by Rabbi Noah Gradofsky
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed here are that of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the Union for Traditional Judaism, unless otherwise indicated.
I happened upon the following tidbit which I found interesting.
Rav (Pesahim 50b and parallels) famously says “לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ומצות אף על פי שלא לשמה שמתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה, a person should always engage in Torah and mitzvot even if it is not for its own sake, because that which is done not for its own sake comes to be done for its own sake.”
R. Kappach in his commentary (note 22) on Rambam, Hilkhot Teshuvah 10:8 (or 10:5 depending on the edition) notes that Rambam here and in his commentary on the Mishnah (Kappach doesn’t give the reference, but it is apparently to Rambam on Sanhedrin 10:1) does not have mention of mitzvot, but rather only of Torah – ” לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה ואפילו שלא לשמה שמתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה a person should always engage in Torah even if it is not for its own sake, because that which is done not for its own sake comes to be done for its own sake.” R. Kappach concludes that Rambam doesn’t have the word “mitzvot” in his gemara and that this text makes sense, because had mitzvot been mentioned along with Torah, then rather than לשמה (for its own sake, singular) the text should should have been לשמן (for their own sake, plural). As it happens, Rav’s statement as quoted in Nazir 23b has לשמן.
Interestingly, Dikdukei Soferim (on Pesahim 50b and Horayot 10b) doesn’t indicate any variant texts. For the text in Sanhedrin 105b he notes that manuscripts פ and ק do not have the word mitzvot.
Quickly searching the Bar Ilan Responsa CD for “לעולם יעסוק אדם בתורה *אפילו”, I found a number of texts that have the phrase without mention of mitzvot, including e.g. Otzar Midrashim, Zohar, Ran on Rif, and Tosafot HaRosh (A pdf of the search results is here.).
I don’t think this changes much, but I thought it was interesting textually.
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Ordained by the UTJ’s Institute of Traditional Judaism in 2004, Rabbi Noah Gradofsky has remained a steadfast member, serving for years as a member of the UTJ Executive Board, the board of Morashah - UTJ's rabbinic fellowship - and as chairman of the UTJ conference committee.
Rabbi Gradofsky served as a full-time rabbi at Temple Israel in Long Beach, NY, for 6 years and has since served a number of synagogues on a contract basis. He is also a full-time practicing attorney.
Rabbi Gradofsky is also a moderator of the UTJ Facebook group, and he is a prolific writer on Jewish law and sociological topics affecting the religious Jewish community. Among his essays and writings are:
To learn more about Rabbi Gradofsky and access any essays not yet included in Viewpoints, go to: www.e-ark.net
Rabbi Gradofsky is married to Dr. Melissa Klapper and lives in the Philadelphia area.