Tanach · Acharonim on Tanach · Or HaChaim · Torah

Or HaChaim on Numbers 15:22/אור החיים על במדבר ט״ו:כ״ב

אוְכִי תִשְׁגּוּ וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ וְגוֹ׳. רַזַ״ל אָמְרוּ (הוריות ח.) שֶׁכָּתוּב זֶה מְדַבֵּר בְּעוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה, וְיֵשׁ בּוֹ כֶּפֶל אָמְרוֹ אֵת כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת וְגוֹ׳ אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה וְגוֹ׳, שֶׁבָּא לוֹמַר שֶׁכּוֹפֵר בַּעֲשֶׂרֶת הַדִּבְּרוֹת וּבְכָל שְׁאָר מִצְווֹת שֶׁנִּצְטַוּוּ עַל יְדֵי מֹשֶׁה. וְחוּץ מִדִּבְרֵיהֶם נִרְאֶה שֶׁבָּא לוֹמַר שֶׁהָעוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה הֲרֵי הוּא כְּעוֹבֵר עַל כָּל מִצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה וּמְבַטֵּל כָּל מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה. כְּנֶגֶד בִּטּוּל מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה אָמַר ״וְלֹא תַעֲשׂוּ אֵת כָּל הַמִּצְוֹת״ – הֲרֵי בִּטּוּל כָּל מִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה, וּכְנֶגֶד עֲבֵרַת עַל כָּל מִצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה אָמַר ״אֵת כָּל אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה׳ אֲלֵיכֶם״. וְחִדּוּשׁ הִשְׁמִיעָנוּ הַכָּתוּב בְּמִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה וּבְמִצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה, כִּי יֵשׁ בְּמִצְוֹת עֲשֵׂה שֶׁשְּׁקוּלָה כְּנֶגֶד כָּל הַתּוֹרָה, אַף עַל פִּי כֵן הָעוֹבֵד עֲבוֹדָה זָרָה הֲרֵי הוּא כְּכוֹפֵר גַּם בָּהּ. וּכְמוֹ כֵן יֵשׁ בְּמִצְוֹת לֹא תַעֲשֶׂה חֲמוּרוֹת, הֲרֵי הוּא גַּם כֵּן כְּכוֹפֵר בְּכוּלָּן וְעָנְשׁוֹ שָׁקוּל לַכֹּל.
1 וכי תשגו ולא תעשו, If you err and do not observe, etc. We are taught in Horiot 8 that this verse speaks about someone who commits the sin of idolatry. We find that the Torah repeats itself here, first writing "all the commandments," and then, in verse 23, "all that G'd has commanded you." The Torah appears to speak of someone who denies the validity of the Ten Commandments [commandments the people heard from G'd directly, Ed.] as well as all of the other commandments recorded in the written Torah but relayed to the people only through Moses. The message of the verse is that if someone worships idols he effectively rejects all the positive as well as all the negative commandments which make up Judaism. The words לא תעשו refer to the positive commandments, whereas the words את כל אשר צוה ה׳ אליכם refer to the negative commandments. The Torah informs us of a new concept, i.e. that there are individual positive commandments whose performance is equated with performance of all the positive commandments. Nonetheless, if someone worships idols he is considered as if he had also denied the validity of all the positive commandments. Similarly, there are some negative commandments the violation of which is considered as equivalent to rejection of all the negative commandments and the punishment in store for the person guilty of this is that which would be visited upon a person who had physically violated all the negative commandments.