Command outweighs reasons in mitzvos

בשם מו"ז ז"ל על חטא נדב ואביהוא אשר לא צוה אותם.

In the name of my grandfather, of blessed memory, on the sin of Nadav and Avihu — "which He had not commanded them" (Vayikra 10:1).

Citing his grandfather (the Chiddushei HaRim), the Sefas Emes addresses the sin of Nadav and Avihu, who brought a "strange fire" that Hashem had not commanded.

ללמוד מזה קו"ח לטובה מה אנשים קדושים כאלה שבוודאי דבר גדול עשו.

To learn from this a kal va-chomer (an a-fortiori inference) for the good: that such holy men, who surely did something great…

From their punishment we can reason in the positive direction. These were holy men whose intention was certainly lofty and great.

אעפ"כ ע"י שלא צוה אותם נענשו.

Nevertheless, because they were not commanded, they were punished.

Despite the greatness of their act, the mere fact that it lacked Hashem's command made it punishable — revealing how decisive the element of command is.

א"כ המקיים מצות אף שהוא (טפל) [*שפל] וא"י טעם המצוה כלל אעפ"כ חביב הוא לפניו ית'.

If so, one who fulfills a mitzvah — even if he is lowly and does not understand the reason of the mitzvah at all — is nevertheless beloved before Him.

The reverse inference follows: if a great act without command brought punishment, then a simple, even lowly person who keeps a command without grasping its reason is beloved to Hashem precisely because he has the command.

כי כח הציווי ממנו ית' הוא יותר מכל הטעמים כו'.

For the power of the command from Him is greater than all the reasons.

The essential force of a mitzvah lies in its being Hashem's command, which outweighs any rationale one might understand for it.

וזה פרשנו טובים דודיך מיין.

And this is how we explained, "Your love is better than wine" (Shir HaShirim 1:2).

He applies this to the verse contrasting "your love" (dodecha) with "wine," which he will read as the contrast between command and reason.

כי השגת הטעמים הוא יין.

For grasping the reasons is "wine."

The pleasure of understanding the rationale behind mitzvos is symbolized by wine — delightful, but secondary.

וזהו ענין אמרם ז"ל שתויי יין נכנסו למקדש כי הרי אמרו שהורו הלכה בפני רבן א"כ נראה שכוונו להלכה אמיתית.

And this is the matter of what Chazal said, that they entered the Mikdash having drunk wine — for they also said that they ruled on halachah in the presence of their teacher; thus it appears they intended a true halachic ruling.

Chazal connect Nadav and Avihu both to entering while affected by wine and to ruling halachah before Moshe. The Sefas Emes reads these together: their "wine" was the intoxication of their own reasoning, by which they arrived at what seemed a genuine halachic conclusion.

אבל ההלכה רק עפ"י התורה וציווי מרע"ה שר התורה כמ"ש בכ"מ הלכה למשה מסיני.

But the halachah is only according to the Torah and the command of Moshe Rabbeinu, the master of the Torah, as it says in many places, "a halachah given to Moshe at Sinai."

Valid halachah flows only through the Torah and through Moshe's transmitted command — hence the recurring phrase "halachah l'Moshe mi-Sinai." Authority comes from the chain of command, not from independent reasoning.

והם כוונו הטעם וההלכה בלי הציווי ונחסר להם עיקר כח התקרבות שהוא בכח הבורא ית' שקדשנו במצותיו ע"י התורה.

But they aimed at the reason and the halachah without the command, and so they lacked the essential power of drawing close, which lies in the power of the Creator, "who sanctified us with His mitzvos" through the Torah.

Their error was acting on reasoning and ruling without the divine command. They thereby missed the very heart of the matter — the bond of closeness that comes specifically from Hashem "who sanctified us with His mitzvos."

ולכן כתיב טובים דודיך שהוא דביקות והתקרבות הבורא ית' לבנ"י בעצם נפשותם יותר מהשגת הטעמים כנ"ל.

Therefore it is written, "Your love is better" — for this is the deveikus and the drawing-near of the Creator to Bnei Yisrael in the very essence of their souls, more than the grasping of reasons, as above.

"Your love is better than wine" means that the closeness to Hashem forged through His command reaches the very essence of a Jew's soul, and is more precious than the intellectual delight of understanding the reasons.

וכמ"ש במד' ויקהל טוב שם משמן כו' על בצלאל ראה קראתי כו' כיון שהי' בכח הבורא ית' שבחר לבצלאל נתקיים כו' ע"ש.

And as the Midrash says in Vayakhel, "A good name is better than fine oil" (Koheles 7:1), regarding Betzalel — "See, I have called [by name] Betzalel" (Shmos 31:2): since it was by the power of the Creator who chose Betzalel, it endured — see there.

He brings a parallel: Betzalel's appointment endured precisely because it came from Hashem's choosing and calling, not from human initiative — again showing that what carries lasting power is the divine command.

וכן כחן של בנ"י לכן מקדימין ברכת המצות לעשיות המצוה להראות כי כח גשת אדם למעשה זו הוא מצד הציווי כנ"ל:

And so too is the strength of Bnei Yisrael; therefore we recite the berachah over a mitzvah before performing the mitzvah, to show that a person's power to approach this act comes from the command, as above.

This is why we say the berachah — which includes "who sanctified us with His mitzvos" — before doing the mitzvah: to declare openly that our standing to perform it derives entirely from Hashem's command, not from our own reasoning.

Summary: From the punishment of Nadav and Avihu — holy men whose great act lacked Hashem's command — we learn the opposite for the good: even a lowly person who keeps a mitzvah without understanding its reason is beloved to Hashem, because the power of the command outweighs all reasons. Their "wine" was the intoxication of their own reasoning; valid halachah and true closeness flow only through Hashem's command. This is why "Your love is better than wine," and why we bless "who sanctified us with His mitzvos" before performing any mitzvah.