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Torah From Zion
Seeing Mitzvos Through to the End
November 21st, 2024 / 18th of Kislev 5785
The importance of completing a mitzvah
I want to give over an idea from the mashgiach of Yeshivas Mir, Harav Yerucham Levovitz. I merited to daven [pray] at his tziyun [monument] when I was in Europe, and therefore I feel a special meaning in his words. I think they bear a very important lesson for us.
In [parashas] Vayeshev it states just after the sale of Yosef [Joseph] that, “at that time, Yehuda [Judah] went down from his brothers and toward a man from Adulam named Hirah” (Bereishis / Genesis 38:1). After this episode, which led to the birth of Peretz [Perez] from Tamar, the story of Yosef is resumed. Rashi asks: There must be some connection to the sale of Yosef and Yehuda’s “going down” from his brothers what is it?
Says Rashi: Why does this parsha [portion] come in the middle of the story of Yosef? To teach that Yehuda’s brothers took him down from his exalted status when they beheld the anguish of their father. They said: “You told us to sell him. Had you told us to bring him back, we would have listened to you.”
This is puzzling: The brothers were intent on killing Yosef, and Yehuda was the one who convinced them to sell him instead to the Yishme’eilim [Ishmalites]. When they agreed, they took Yosef’s coat, dipped it into blood and sent it back to their father. This caused Yaakov great anguish and he refused to be consoled. Yaakov’s [Jacob’s] entire existence changed as a result. The brothers beheld this and knew that it stemmed from Yehuda’s idea. When they saw the anguish that this caused, they took Yehuda down from his exalted position. “You were the leader,” they claimed, “and you could have saved Yosef by bringing him back to Yaakov [Jacob]. Had you said this, we would have listened to you. Since you did not use your position of authority, you don’t deserve it.”
But wait, had Yehuda not intervened, the brothers would have killed Yosef. Doesn’t that count for anything? How could the brothers criticize Yehuda, as if they were better than he?
A similar question arises in Maseches [Tractate] Gittin 56b:
Yochanan ben Zakai managed to escape the Roman siege of Yerushalayim [Jerusalem] and reach Vespasian, greeting him as if Vespasian were the king. Vespasian replied by telling Yochanan ben Zakai that he deserved to be killed for two reasons: 1 – Since I’m not the king, why do you call me the king? and 2 – if I am the king, why are you coming to me only now?
Yochanan ben Zakai answered that he must be the king, as otherwise, Yerushalayim would not be delivered into his hands. And as for why he didn’t come earlier, this was because the biryonim [zealots] controlled the Jewish population of the city and did not let him leave. As he was speaking, a messenger arrived from Rome announcing that the king of Rome had died and Vespasian was now the king.
Vespasian, taken aback, allowed Yochanan ben Zakai to make a request. Yochanan ben Zakai replied: Give me Yavneh and its sages, and the family of Raban Gamliel, and doctors to cure Rabbi Zadok. He did not ask Vespasian to spare Yerushalayim.
The Gemara criticizes Yochanan ben Zakai for refraining from this request: Hashem “turns wise men backwards and makes their thinking foolish” (Yishaya 44:25), say the sages about Yochanan ben Zakai’s decision.
As in the case of Yehuda, however, we can ask here as well: Yochanan ben Zakai had a good reason not to ask, and the Gemara discusses it. Such a major request would not be granted, whereas the smaller request of Yavneh would. Better to ensure the continuation of the Oral Torah in Yavneh, he felt, because were he to request that Yerushalayim be spared, Vespasian would refuse, and he would then refuse to grant even a smaller request such as the sparing of Yavneh.
Yochanan ben Zakai certainly applied all his mental faculties to arrive at this decision, and we cannot criticize it. The Gemara does criticize it, however, asking: Raban Yochanan ben Zakai, why didn’t you save Yerushalayim, too? Why didn’t you!
We find in Shas [the Talmud] that when a person begins a mitzvah [a commandment], he must finish it, and if he does not, he is worse than one who did not begin it at all! This is incredible — why not say that he at least accomplished something, if not everything? Why is doing half of the mitzvah deemed worse than not doing anything?
An unfinished mitzvah – like a three-legged table
Rav Yerucham (Daas Torah, Vayeshev pg. 224) cites Sotah 13b, that “whoever does something but does not complete it, and someone comes along and does complete it, Scripture considers the one who completed it as if he did all of it.” This is learned from Moshe Rabbeinu [our Rabbi Moses], who took Yosef’s bones out from Egypt and bore Yosef’s coffin for the next 40 years. Nevertheless, since Moshe did not merit to enter Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel] and bury Yosef, he could not complete this mitzvah. In Yehoshua [Joshua] (24), it states, “and the bones of Yosef, which the Bnei Yisrael [Children of Yisrael] brought out from Egypt, they buried in Shechem.” The Bnei Yisrael took Yosef’s bones out of Egypt? Moshe did! Still, since Moshe did not complete the mitzvah of burial, even though he did most of the hard work, the mitzvah is not considered his but rather the Bnei Yisrael’s, because they completed the mitzvah. This is because only upon completion does the mitzvah become a real, concrete entity, a part of reality.
