all make use of the word โNefeshโ (soul) such as โvโNishmartem Mโod lโNafshoseichemโ, โPikuach Nefeshโ and โHatzolas Nefashosโ. We commonly ascribe these terms to the notion of guarding oneโs body or health, and indeed, simply speaking, they do refer to the precautions we take to ensure the health of the physical body. However, in real terms, our concern is for the health of our Nefesh and we guard our bodies, not because of the intrinsic value of the physical self but because they serve as a home for our souls. One important step to ensuring a healthy soul is to ensure the health of the body in which it is housed.
With this perspective we can well understand how the Pesukim of โvโNishmartemโ and โHishamer Lechaโ can serve as the sources for the Mitzva to guard oneโs health. In context, as we noted above, they refer to the obligation to remember oneโs Torah learning, to reject idolatry, and to never curse oneself. These obligations are crucial to the health of the soul. A person must believe in his own spiritual potential and not place a curse on himself, remember never to veer towards the path of idol-worship, and ensure to provide his soul with its coveted nourishment through constant study of Torah and ensuring that he does not forget its holy words.
However, in Chazaโlโs eyes, it was obvious that these obligations include a mandate to guard our health as well, for without a body the soul has no place to reside. These two Pesukim comprise all of the ingredients needed to ensure a healthy soul, including a healthy body.
This also lends us a new perspective on the law of โYehareg vโAl Yaโavorโ (sacrificing oneโs life to avoid violating one of the three cardinal sins). Typically, we would consider the circumstances in which a Jew is compelled to choose between committing a sin and losing his life as a battle between his obligation to guard his body and guard his soul[1]. However, in light of the above, we can say, that the importance of a personโs body is only to the degree that it aids and abets his soul in completing its mission in the world. Where heinous spiritual damage would ensue if he would commit a sin, he is obligated to sacrifice his life to avoid it, for there would be no value in guarding his physical body in those circumstances.
We conclude with the beautiful words of the Bโeir haโGolah (C.M. 427:90):
I believe that the reason the Torah exhorted a person to guard his health is because Hashem created the world out of kindness, with the purpose of doing good to the beings whom He created. He wanted them to be able to recognize His greatness and perform His service by fulfilling His Mitzvos and His Torah, as the verse states โEveryone who is called by my name and whom I have created for my gloryโ (Yeshaya 43:7), and He could then reward them greatly for their efforts. Somebody who places himself in danger is as though he is disgusted by the desire of his Creator and neither wants to perform His service nor does he desire the reward for doing so. This greatly degrades the service of Hashem and there is no greater act of heresy than that.
[1] And in most cases the obligation to guard oneโs body trumps the obligation to guard oneโs soul yet in the setting of the three cardinal sins, the opposite is true.
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