Parshas Shoftim (5785) - "Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha"

00:00 I once heard a chossid, Reb Mottel Kozliner, a"h, tell a story about one of the Frierdiker Rebbe’s farbrengens, back when he was still in Russia. In the middle of the farbrengen, the Frierdiker Rebbe asked for all the students, the yeshiva boys, to be called over. The boys were at the farbrengen, and he asked them all to stand before him in a semicircle, because he wanted to speak to them. He asked Reb Chatche Feigin, the well-known chossid who was the mashpia at the time, to give them mashke so they could say l’chaim. After all that, and after they had gone through matters concerning the yeshiva, he asked that they be given l’chaim. Then the Rebbe called out, “Temimim!” and rose from his place. Later in the farbrengen, he spoke about other matters but said nothing more to the boys. After a while, the boys wanted to know what came next. Finally, the Frierdiker Rebbe said that he had not wanted to say anything more. He did not want to say more than the word “Temimim,” because that was the name his father had given them. As is known, when the Rebbe Rashab founded Tomchei Temimim on 15 Elul 5657, and on Simchas Torah 5659,

01:55 the Rebbe Rashab said that the yeshiva would be called Tomchei Temimim, and the students who learned there and lived by its spirit would be called Temimim. So the father gave the name; and a name, as the Baal Shem Tov says, is the life-force, the essence—everything is contained in the name. Therefore, when he said “Temimim,” he wanted to awaken their qualities, their essential powers, the hidden powers within them, so that they would emerge from concealment into revelation. In our parsha, we find the well-known verse: “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d.” The Torah says that a person must be wholehearted with Hashem his G-d. What does that mean? There are a number of explanations of this verse. What does “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d” mean? Among the commentators on the verse, we find that, generally speaking, most explain the word “tamim” to mean wholeness: to be complete. That is how most commentators understand it. As it says of Noach, and in other places where the Torah uses the word “tamim”: “a righteous man, wholehearted in his generations.” It means wholeheartedness and completeness. For example, the Ramban says that this wholeheartedness and completeness relate to the matters listed in the parsha. These words come

03:30 after what was said earlier: that one must not consult all those diviners and sorcerers and the like, asking them about things in ways that are not in accordance with Torah. A Jew should turn only to Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself, or to the prophets who convey His word. In the Ramban’s view, this is the meaning of “tamim”: a person must be complete in this respect. Whatever he needs to know or ask, he should ask only Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His people, the prophets, and not others who do not follow His path. That is completeness in the matters listed in the parsha. Other commentators go further and say that wholeheartedness applies to all matters in general. “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d”—one must serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu wholeheartedly and completely in all 613 mitzvos. That is the idea of “tamim,” a word sometimes understood to mean someone without any blemish: he must be completely whole in all 613 mitzvos, in his 248 limbs and 365 sinews. And this, seemingly, is the Rambam’s position, as indicated by the fact that he did not count “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d” as a mitzvah. Regarding the counting of the mitzvos in Sefer Hamitzvos, there is a disagreement between the Rambam and the Ramban. In Sefer Hamitzvos, the Rambam brings us

05:04 the verse “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d” as one of the 613 mitzvos. And the Ramban, in his objections to Sefer Hamitzvos, addresses this and says that it is a mitzvah. The mitzvah is “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d”: a person must be wholehearted in his faith in Hakadosh Boruch Hu alone. He must not seek or wish to find out about the future from any of those discussed in the verses, but only from Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself—“with Hashem your G-d.” This is a positive mitzvah connected with all the prohibitions mentioned in these verses: not to turn to soothsayers, sorcerers, and the like. Alongside those prohibitions comes the positive command, “You shall be wholehearted.” In all these matters, one must trust only Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself and ask only Him to tell us what we need to know. One may also ask His people, the prophets, as we see later in the verses: “A prophet from among you.” That is how the Ramban explains it. But the Rambam does not hold this way. As the Rebbe explains in a sicha, the Rambam’s position, as emerges from his book, the Mishneh Torah, in the laws of [unclear], is that “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d” is not connected only to the matters discussed in these verses, but is a general principle. That is, this is what the Ramban holds—the Rambam, sorry, holds—and the Ramban himself

06:27 says that perhaps the reason the Rambam did not write about this verse is that he considers it a general mitzvah. And we see in the Rambam, in Hilchos Teshuvah, that the Rambam says the mitzvah “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d” is a general mitzvah. It is a matter of [unclear], and they do not know more than Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and they act in all matters—meaning, he is not speaking only about the specific matters the parsha deals with. Rather, as the Rambam explains “You shall be wholehearted,” a person should be complete in everything. Yes, in all 613 mitzvos and in all matters, serving Hashem completely, without needing to turn to all those other things. It follows that according to both explanations, “tamim” means completeness. The only difference is that according to the Ramban, it means completeness in the matter under discussion here: not wanting to find things out from those who deal with the stars and constellations, but asking only Hakadosh Boruch Hu Himself. According to the Rambam, “You shall be wholehearted” means completeness in all 613 mitzvos, in all aspects of [unclear] in serving Hashem. Rashi, however, on the face of it, explains “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d” this way: “Walk with Him in wholeheartedness and do not inquire into the future.” In other words, Rashi has an entirely different explanation of the word “tamim.” Rashi does not explain it to mean completeness, but rather as it says of

