Parshat Eikev
Before we begin, I would like to ask a simple question. “What is the definition of a devout Jew?”
There are many answers – someone who davens three times a day in a minyan, keeps Kosher, observes Shabbat, honors their parents, gives tzedakah, does chesed, studies Torah, etc. In other words – someone who tries to observe as many of the mitzvot as they possibly can. In this shiur we are going to explore a surprisingly different answer to the above question.
Rebbi, in a Mishna (Avot 2:1), says that we do not know which mitzvot are important (“chamurot“) and which are less important (“kalot“) and therefore should treat each with equal importance.
The Mefarshim (Rambam, Bartenura, etc.) on this Mishna make a distinction between positive mitzvot, “Asei,” and negative mitzvot, “Lo Ta’asei.”
For negative mitzvot, we do know the weight of the mitzvah – from the severity of the punishment if we transgress. We know that a negative mitzvah punishable by Kareit is more severe than one punishable by lashes.
The Torah, however, does not state the reward we receive for performing most (99.2%) of the positive mitzvot. Some of the positive mitzvot have a paired negative mitzvah and we can infer from the punishment of the negative mitzvah, the weight of the positive mitzvah. However, many of the positive mitzvot do not have a paired negative mitzvah, so how do we know which has greater reward? We don’t.
This, the Mefarshim say, is what Rebbi is referring to – mitzvot, whose weight is not discernable – we should treat and observe these equally.
The Midrash (Tanchuma, Eikev, 2) brings a parable to illustrate this. A king commissioned some gardeners to plant a fruit orchard next to his palace. The king, however, did not tell them which fruit he liked best, which he least liked, etc. Without this knowledge, the gardeners had no choice but to plant a wide variety of fruit trees in the orchard. If they had known that the king especially liked mangos, they would have planted more mango trees at the expense of, say, an avocado tree.
Similarly, by not revealing the reward for (most of) the positive mitzvot, HaKadosh Baruch Hu prevented a situation where we would excessively observe only some mitzvot at the expense of others.
The Midrash continues to say, in the name of R’ Shimon bar Yochai, that the Torah made an exception for two positive mitzvot, and did state their reward – Shiluach HaKen (sending the mother bird away before taking the eggs from a nest) and honoring one’s parents. For both, the Torah says, “You will live a long life” (in this world). What reward we receive for these mitzvot in Olam Haba, however, is unknown.
In the previous paragraph (Eikev, 1), the Tanchuma says that the word Eikev (heel), in the first pasuk of our parsha, is referring to positive mitzvot that people tend to regard as unimportant, and “cast them under their heels” – they are negligent in observing them, since they underestimate their importance.
If the word Eikev is referring to seemingly “unimportant” mitzvot, let us try understand the true essence of such mitzvot.
R’ Tzadok HaKohen of Lublin has a principle that to understand the essence of a word, you have to examine the context in which it appears the first time in the Torah.
The first time the word Eikev appears in the Torah (albeit with different vowels) is in Parshat Breishit (3:15), related to the sin of Adam HaRishon and the punishment of the snake. That man will chop off the head of the snake, but the snake will strike at the heel (eikev) of man.
Adam HaRishon was not diligent in observing all four mitzvot commanded to him by HaKadosh Baruch Hu. Three positive mitzvot – to procreate, to have dominion over all creatures, to eat from the Tree of Life (Torah) and one negative mitzvah – to refrain from eating from the Tree of Knowledge (Meir Panim, chap. 15, pg. 163). As a result, he aroused the Heavenly prosecutor, the Satan who caused him to sin, via Chava.
The fundamental question is – How could Adam HaRishon have sinned like this? Chazal tell us that the stature of Adam was so great, the angels thought he was G-d and wanted to sing praises to him. If Adam was the most perfect creature ever to be created by HKB”H, it is inconceivable that he was not diligent in performing HaKadosh Baruch Hu’s mitzvot. If so, Adam must have had a good reason not to perform the above mitzvot immediately upon receiving them on erev Shabbat.
Adam wanted to wait for Shabbat. Adam was created on erev Shabbat and given all the above mitzvot on erev Shabbat, but he wanted to wait a few short hours more until Shabbat before first performing them. Why? Adam HaRishon wanted the holiness of Shabbat to permeate the first mitzvot he performed. As the Zohar (part 2, 88a) says – the source of all blessing, in Heaven and on earth, is derived from Shabbat. All the above three positive mitzvot – procreation, dominion over the animals (allowing them to rest) and studying Torah – all have accentuated significance on Shabbat.
So, we see that Adam HaRishon was well intentioned in delaying his performance of these mitzvot. However, the road to sin is often paved with good intentions. HaKadosh Baruch Hu commanded Adam to perform these mitzvot immediately and not wait. The evil inclination, however, excels in delaying tactics. By getting Adam to delay, it resulted in sin.
This is where the yetzer hara trips us up, by causing us to delay in performing a mitzvah, thinking it is not that important that we should do it immediately.
This is the lesson of Parshat Eikev – to refrain from trying to do G-d’s calculations and simply do what He tells us to.
Parshat HaShavua Trivia Question: How many blessings are we required to recite each day?
Answer to Last Week’s Trivia Question: What is the meaning of the word Va’etchanan? Literally it means to plead – that Moshe pleaded that G-d should allow him into Eretz Yisrael. The Ba’al HaTurim, however, says that the gematria of Va’etchanan is Shira, “song,” that Moshe sang songs of praise to Hashem so that He would answer his prayer.