Parsha Mishpatim

Action!
I n this week’s Parsha, the Jewish people tell Moses "All that G-d has spoken, we will do, and we will hear.”
The greatness of the people of Israel was not that they were prepared to "blindly" follow G-d's bidding without any understanding. If this were the case they would have just said, "We will do". Their greatness was that they placed their ‘doing’ before their understanding.
Yes, we must understand and learn about what we are doing. However, our limited understanding and lack of knowledge should not cause our actual actions to be lacking. If we know it is something that must be done, we do it first. Only afterwards do we probe into the whys and wherefores.
The same is true of our Jewish traditions and laws.  We are definitely mandated to learn and to study, but sometimes it seems like there is endless material to wade through.  We should not feel that it is somehow irresponsible to begin with actions, followed up by understanding of what we are doing and the deeper reasons for it later on, if necessary.