Deuteronomy 6

Sugya Map: The Scope of Zot HaMitzvah

• Issue: The syntactic ambiguity of Zot HaMitzvah (Deut. 6:1)—is it a singular "commandment" (a specific mitzvah) or a collective noun for the entire corpus of law?
• Nafka Mina: Is the blind (sumah) obligated in all mitzvot? Does the efficacy of the law depend on specific performance in the Land?
• Primary Sources: Deut. 6:1; Bava Kamma 87a; Ha’amek Davar; Torah Temimah.

Text Snapshot

"וְזֹאת הַמִּצְוָה הַחֻקִּים וְהַמִּשְׁפָּטִים אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵיכֶם לְלַמֵּד אֶתְכֶם לַעֲשֹׂת..." (דברים ו:א)

• Nuance: The juxtaposition of Mitzvah (singular) with Chukim and Mishpatim (plural). The Lamed in l’lamed implies a pedagogical imperative—the law is not static; it is an object of ongoing transmission.

Readings

• Ha’amek Davar (R’ Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin): R’ Berlin posits that Zot HaMitzvah refers to the principle of mitzvah goreret mitzvah. He argues that the Torah demands focus on one specific mitzvah as a psychological anchor, which then radiates outward into all other disciplines.
• Torah Temimah (R’ Baruch Epstein): Citing Bava Kamma 87a, he uses the phrase to derive the status of the sumah. If the text links Mitzvah to Mishpatim (civil law), and a blind person cannot judge mishpatim (lacking visual evidence), he is logically exempt from the entire corpus of Chukim.

Friction

• Kushya: If Zot HaMitzvah refers to the entire Torah, why use the singular Mitzvah? If it refers to one specific commandment (as per Ha’amek Davar), which one is the "anchor"?
• Terutz: The singularity denotes the unity of the divine will. The Sforno suggests the singular refers to the "land-bound" nature of the laws; the Mitzvah is the act of sanctifying the Land through obedience. The singularity is not about a specific ritual, but the integrity of the system.

Intertext

• Bava Kamma 87a: The Talmudic derivation linking mishpatim to the blind man’s exemption.
• SA Orach Chaim 139:3: The practical application regarding a blind person being called to the Torah—reflecting the tension between chiyuv (obligation) and kavod ha-tzibbur.

Psak/Practice

The psak follows the majority view: the sumah is obligated in all mitzvot d’oraita (Tosafot, BK 87a), rejecting the literalist reading of the Torah Temimah’s citation. We view Zot HaMitzvah as an integrative directive, not an exclusionary one.

Takeaway

The Torah is not a list; it is a singular, totalizing commitment. When we obsess over the "one mitzvah" we choose to perfect, we unlock the structural integrity of the entire system.