The commentators suggest various explanations as to what walking with Hashem haphazardly means. Rashi opines that it means that a person will keep the mitzvot only occasionally. Such a person, whose dedication to Hashem is one of convenience, can never aspire to true Avodat Hashem. Rashbam offers a similar explanation. The Or HaChaim suggests that it refers to Bnei Yisrael’s interpretation of events. The Torah describes how Hashem will punish us for our sins. By understanding the punishments we will be motivated to repent. But if we interpret the punishments as coincidental occurrences, that they just happened to transpire when they did but were not Divine in nature, then Hashem will have no choice but to punish us in an even harsher manner.
The Avnei Neizer (as quoted in Iturei Torah) offers a different approach. It’s not that the person doesn’t commit to keeping mitzvot all the time. In fact, we could be dealing with a person who observes all the commandments. Rather, the word keri (haphazardly) implies that he fulfills the mitzvot without any preparation or forethought – as if he encountered them by chance without time to prepare. Appropriate observance of the Torah requires intentional planning and focus. A que sera, sera attitude is antithetical to authentic Judaism.
Leaders must understand this in their most inner core. They must anticipate opportunities and challenges and prepare accordingly. This will enable them to be more flexible in their responses when they confront the moment of truth. This will also enable them to recognize and admit more readily if they need outside assistance to successfully navigate the crisis at hand. In 1972, the Munich police force was not prepared. But worse than that, they did not realize how unprepared they were. At one point Israel offered to deploy the IDF unit Sayeret Matkal, which had counter-terrorism experience, to help resolve the standoff with Black September. The Germans declined and answered smugly that they had the situation under control and that they could handle it. Tragically, history has recorded that that they didn’t have the situation under control and that they couldn’t handle it.
