Perfection is a relative term. On a test, it usually is marked as 100%. In baseball, pitching a perfect game means not allowing a baserunner. We tell our children that practice makes perfect. But we also say, “No one’s perfect.” And quotes abound about perfection being elusive. “Real people aren’t perfect and perfect people aren’t real.”
It’s comforting to know that even a perfect game is usually not perfect. After all, the pitcher can toss a lot of balls and it’s still considered a perfect game is no opponents reach base. We strive to be the best we can. But we don’t delude ourselves into thinking we will actually achieve perfection.
In this week’s parsha, Lech Lecha, however, G-d demands from Avraham, “Walk before Me and be perfect.”
We find that G-d is ultimately satisfied with Avraham’s “perfection.” The Torah also uses such terms to describe the other Patriarchs, Yitzchak and Yaakov.
Is the Torah simply being complimentary and exaggerating? Or, is it really possible to be perfect?
Some commentaries interpret the Hebrew tamim differently. But most maintain that it really means perfect. So, how can G-d demand and expect perfection from a human being?!
Perfection, as we have seen, is a relative term. The same is true spiritually.
In the Torah we find three applications/meanings of spiritual perfection:
1. without blemish
2. of extraordinary quality
3. possessing unquestioning faith and commitment to G-d under all circumstances
These three different meanings can be viewed as successive steps in our process of self-refinement: first, we need to eliminate our imperfections; next, we must develop our inborn talents and gifts; and finally, we must strive to apply this perfection to all aspects of our lives and to all situations we encounter.
Although all three patriarchs embodied all three meanings of tamim, each one also expressed a particular emphasis on one of its three meanings:
Avraham, having been born into a corrupt society and degenerate family, had to struggle to overcome these obstacles and to remove all the negative elements in his life.
Yitzchak, having been born into holiness, spent his life developing and deepening the holiness he received gratis from his parents.
Yaakov was also born into holiness, but unlike Yitzchak, who never left the Holy Land, had to struggle to remain holy in the face of opposition and challenges. (His mother, Rivka, who was raised in a shady environment, would bequeath to him the strength to do this).
In our own lives, we attain the first level of tamim (faultlessness) by severing ourselves from our attachment to sinful and physical desires, thereby liberating ourselves from the dictates of our animal instincts. We then proceed to attain the second level of tamim (extraordinary quality) by developing our potentials and thereby ascending within the realm of goodness and holiness. Finally, we proceed to attain the third level of tamim by invoking supra-rational commitment, since there are often very compelling, rational excuses for not upholding our moral integrity in specific situations. On this level, we carry out G-d's will implicitly; we are not fazed by any obstacles or difficult circumstances, because we simply cannot imagine behaving otherwise.
So there you have it. The ladder of perfection.
No matter where you are on the ladder, the key is to be certain you are going up – not down – the ladder.