Therefore, the claims against Yehuda and Rabban Yochanan ben Zakai for not finishing what they started is worse than a claim of never having started at all. These two men already began creating a maaseh [work of a] mitzvah, but they did not give this mitzvah a continuation and completion.
It’s like a carpenter building a table, and he decides to stop after making the table top and 2 or 3 legs. Can you sell such a table? Can it even be called a table? On the one hand, it has the most of the components that make up a table, but since it’s not finished, the “table” will have no takers, even if the seller offers a generous discount.
One who does not finish the mitzvah buries his wife and children
The Midrash (Vayeshev 85) discusses the depth of the Torah’s statement that Yehuda “went down from his brothers.” This descent of Yehuda’s, says the Midrash, alludes to the deaths of his wife (the daughter of Shua) and children (Er and Onan): “Whoever begins a mitzvah and does not complete it buries his wife and children. From whom do we learn this? From Yehuda [as it states]: And Yehuda said to his brothers, what gain is there for us if we kill Yosef…” Yehuda should have brought Yosef back to Yaakov on his shoulders (37:26).
This is getting eerie. OK, a mitzvah left uncompleted doesn’t have a kiyum [existence], it’s worse than not starting, and one can be demoted from his position of authority, as was Yehuda. Still, what does this have to do with a man’s wife and children? How can the punishment be so harsh?
There is a very important connection, says Rav Yerucham. Namely, a mitzvah that we do is our “son.” In fact, a mitzvah is much more than a son, as we find on the verse: “These are the generations of Noach, Noach was a tzaddik…” (Bereishis 6:9). There, Rashi explains that the main “generations” of the tzaddikim are their good deeds. This is because when a man does a good deed, it has a continuation. First of all, it will have its effect on this world, first its immediate effects and then ripple effects that can go on indefinitely. After 120, this deed will accompany him to Olam Haba [the World to Come]. Therefore, it is considered his progeny — even his main progeny in the Next World. A child is a physical continuation that itself is limited, whereas a good deed goes on for all eternity. This is only true, however, if you complete the good deed. If one started this great deed but then someone else finishes it, the first one not only loses this mitzvah he buries it. In spiritual terms, this is his progeny, and he’s burying his progeny. Therefore, mida keneged mida [measure for measure] he may come to bury his physical progeny, chalila [may it never be].
Sometimes, a Jew has an opportunity to do a mitzvah. He has a chance to learn Torah, to help people, to do chessed [kindness]. Whatever comes your way, do it and keep at it until it’s finished. Don’t leave over loose ends. You started a Maseches? Finish it. Make a siyum [“conclusion,” including a festive meal, etc.]. That is the completion of the mitzvah.
This is like the two middos [characteristics] of Hashem explained by Rashi in Shemos [Exodus] 6:3 (which will be discussed in the chapter, “Promise and fulfillment — the basics of emuna”). Hashem made promises to the Avos [Fathers] using the Holy Name of Keil Shakai, “but [by] the Name of Hashem I was not known to them.” The verse does not state: “I did not make known to them,” but rather “I was not known to them by this Name” — they did not recognize this mida [charateristic] of truth of Mine… because I promised but did not fulfill [this in their lifetimes].”
There are two hanhagos [approaches] of Hashem. There is Keil Shakai, the making of the promise, and the Sheim Havaya, which is the fulfillment of the promise and its application, meaning the redemption of the Jews from Egypt and their coming to Eretz Yisrael [the Land of Israel]. So too with every mitzvah, it has the beginning stage planning it beforehand and the actual doing of it, but not its completion, and then another stage, which is the completion of the mitzvah and its application in real life.
Therefore, when there is a mitzvah to do, or when hashgacha [providence] brings you to begin doing a good thing, it means that from heaven you have been given this merit. It’s a declaration that you have been chosen as the special person for whom it is right to do this tikun [reparation] or change to the world. This job was created just for you; for this you were created. If so, you have to take this mitzvah or good deed that has come your way and actualize it. Indeed, it’s hard to undertake it, and maybe much harder to finish it. It may seem to you much easier to stop midway and be content with what you did. After all, you did do something. No?
No! We’re learning here that no, you have to finish whatever you started, to complete this tikun to your soul. Only completing it will make it into something, with your name on it, and with a hold on reality. Without completion, it’s just a hazy idea, albeit a good idea, one that I started, my brainchild, my “baby,” but it’s not a true entity.
Moreover, we see that Yehuda is called “not finishing the mitzvah,” even though there were two mitzvos: 1-saving Yosef from death, and 2-bringing him back to Yaakov. Yehuda finished the first mitzvah, and even so, he is still called a starter but not a finisher. Explains Rav Yerucham (Daas Torah Bahar 246), it’s not enough to finish one whole action if the matter at hand remains unresolved. That’s not called “completing.”
