It is commonly claimed that today's world strives to understand everything. People in this era are no longer willing to accept things on blind faith. You need to explain, convince, and provide good reasons.
This approach creates difficulty in accepting the concept of "doing and being heard," which is at the foundation of Judaism.
One of the great praises of the Jewish people is the precept of "Being heard," which is recounted in this week's Torah portion. It turns out that even in ancient times this was an unusual approach.
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The Midrash relates that when the Torah was offered to other nations, they first asked what was written in it, while the people of Israel did not ask questions but declared, "We will do and listen.".
Already in the days of the Talmud, some two thousand years ago, the nations of the world called the Jews a "reckless people," for putting their mouths before their ears.
Is this a reckless approach or does it actually express the special greatness and virtue of the Jewish people?
Degrees of obedience
There are several degrees of blind obedience. When the patient obeys the doctor's instructions and does not first demand that the doctor share with him his seven years of medical school studies – this is not completely blind obedience.
The person logically understands that it is right to obey the doctor's instructions, because he has studied the profession, understands the nature of his illness and the way the medicine works, and the patient cannot wait until he learns all of this himself.
Above that is the trust a soldier places in his commander. When the commander deserves this trust, his soldiers follow him through thick and thin, without asking questions.
This doesn't mean they're robots. Of course they want to know and understand. But in the moment of truth they trust the commander so much that they follow him on every mission, with absolute confidence that he's doing the right thing.
Hasidic doctrine explains that the introduction to "we hear" expresses the nullification of the "willing one.".
When a Jew obeys the Torah's instructions and fulfills a mitzvah, there is a negation of the will of God. The person sets aside his personal desires and wishes and places the will of the Creator above them.
But when the Israelites said, "We will do and be heard," they expressed a much higher nullification – nullification of the Willing One, the Creator Himself.
The declaration "We will do and we will listen" expresses the deep inner connection between a Jew and God. With this statement, the people of Israel expressed their being one with the Creator.
Jews and God are not two separate things, but rather they are glued and united in an inseparably connected way, and therefore the Jew completely surrenders himself to the Creator.
The inner voice
When a Jew is offered to put on tefillin on a street corner, and he doesn't ask questions but rather rolls up his sleeves and fulfills the mitzvah – this is an expression of this connection, which begins with the introduction of the word "nez" to "nez" some three thousand three hundred years ago.
The Jew feels an inner need to connect with God, and if he listens to this inner voice, he simply accepts the offer with joy and fulfills the mitzvah.
Of course, we need to learn and understand. After the "doing" comes the turn of the "listening," in the sense of understanding. It is not enough to simply fulfill the mitzvah, but God Himself wants us to deeply understand the essence of the Torah and the mitzvot and to fulfill them out of inner awareness.
But 'we will do and be heard' is the basis and foundation, and this is the glory of the people of Israel.
