Mitzvos transform the one who keeps them

במדרש מגיד דבריו ליעקב חקיו ומשפטיו לישראל כו' לאומות עכו"ם נתן מצות גולמות כו'.

In the Midrash: "He tells His words to Yaakov, His statutes and judgments to Yisrael," etc. — to the idolatrous nations He gave "raw [unformed] commandments," etc.

The Midrash contrasts how Hashem gave His "words, statutes, and judgments" to Yisrael, whereas to the nations He gave only "golem" — unformed, husk-like commandments lacking inner content.

דכתיב המשפט לאלקים הוא.

For it is written, "the judgment belongs to G-d."

Justice ultimately belongs to Hashem — true mishpat is rooted in the Divine, not merely in human reasoning.

ומ"מ כתיב תשים לפניהם.

And nonetheless it is written, "[these are the judgments that] you shall set before them."

Yet despite mishpat belonging to Hashem, the Torah charges Moshe to "set them before" Bnei Yisrael — entrusting the judges to render it.

והוא כמ"ש חז"ל שהשכינה שרויה ביניהם כדכ' בקרב אלקים ישפוט.

And this is as Chazal said, that the Shechinah dwells among them, as it is written, "in the midst of the judges He renders judgment."

This is possible because the Shechinah rests among the judges of Yisrael; when they judge truly, Hashem Himself is present in their midst, as the verse states.

וכ"כ משפט וצדקה ביעקב אתה עשית.

And so it is written, "justice and righteousness in Yaakov You have done."

The verse attributes the very justice executed "in Yaakov" to Hashem ("You have done") — for it is His presence working through Yisrael's courts.

כי המשפט בעצמו מלמד השופט דעת.

For the mishpat itself teaches the judge knowledge [daas].

The act of judging Torah law itself imparts wisdom to the judge — the law is not merely applied by his intellect but illuminates and instructs it.

כי הנה משפטי התורה וכל מצות השי"ת אינם כמצות מלך בו"ד.

For behold, the judgments of the Torah and all the mitzvos of Hashem are not like the commands of a flesh-and-blood king.

Torah law differs fundamentally from human legislation: a mortal king's decrees remain external to the subject, but Hashem's mitzvos work upon the very being of the one who fulfills them.

כמ"ש חז"ל אין מדת הקב"ה כמדת בו"ד הוא למעלה ממשאו ארון נשא את נושאיו.

As Chazal said, the way of Hashem is not like the way of flesh and blood: [a mortal] is [carried] above his burden, [whereas] "the Aron carried those who carried it."

Unlike a human burden, which weighs upon its bearer, Hashem's "burden" elevates the one who bears it — as the Aron carried its own carriers. So too the mitzvos lift and transform the one who performs them.

כמו כן כל מצוה מתקן את האדם.

Likewise, every mitzvah rectifies the person.

Each mitzvah does not merely demand action but repairs and perfects the one who performs it, working an inner change.

וזה עצמו ענין הקדמת נעשה לנשמע.

And this itself is the matter of placing "we will do" before "we will hear."

This is precisely why Yisrael said "naaseh" (we will do) before "nishma" (we will understand): the doing itself produces the understanding.

פי' שידעו והבינו כי אין עיקר המצוה כפי השגת האדם.

The explanation: they knew and understood that the essence of the mitzvah is not according to a person's comprehension.

Yisrael grasped that a mitzvah's true essence lies beyond human intellect; one cannot first measure it by one's understanding and only then accept it.

אבל כאשר יעשו ויקיימו לשמה. אז ישמעו ויבינו פנימיות המצוה.

But when they do and fulfill it lishmah (for its own sake), then they will hear and understand the inner dimension [penimiyus] of the mitzvah.

Only through performing the mitzvah purely, for Hashem's sake, does its inner penimiyus open up to a person's understanding — the deed unlocks the comprehension.

וע"ז אומרין אשרי איש שישמע למצותיך.

And about this it is said, "fortunate is the man who listens to Your commandments."

The verse praising one who "listens to" (understands) the mitzvos refers to this attained understanding that follows upon faithful performance.

ובמדרש ואלה המשפטים אשר תשים לפניהם כשאמר יתרו למשה ד' מדות ולא מצא רק א' א"ל הקב"ה למשה ואלה המשפטים לך ולמדם.

And in the Midrash: "And these are the judgments that you shall set before them" — when Yisro told Moshe [to seek judges with] four qualities and he found only one, Hashem said to Moshe, "And these are the judgments — you, go and teach them."

The Midrash recounts that Yisro advised appointing judges with four virtues, but Moshe could find men with only one. Hashem reassured him: you, Moshe, teach them the mishpatim, and the law itself will supply what the judges lack.

