There’s no need to add to Torah, perfect as is

Towards the beginning of this week’s Torah portion, Va’Eschanan, we are given Moshe’s reminder that we are not to add anything to the Torah, nor to detract from it (4:2). This is the mitzvah of bal tosif, not to add.

Rashi quotes the Sifrei, saying do not add a fifth paragraph to the Sheman, and do not add a fifth specie to the lulav bundle. Ramban Rabbenu Bachaye brings another example: saying a fourth sentence when pronouncing the three-sentence Priestly blessing, Birkat Kohanim, while various baalei tosafot mentioned having a fifth corner added to tzitzit.

Some commentaries follow the line of thinking of the phrase “Kol hamosif go’rea,” that anyone who adds actually detracts from something that is perfect as it is.

Other approaches include warnings about the downsides of adding to the Torah — such as Ibn Ezra, who reminds us not to think that adding to the Torah is considered serving G-d.

But what is considered adding, and what is not?

Explaining Rashi, Rabbi Ovadiah MiBartenura says that fulfilling a mitzvah twice is not bal tosif. Though he does not give examples of what that might include, presumably wearing tefillin longer, saying Shema twice, giving tzedakah a second time, visiting someone who is ill a second time, is not considered a violation.

It is also not a violation of bal tosif if a Jew who is not obligated to fulfill a mitzvah nevertheless does so. He brings the example of Michal daughter of King Saul wearing tefillin and the wife of the prophet Yonah going to the Temple for the holidays (the mitzvah of being oleh l’regel), and that women are allowed, but not required, to put their hands on a korban (offering) when they would bring one. 

Ramban questions whether eating in the sukkah eight days violates bal tosif, while the Rosh indicates that since eating an “extra” day in the sukkah does not detract from the mitzvah (it does not fit in the category of kol hamosif go’rea) it is permissible.