Applying Halacha to Hashkafa
This is going to be about BAL TOSIF and BAL TIGRA again, but not on a purely halachic level. Instead, let’s see if the spirit of this pair of mitzvot can be applied to the way we think of G-d and Judaism, on a hashkafic level.

But first, a quick review. Adding a rose to the Lulav, Etrog, Hadasim, and Aravot - and taking all 5 species in fulfillment of the mitzva is a gross violation of BAL TOSIF, adding to the Torah. (Interestingly, adding a rose for beauty, with the recognition that the mitzva is performed with the Four Species only, is NOT a violation of BAL TOSIF. We don’t do it, but it would not be a violation.) Taking a lulav, etrog, and hadasim, but no aravot, for the sake of the mitzva is a violation of BAL TIGRA. That’s the easy part.
It is arguable whether the twin prohibitions go further than that, meaning that they apply to improper behavior, action, but don’t necessarily extend to the realm of thought. If a person is meticulous about making brachot, all kinds of brachot, and happens to think of them as commandments from the Torah, is this a violation of the spitrit of BAL TOSIF? (In the same direction, what would we say of a person who considers certain practices as halachic obligations, when, in fact, they are CHUMRAs, stringent measures, but not required. Is this a BAL TOSIF (spirit) issue?

And the opposite. A person who is meticulous in practice about milk & meat issues, but considers most of it to be Rabbinic, except for the cooking of baby goat meat in its own mother’s milk. Or a Jew who accepts as Torah law the prohibition of cooking, but considers the ban on eating that which was cooked as Rabbinic, because the Torah only says LO T’VASHEIL (don’t cook)? And, to stay parallel (but opposite) to the above example, what about a person who considers certain halachic details to be CHUMRAs, when in fact they are part of the essence of halacha? And this includes a person who keeps all the details, but just down-grades they halachic status. Is any of this in violation of BAL TIGRA?

But all of the above was (supposed to be) a quick review.

The direction of thought now is, does the spirit of BAL TOSIF and BAL TIGRA extend into the realms of hashkafa? A person who believes in G-d, and that He created the world, but does not consider Him to be involved in the everyday function of the world - is this a BAL TIGRA kind of outlook? If a person attributes everything to G-d, in negation of the concept that our actions affect what happens to a certain extent - Is this some kind of BAL TOSIF?

We’re not talking about a person who rejects a particular concept of belief. A person who doesn’t believe in Reward and Punishment, for example, is denying an essential of Jewish Belief (assuming everyone agrees that S’char Va’Onesh is a fundamental principle of Judaism). But what of a person who DOES believe in Reward and Punishment, but not in all cases. He believes that there are some actions that we are not accountable for. Bal Tigra-ish?

Hashkafa is generally not as clearly deliniated as Halacha. Does that nullify the suggestion that Bal Tigra and Bal Tosif could apply in spirit to the realm of Hashkafa? Some would say so. But it just makes defining the terms more difficult. Maybe there is a broader gray area, but the concepts can still apply.

This piece will no doubt be frustrating to some readers, because of the questions it raises and its lack of answers. But hopefully, for some it will stimulate thought, questioning, and discussion. And ultimately, it might achieve the goal negated by violators of Bal Tosif or Bal Tigra. And that is a certain clear view of Torat Emet, the True Torah that G-d gave to us as a guide to Jewish Life. Adding or subtracting to the Torah, its Mitzvot, its Concepts will distort our perception of what G-d wants of us.