Make a safety fence around the Torah
Ethics of the Fathers, 1:1
The Torah is a living document, to be applied
to all societies and all generations of history. Thus, the Almighty entrusted
the sages and Torah authorities of each generation with the responsibility of
interpreting the Torah and implementing it in the specific conditions and
circumstances of their time and place.
This also includes the task of constructing
``safety fences'' around the Torah. Each generation's leaders are to pinpoint
the specific vulnerabilities of their community and enact the appropriate
ordinances which will safeguard and strengthen the observance of Torah. For
example, the Torah forbids transferring objects from a ``private domain'' to a
``public domain'' (e.g. from one's home out to the street) on Shabbos. As a
safety measure, a rabbinic ordinance prohibits any handling of certain types of
objects, lest one inadvertently come to violate the Shabbos. Other rabbinic
institutions include making a blessing before eating, the mandated waiting
period between meat and milk, praying three times a day, washing hands before
meals, and the festivals of Chanukah and Purim. In fact, a major part of what
we call ``Judaism'' is rabbinic in origin.
Indeed, a safety fence inevitably encloses
more area than the thing it comes to safeguard. Thus, the rabbinic ordinances
have the effect of broadening and extending Torah to areas where the strict
letter of the law does not apply.
As a result, the sages are often perceived as
having made Judaism more ``difficult.'' That while their ordinances may be
necessary for the preservation of Torah, they unfortunately make it less
accessible to the Jew who is not yet fully committed to its observance.
Actually, the very opposite is true. One of
the most ``attractive'' things about Torah is its tremendous breadth and scope.
Torah deals with virtually every area of life, on virtually every level of
human discourse: the mystic, the philosopher and the psychologist will each
find that the Torah speaks his language. Whether a person is looking for roots
and tradition or transcendence and innovation, whether he seeks a pragmatic
guide to life, an authoritative moral code or a spiritual experience, he will
find the mitzvah or custom to identify with. Even if he is not yet ready to
embrace the entirety of Torah, there will always be an insight or observance
which will drew him in, stimulate his soul and whet his desire to learn and
experience more.
So the more Torah is ``broadened'' by its
application through the generations, the more ground it comes to cover via the
fences that are erected to safeguard it, all the more does it become accessible
to also the most diverse of its constituents.
