Why Do We Have So Many Commandments?
Discovering the Divine in the Details
The Torah’s thousands of commandments aren’t a burden. They’re an invitation for closeness with God.
The Torah is filled with hundreds of commandments that touch on nearly every aspect of our lives: what we eat, how we dress (especially for women), how we conduct relationships, how we celebrate, and even how we spend our downtime. Why did God give us so many mitzvot (Divine commandments)? Isn’t it a bit over the top?
Moreover, many mitzvot are worded in very general terms. “Keep Shabbat,” “Honor your father and mother,” and “Bind them as a sign upon your arm.” But if you step into a Jewish bookstore, you’ll find thick volumes with titles like The Complete Laws of Tefillin or The Full Guide to Choosing a Kosher Etrog. These books delve into the smallest halachic (Jewish legal) details, down to the proper size for a mezuzah scroll or exactly how much water needs to be in a mikvah (ritual bath).
Why do we need so many precise instructions for each mitzvah? Hanging a mezuzah doesn’t need to be so complicated! Just nail it on the door and move on! Moreover, even if it’s admirable that people want to be so precise in their observance, maybe things have gotten out of hand?
And the bigger question: Does God really care about all these little details? Does it really matter to Him what’s in my sandwich? Or whether I turned on a light in the bathroom on Shabbat? Isn’t it a bit petty?
It’s All in the Details
God is infinite, and for this reason, it’s easy to imagine that He isn’t interested in the small details. After all, God created the entire universe. Why would He care what I ate for breakfast? It’s like imagining that the president of the United States is worried about how much change the cashier gave me at Target. It’s illogical. He’s concerned with things that are far more important, like running the country.
But God is eternal, and it’s beyond our human capacity to understand Him. As the Kotzker Rebbe famously said, “I don’t believe in a God I can understand.” We cannot superimpose human descriptions on Him. Any label we would use to describe the Infinite—powerful, vast, wise—falls short. Even the phrase “God is great” is, in a sense, limiting. Great compared to what? The sun? The entire universe?
The Kabbalists teach that God encompasses everything: every color, every sound, every moment in time. The only thing the Infinite doesn’t naturally contain is…the finite. And that’s what He desires: to dwell not just in the heavens, but in the real, physical world that we live in. He wants to be present in the ordinary.
Finding the Infinite in the Finite
God doesn’t reveal His greatness by staying in the heavens but rather by entering our daily human lives: our kitchens, our places of work, and our calendars. There are so many small things that take up our mental energy as human beings: What time does the train leave in the morning? How do I assemble the bookshelf I just bought at IKEA? Did I remember to return my Amazon package? Will I get the project back to my boss before the deadline?
Human life is made up of thousands of small details that endow our lives with the tempo and rhythm that make life interesting and riveting. It follows that part of God’s infiniteness is His involvement in these small and seemingly ‘trivial’ details. He descends into the minutiae of our human experience not out of pettiness, but because it’s part of who we are.
When God gave us the Torah, He gave us general guidance about the way that the Torah must be understood, explained, and applied, and then empowered us to work out the specifics. Just like a government may decide to eliminate poverty, but the ministers and experts must work out the actual policies as to who gets what, when, and how, we had to figure out how to bring Torah into our daily lives. What does it mean to keep Shabbat? How should a mezuzah be affixed to the doorpost? How many hours should we wait between milk and meat?
These small details make God present in our world and our lives far more than any grandiose declaration of faith. Authentic spirituality is found in consistent attention to small and concrete actions rather than in dramatic but empty gestures.
Love Is in the Details
There’s another reason for all the precision. And it’s even deeper.
When you love someone, you want to make them happy. And the more you love them, the more attention you pay to the small things. A mother who knows her son is coming home from college for the weekend will bake his favorite cake. And someone deeply in love doesn’t just make coffee for their partner. They know exactly what they like: the hazelnut-flavored Keurig pod, brewed on the “strong” setting, in the tall ceramic mug with the gold rim, with just a splash of oat milk. That’s love.
So too with God. Halacha (Jewish law) asks us to be precise. Not because God is nitpicking, but because we are in a relationship. When we truly care, we want to fulfill God’s will faithfully and devotedly. As King David says in Tehillim (Psalms 40:9), “I desire to do Your will, my God.” The mitzvot are how we build a relationship with God, and the care we put into them reflects the depth of the relationship we share.
That’s why the mitzvot often have exact measurements: eating a certain amount of matzah at the Seder on Pesach, tying tzitzit (ritual fringes) in a specific pattern with a specific number of strings, or separating challah dough only if it contains a particular volume of flour. Through these details, we form a bond of love with the Creator. Just like an author feels deeply connected to the books he writes, when a person is deeply invested in something, he steps out of himself and feels deeply connected to something beyond him. This is what God wants from us. When we invest effort and care into religious practice, we transcend our narrow self-interest and create a genuine bond with Him.
