Parashat Vaethanan- Making a Small Hole in the Fence
The Torah warns in Parashat Vaethanan, "Do not add onto that which I command you, and do not detract from it…" (4:2). This command forbids us from adding to or detracting from the Torah. The Torah consists of 613 Misvot, no more and no less, and it is strictly forbidden to impose changes onto the Torah by adding a new command or by annulling an existing command. There is no such thing as "improving" the Torah. Even if a person enjoys foods flavored with cinnamon, if he adds cinnamon to a recipe that does not call for it, he can ruin the dish. And the same is true about removing a necessary ingredient. Similarly, even if we think we have a good idea for changing the Torah, the result is something completely different, to the point where it simply is not a Torah at all.
Interestingly, after presenting this warning, the Torah then makes mention of the sin of Ba’al Pe’or, when the people became involved with the women of Moab and worshipped the god of Moab: "Your eyes saw what God did at [the incident of] Ba’al Pe’or, that every man who followed Ba’al Pe’or – God destroyed him from your midst" (4:3). The obvious question arises, what is the connection between the prohibition against adding or taking away Misvot, and the incident of Ba’al Pe’or?
The Rabbis teach that the sin of Ba’al Pe’or began when the young women of Moab set up markets near Beneh Yisrael’s camp. God had warned the people to distance themselves from the surrounding nations, and not to become involved with them, but the people nevertheless started visiting the Moabites’ shops. Gradually, the women of Moab began enticing the men of Beneh Yisrael, ultimately leading to immorality, idolatry, and, eventually, a divine plague that left 24,000 people dead.
The tragedy of Ba’al Pe’or demonstrates most clearly the dangers of slight, seemingly innocuous infractions. The people innocently felt that there would be no harm done in shopping in Moab’s markets. Although they were told to stay away, they felt justified in doing something so innocent as window-shopping. Unfortunately, they failed to realize that slight deviations from law and tradition can result in complete disregard for the Torah. The Torah may be compared in this regard to a fence, guarding us from negative influences. Once a fence has a small hole, it no longer serves its purpose. A fence with a hole is not a fence. Unless the hole is immediately fixed, it will gradually grow larger, until anyone and anything can enter the closed-off area. Similarly, once we make a small hole in tradition, we have no tradition. Even if we add more laws and prohibitions that our ancestors never observed, we have made a hole in the fence, we have transformed the Torah into something completely new, and our commitment to tradition is shaken to its very foundations.
I vividly recall as a young boy hearing Hacham Baruch Ben Haim speak repeatedly about the importance of following the customs and traditions of our parents, grandparents and great-grandparents. At the time, I found it strange that he would repeat this exhortation time and time again. But as I grew older and studied more, I realized why the Hacham dwelled so heavily on this point. Once we deviate from our traditions, even slightly, and even with inherently innocent measures, we no longer have a tradition, we are no longer committed to our ancient religious teachings. We must therefore constantly reaffirm our commitment to following our laws, traditions and customs down to the last letter, thereby ensuring that the "fence" remains complete and that we remain unwaveringly devoted to our sacred Torah.
