[Avodah] kimu v'kiblu, purim,

[kennethgmiller at juno.com]

R' Harvey Benton asked several important questions about the nature of our obligations to obey the Torah:

> 1. Why is the Torah binding if given to us by force? ... ...

and 

> 2. Is an agreement forced upon or given to, or made by a soul
> binding upon a body, or even a body associated (whole or in
> part) to a given soul at a later date? ...

To answer these and similar questions, we first need to understand what we mean by the concept of "obligation" to begin with. Let's take an example that is even simpler and more basic than the ones RHB brings: If I tell you that I will do a certain thing tomorrow, can I unilaterally change my mind later on? Can I simply choose not to do it? Would it be wrong for me to choose not to do it?

I suggest that the answer is that I am obligated (to some degree) to keep my word, because society will not be able to function otherwise.

This is not an "obligation" in a legal and technical sense, but in a natural sense. Or you can call it "natural law" if you like. My point is that the world operates according to certain laws, and that among these are that objects fall down when you let go of them, and that people do not indiscriminately kill each other. Failure to heed these laws will inevitably lead to disaster. Maybe a small disaster or maybe a large one, and maybe it will be immediate or over a long time. But it *will* lead to problems, because the world was designed to follow certain rules, and if those rules aren't followed, then the world will not work properly.

One has to follow the rules. If I say that I am going to do something, I had better do it or there will be negative repercussions. This is how I understand "obligation" in its most basic sense.

And that's how I understand the mountain being above us at Har Sinai. G-d did not threaten us with death, cajoling us to accept these laws. Rather, He was *illustrating* to us that we follow these rules or the world would end up in chaos. Our "acceptance" of the laws did not really affect their power or their validity in any sense other than our psychological relationship with them. That is, once we accepted the Torah (at Sinai and/or on Purim), we get a new perspective on it, and it becomes easier to speak about our "obligation" to keep it.

But it is a matter of semantics and psychology. Like "b'dieved" and "d'rabanan", so too "obligated" encompasses a many concepts, and is a shorthand to help us deal with them.

(By the way, much of this applies not only to Torah, but to civil government as well. When people form a government by the consent of the governed, it also governs those who are born into that society. They are automatically obligated by the laws, and cannot complain that they never consented to them. And I think the logic behind this is that society is unable to function in any other way.)

Akiva Miller

____________________________________________________________
Groupon&#8482 Official Site
1 ridiculously huge coupon a day. Get 50-90% off your city's best!
http://thirdpartyoffers.juno.com/TGL3131/4de8d5f4f35372a6511st01vuc