The Necessity of Completeness of Torah and of Klal Yisrael

Complete (tamim) shall you be with the Lord your God.                                               Deuteronomy 18:13

The giant of Torah, Rabbi Yitzḥak Elḥanan Spektor [1817–1896] notes the use of the word tamim in connection with Torah as well:

God’s Torah is perfect (temima, the feminine form, since the word “Torah” is feminine), restoring the soul …   Psalms 19:8

and quotes our Sages’ dictum: “Israel and Torah are a single entity.”

Rabbi Spektor commented that a Torah scroll which is missing a single letter, for example, the letter “mem” is not valid, and it makes no difference if the letter is missing from the verse “Moses commanded us Torah” [Deuteronomy 33:4] or “They found a man gathering (m’koshesh) sticks on Shabbat.” [Numbers 15:32]

Similarly, removing any individual from the community of Israel (Klal Yisrael), whether he be the greatest sage, who believes with complete faith in the Torah of Moses, or one who gathers sticks on Shabbat (a capital crime, as in Numbers above), leaves the Nation of Israel incomplete.