5783/2023
While brief, Devarim 18:13’s teaching of Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha yields many rich interpretations with many significant contemporary applications. The primary question is how to interpret the word Tamim.
Approach #1 - Onkelos and Chizkuni
Onkelos translates Tamim as ”Shelim,” complete, or fully devoted to Hashem. Chizkuni explains that the Shomronim (Samaritans) exemplify failure to observe this Mitzvah. We first hear about this group (whom Chazal call Kutim) in Sefer Melachim II Perek 17, when the Assyrians resettled them in Northern Israel. These people were not fully devoted to Hashem even after their conversion to Judaism. Instead, they served Hashem and other gods and exhibited the behavior our Pasuk teaches us to avoid.
A shocking modern-day example of such drastic inconsistency appeared in a blog published by the Times of Israel. The writer presented his view of Modern Orthodoxy. He described it as, “I keep kosher, but when I'm in a rush at work, I'll grab a non-kosher snack. I observe Shabbat, but I'll miss Mincha.” The author is a modern-day version of the Shomronim.
Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha teaches that a Jew must be “all-in.” A spouse would reject a partner who is not fully invested in the marriage. Likewise, we would never tolerate an employee who is not fully devoted to his job. Even a coach in any sport would not accept a player’s intermittent commitment to his team. Hashem similarly rightly rejects anything less than a full commitment.
Approach #2 - Rashi
Rashi summons us to look at the broader context, the Davar HaLamed MeiInyano. The context is admonitions to avoid involvement with Ov, Yidoni, Kishuf, Onein, and Nichush. These are all magicians/witches who claim to reveal the future.
Rashi explains that instead of consulting such people, we should “fully walk with Hashem and rely on Hashem instead of searching for the future. We are bidden to accept from Hashem whatever occurs to us wholeheartedly.” For Rashi, Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha is the opposite of forbidden magic and witchcraft.
It is natural for us to feel insecure about our future, and it is tempting to seek illicit means to ease our anxiety. However, Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha soothes our anxiety by telling us to trust Hashem. Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik explains that “fear of Hashem eliminates all other fears and anxieties.”
Interestingly, Rav Moshe Feinstein (Teshuvot Igrot Moshe Even HaEzer 4:10) was asked if Rashi’s approach applies to genetic testing to determine if one is a carrier for a congenital disease before finding a Shidduch. Rav Feinstein responded that it does not apply because genetic testing does not predict the future; it reveals what already exists.
Approach #3 - Ramban
Ramban adds that we should avoid sorcerers and the like and ignore their predictions if we mistakenly hear their insights. Ramban explains that since all is from Hashem, we can overcome negative predictions with His help.
Shaul HaMelech
Interestingly, Shaul HaMelech and Tom Brady demonstrate the importance of rejecting predictions made by so-called experts.
Shaul HaMelech (Shmuel I Perek 28) visited a Baalat Ov who told him he would lose his forthcoming battle with the Peslishtim. Shaul Hamelech proceeded to lose miserably to them.
However, an interesting story about Orde Wingate sheds great light on Shaul’s defeat. Wingate was a brilliant military tactician who served as an officer in the British army and was an ardent Christian Zionist who devoted great attention to the Jewish Bible. During the mid-1930s, he was stationed in Eretz Yisrael, where he imparted much of his fighting technique to the Haganah (the Jewish defense organization in Eretz Yisrael at the time). The following occurred during that time:
On top of the Gilboa, looking down on the beautiful patchwork of Jewish cultivated fields and fishponds in the valley below, Wingate suddenly shouted, “Saul was a fool!” “Saul, who?” asked his Jewish companion. “Why King Saul obviously,” replied Wingate, “he could have defeated the Philistines when he had his small mobile force behind his enemy the night before the battle, which would end the next day with the ignominious defeat of the Israelites, and the death of Saul and his sons in a disastrous frontal attack.” (The Times of Israel)
Shaul HaMelech was an enormously brilliant fighter, as recounted in Shmuel I Perek 14. He could have easily won at Har Gilboa as well. Why did he lose? He failed since he bought into the prediction he would lose! The forecast unnecessarily destroyed him. An “expert” told him he was going to die, so he thought he would die, which led him to his death and our nation to a miserable defeat!
Tom Brady was a sixth-round draft pick in the 2000 National Football League draft. The “experts” predicted he would be, at most, a reserve player.
Nevertheless, Brady defied the predictions and became arguably the best quarterback ever. Brady ignored the negative forecasts and overcame them!
In a far more serious matter, a woman in the Teaneck community was diagnosed with highly advanced uterine cancer. She told her rabbi that her doctor told her that only five percent of patients with this diagnosis live for even five years. Her rabbi told her, in turn, that she should be one of the five percent. Baruch Hashem, she enjoyed five more full years of life with her children and grandchildren. Even expert prediction has limited value.
Approach #4 - Chassidic Approaches
The Chassidic masters had much to say about this Pasuk. Here are two shining examples.
The Sefat Emet develops a new approach to the Pasuk – we are Tamim, whole and complete human beings, only if we are Im Hashem Elokecha, incorporate Hashem in our lives. A person without Hashem will not know happiness. Indeed, Tehillim 105:3 describes the joy of those who seek Hashem, “Yismach Leiv Mevakshei Hashem.”
For Rabi Nachman of Bratzlav, Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha is a monumentally important Mitzvah. Rabi Nachman vigorously espoused Emunah Temimah, pure and simple faith in Hashem. Children do not often ask for DNA evidence for their mother’s identity; they love their mother purely and simply. Rabi Nachman argues that we must love Hashem in the same pure and simple way - Tamim Tihiyeh Im Hashem Elokecha, with Tamim meaning simple and pure.
Conclusion - Hashem’s Extraordinarily Rich Torah
How remarkable is Hashem’s extraordinarily rich Torah! A five-word Torah exhortation yields layers of beautiful and meaningful instruction. The many approaches to our Pasuk are not necessarily in conflict. Each reveals another magnificent aspect of Hashem’s intention in this Pasuk. Mah Ahavti Toratecha; how do I love Hashem’s Torah with its infinite meaning!