All the many, many details

Question

I understand a number of reasons why the Jewish community keeps so many rules to the level of minutiae. But why SUCH a level of intricacy in some of these laws?

I looked through a large book on the laws of brachos, because this is one aspect of Jewish practice that resonates very loudly to me (I’m in the conversion process). I love that we make these blessings, and that all make them in the same way. But why so much detail about exactly when and how? It’s essentially just a way of blessing God, right, and thanking Him? And these are for the most part rabbinically designed (so I'm not asking why God cares for details; I'm asking about the additional ones that have been instituted by the community).

Would people really go way off the path or out of sync if the blanket rules were simpler, open to a bit of interpretation but still a real and binding idea? It is strange to me to be told you can waste a blessing, or that you should be careful exactly how much you ate or when you pray.

Answer 1

Here's one to start with, on Chabad.org. Key paragraphs:

...the dot [in an e-mail address] is not just a dot. It represents something. That dot has meaning far beyond the pixels on the screen that form it. To me it may seem insignificant, but that is simply due to my ignorance of the ways of the internet. All I know is that with the dot, the message gets to the right destination; without it, the message is lost to oblivion.

Jewish practices have infinite depth. Each nuance and detail contains a world of symbolism. And every dot counts. When they are performed with precision, a spiritual vibration is emailed throughout the universe, all the way to G-d's inbox.

Another point is that we are mistaken if we think of Hashem as a CEO or a president, who needs to be able to focus on the "big picture" rather than getting tangled up in the minutiae that are better delegated to subordinates. Hashem is, as we say in the Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur prayers, השוה ומשוה קטן וגדול - the One to whom small and great are equal, because He is infinitely greater than all of them. So the tiny details of mitzvos are no less part of His purview than the big things - and by our paying attention to those tiny details, we demonstrate our belief in this idea.

Answer 2

This is a great question. With all due respect to the previous valuable answers, I once came across another great answer to this question (I believe from Rabbi Dr. Akiva Tatz).

Torah is the blueprint of the world. Before something is built, a blueprint is designed to record every detail of the future edifice, and then the blueprint is used to direct its construction. So too, the Torah contained the design of the entire creation. When Hashem created the universe, He followed the plan recorded in the Torah. This is what the Zohar (Shemos 161a) means when it writes that Hashem looked into the Torah and created the world. Similarly, Bereishis Rabbah §1:1 states in regards to the creation of the world that the Torah was the tool of Hashem’s craft. Thus, the physical universe is a manifestation of the Torah.

This explains why the Torah is so complex - it parallels the universe's complexity. Crack open any textbook: biology, chemistry, physics, math, psychology, ecology, economics, astronomy etc. The world has a lot of details in it! Given that the Torah was used to create each and every one of those details, it follows that it itself must be very detailed.

A spin-off of this idea is that when we learn or keep the Torah, we affect the entire universe. Have you ever seen a picture of a plane cockpit, or looked at the motherboard and wiring inside a computer? It makes sense that the system of affecting such a complex thing is complex in and of itself.

On a separate note..You might be interested in checking out the archives of beyondbt.com There's lots of discussions about all kinds of issues which might interest you.

Hatzlachah Rabbah (may you have great success)

-Rebbetzin HaQoton

Answer 3

רבי חנניא בן עקשיא אומר, רצה הקדוש ברוך הוא לזכות את ישראל, לפיכך הרבה להם תורה ומצות, שנאמר (ישעיה מב, כא) יקוק חפץ למען צדקו יגדיל תורה ויאדיר.‏
Rabbi Channanya ben 'Akashya said: the Holy One, blessed be He, wanted to give Israel merits, therefore He increased for them the Torah and its commandments, as it says (Isaiah 42:21): The Lord was pleased, for His righteousness' sake, to make the teaching great and glorious.

Mishna, Makkot 3:16

Answer 4

In addition to all of the above (good) answers,

There is an aspect that should be mentioned. Once we understand this, everything else should feel complete.

The Gemara (Brachos 40b) discusses the formula for prayer. Specifically, the topic is thanking G-d for the meal. "Benjamin the shepherd" (a simple Jew) decided to thank G-d by saying "Blessed is the Merciful One, master of this bread."

Then the Gemara asks, what about mentioning G-d's name and kingship? So they adjusted the formula of Benjamin to read: "Blessed is the merciful One, our G-d, King of the world, master of this bread."

So, the Halachah actually says that young children should be taught this until they can fully say the whole official version of Birkat HaMazon (which is obviously longer and more detailed).

Know this for a certainty,

Hashem definitely allows for any person to approach Him on the level they are able, and with as much simplicity as needed.

