In Chapter 13:1 as part of the great speech of Moshe, it says “These these things which I command you today, you should keep them to observe them and not add nor subtract from them.” This is a repeat of an earlier statement in Chapter 4:2  which is in the plural, whereas this quote is in the singular.

In the Book of Devarim, Moshe gives a list of all commands that he has received and which he wants to pass on to all succeeding generations. We should not try to remove any of the laws, nor should we add to them. Naturally, the rabbis set about trying to explain how to understand it because, on the face of it, it cannot be taken literally. After all, there are so many things that were written in the Torah that we no longer adhere to, such as sacrifices, laws of purity, and tribal inheritance. And conversely, there are many things that we have added. Think of Purim and Hanukkah and the second Day of Yom Tov.
Much has been written about this and the difference between the two tenses. An obvious inference is that this is both a personal and a general command to individuals and the authorities.

A common complaint one hears is that we have added on many extra refinements, customs, and strictures, often alien ones from outside of Judaism. Many observant communities may be completely unaware of what other communities do. Let alone all the kabbalistic practices and therapeutic incantations. Aren’t these examples of adding?

The official rabbinic interpretation is that when it says do not add, it means do not add to an already existing law of the Torah. So that you cannot add a Biblical festival, but you can add a non-Biblical festive day so long as it does not mimic the Biblical one.  Or if the Torah says there are four kinds of plants to be taken on Sukot that we waive, you cannot add an extra couple of plants. And yet we think nothing an extra day of Yomtov to Rosh Hashanah and other Biblical festivals in the Diaspora.

One might say that some things we don’t do now are because the circumstances have changed, and we don’t have a Temple anymore. Or that we need to make the law more sensitive to new developments. We don’t allow people to get married in the simpler Biblical way anymore but have added the Ketubah and the Chupabecause they protect the wife’s interests. Yet we keep on adding all kinds of different ritual customs and ceremonies that would be unrecognizable to Moshe. Besides, it’s clear from the Torah itself that one is allowed to innovate within a framework of the law as it says quite explicitly in next week’s reading from the Torah  (Chapter 17:8-13). Indeed, the whole of the Oral Law is an addition to some degree.

I understand this idea of not adding or reducing to mean that there is the law and there is the spirit of the law, which adds another dimension. Words like Just, Righteous, Kindness,  Love, and Charity cannot always be defined legally, but we know how important they are. We have to preserve the core of our tradition by clarifying certain things like Amendments to Constitutions or Basic Laws today. The spirit of the law certainly requires this.  For example, to preserve the letter and intent of the law, the innovation of Muktsa,  tells us not to even touch something such as money on Shabbat that one cannot use on that day. Isn’t a fence around a law an innovation? But it does preserve the spirit of the law. Conversely, you can negatively do something positive such as amputating a limb to save the body. Or to meet exceptional and unforeseen conditions like living under an alien legal system.

Preservation might indeed involve adding or removing. But if the aim is to strengthen the people and their way of life, then it does not contradict the spirit of the law. But if it is simply to make life easier or to please other people, then it is destructive and chips away at the foundations. Imagine a legal system whose sole aim is to be popular and make life easy. All the additions I can think of, have tried to strengthen rather than weaken.
I often wonder if we may have gone too far with adding. But then, since the secular world has gone so far in removing so many moral limitations or reinterpreting them to make anything permissible, it is hardly surprising that the reaction is to tighten rather than loosen even more. It doesn’t have to be this way, but it can make sense.

Rabbi Jeremy Rosen lives in New York. He was born in Manchester. His writings are concerned with religion, culture, history and current affairs – anything he finds interesting or relevant. They are designed to entertain and to stimulate. Disagreement is always welcome.