Our Gemara on Amud Aleph relates an interesting theological debate:

With regard to the verse: “Therefore, the netherworld has enlarged itself and opened its mouth without measure [livli ḥok]” (Isaiah 5:14),
Reish Lakish says: It is referring to one who leaves even one statute [ḥok] unfulfilled; the netherworld expands for him.

Rabbi Yoḥanan says: It is not satisfactory to God, their Master, that you said this about them, as according to Reish Lakish’s opinion, most of the Jewish people would be doomed to Gehenna. Rather, even if one learned only one statute, he has a share in the World-to-Come, and “livli ḥok” means one who has learned no statutes at all.

The dispute between Reish Lakish and Rabbi Yochanan appears to be over whether it is necessary to fulfill the entire Torah to receive its effects, or if even partial fulfillment is sufficient for some benefit. Intuitively, we may understand this as similar to certain cures or physical processes. Sometimes each step is meaningful to a degree and helpful, and other times none of the ingredients or actions alone achieve any result unless combined in a critical mass.

However, Shalah (Torah Shebiksav, Re’eh, Torah Ohr) explains this in a deep way. He opens with a question on Reish Lakish, whose position seems to be refuted by the following derash brought down in Yalkut Shimoni (Devarim 863):

It will come to pass when you will surely listen to My commandments which I command to you this day.” The Yalkut explains that the wording is designed to forestall our argument that we cannot fulfill all the commandments, that “its measure is longer than the earth” (Job 11:9). We may compare the situation to a king who possesses a deep pit, so deep that no one has probed its exact depth. He tells a member of his staff to hire workers to fill up the pit; he does so. One of the more foolish of the workers takes a look into the pit and asks: “Will I ever finish filling up this hole?” The intelligent worker relates quite differently to the task at hand. He is not concerned with the time it may take to complete the task but reasons that, since he is a day laborer and gets paid for the amount of time he puts in, he is happy to have found work which may assure him of a continued livelihood for an indeterminate period. This is what God says here to the Jewish people. He tells us not to worry about the immensity of the task but to view ourselves as day laborers and to be happy that we will receive a reward for every day that we keep observing His commandments.

Shalah says that Reish Lakish and Rabbi Yochanan are not really arguing, but relating to different ways of responding to Torah obligation and responsibility. (As we pointed out in blogpost Psychology of the Daf, Sanhedrin 108, in the mystical world, there are no halakhic disputes, only different aspects or manifestations of truth.) If a person desires to study and observe as much Torah as he can, then, as the Yalkut and Rabbi Yochanan say, he gets his reward. God gives him credit for the effort and aspiration, no matter the results. However, if he stubbornly and rebelliously refuses to put all his effort in and only decides to observe certain mitzvos, then he does not get credit for what is incomplete and has not achieved the purpose of the Torah nor benefits from it.

What is powerful and fascinating about this Shalah is that we have completely reframed the issue to the opposite of our initial simplistic understanding. (This is often true when one studies a Torah piece in depth; one does not merely obtain additional insight but even a reconsideration of the entirety and opposite conclusions!) Because now Rabbi Yochanan technically agrees with Reish Lakish that the Torah is like an entire formula and system. If one ingredient or action is missing, the formula is defective and unable to achieve even partial results. Rabbi Yochanan only allows for a special clause: that if the intention and effort is to fulfill the entire Torah, then God will count that, and the formula is complete. (By the way, this too is a parallel self-referential discussion. If studying something in depth can lead to an entirely opposite conclusion, then surely ignorance or lacking of experience in even one part of Torah can lead to undermining the whole process.)

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

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Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, Rabbi Simcha Feuerman, LCSW-R, DHL is a psychotherapist who works with high conflict couples and families. He can be reached via email at simchafeuerman@gmail.com