One of the major questions that Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik addressed in his philosophical works is that of the role of law and regulation in Jewish thought and practice. In 1946 and 1947, Soloveitchik explored this theme in a course titled “Concepts in Halakhah as Elaborated Upon by the Aggadah and Kabbalah,” which he taught at Yeshiva University’s Bernard Revel Graduate School. The notes of one of the students in that class, published for the first time by the journal Tradition, contain—as Shlomo Zuckier puts in in his foreword—a “sustained argument for the preeminence of halakhah [law] within Jewish tradition, over and above the realms of aggadah [narrative and exegetical teachings] and Kabbalah [mysticism].” Moreover, Soloveitchik contends, halakhah is at its heart an intellectual form of religiosity rather than an ethical or ritual one.

The greatest contribution of the halakhah was its purging Judaism of all magical, mythical, and ceremonial elements. It deprives Jewish life of its mythical nature. The mitzvot are all intellectualized, thereby severing them from all mystical rites. The halakhah did not want sacraments in its mitzvot. It resented cultic, worship performances. How was it to accomplish this? By taking the transcendent and the sacramental and intellectualizing them. The method the halakhah used to purge the mythical element was to atomize and mathematize the mitzvah.

To illustrate this point, Soloveitchik suggest that if Jews were obligated to have Christmas trees, there would be so vast and intricate body of regulations governing these objects that each “would no longer be a tree, but rather a complex of concepts.” But what could be the purpose of this intellectualization of religion which, as Soloveitchik repeatedly emphasizes, eschews the holistic, preferring instead to break down every obligation into component parts? The answer lies in understanding the difference between halakhah and the “legalism” imagined by its critics:

Some say the halakhah is dry, esoteric, etc. These people, however, misunderstand what the rabbis were aiming for, their direction and tendency. Mythical religion is most dangerous; it leads to most absurd acts and performances.

The halakhic act is religious in the sense that it is meaningful, redeeming, and uplifting. There is no happiness in being a “law-abiding” citizen. No one achieves happiness or bliss when paying his taxes. This does not exist in a legal system. The legal experience is not only formal in its method, but also in its realization. It contains no spark, or inspiration, or enthusiasm. The halalakah, on the other hand, is meaningful, human, and redeeming.

Halakhah gives content and meaning to one’s life; it redeems man. There is the affirmation of one’s existence in the religious act.

Two weeks ago, a terrorist—most likely working for Hizballah—managed to cross into Israel from Lebanon and plant an explosive device near Megiddo that wounded a civilian. The attack, according to Matthew Levitt, is a sign of the Iran-backed militia’s increasing willingness to challenge the tacit understanding it has had with the IDF for over a decade. Such renewed aggression can also be found in the rhetoric of the group’s leaders:

In the lead-up to the 2006 war, [Hizballah’s] Secretary-General Hassan Nasrallah famously miscalculated how Israel would respond to the cross-border abduction of its soldiers. According to Israeli analysts, however, he now believes he can predict the enemy’s behavior more accurately, leading him to sharpen his rhetoric and approve a series of increasingly aggressive actions over the past three years.

Nasrallah’s willingness to risk conflict with Israel was partly driven by domestic economic and political pressures. . . . Yet he also seemed to believe that Israel was unlikely to respond in a serious way to his threats given Hizballah’s enlarged precision-missile arsenal and air-defense systems.

In addition to the bombing, this month has seen increased reports of cross-border harassment against Israelis, such as aiming laser beams at drivers and homes, setting off loud explosions on the Lebanese frontier, and pouring sewage toward Israeli towns. Hizballah has also disrupted Israeli efforts to reinforce the security barrier in several spots along the Blue Line, [which serves as the de-facto border between Lebanon and the Jewish state].

This creeping aggressiveness—coupled with Nasrallah’s sense of having deterred Israel and weakened its military posture—indicate that Hizballah will continue trying to move the goalposts.