Vayischanan - The Three Areas of Human Acitivity
"You shall love Hashem, your G-d, with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your might." Deuteronomy 6:5
Just
before the evening prayers at the start of Shabbos, we read a section
from Mishnah Shabbos having to do with the requirements of lighting the
Shabbos candles. In that section, we read that women can have
problems in childbirth for three things: for not being careful in the
areas of niddah (marital relations), setting aside a ritual portion of
dough while baking bread, and in lighting the Shabbos lamp.
Why
are these three areas mentioned, among all the areas of hallachah that
women are involved in? Perhaps it is because they represent the
three area of human activity that all people are involved in. One
may define these areas as social, economic, and spiritual. Niddah
represents the social area, including our relationships with other
people. Making bread represents the economic realm, involving
those activities we engage in to make money to satisfy our needs for
food,clothing, and shelter. And the Shabbos lamp represents our
spiritual activities, such as our relationship with Hashem.
It is important that we be careful in all three of these spheres.
The
Mishnah then goes on to say that a man must be mindful of three things
in his house on Erev Shabbos: that the food has had its required ritual
separations to be ready to eat, that the 'eruv' is ready to allow
carrying between houses, and that the Shabbos lamp is lit. Again
we see the same three areas delineated. The food represents the
economic area, the eruv signifies the social area (enabling people to
socialize easily on Shabbos), and the Shabbos lamp again represents the
Spiritual realm of life.
We see this focus on being careful in the three areas of life in other places also.
The
Gemmorah in Yuma says that the first Temple was destroyed for three
sins: sexual immorality, spilling of blood, and idol worship. The
sexual immorality represented a breakdown in the social, interpersonal
realm that the holy institution of family is meant to sanctify.
The spilling of blood is the result of war and competition over money
and other physical things. The root of the word 'melchama' (war)
is 'lechem' (bread) because people usually fight to expand and improve
their economic well-being. And idol worship is obviously a
breakdown in people's spiritual health, and represents a deterioration
in their relationship with Hashem.
In fact, it is these three
cardinal sins that we must give up our lives rather than
transgress. A person is allowed to do other sins if their life is
at stake, but not sexual immorality, killing, and idol worship.
We
can also see these three areas discussed in the Shema. The first
paragraph of the Shema states that we must love Hashem with all our
heart (lave), our soul (nefesh),and might (meodecha). It then goes on
to elaborate what these three terms represent. The next sentence says
'And these words which I command you today shall be in your
heart'. This is our relationship with Hashem, just as prayer is
called the activity of our heart. This is our spiritual activity.
Then
the Shema elaborates on the word nefesh. 'You shall teach them
diligently to your children, and you shall speak of them when you are
sitting at home and when you go on a journey.' This is the social
aspect of life, our relationships with people. The experience of having
a living nefesh is something we have in common with others as we
journey with family and friends through life.
And then the Shema
describes what it means by the word 'meodecha': "You shall bind them
for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for frontlets between your
eyes. You shall inscribe them on the doorposts of your house and on
your gates." This represents our activies in economic society with the
work of our hands, as we build houses and cities, and trade and work.
These
three areas in fact form three concentric circles. At the center
is our spiritual life, represented by our heart, and involves a
private, quiet, relationship with Hashem. The next wider circle
is our social relationships with family and friends. And the
outermost circle of our lives is how we work for a living, and are
involved with society at large. The Shema is saying that in all three
spheres, we must dedicate ourselves to doing Hashem's will and showing
our love and dedication to Hashem's commandments.
The second
paragraph of the Shema is like a miniature 'tochacha' (admonishment),
saying what will happen if we don't dedicate ourselves to Hashem in
these three areas of life. It says Hashem will withhold rain, and
as a result life will not be able to going on as it was.
Why
rain? Perhaps it is a form of 'mida canneged mida', measure for
measure. This will happen only if we misuse the liquids that we have
control over in our three aspects of life. We have only to
remember why the first Temple was destroyed. Sexual immorality is the
abuse of liquids in the social area. Spilling of blood speaks for
itself. And one of the key elements in idol worship is called
'nesachim', the spilling of wine or water at the foot of the
idol. So Hashem is saying 'If you misuse and abuse the liquids in
the three spheres of your life, I will withhold the liquid I provide to
you for life, namely rain.'
So we see in many places that we
are encouraged to dedicate ourselves to the principles of Torah in all
three areas of our lives: spiritual, social, and economic.