הענין כמ"ש כי זה עיקר ההבדל בין חכמי האומות ודייניהם כי כפי השכל

The matter is as we have said, that this is the essential difference between the sages of the nations and their judges — for according to [human] intellect

Here lies the core distinction between gentile judges and Jewish ones: the nations' judges rely solely on their own reasoning.

כך הם דנין הדין אבל מדת בני ישראל אינו כן רק מן המשפט מקבלים החכמה והשלימות.

so they judge the case; but the way of Bnei Yisrael is not so — rather, from the mishpat itself they receive wisdom and completeness.

Gentile judges judge only by what their intellect already holds, but Jewish judges receive wisdom and perfection from the Torah-law itself, which teaches and elevates them as they apply it.

וזה אשר תשים לפניהם. קודם שלימותם. והמשפטים ישלימו להם שלימות החכמה האמיתית.

And this is "[the judgments] that you shall set before them" — before their completeness; and the mishpatim will perfect for them the completeness of true wisdom.

This is why the verse says to "set [the laws] before them" even before the judges are spiritually complete: engaging with the mishpatim is itself what brings them to the fullness of true wisdom.

וז"ש מה הראשונים מסיני כו'.

And this is the meaning of "just as the former [laws] were from Sinai," etc.

This explains the teaching that the mishpatim, like the earlier commandments, were given at Sinai — they carry Divine wisdom, not mere human jurisprudence.

ועוד כתבו שסמכו למ"ש ולא תעלה במעלות שלא יפסיעו פסיעה גסה בדין.

And further they wrote that [the mishpatim] are juxtaposed to "you shall not ascend by steps" — that they should not take a "coarse step" in judgment.

The juxtaposition of the laws of judgment to the verse forbidding ascending the altar "by steps" hints that judges must not take a "coarse stride" — must not rush or rely arrogantly on their own reasoning in rendering a ruling.

היינו כנ"ל שידעו כי לא מחכמתם הם שופטים. רק במה שהקב"ה מאיר עיניהם מן השמים כאשר ישפטו לשם שמים.

That is, as above, that they should know that they do not judge from their own wisdom, but only by what Hashem illuminates in their eyes from Heaven, when they judge for the sake of Heaven.

The "coarse step" warning means the judge must recognize that his rulings come not from his own intellect but from the light Hashem grants him from above — granted precisely when he judges lishmah, for the sake of Heaven.

וז"ש מגיד דבריו כו' הוא לשון הוה כי לעולם השי"ת מאיר עיני בנ"י במצותיהם [וכמ"ש אומר ועושה גוזר ומקיים כמו שבמאמרו ברא העולם ומקיימו כמו כן במצותיו ית' הוא המקיים] וכתיב אשר יעשה אותם האדם וחי בהם כי המצות נותנות חיות חדש לבנ"י

And this is the meaning of "He tells His words," etc. — it is in the present tense, for Hashem perpetually illuminates the eyes of Bnei Yisrael in their mitzvos [and as it is written, "He says and does, decrees and fulfills" — just as by His word He created the world and sustains it, so too through His mitzvos He is the One who sustains them] — and it is written, "which a person shall do, and live by them," for the mitzvos give new vitality to Bnei Yisrael.

"Magid devarav" is in the present tense to teach that this illumination is ongoing: Hashem continually lights up the eyes of Bnei Yisrael through their mitzvos. Just as His word both created and continuously sustains the world, His mitzvos continuously give life — "and live by them" — infusing fresh vitality into those who keep them.

וזה שאמר שלאומות נתן מצות גולמות אבל בנ"י זוכין לפנימיות של המצות דכתיב אתה עשית כו' השמים כו' ואתה מחי' את כולם.

And this is what was said, that to the nations He gave "raw commandments," but Bnei Yisrael merit the inner dimension of the mitzvos, as it is written, "You made… the heavens… and You give life to them all."

This is the meaning of the nations receiving only "golem" mitzvos: they get the outer shell, while Bnei Yisrael reach the living penimiyus within. As the verse says, Hashem gives life to all — and it is this inner life-force within the mitzvos that Yisrael access.

ופרשנו כי הוא פנימיות הבריאה והוא דרך התורה ומצות שנקרא עץ החיים.

And we have explained that this is the inner dimension of creation, and it is the way of Torah and mitzvos, which is called the Eitz HaChaim (Tree of Life).

This life-giving penimiyus is the inner soul of all creation, accessed through the path of Torah and mitzvos — the very "Tree of Life."

ובזוהר בהר איתא ע"פ ובשביעית יצא לחפשי חנם דכ"ז שהיה עבד מה שקיים מצות הי' חנם ע"ש דמאן דכפית באחרא א"י לקבל עול מלכות שמים וכיון דמהאי פטור מכולא פטור ע"ש.

And in the Zohar on Behar it is stated on the verse "and in the seventh [year] he shall go free, without charge [chinam]," that all the while he was a slave, whatever mitzvos he fulfilled were "for naught [chinam]" — see there — for one who is bound to another cannot accept the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, and since he is exempt from this [bond] he is exempt from everything — see there.

