Why Is Believing in the Heart Not Enough?

Orit asks: "Hello. I am 16 years old and I have a few questions: Why are there so many laws? Why is it not enough just to believe in the heart? After all, there are good people in the world with good hearts; is that not enough? Thank you."

Hello and blessings, Orit, and thank you for your questions.

The proper perspective on the Torah is that it is a gift from the heavens: "It is a tree of life to those who grasp it, and those who uphold it are happy" (Proverbs 3:18). Thanks to it, we have a better life in this world and eternal life in the world to come.

Hashem gave us the Torah because He, blessed be He, loves us and wants good for us: "To keep the commandments of Hashem and His statutes, which I command you today for your good" (Deuteronomy 10:13).

The simpler an object is, the fewer instructions it requires. There is no doubt that to fly a fighter jet, one must study much more than to operate a calculator (and woe to him who acts against instructions during a flight). By the same logic, we can see that human existence is the most complex reality in the world.

The brain in your head is the wonder of creation; nowhere in the universe was a more sophisticated computer created — your brain currently operates about 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) — a number greater than all the stars in the galaxy, which work in perfect coordination to allow you to see, hear, move, speak, and think. This is not the place to describe all the amazing and complex processes operating in your body. Whoever created all this certainly has very great purposes for you. It is a fact that all these amazing systems are just the external tools given to you in this world so that your soul can operate the body like a driver in a car.

Human reality is very complex, and just as it is not sufficient to set all the traffic laws in a statement like "drive carefully," so it is not sufficient to set all moral and legal laws with the vague statement "be good." We need detailed rules for our lives about the purpose of life, Torah that touches on countless topics — the sanctity of life, laws concerning life and death, eating animals, matrimony and family law, judicial and testimonial law, criminal law, loans and charity, property laws, speech laws, mourning and burial, laws of war, kingship, and more. All these are required due to the complexity of humanity and society, which initially are for peace and camaraderie among people but ultimately aim toward the divine.

Initially, everyone was only commanded with the seven Noahide commandments, the basic principles instilled by Hashem in human intellect. However, these seven commandments only protect us from the gravest harms and do not reveal the positive purpose of creation and closeness to Hashem, a purpose that is expressed in countless aspects affecting our thoughts, speech, and deeds.

A medical student once approached me and said he was studying medicine to develop medications and save lives. I said, "That is undoubtedly a great goal in life, to be a man of kindness, but is it truly the highest peak you can aspire to? Is it not possible that a higher and more important goal exists in life? For example, imagine you traveled in time to the year 7000, where everyone lives in physical and mental redemption, at the height of technology and scientific progress. There are no diseases, and all disabilities have been cured; robots perform all our tasks, there are no more poor or destitute, and all questions in physics and medicine are solved. What would be your goal in life then? Would you sit all day playing games and eating popcorn? Although you chose to live your life today to attain medical and technological comfort for humanity, will you lose all meaning to your life in a world without lack? Note that all the meaning to your life in this world is summed up in the negative, in filling the void, but what is the positive value you aspire to in life?"

I was surprised by the student’s silence, as he had never imagined the possibility of a spiritual goal higher than material life in this world. Finally, he admitted that he truly did not know what he would do with his life.

Certainly, a person can be a believing doctor who studies Torah and performs acts of kindness with others in his scientific research. However, there is an absurdity in a person who thinks life is summed up in medical studies and technological advancements.

However, you are correct in your thinking that everything actually starts with a good heart, as our sages said:

"Go out and see what is the straight path that a person should cling to. Rabbi Eliezer says: A good eye. Rabbi Yehoshua says: A good friend. Rabbi Yosi says: A good neighbor. Rabbi Shimon says: One who foresees what is to be. Rabbi Elazar says: A good heart. He said to them: I see the words of Elazar ben Arach as better than yours, since his words contain your words" (Avot 2:9).

A good heart is the primary foundation from which everything begins.

Hashem chose Avraham Avinu because Avraham was a man of truth and kindness. Moshe Rabbeinu had mercy even on the sheep, and fled Egypt after saving a Jew and tried to make peace by saying to the wicked (Exodus 2:13) "Why do you strike your fellow?" When he fled to the desert, poor and with nothing, Moshe still fought to save women from bullies. Moshe Rabbeinu demanded justice and mercy, and so Hashem chose him. Our sages taught us that the people of Israel are merciful, and this is one of their best traits. Therefore, Hashem desires us. The correct answer to your question is: The Torah is intended for good people! The Torah is a guide for spiritual elevation for good people who want to be righteous!

What is a good person compared to? An unpolished diamond. A diamond is polished so it will shine and sparkle. A Jew has an immense potential to reach sublime spiritual levels, but without the Torah, he cannot reach his spiritual perfection.

Hashem chose the best people to give them the Torah so that they can reach higher and more elevated levels and merit eternal reward in the world to come. A good heart is a great spiritual force to do good. Our sages said in Bereshit Rabbah (44:1): "The commandments were given only to refine people with them," meaning that the commandments were given to polish the souls so that they could achieve their sanctity and the potential inherent within them. Not just to be good, but also to overcome inclinations, to develop the virtues inherent in each of us, and to achieve true and spiritual happiness for eternity.

The highest purpose is to connect with Hashem through love, by engaging in His Torah and commandments: "And you shall love Hashem, your God, with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might." This is the meaning of our lives in this world, and it is greater than life itself.

I am not saying, Heaven forbid, that good people will not receive reward for their good deeds. On the contrary: Our sages said Hashem does not withhold the reward of any creature; even a wicked person enjoys some reward for the few good deeds he did in his life! All the more so a person who is upright and good toward others will receive reward from Hashem for all his good deeds.

However, we must know that these good people could achieve more, much more from the Torah and the commandments, for the Torah is the divine guide for good people. It takes the good potential in a person and elevates it to the level of a righteous and devoted person.

We can see that those who have returned to religious observance were always good people, but since their return, they have done much more in honoring parents, giving charity and kindness to those in need, respecting women, investing in children’s education, and maintaining modesty and purity. They are precise in making their businesses honest and faithful, tithe their money, and strive to withstand trials of anger, pride, jealousy, desire, and more.

Judaism advances a person from any state they might be in, turning a bad person into a good person, and a good person into a righteous and pious person! When we see a good person who is still distant from the commandments, we should think how high they will reach when they come to know their Judaism because "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace" (Proverbs 3:17).