MEANING IN MITZVOT by Rabbi Asher Meir

Each week we discuss one familiar halakhic practice and try to show its beauty and meaning. The columns are based on the commentary “Meaning in Mitzvot” on Kitzur Shulchan Arukh, which is serialized on Yeshivat Har Etzion’s Virtual Beit Midrash, www.vbm-torah.org

Among the many mitzvot in our parsha (see Sedra-Stats), we find the laws of the four shomrim, or bailees, who are entrusted with the care of an object (Shemot 22:6-14). The responsibility of these guardians falls into three categories:

1. Shomer chinam, the unpaid bailee, is responsible for the object only if he was negligent in watching it.

2. Shomer sakhar and sakhir, the paid bailee and the workman, are also responsible if the object is lost or stolen, even if they exercised normal care in watching the object. But they are exempt in the case of duress, an event which is completely beyond the protection of normal care, for example, armed robbery. This additional responsibility is in return for the payment which these bailees receive.

3. Shoel, the borrower. The borrower is responsible even in the case of duress. This is because he enjoys the full benefit of the object (Mishna Bava Metzia 7:8).

Yet the manner in which the object is supposed to be guarded is almost identical in each category (Though there are some minor differences – see SA CM 303:8). If the procedures of the paid bailee were adequate, then why is he held responsible for a stolen object? Why is the borrower responsible even for total duress?

One way of understanding this is to note that shemira, guarding, is precisely not a requirement to carry out particular actions or procedures. Rather, guarding requires active involvement and alertness to protect the object against any kind of danger which may arise. In return for his salary, the paid shomer is expected to exercise a higher degree of alertness and initiative. The borrower, who has all the benefit of the object, is expected to be even more solicitous. Since he has all the benefit of the object, it is as if it actually belongs to him, so he bears total responsibility.

When we talk about a religious person, we do not usually call him (or her) a mekayem mitzvot, one who fulfills the commandments, but rather a shomer mitzvot – someone who guards the mitzvot. Our responsibility is not merely to perform particular actions and avoid others, but rather to be guardians of the Torah as a whole, to exercise alertness and initiative in protecting it. Note that the word pekuda, meaning commandment, is from the same root as pikadon, a bail (deposited object).

But even this responsibility has different levels, which we can relate to the variouslevels of shemira of an object.

A Jew may view himself as a shomer chinam. He recognizes that observing the Torah is incumbent upon him, but doesn’t particularly believe or look forward to any recompense for his acts. Many mitzvot which are lost or stolen from him due to circumstances will seem to him as if they were beyond his ability to fulfill; so many different obstacles appear to him like duress.

When we are aware of the immense reward HaShem prepares for those who zealously keep His commandments, then we will not keep the Torah in a perfunctory way; rather we will exercise much more initiative. We will be constantly on the lookout for circumstances which might prevent us from fulfilling the Torah, and thinking of ways to overcome any possible obstacles. Then we are like a shomer sakhar.

The highest level is when we recognize that the Torah in a sense belongs to us. HaShem does not need this precious deposit, rather He gave it to us for our own benefit. “What does HaShem your G-d ask of you besides to fear HaShem your G-d, to go in all of His ways, and to love Him and to serve HaShem your G-d with all your heart and with all your soul; to guard HaShem’s commandments and His laws which I command you today, for your own good.” (Devarim 10:12-13 as explained in introduction to Chafetz Chaim)

When we are imbued with the consciousness that the Torah was given to the Jewish people for our safekeeping and for our benefit, that “kol hahanaa shelanu”, then we will exercise the highest degree of care. Just as all of the benefit of keeping Torah is ours, so is all of the responsibility. At this level, we will stop seeking excuses for our omissions and exercise foresight to overcome any possible obstacles to Torah observance.

Rabbi Meir is in the process of writing a monumental companion to Kitzur Shulchan Aruch which beautifully presents the meanings in our mitzvot and halacha. He is also directing the Jewish Business Response Forum at the Center for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility, Jerusalem College of Technology - Machon Lev. The forum aims to help business people run their firms according to Torah, by obtaining prompt, relevant responses to their questions.