Parashas Vaeschanan: Testing God

Parashas Vaeschanan: Testing God

One of the many mitzvos which are presented in this week's parashah is the mitzvah of "lo tenasu es Hashem" ("do not test Hashem"). This mitzvah is introduced in its own little paragraph:

You shall not test Hashem, your God, as you tested Him at Massah. You shall surely observe the commandments of Hashem, your God, and His testimonies and His decrees that He commanded you. You shall do what is fair and good in the eyes of Hashem, so that it will be good for you, and you shall come and possess the good Land that Hashem swore to your forefathers, to thrust away all your enemies from before you, as Hashem spoke (Devarim 6:16-19)

These pesukim raise two questions:

1. Practically speaking, what is this mitzvah commanding us not to do? What does it mean to "test Hashem, as you tested Him at Massah"?
2. What does the rest of this paragraph have to do with testing Hashem? The paragraph begins with an injunction against testing Hashem, but continues with (what seems to be) typical Devarim-themed statements, urging Bnei Yisrael to keep the mitzvos and assuring them that He will take them to the Promised Land.

Thankfully, it is easy to figure out where we should begin: the incident at Massah:

The entire assembly of Bnei Yisrael journeyed from the Wilderness of Sin to their journeys, according to the word of Hashem. They encamped in Rephidim and there was no water for the people to drink. The people contended with Moshe and they said, "Give us water that we may drink!" Moshe said to them, "Why do you contend with me? Why do you test Hashem?" The people thirsted there for water, and the people complained against Moshe, and it said, "Why is this that you have brought us up from Egypt to kill me and my children and my livestock through thirst?" 

Moshe cried out to Hashem, saying, "What shall I do for this people? I bit more and they will stone me!" 

Hashem said to Moshe, "Pass before the people and take with you some of the elders of Israel; and in your hand take your staff with which you struck the River, and go. Behold! - I shall stand before you by the rock in Horeb; you shall strike the rock and water will come forth from it and the people will drink." Moshe did so in the sight of the elders of Israel. He called the place Massah u'Merivah, because of the contention of Bnei Yisrael and because of their test of Hashem, saying, "Is Hashem among us or not?"(Shemos 17:

The Ramban fills us in on the motives behind Bnei Yisrael's complaints, and in doing so, he answers our first question by defining the scope of the prohibition:

The meaning of "as you tested Him at Massah" is that you shouldn't say, "If Hashem is among us [such that He will] perform miracles - or bring us success by satiating us with bread and ensuring our well-being - then when we will keep His Torah!" - for that was the intention [of Bnei Yisrael] there [at Massah]. They saw [fit to reason as follows:] if Hashem would miraculously provide water for them, then they would follow Him in the Wilderness, but if not, they would abandon Him. This was considered to be a major sin on their part, for once it had been verified to them through miracles and wonders that Moshe was Hashem's prophet and that he spoke the word of Hashem in truth, it was wrong for them to perform further tests. A person who does this is not testing the navi, but rather, he is testing Hashem, to know whether His ability is limited. 

For this reason, He prohibited future generations from testing the Torah or the neviim, for it is not proper for a person to serve Hashem in a dubious manner, or to demand a miracle or a test, for it is not Hashem's will to do miracles for every person at every time, and it is not proper to serve Hashem on the condition of receiving reward. Instead, if a person should happen to find pain or suffering in his [divine] service or in his following the paths of the Torah, it is proper for him to accept everything with justice and righteousness - not like the fools of our nation said, "It is useless to serve God! What gain is there for us that we have kept His watch, and that we walk submissively before Hashem, Master of Legions?" (Malachi 3:14).

The mitzvah of lo tenasu prohibits us from doing two things: (1) continuing to test a navi after the authenticity of his nevuah has already been verified, and (2) serving Hashem on the condition that He will reward us - as we see fit. Bnei Yisrael at Massah erred in both regards: they demanded that Moshe Rabbeinu perform a miracle for them, even though his nevuah had been well-established by the numerous miracles in Mitzrayim and at Yam Suf; they also made their service of Hashem contingent on Him "serving" them in a specific manner.

The Ramban continues by explaining what the rest of the paragraph has to do with this lo taaseh:

It is for this reason that the pasuk says here that you shall surely observe His mitzvos (commandments) and His eidos (testimonies) - because they [testify to] the miracles that He did for you in the past, for which they serve as testimonials (e.g. pesach, matzah, sukkah). [Likewise,] "you shall keep His chukim (decrees)" even though you don't know their reasons, for in truth, they will benefit you in the end. There is no need to test the Torah and the mitzvos after you have already verified for yourself that they are from Him (blessed is He) ... 

It is for this reason that [Moshe Rabbeinu] promised that the glory will come in the end, with the inheritance of the Land and victory over the enemies, for this is a great good, and was necessary for that generation. Afterwards he said that even for future generations there is no need for testing in the performance of mitzvos, but rather, they should ask their fathers and their elders who will tell them the truth of the Torah and the mitzvos, as he subsequently explains, "When your son asks you tomorrow, saying, 'What are the eidos, and the chukim, and the mishpatim that Hashem, our God, commanded you?' You shall say to your child, 'We were slaves to Paroh in Mitzrayim, and Hashem took us out of Mitzrayim with a strong hand. Hashem placed signs and wonders, great and terrible, against Egypt, against Paroh, and against his entire household before our very eyes, etc.." (Devarim 6:20-25).

Ramban's answer to our second question is as follows. After commanding Bnei Yisrael not to test Hashem by demanding proof that He is with them or by demanding a reward for their service, Moshe Rabbeinu then addresses their concerns. "You want proof that Hashem is with you? Look no further than the events of Yetzias Mitzrayim, which your parents - and some of you - experienced. You want benefits for keeping the mitzvos? How does conquering Eretz Yisrael sound? It's all right there in the words of nevuah - those very same prophetic words which you stubbornly refused to accept even after their authenticity was verified time and again."

Ordinarily, when I write these weekly divrei Torah, I try to bring out some new insight or application. But every once in a while, it is best to just let the Torah speak for itself. The two problematic behaviors exhibited by Bnei Yisrael at Massah continue to afflict us to this day. How many people out there still attempt to "make deals" with Hashem, saying, "I'll do such-and-such for You if You do such-and-such for me?" How many Jews keep all of the eidos which testify to the historicity of the miracles that Hashem performed, but still question the veracity of nevuah and desire for Hashem to miraculously reveal Himself to them, personally?

This is precisely why lo tenasu is one of the 613 mitzvos, for all generations. The problems which it is designed to uproot are perennial. If the generation that witnessed these miracles continued to test Hashem, we must ponder why that is the case. Apparently, our feeling that, "Everyone would accept Hashem, if only He did a miracle for them!" is not as true as we think it is. Perhaps this is another reason why lo tenasu is a mitzvah: to prompt us to analyze the roots of the subversive attitudes which the mitzvah is intended to eliminate.

In other words, this mitzvah, itself, serves as a test: a test to see whether we are willing to examine our own desire to test Hashem, and to actually do something about it.