"Hell, there are no rules here. We're trying to accomplish something." Thomas Alva Edison, On Creating The First Electric Grid.
One of the most creative people I met disagreed with Edison. Rabbi Moshe Feinstein followed the rules of Halacha as he dealt with issues his teachers could not have imagined: IVF, artificial insemination, surrogate mothers, electricity on Shabbat, computers, the laws of traveling across the International Dateline and thousands more questions. Few people are as committed to following the rules as the beloved Reb Moshe, and even fewer are as creative. He would not agree that we must shed all the rules in order to accomplish something.
We celebrate people who "think out of the box," and mistakenly believe that there are no rules for creative genius. Pablo Picasso learned the rules of painting before he shocked the world with his creative genius. Albert Einstein learned the rules of physics long before his mind leapt to relativity. We, the people of Halacha, have nurtured our creativity by following the rules. Halacha is not a set of rules as much as the Rules of Creativity.
"See, I present before you today a blessing and a curse," begins this week's portion. We generally understand the blessing as the reward for observance and the curse, the consequence of straying from God's path. Perhaps there is an additional message: The Torah itself, its laws and ideas, can be a source of blessing and a curse. Those who choose to see Halacha as rules that govern the particulars of every second of our lives can find security in being told exactly what to do. For many people, such a regimented life is a curse. They feel that it does not allow any freedom. The blessing of one may be a curse for another.
There are others who see Halacha as do I, as the Rules of Creativity; concepts that nourish a higher sense of how we should act in different circumstances. This approach is my blessing; a source of joy. I too, follow the rules and try to act only according to Halacha, but for me, the observance of the rules is intended to nurture "When you do what is good and just in the eyes of God, your Lord." (Deuteronomy 12:28) The rules of Halacha do not always specify how to respond to an immediate situation. They do nurture a special sense of what is "good and just in the eyes of God," so I will intuit how God wants me to act.
However, many people believe such an approach is a curse, a step down the slippery slope. The blessing of one may be the curse of the other.
I wrote my first essay exactly two years ago today as I drove my daughter to Washington for college. (I wasn't following the rules: I typed as I drove!) That essay became many others; all dedicated to the idea of Halacha as the Rules of Creativity. My objective was to engender discussions about important issues that would influence readers to respond to the world as an ongoing conversation between Torah and life.
There are moments when the demand to write another essay, blog, or newsletter, feels like a curse, but the challenge is always a blessing, as have been your responses and feedback. Thank you for helping me accomplish something as we follow the Rules of Creativity.
Shabbat Shalom
Rabbi Simcha L. Weinberg
President
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