You Can't Be a Good Jew Unless You're a Mensch!

There’s no mitzvah to ‘be a mensch’

Go into any synagogue library and you’ll find thousands of books on all kinds of Torah topics. One topic on which reams and reams have been written is that of refining one’s character. In Hebrew, this is called avodat hamiddot—working on one’s character traits, and it’s central to our lives.

And yet... nowhere in the Torah are we told that it is a mitzvah to be a mensch!

How can we understand this?

What our Sages say

Rabbi Chaim Vital was an outstanding Torah scholar and Kabbalist and also the main disciple of the Arizal, the holy Ari. In his book, Eitz Chaim, he writes

“... the good and bad character traits of the [elemental] soul are the throne, foundation, and root of the higher intellectual soul upon which the 613 commandments depend. This is why character traits are not included among the 613 commandments. However, [refining these traits is] essential preparation for fulfilling ... the 613 commandments, since the intellectual soul can only fulfill the commandments through the 613 parts of the body via the elemental soul that is connected to the body itself...

“Therefore, bad character traits are much worse than the transgressions themselves...

“Now we can understand what [the Talmudic] Sages said (Shabbat 105b): ‘A person who becomes angry is like someone who worships idols, which is equivalent to all 613 commandments.’ And they also said (Sotah 5a) that being arrogant is like denying the fundamental principles of faith ... and that such a person will not rise at the resurrection of the dead...

“Now you can also understand the astonishing statements our Sages made about character traits: that having humility ... leads to divine inspiration and causes the Divine Presence to rest upon a person. And [the prophet] Elijah said that the Torah can only be correctly interpreted by someone who is not irritable...

“And the Sages also said: ‘Who is destined for the World to Come? Those who are humble and modest... They didn't mention fulfillment of commandments but rather good character traits!”

The upper soul and the lower soul

This explanation can only be fully appreciated if we understand how the body and soul operate. In fact, using the term “soul” is a little misleading, because the soul is made up of several different parts.

The lower (elemental) soul is intimately connected to the body and animates it (in a similar way to the soul animals have). The higher (intellectual) soul is connected to the spiritual worlds.

The lower soul is connected to the personality and character traits; the intellectual soul connects us to Torah and the higher realms, including the mitzvot (commandments). Without this higher soul, no one can achieve true spiritual understanding. However, without the lower soul, one cannot exist at all and one can certainly not ascend to higher levels, which rest upon the lower levels.

Spiritual connection depends on having a refined character

So, why does the Torah not specifically cite “character trait refinement” as a mitzvah? Rabbi Chaim Vital explains that this is because one’s character traits are in the realm of the lower soul whereas the Torah is in the upper soul’s realm.

To recap:

• Without the lower soul, which is connected to the physical body, one cannot achieve spiritual understanding.
• Without a firm base of refined character traits, one cannot connect to the Torah at all!

“This is why character traits are not included among the 613 commandments. However, [refining these traits is] essential preparation for fulfilling ... the 613 commandments."

 

No Torah without character refinement!

Now let’s give some practical examples. Rabbi Shlomo Wolbe quotes the Midrash:

“... on Shabbat, the Jews rise early and come to the synagogue and recite the Shema and lead the prayers and read from the Torah and the Haftarah from the Prophets, and Hashem says to them: My children ... take care not to hate one another, not to envy one another, not to quarrel with one another, and not to embarrass one another, so that the angels will not say: Master of the Universe, You gave the Torah to the Jewish People but they are not practicing it! There is animosity, envy, hatred, and competition between them [whereas the Torah states:] you shall fulfill it in peace!”

And Rabbi Wolbe concludes:

“... if there are bad character traits among those who study Torah, they are not considered to be learning Torah at all! ... When people study the Torah, they must refine their character traits and be at peace with their fellow Jews.”

Torah observance is only hard if...

Living according to the Torah is hard, goes the accepted wisdom—not just for people new to Torah observance, who can feel overwhelmed by the mitzvot, but also for those who were born into observant families.

Rabbi Chaim Vital disagrees.

He states clearly that once the foundations are firm, Torah observance comes naturally, even easily. And what are those foundations? Refined character traits.

“Keep these things at the forefront of your mind and you will certainly succeed in life ... because one needs to be more concerned about bad character traits than about fulfilling the mitzvot, because, when a person has good character traits, he will find it easy to fulfill all the commandments.”