The Zohar reads "he goes free chinam" to mean that the Hebrew slave's mitzvos, while enslaved, were "for naught" of inner value, because one bound in servitude to another cannot fully accept the ol malchus Shomayim. Freed from his master, he is freed to take on that yoke.

ותמוה דהא עבד חייב בכל המצות.

And this is astonishing, for a [Hebrew] slave is obligated in all the mitzvos.

The difficulty: a Hebrew servant is in fact obligated in mitzvos, so how can the Zohar say his mitzvos were "for naught"?

אבל הענין הוא כנ"ל שא"י לזכות לפנימיות המצות רק מי שהוא בן חורין ויכול לקבל עול מ"ש בשלימות.

But the matter is as above: that one cannot merit the inner dimension of the mitzvos except one who is a free person and can accept the yoke of Heaven completely.

The resolution is that the slave performs the mitzvos validly, but cannot reach their penimiyus. Only a truly free person, able to accept the yoke of Heaven wholeheartedly, attains the inner essence of the mitzvos.

וכ"ה במשנה שקדמה פ' שמע שיקבל מ"ש תחלה ואח"כ עול מצות.

And so it is in the Mishnah, that the passage of Shema precedes [that of the mitzvos], that one should first accept the yoke of [the Kingdom of] Heaven and afterward the yoke of mitzvos.

This order is reflected in Krias Shema: the first paragraph (accepting ol malchus Shomayim) precedes the second (accepting ol mitzvos), because acceptance of Hashem's sovereignty must come first and gives the mitzvos their inner meaning.

כי זה עיקר החילוק שבין ישראל לאומות עכו"ם דכל מה דעבדין לגרמייהו עבדין ועכו"ם אדעתא דנפשי' עביד.

For this is the essential difference between Yisrael and the idolatrous nations: that whatever [the nations] do, they do for themselves, and the idolater acts with his own interest in mind.

The defining difference is one of intent: the nations act for their own benefit, with self-interest as their motive, whereas Yisrael are able to act purely for Hashem.

וענין לשמה א"י לקיים שום ברי' רק בני ישראל שהם מוכנים לזה שהוציאנו השי"ת ממצרים.

And the matter of [acting] lishmah — no creature can fulfill it except Bnei Yisrael, who are prepared for this, for Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim.

Acting truly lishmah, for Hashem's sake alone, is something only Bnei Yisrael can achieve — and they are fit for it precisely because Hashem redeemed them from Egypt, freeing them to serve Him.

ונעשין בני חורין לקבל עול מלכות שמים ואחדותו ית"ש. ועושין רק לשמו. ואז וחי בהם.

And they became free people to accept the yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven and His unity, and they act only for His sake; and then "and live by them."

The Exodus made them bnei chorin (free people) able to accept Hashem's kingship and oneness and to act solely for His sake — and only such service brings the promised inner life of "and live by them."

ובאמת זה הוא כפי הזדככות האדם שזוכה לחירות מן היצה"ר ואינו כפות ומקושר להטבע והגשמיות.

And in truth this is according to the refinement [hizdakchus] of the person, that he merits freedom from the yetzer hara and is not bound and tied to nature and physicality.

True freedom is measured by inner refinement: the more a person purifies himself and breaks free of the yetzer hara and the pull of materiality, the more he attains the freedom needed to reach the mitzvos' inner life.

ולכן בגלות נאמר נתתי כו' חקים לא טובים ומשפטים לא יחיו בהם.

Therefore concerning the galus it is said, "I gave [them] statutes that were not good, and judgments by which they could not live."

In exile, bound under foreign domination, Yisrael cannot access the inner vitality of the mitzvos — hence the verse describing laws "by which they could not live," lacking the life-giving penimiyus.

אבל כשהיו בני ישראל בא"י היו בני חורין ונתאחדו בהשי"ת כראוי והרגישו חיות פנימיות בכל מצוה:

But when Bnei Yisrael were in Eretz Yisrael, they were free people and united with Hashem properly, and they felt the inner vitality in every mitzvah.

By contrast, when Yisrael dwelt in their land as free people, truly united with Hashem, they experienced the living penimiyus pulsing within every mitzvah — the very opposite of the deadened observance of galus.

Summary: Unlike a mortal king's external decrees, Hashem's mishpatim and mitzvos transform and elevate the one who keeps them, teaching the very judge wisdom from Heaven when he judges lishmah — which is why "naaseh" precedes "nishma." The nations receive only the unformed husk of commandments, while Bnei Yisrael, freed from Egypt and from the yetzer hara, can accept the yoke of Heaven wholeheartedly and reach the living inner dimension of the mitzvos — the Eitz HaChaim — feeling that vitality fully when free and united with Hashem in Eretz Yisrael, but losing it under the bondage of galus.