07:57 our forefather Yaakov: “Yaakov was a tam man.” There, Rashi says that “Yaakov was a tam man” means “someone who is not clever at deceiving.” In other words, “tam” here means a person who does not deceive, devise schemes, or play tricks. He does not try to outsmart anyone. He is straightforward, someone who goes about everything earnestly and with wholehearted sincerity, with devotion and without any scheming. “Walk with Him in wholeheartedness and do not inquire into the future.” In particular, Rashi’s words are entirely different from the Ramban’s. The Ramban does not say, “Do not inquire.” On the contrary, sometimes one may seek answers—just not from all those others. One should not turn to sorcerers, soothsayers, diviners, and the like, but to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and His prophets. According to Rashi, though, it is “do not inquire into the future” at all. That is, walk with wholehearted sincerity, serve Hakadosh Boruch Hu, and do not ask what will happen or how it will happen. Do not search for secrets, wanting to know what will happen and when. One should simply devote oneself entirely to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and not seek to know anything about [unclear]. Yes, know only what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants of him and serve Him; and whatever Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives him, always be [unclear], in every circumstance. Rashi’s words suggest that “do not inquire into the future” may apply even to asking a prophet: do not ask about secrets at all. Be entirely devoted, with wholehearted sincerity, to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and to what

09:30 Hakadosh Boruch Hu gives him, and accept it with love and joy. This is included in accepting suffering with love. Here, too, there is an element of wholeheartedness. As the Tzemach Tzedek explains, based on the Midrash—the Midrash on Psalm 101, which says, “Of kindness and judgment I will sing to You,” and uses the phrase “I will walk in the way of the wholehearted.” The Midrash says there that the virtue of Jews is that whether Hakadosh Boruch Hu treats them with kindness or treats them with judgment, Heaven forbid—that is, whether it is revealed kindness or a state of concealed kindness—in every circumstance, a Jew is always “wholehearted with Hashem your G-d.” He always acts with wholehearted sincerity: “I will walk in the way of the wholehearted.” He accepts everything with wholehearted sincerity, without any questions, and “does not inquire into the future.” Rashi continues in his explanation of “with Hashem your G-d,” which is also part of the message: through “You shall be wholehearted,” “then you will be with Him and belong to His portion.” Hakadosh Boruch Hu promises that when a Jew devotes himself to Him with wholehearted sincerity, Hakadosh Boruch Hu is with him and he belongs to His portion. He will be with him, and more than that—it also brings him revealed good, so that things will be good in a visible and manifest way. In any case, it follows from this that according to Rashi’s approach, we must say that Rashi, too, holds that

11:03 This is a positive mitzvah in its own right. Not as the Ramban explains the mitzvah, but yes, it is a mitzvah in its own right. In other words, Rashi holds that the verse is speaking about the matters it addresses here, as a specific mitzvah. The specific mitzvah written here is that a Jew must “be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d” and “not inquire into the future.” He must proceed with wholeheartedness, dedication, integrity, and earnestness, devoting himself to Hakadosh Boruch Hu and to what Hakadosh Boruch Hu wants, without investigating what will happen tomorrow or the day after, or how circumstances might change then. He is wholeheartedly devoted to Hakadosh Boruch Hu. According to Rashi, this is a positive mitzvah in its own right. In any case, to sum up, there are two general explanations of the word “tamim”: tamim in the sense of completeness, or tamim in the sense of “walk with Him wholeheartedly”—devotion without investigations or schemes. More specifically, we find three meanings of “tamim.” There is another meaning, found in connection with offerings. When the Torah uses the word “tamim” for offerings, it means that the offering must be tamim. This does not mean only that it must have no blemish, but more than that: as the Rambam states in the laws, “tamim” means choice. So when

12:39 one brings an offering to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, it must be tamim. In Parshas Emor, and in several other places where the Torah speaks of this quality, “tamim” means that the offerings must be choice. It is not only that an offering may have no blemish—all the laws of blemishes, all the details of what makes an offering blemished, are set out in the Mishnah and in halachah—but more than that: the offering must be choice, such as a well-fed animal, [unclear], and the other qualities mentioned in halachah. This is what tamim means. Similarly, we find the expression “a complete year,” which the Gemara says means “to include the leap month.” In other words, completeness does not mean just an ordinary, full year. When we say “a complete year,” we mean that if it is a leap year, it includes all thirteen months. The halachah discusses rentals and acquisitions: according to some opinions, if a rental is made for “a complete year,” it includes the leap month as well. For tamimus is more than completeness: it is something complete that also has an added excellence, something choice. To sum up, there are three levels, three explanations of tamim: tamim in the sense of completeness, tamim in the sense of added excellence, and tamim in the sense of walking with wholeheartedness—the quality of

