LEV854 Conceptually speaking, commandments [] are to be observed because they are commandments, not for any other reason. [For illustration an early tradition: "Rabbi Eliezar Ben Azariah said: 'From whence do we know that a man should not say "I cannot tolerate wearing sha'atnez, or I cannot tolerate eating pork or cannot tolerate elicit relations" but rather he should say "I am capable and willing, but what can I do [given that] my Father in Heaven decreed thus?" Therefore Scripture states: "I have separated you from the nations to be Mine" [this verse], because of that he avoids the sin and accepts God's sovereignty,'" Sifra, Kedoshim, on those verses. And according to a later talmudic hyperbolic pronouncement, attributed to Rav Nahman bar Isaac: "A transgression committed for its own sake is better than a commandment performed not for its own sake" (B. Nazir 23b). This is not to discount completely other motivating factors within rabbinic literature for acting in accordance with the commandments. (By Charlotte Elisheva Fonrobert, “Ethical Theories in Rabbinic Literature”)