Shabbos Parashas Vaeschanan - 5775

Shabbos Parashas Vaeschanan - 5775

Rabbi Hal Miller

You shall do what is right and good in the eyes of Hashem, so that it will be good

for you, and you shall come and possess the good land that Hashem swore to your

forefathers. [Devarim 6:18]

What is our verse commanding with the phrase, "do what is right and good"? The rest

of the verse seems to be a promise of reward for performing this commandment, so

what is it that we are to do?

Ordinarily, a commandment tells us to do (or not do) something specific, such as,

you may eat this, you may not eat that, add incense to this offering, etc. Our command

here is esoteric, to say the least. Our Sages have repeatedly shown that we must

understand the simple meaning of the text, above and beyond anything more complex.

What is the simple meaning here?

According to Ramban, this is not a commandment on its own, but a description of

how we should be fulfilling the other commandments. He says that we are to perform

commandments based on other verses, but "when you fulfill them you should have the

sole intention of doing what is good and right in His eyes."

In a similar vein, Rashi says that this means that whatever we do, we need to go

beyond the letter of the law. If someone wrongs us, and makes some effort to make

amends, accept that, even if it doesn't appear sufficient in our eyes because the

measuring stick is not how it appears in our eyes, only how it appears in G-d's eyes.

Rambam sees it as something a little more concrete. In the classic example, such as

in the Gemora Bava Metzia, when one wants to sell his land, he is required by our

verse to offer it to his neighbors instead of to a third party, so they can expand their

fields rather than suffer an interruption of contiguity. Thus our verse is not just saying,

"be nice about it", but actually commanding this action. It may not be as clear about

the determination of every instance when the mitzvah applies, but when we run into

circumstances that do match, our verse is not just good advice, but an actual command.

Rav Hirsch understands our verse to refer to observing the laws of nature. By requiring

us to "do what is right and good in the eyes of Hashem", the Torah is telling us to

follow nature rather than impulse, to perform our earthly mission rather than spend our

lives "goofing off". This is especially found in the rules about living in society, the

interactions between people, morality, business, social structure, etc. It commands, in

his words, "coming to an adjusted agreement" where people differ. Rav Hirsch sums

it up nicely with his 'canon': "Even to that which you are legally entitled you should

relinquish for the sake of a positive higher good purpose."

Our verse is a commandment telling us not to be self-centered, whether in the

performance of the other commandments, or merely in daily life.