There are certain times in life when we feel like we are in automatic mode — we don’t think about what we are doing, we just do – because it is simply who we are. Then, there are times that, unless we are very aware of what we are doing, we will not do that thing correctly.
This is the reason why practicing an instrument, a sport, or any other activity that needs instinctive responses, should be practiced over and over again. However, one may argue that there is a disadvantage here: You do not think about what you are doing! After all, we value “knowledge” above all else, so how can we encourage people to practice so often that we sacrifice the holy grail of knowledge?
The answer of course, is that when we become a professional at something, it is not that we stop thinking anymore; it’s just that this knowledge becomes so ingrained in our minds and hearts that we don’t have to think anymore because it is who we are. We and the knowledge are one.
This is the meaning of the first verse in today’s Torah portion, Bechukotai: “If you follow My statutes and observe My commandments and perform them,” … On the surface it seems like there is repetition for no apparent reason, so why the need to say “statutes” and “commandments?” Are they not one and the same?
In Hebrew “statutes” is translated to Chok, a word that can also mean “engraved,” and, as we know, “commandments” equate to “actions.” Yes, we have to think about our actions and the meaning behind them, but the goal is to engrave them into our being so that we come to observe the Mitzvot as second nature, because this is who we are.
In other words, G-d doesn’t want us to be Jews who happen to observe the Mitzvot; G-d wants us and our actions to be one—we and the Mitzvot are one.
So should we understand the Torah? Of course, but let’s not stop there. Let’s become one with the Torah.