Constant Connection
Beyond that, the all-encompassing nature of mitzvot reflects the deep love that the Creator has for us. By asking us to bring holiness into every area of our lives, God is expressing a desire to be close to us—not just once a week, or even once a day, but in every moment and every detail of our lives. He doesn’t want an occasional “visit.” He wants a relationship that is constant and continuous, step by step, breath by breath. This idea appears multiple times throughout the Torah.
“Revere the Lord your God, serve Him, cling to Him…” (Devarim 10:20)
“…to love the Lord your God, to walk in all His ways, and to cling to Him.” (Devarim 11:22)
“…follow the Lord your God… keep His commandments… serve Him and cling to Him.” (Devarim 13:5)
The medieval commentator Rabbeinu Bachya explains that “clinging to God” means that even while doing ordinary activities like eating, working, or walking, our minds remain connected to Him.
God doesn’t want a distant relationship. He wants a partnership. He wants to live with us, not just watch us from afar. And we build that closeness not just through belief, but through action and by making every detail of our lives a place where God can dwell.
Far from being petty, every commandment and each small detail is an opportunity to bring the Infinite into the finite world, make God present in our lives, and create a life of connection, meaning, and closeness with the Divine.
Small Details and Jewish Continuity
Meticulous observance of mitzvot also plays a vital role in preserving Jewish identity. If the mitzvot were only about what you feel inside, “the service of the heart,” as opposed to a series of detailed and practical behaviors, then everyone could interpret mitzvot according to their own perspective and personal needs. The next generation likely wouldn’t understand what all the fuss was about and mistakenly conclude that it was all about individual choices and sentiment, and make the unfortunate decision not to observe mitzvot at all. Gradually, Judaism would fade away, as it has in many communities that have lost their connection to Torah Judaism. Remaining faithful to the details of authentic Judaism preserves the framework of the Jewish community and ensures that Jewish identity withstands the test of time.
What makes someone an expert? Professional experience and the ability to distinguish subtle differences.
An experienced wine taster can identify the delicate trace of blueberries, cinnamon, and elderflower, while an average person would simply say, “It tastes great!” Mesillat Yesharim, the classic ethical work by the Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, 1707-1746), notes that this kind of precision also applies to spiritual endeavors. In his book, he explains that the human soul contains two similar but distinct qualities: caution (zehirut) and cleanliness (nekiyut). Caution is the ability to “turn away from evil” and avoid stumbling and falling prey to forbidden things. Cleanliness, though, is a higher level that demands internal examination and refinement, to the point that an individual is careful about even the smallest and most intricate matters. The more he advances in his spiritual work, the more aware he becomes and the more attention he pays to small details. From the outside, he might appear ‘petty,’ but for him, it’s not a small or trivial detail. To him, it’s everything or nothing. It’s like an IT expert who ‘insists’ on fixing one tiny component, since he knows that without this piece, the entire device will malfunction. What might look like a minor detail to an outsider is actually the mark of an individual with refined sensitivity who understands that small things have critical consequences.
At Mount Sinai, the Jewish people received both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. The Written Torah is phrased in general terms, making it difficult to understand exactly how to practice the Torah’s laws. For example, the Written Torah commands us to observe Shabbat but doesn’t specify what that observance entails. Similarly, it mentions that couples should marry, but doesn’t address the details of the marriage ceremony.
This is where the Oral Torah comes in. The Oral Torah expands and specifies the myriad of details of the commandments. This oral tradition is also Divine. Over the generations, the Sages developed deep attentiveness to the nuances of the Torah’s text, through which they learned additional laws and details alluded to by the text. The hidden aspects of the Torah were also passed down by word of mouth, from teacher to student, so that these secrets would not be entrusted to those unworthy of receiving them.
This concept is fundamental to Judaism’s understanding of how halacha (Jewish law) works. When Moshe received the Torah at Mount Sinai, he didn’t only receive the written text that we know today. He also received an oral explanation of how to practice what’s written in the Torah and the layers of meaning that go beyond the surface text. Without the Oral Torah, many of the Torah’s commands would be impossible to fulfill.
According to chaos theory and the “butterfly effect,” the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil can cause rain to fall in Moscow. Similarly, Jewish mysticism teaches that there is profound significance to the details of the commandments. The kabbalists explain that every human action impacts the higher spiritual worlds, even if we can’t sense it, and every small human movement can trigger enormous things, even if we remain completely unaware. Just like a sniper’s smallest movements as he takes aim at a distant target can cause him to score a direct hit or miss the target entirely, human action creates ripple effects throughout the spiritual realms. The smallest details can create a big impact.
Being meticulous about certain things is a cross-cultural human phenomenon. Anyone who’s been to Starbucks knows there’s a “right way” to make coffee, and woe to anyone who uses instant coffee instead of filtered coffee or adds the wrong flavor of syrup. Similarly, couples invest dozens of hours planning the smallest details of their wedding, from the song that will accompany the groom down the aisle to the flowers in the bride’s bouquet to the color of the napkins, because when something matters, the details are inherently important.
We invest ourselves in the things that are important to us. So, if God’s commandments are important to us, we should be invested in the details.
