"And it will come to pass, if you will obey diligently the voice of the Lord your God, to observe to do all of His commandments which I command you this day, and the Lord your God will set you on high, above all the nations of the land." (Devarim 28.11) Rabbi Shimon ben Halaftah said: "Anyone who studies Torah but does not keep it, his punishment is greater than one who never studied Torah at all. To what is this comparable? To a King who had an orchard and sent to it two sharecroppers. One would plant trees and them down and the other would nor plant and nit cut. With whom would the king be more angry? With the one who planted trees and then cut them down. So, too, someone who studies the Torah and does not keep it, his punishment is greater than one who never studied at all." (Devari Rabbah)
Although the Torah commandments are directed to the entire Jewish people, there are those who separate themselves under their self definition as secular Jews. For these people any attempt to reinforce the Jewish character of the State or to anchor Jewish principles in legislation is regarded as religious coercion. And any lapse in moral behavior by an observant Jew is greeted with headlines declaring in bold letters that the accused is a religious Jew. We sometimes wonder what is behind the vulnerability of the observant Jew to this form of social scrutiny.
The words of the Midrash give us a clue to understanding this phenomenon. When a king sends two workers to tend to his orchard, he expects them both to perform equally. The one who stands idle draws the King's wrath for his disobedience and passivity. But the king is even more enraged at the one who follows his instructions and plants trees and then destroys them. His transgression, and his subsequent punishment, are greater than those of the one who simply remained idle all along.
The obligation of the observant Jew goes beyond learning Torah, fulfilling the mitzvot, and planting God's orchard. The observant Jew must take added caution not to falter in his actions and never to uproot what has been planted, for if he does, the damage he causes will be especially great. If we take diligent care in the way we observe and represent Torah life, we are promised that "... the Lord you r God will set you on high, above all the nations of the land."
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definition as secular Jews. For these people any attempt to reinforce the Jewish character of the State or to anchor Jewish principles in legislation is regarded as religious coercion. And any lapse in moral behavior by an observant Jew is greeted with headlines declaring in bold letters that the accused is a religious Jew. We sometimes wonder what is behind the vulnerability of the observant Jew to this form of social scrutiny.
