Snow falls, laws speak: Pathways to divine love
It has been freezing outside. Mounds of snow still line the streets. As we bundle ourselves against the wind and make our way down icy sidewalks, a question comes to mind. Is there any connection between this harsh winter weather and Parshas Mishpatim, with its detailed civil laws and ethical codes?
At first glance, the answer seems to be no. What could snow possibly have to do with our parsha? Yet I once heard a moving insight from Rabbi Larry Rothwachs that opened up a surprising connection, one that grows out of words we say every single morning.
The source is Tehillim 147, part of Pesukei D’Zimra. There, we describe Hashem’s control over the forces of nature — “He spreads the snow like wool and scatters the frost like ashes. He hurls His hail like pebbles, who can withstand His icy blast? He sends His word and melts them, He blows His wind and water flows.” And then the focus shifts — “He reveals His word to Yaakov, His statutes and His judgments to Israel.
That change is hard to miss. In one breath we are talking about snow, ice, frost, and hail. In the next, we are talking about Torah, Chukim, and Mishpatim. Why does this Kapitil of Tehillim move so quickly from weather to divine law?
Rabbi Rothwachs explained that this reflects two different paths through which a Jew can come to love Hashem. We are commanded in the mitzvah of Ahavas Hashem, to love G-d. But how does a person actually grow into that love?
• • •
The Rambam addresses this in two places and seems to point in two different directions. In Hilchos Yesodei HaTorah, the Rambam teaches that when a person reflects on the natural world and recognizes the wisdom and greatness of its Creator, this awareness leads to love, awe, and a desire to know Hashem more deeply.
One path to loving Hashem begins by looking outward, at the wonder of creation. That beauty is obvious in spring and summer, but it is no less present in winter, when fresh snow quietly covers the ground outside.
Yet in Sefer HaMitzvos, when the Rambam discusses the mitzvah of loving Hashem, he takes a different approach. There, he writes that love of Hashem develops through Torah and Mitzvos. The path to love runs through learning, observance, and living with divine wisdom.
So which is it? Do we come to love Hashem through nature or through Torah? The answer is both. Rather than contradicting himself, the Rambam is showing us two complementary channels through which a person can develop a real and lasting love for Hashem.
We actually see this duality every day in our tefillah. In the blessings before Shema, the first Brachah, Yotzer Ohr, focuses on the natural world. We speak about light and darkness, the luminaries, and creation. Immediately afterward, Ahavah Rabbah turns to Torah, to the gift of Mitzvos, and to the privilege of studying Hashem’s word. This juxtaposition is not random. Nature and Torah stand side by side as two ways of building a relationship with the Ribbono Shel Olam.
Sometimes, though, we split these worlds apart. A Mishnah in Pirkei Avos (Perek 3, Mishnah 7) points to this danger.
Rabbi Shimon teaches that if someone is walking along the road learning Torah and stops his learning to say, “How beautiful is this tree,” he has done something seriously wrong. One explanation is that the problem was not noticing the tree’s beauty, but feeling he had to stop learning in order to see Hashem in nature. If the same G-d gave the Torah and created the tree, then both reveal Him simultaneously.
The mistake is closing the Sefer as if we must choose between these two ways of encountering Hashem.
• • •
This idea appears at the beginning of Parshas Mishpatim. The parshah opens, “V’eileh HaMishpatim (And these are the laws).” Rashi explains that the opening vav connects Mishpatim to Parshas Yisro and the revelation at Sinai. Just as the Aseres HaDibros came from Sinai, so too all the civil laws that follow. Business ethics and financial honesty are not separate from spiritual life. They are themselves Avodas Hashem and both flow from the same divine source.
A person might be very careful in shul or while learning, yet act dishonestly at the office. Mishpatim reminds us to avoid that inconsistency. The G-d we meet in tefillah and learning is the same G-d who demands honesty, fairness, and compassion in our everyday dealings.
We can watch snow blanket the earth and feel our hearts open a little more to the Creator. That same person can open a Gemara, struggle through a Tosafos, and feel that love deepen. These are not two relationships but one, not two G-ds but one Ribbono Shel Olam, revealing Himself through both creation and command.
As we say every morning in Tehillim, Hashem spreads the snow like wool, and in the same breath, He reveals His statutes to Israel. Both the frozen landscape and the ancient laws are ways Hashem speaks to us. We don’t have to choose between them.
We can hold both together, letting nature and Torah work side by side, guiding us toward a life filled with love for the One who created the world and entrusted us with His Torah.
Write: Columnist@TheJewishStar.com