Small Details and Jewish Continuity
Meticulous observance of mitzvot also plays a vital role in preserving Jewish identity. If the mitzvot were only about what you feel inside, “the service of the heart,” as opposed to a series of detailed and practical behaviors, then everyone could interpret mitzvot according to their own perspective and personal needs. The next generation likely wouldn’t understand what all the fuss was about and mistakenly conclude that it was all about individual choices and sentiment, and make the unfortunate decision not to observe mitzvot at all. Gradually, Judaism would fade away, as it has in many communities that have lost their connection to Torah Judaism. Remaining faithful to the details of authentic Judaism preserves the framework of the Jewish community and ensures that Jewish identity withstands the test of time.
At Mount Sinai, the Jewish people received both the Written Torah and the Oral Torah. The Written Torah is phrased in general terms, making it difficult to understand exactly how to practice the Torah’s laws. For example, the Written Torah commands us to observe Shabbat but doesn’t specify what that observance entails. Similarly, it mentions that couples should marry, but doesn’t address the details of the marriage ceremony.
This is where the Oral Torah comes in. The Oral Torah expands and specifies the myriad of details of the commandments. This oral tradition is also Divine. Over the generations, the Sages developed deep attentiveness to the nuances of the Torah’s text, through which they learned additional laws and details alluded to by the text. The hidden aspects of the Torah were also passed down by word of mouth, from teacher to student, so that these secrets would not be entrusted to those unworthy of receiving them.
This concept is fundamental to Judaism’s understanding of how halacha (Jewish law) works. When Moshe received the Torah at Mount Sinai, he didn’t only receive the written text that we know today. He also received an oral explanation of how to practice what’s written in the Torah and the layers of meaning that go beyond the surface text. Without the Oral Torah, many of the Torah’s commands would be impossible to fulfill.
Being meticulous about certain things is a cross-cultural human phenomenon. Anyone who’s been to Starbucks knows there’s a “right way” to make coffee, and woe to anyone who uses instant coffee instead of filtered coffee or adds the wrong flavor of syrup. Similarly, couples invest dozens of hours planning the smallest details of their wedding, from the song that will accompany the groom down the aisle to the flowers in the bride’s bouquet to the color of the napkins, because when something matters, the details are inherently important.
We invest ourselves in the things that are important to us. So, if God’s commandments are important to us, we should be invested in the details.
What makes someone an expert? Professional experience and the ability to distinguish subtle differences.
An experienced wine taster can identify the delicate trace of blueberries, cinnamon, and elderflower, while an average person would simply say, “It tastes great!” Mesillat Yesharim, the classic ethical work by the Ramchal (Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto, 1707-1746), notes that this kind of precision also applies to spiritual endeavors. In his book, he explains that the human soul contains two similar but distinct qualities: caution (zehirut) and cleanliness (nekiyut). Caution is the ability to “turn away from evil” and avoid stumbling and falling prey to forbidden things. Cleanliness, though, is a higher level that demands internal examination and refinement, to the point that an individual is careful about even the smallest and most intricate matters. The more he advances in his spiritual work, the more aware he becomes and the more attention he pays to small details. From the outside, he might appear ‘petty,’ but for him, it’s not a small or trivial detail. To him, it’s everything or nothing. It’s like an IT expert who ‘insists’ on fixing one tiny component, since he knows that without this piece, the entire device will malfunction. What might look like a minor detail to an outsider is actually the mark of an individual with refined sensitivity who understands that small things have critical consequences.
According to chaos theory and the “butterfly effect,” the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Brazil can cause rain to fall in Moscow. Similarly, Jewish mysticism teaches that there is profound significance to the details of the commandments. The kabbalists explain that every human action impacts the higher spiritual worlds, even if we can’t sense it, and every small human movement can trigger enormous things, even if we remain completely unaware. Just like a sniper’s smallest movements as he takes aim at a distant target can cause him to score a direct hit or miss the target entirely, human action creates ripple effects throughout the spiritual realms. The smallest details can create a big impact.
Just as everyday life demands precision, so does Jewish practice. After all, Jewish practice IS everyday life.
Exactly 223 grams of sugar…
Exactly 86 milliliters of wine… (the minimum amount of wine or grape juice needed for kiddush and havdalah)
Exactly at 3:17 PM at the station…
Exactly 18 minutes… (the maximum amount of time that can pass from the moment flour and water are mixed together until the matzah comes out of the oven)
Exactly the right spacing…
Exactly the right location… (the mezuzah is placed on the right side of the door, one-third of the way down the door frame.)
Maximum 96 degrees…
Maximum 3 degrees… (the lulav used on Sukkot for the four species must be straight, and the central leaf must not split.)
Every day, exactly at 5:00 PM…
Every Friday, this week at exactly 6:32 PM… (of course, the time for candle lighting changes from week to week)
Exactly what’s written in the script…
Exactly what’s written in the script…
Precision isn’t foreign to human experience. It’s part of so many aspects of our lives. Jewish religious life simply extends the natural human tendency toward precision into the spiritual realm.
