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1. If I do not care for sechar and am not scared of onesh why should I keep mitzvos? 2. Why do we learn torah?
Your lack of caring for or being scared of schar v’onesh doesn’t change anything other than your perspective.
Should I jump into a fire if I’m not scared of it?
Yes, I know, all t’hi k’eved ham’shames es harav al m’nas l’kabel p’ras. But if you’re not there (and who is?), do it al m’nas.
We learn Torah for several reasons, including that we will be rewarded.
1. If I do not care for sechar and am not scared of onesh why should I keep mitzvos?
Because doing right and wrong isn’t always about a reward. Things that are right are right because they are right and not because of the reward we may get. We should strive to do right for it’s own sake and not for the sake of the reward.
When you say “thank you” to someone for something they did for you, do you do it only because you see some reward in it for you at a later date? When you give up your seat on the subway/bus to another person who really needs it, would you really not do it and be completely selfish if there was nothing in it for you?
2. Why do we learn torah?
To learn what *is* right and what *is* wrong.
The Wolf
Wolf, I agree with you, but if someone is asking the question, I don’t know if he’ll get that. I hope you’re right.
i want to know why we learn besides sechar and if its only to know right and wrong we might as well just learn shulchan aruch why gemora and the like.
That’s a different question than the one you were asking earlier.
You learn Gemara to learn the *reasoning* behind the decisions in the S”A and other Halachic codes. The reasoning is important because it may provide clues as to when the Halacha as brought down in the S”A or other Halachic codes may or may not apply in situations not envisioned by the writers of those codes.
It’s akin to knowing how SCOTUS rules on a case vs. actually reading the decision written by the justices.
The Wolf
I always understood that Gan Eden and Gehenom are the same place- it’s a completely spiritual place. As an analogy- take a classical music concert: if you appreciate classical music, it’s amazing, but if you don’t, it could be torture. Olam Haba is a completely spiritual life, an existence as close to possible to HKBH as could possibly be- the more we spend of our life engaged in spiritual pursuits (and learning Torah/God’s wisdom is the ultimate way to get close to Him and achieve spirituality), the more we’re able to appreciate and enjoy spirituality, then olam haba will be gan eden. The more we spend in this world engaging in physical pursuits and becoming physical beings- then we will spend the rest of our eternity in the gehenom of a spiritual existence that we can’t appreciate or relate to.
I don’t know anyone who is tortured by classical music.
It is a great privilege to serve Hashem!
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