14:07 wholeheartedness and devotion. Chassidus explains that all three are included when we say that a Jew must be tamim, that a Jew must walk with wholeheartedness. We find this with Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, the three forefathers. Hakadosh Boruch Hu told Avraham, “Walk before Me and be tamim.” Yitzchak is described as an unblemished offering. And of Yaakov it says, “a wholehearted man.” The forefathers possessed this quality of tamimus, and they passed it down as an inheritance to all of us, to all Jews, their descendants. A Jew’s avodah must be in the manner of “Be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d,” and all three aspects are connected to this. On the one hand, a Jew is expected to have tamimus and completeness, as we discussed earlier: to be complete in the 613 mitzvos, complete in faith. According to the Ramban, this means completeness in matters of faith; according to the Rambam, it means completeness in all 613 mitzvos. Just as there are 248 limbs and 365 sinews, corresponding to the 613 mitzvos, so there must be completeness in him. Beyond that, we say something more: he must be tamim to an exceptional degree. Not merely complete, and not merely doing what the law requires of him. A Jew must demand of himself that he fulfill mitzvos with added excellence and go beyond the letter of the law. To be tamim means to act with added excellence: in every matter, to look for a way to do things with greater excellence and greater devotion, and to do

15:40 things in an exceptional way—an exceptional way, yes, [unclear], with completeness. Then there is a third aspect of tamimus: to devote oneself and rely entirely on Hakadosh Boruch Hu. This leads to an avodah in which a person is not shaken by all the changes he frequently encounters [unclear]. Yes, this is the quality of tamimus in avodah. Yes, being “tamim in one’s deeds” is discussed at length in maamarim of Chassidus. Yes, it means that when a child [unclear], the way he goes remains with him forever, and it encompasses him completely. That is being “tamim in one’s deeds.” It means that tamimus reaches every area, every single thing. He does not make calculations, seek clever ways around things, or look for leniencies and the like. Changes of time and place do not change him, and he is not shaken by the confusion, concealments, and obstacles, or by anything around him that might try to [unclear]. He is always devoted to Hakadosh Boruch Hu with wholeheartedness. The Rebbe quotes several times in Hayom Yom the expression that tamim means earnest. “Be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d.” And concerning teshuvah, the Rebbe cites in Hayom Yom Reb Zusha of Anipoli’s explanation of the word

17:11 teshuvah: teshuvah has five letters—tav, shin, vav, beis, hei—and each letter points to another aspect of serving Hashem. The first letter of teshuvah is tav, for “Be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d.” Shin stands for “I have set Hashem before me always.” Vav stands for “Love your fellow as yourself.” Beis stands for “Know Him in all your ways.” And hei stands for “Walk humbly with Hashem your G-d.” “Walk humbly with your G-d.” But he begins with the first movement of teshuvah, which he explains as “Be wholehearted with Hashem your G-d.” Tamim means earnest; and earnest means devotion, bittul, and wholeheartedness—not trying to be clever, not questioning everything. “You found his heart faithful before You.” This faithfulness, this wholeheartedness, this devotion, is what makes us Temimim. The Rebbe once spoke in a sicha about how the three aspects of tamimus correspond to the three forefathers. With Avraham, the main aspect of tamimus was completeness: he rejected every form of idol worship, and his service of Hashem was complete. Yitzchak was an unblemished offering, and here we already have the aspect of added excellence: he did not leave the Land of Israel, and he had a higher level of holiness. That is the aspect of added excellence. And with Yaakov—“a wholehearted man, dwelling in tents”—wherever he went and wherever he was, with Lavan and with Esav and through everything he experienced, he always stood with

18:37 wholeheartedness. He followed Him wholeheartedly; he walked with Hakadosh Boruch Hu faithfully, wholeheartedly, and with devotion. Of course, all the forefathers had all these qualities. Nevertheless, each one particularly emphasized one of them. When the Rebbe Rashab founded Tomchei Temimim, he gave the students the name “Temimim.” He demanded all three qualities of the Temimim and gave them the strength to attain them: that each one be tamim in completeness and also tamim with added excellence. But the main thing, as explained in the maamarim and sichos, is what was demanded of the Temimim of Tomchei Temimim, [unclear]. Devotion, earnestness, bittul, setting oneself aside—a Tamim is expected to be always devoted to Hakadosh Boruch Hu, without clever evasions or arguments, and not to look for a way out of anything. To be completely devoted, with the utmost wholeheartedness. And through serving Hashem in the manner of “Be wholehearted,” the Torah promises us that when there is “Be wholehearted,” then there is “with Hashem your G-d.” When Jews fulfill “Be wholehearted,” with every aspect of tamimus it includes, then they are “with Hashem your G-d”—we are together with Hakadosh Boruch Hu, Hashem is his portion and inheritance, and we merit all the things written in the parsha, as the Torah tells us: [unclear].

20:06 And Hakadosh Boruch Hu will give us everything He promises in the parsha, with all the blessings and all the promises, and may we merit the complete Geulah immediately, very soon. And may each person stand in utter completeness and wholeheartedness. Yes, and may we, as a complete people, with all the [unclear], with all our strength, merit a good inscription and sealing, a good and sweet year, and the complete Geulah immediately, right now. Amen.