The extent of blame
We see even further that Yehuda was punished for what he could have done and did not — not only what he caused in reality as a result of his actions. Rashi says that the brothers blamed Yehuda for the pain he caused Yaakov. For the pain he caused Yaakov? Hold on a minute! What if Yehuda wouldn’t have done anything? The brothers would have killed Yosef! Wouldn’t Yaakov have been pained by this? Of course he would! If so, how can Yehuda be blamed for Yaakov’s pain?
The answer is that since Yehuda could have done a complete deed by bringing Yosef back, thus eliminating any pain, he is blamed for not doing so. Even though he started Yosef’s rescue as opposed to standing idly by, since he didn’t do the whole job, whatever positive results are lost by this are deemed Yehuda’s fault. Therefore, he is blamed for Yaakov’s anguish.
Moreover, had the brothers killed Yosef, Yaakov indeed would have suffered less. This is because there is a decree that the deceased is forgotten by the heart (within 12 months). Yosef was still alive, though, and therefore Yaakov’s feelings of mourning did not subside and he refused to be consoled. This too is Yehuda’s fault, not only that Yosef was not around, but that he was still alive and therefore Yaakov could not be consoled. Look at the extent of culpability!
We're blamed for miscalculating our capabilities
Still, can’t we claim on Yehuda’s behalf that he wanted to save Yosef, and he was fully aware that one has to finish the mitzvah, and he knew that his suggestion of selling Yosef would cause Yaakov extended grief; still, he opted to sell Yosef, since he knew the rule of תפסת מרובה לא תפסת. If you try to grab too much, the whole thing ends up falling from your hands.
Yehuda may have reasoned that if he had asked his brothers to return Yosef, they would have responded by killing Yosef. He therefore opted for a lesser form of rescue. Why then is he blamed? The way he saw it, this was the best he could do; he had no other choice.
The same question could be asked about Raban Yochanan ben Zakai. Why is he criticized? He assessed the situation and concluded that if he would ask that Yerushalayim be spared, Vespasian wouldn’t grant him Yavneh, either. He too reasoned that תפסת מרובה לא תפסת. If so, why is he blamed?
An awesome insight is emerging from this. Namely, miscalculating what we are capable of is no excuse. Part of what is expected of a person is to assess accurately his capabilities and then put them into action. Since Yehuda was the leader and his brothers would have listened to him, he should have understood this and brought Yosef back to Yaakov, and so too, Yochanan ben Zakai in his nisayon [test].
The Midrash goes even further, stating that Yehuda should have taken Yosef onto his shoulders and brought him back to Yaakov. This is much more dramatic. Lechora [apparently], this means that if Yehuda had told the brothers to bring Yosef back to Yaakov, the brothers would have refused. Yehuda’s assessment of the situation was 100 percent correct. Still, Yehuda shouldn’t have concluded that he was incapable of doing more. This is because Yehuda was capable of doing an extreme act: He could have snatched Yosef away from the brothers and made a getaway, fleeing with Yosef all the way back to Yaakov. Nothing less would have saved Yosef.
Even such a drastic act should have been taken into account by Yehuda. Yes, he is blamed for not having considered even this extreme possibility and done it in order to complete the mitzvah.
We should take this lesson to heart when it comes to raising children. You merit to bring a child into the world — this isn’t the end, it’s the beginning. Now you have to see it through to the end, to educate this child to Torah, yiras Shamayim [fear of Heaven] and middos tovos [good character traits]. That is the completion of the mitzvah.
Every parents or teacher who has the ability to bring his child to more perfection and doesn’t do this is held responsible after 120: Why didn’t you finish the job? You had the ability to bring that child or talmid [student] to more sheleimus [completeness]! We may fall in the category of those who start but don’t finish, chalila.
We also learn from here that there won’t be any excuses, like “we thought we weren’t able to.”
Miscalculating your ability is also a source of blame. All the more so when you had the ability and knew it, but still didn’t use it.
This is a matter that manifests itself in all aspects of our lives. A bachur [young, unmarrried man] comes to yeshiva. Wonderful! He’s begun the process of building an adam [a spiritual man]! However, if he can do more but doesn’t this is called starting but not finishing. He’s in a sugya [subject] and can really get into it and clarify things, iron out all the hazy points and come away with clear halacha [way to do what the Torah intends]. If he’s lazy about it and doesn’t go all the way, this too is called starting but not finishing, chalila.
Excerpted with permission from Imrei Mordechai, Vol. 2, A Collection of Inspirational Insights from the “Mussar Shmoozes” of HaGaon Rabbi Mordechai Goldstein Ztzvk”l, The Imrei Mordechai Institute, Diaspora Yeshiva Toras Yisrael, Mount Zion, Jerusalem, Kislev 5779.
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