However, if you are capable of doing more and improving, then Halachah has the true formula for a detailed and fulfilling service. So once everyone is on the right level of maturity, it is correct and proper to do what is best and detailed to fulfill one's obligations in life.

Answer 5

A few reasons, as I've learned them (waves hands vaguely where sources should be :-) ):

1. We're doing this for God, whom we love and want desperately to please. Shouldn't we do the best we can to act in a way that pleases God?

2. God gave us a system of laws -- not just the written torah but the oral torah, which includes the rules for deriving laws for situations not explicitly covered in the written torah. This system describes what God wants from us; if it includes a lot of detail, that detail must be important.

3. Sometimes there is more beauty/fulfillment/satisfaction/encouragement-to-continue in doing a precise thing correctly, as opposed to just making something up. When I have performed a mitzvah to the best of my ability and knowledge, I feel a certain something that I don't feel when I'm just riffing, guessing about what to do. This is hard to explain, I'm afraid.

Answer 6

1) When we do Mitzvos for H', it is not because H' needs our mitzvos. It is because H' wants us to make a relationship with Him and He knows the best way for that to happen.

On a person's 25th anniversary, would they rather a bouquet of roses or, a cake just like the one they ordered on their first date with flowers that are the same color of the tie he was wearing when they met. Obviously, (although a little bit cheesy), the second choice is preferable.When you're working on a relationship, the MOST important aspect is remembering the details!

2) If you work really hard on a dress for someone - fix the hem, dye it for anew color, sew thirteen flowers on it, each exactly two inches apart, etc. and you work on it for three weeks, how will you feel if they say: "thanks for the dress." Um, that's nice but do you see how the flowers match the dress perfectly? Did you notice that I fixed the zipper? Do you REALIZE how much work went into this?

The same applies to H' - When we put a seed in the ground, H' makes it rot and then grow, makes the water seep into the seed causing growth, makes a plant come out of the ground, makes it grow wheat, the wheat is threshed, we grind it into flour, we combine the ingredients for bread, we knead and bake until finally you are sitting with a peanut butter sandwich. How would H' feel if we said "thanks" and then took a bite. Um, do you even realize what just happened? Each food has its own bracha because H' wants us to think about it and to show we really know what we are eating/ THe ochel vs. the pesoles, what are we eating it for.... all these details ARE really necessary - to properly thank H'!

Answer 7

To add to the others:

When we prepare food we make sure it has the right ingredients and the correct quantity (imagine exchanging the sugar content in a cake with the amount meant for salt even though they look the same) - the same meticulousness should apply to the Berocha.

Answer 8

I woudl say simply from the verse in Devarim 8:16

המאכילך מן במדבר, אשר לא-ידעון אבותיך: למען ענותך, ולמען נסותך--להיטיבך, באחריתך

which means God starved you in the desert, in order to test you.

So too all these myriad details in halacha are in order to test each person and see the extent of his dedication to God's commandments. This is what God wants as written in Isaiah 66:2:

For all those things has my hand made, and all those things have been, says the LORD: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembles at my word.

i.e. obeys meticulously His torah.

Answer 9

It is not that G-d cares or need to see people doing small mitzvot. Rather, by preforming these small seemingly irrelevant mitzvot, we are showing our dedication to G-d. If a person decorating a cake adds all the small details that will please his wife he is doing so to show affection. Thus, when we care about the small details, we are telling G-d that we care and love Him.

Answer 10

This was my big question a while ago and figuring out the answer took me to a much higher place in my own Yiddishkeit - so therefore I feel it is a very important question. It is also one that one has to find through a personal search, so that they feel that they have acquired the answer themselves, the answer that speaks to their soul. So here are a couple of points that can aid in that search for some people:

The first answer I found was when listening to Rabbi Lawrence Keleman¹. His example is between a husband and wife. His experience is that love is expressed between husband and wife in the details. It's all well and good to have grand romantic notions and gestures, but this is not what makes up the bulk of love between people. Love has to be in the every day as well, and loving couples are always doing many little things throughout the day for eachother.

Chassidus takes this to a deeper level (and this is not just limited to Chassidus of course, although Chassidus, especially Chabad and Breslov, make this topic their speciality²) and explains that we are not doing this for ourselves, we are doing it for Hashem, who cares about us infinitely. Therefore, every little thing we do matters to Him, and His great gift to us was giving a Torah, which is nothing but a long list of how to do everything His way. He created life itself, and had in mind His way that life should go to be in sync with His preferences, and therefore every last detail is covered. By doing it, as per Rabbi Keleman, we express our love for Him, as well as benefit ourselves from following the blueprints of life.

---

^{1 - I believe it was either this or this shiur.
2 - See this shiur for example.}