In Memory of our beloved David Schwartz, who fell in battle sanctifying God’s name, on 27 Tevet, 5784 (8 January 2024).
“Le’David Barchi Nafshi” is a compilation of essays written on the weekly Torah reading by David Schwartz, of blessed memory. First published on the occasion of his marriage to Meital, David’s unique Torah thoughts that delve into the depths of the Torah are shared now to elevate his memory and sanctify his soul.
"אִם בְּחֻקֹּתַי תֵּלֵכוּ וְאֶת מִצְוֹתַי תִּשְׁמְרוּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם וְנָתַתִּי גִשְׁמֵיכֶם בְּעִתָּם וְנָתְנָה הָאָרֶץ יְבוּלָהּ וְעֵץ הַשָּׂדֶה יִתֵּן פִּרְיוֹ" (כו, ג-ד).
If you follow My laws and faithfully observe My commandments, I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit.
The doctrine of reward and punishment at the opening of the parsha arouses our wonder. It is worthwhile to clarify the meaning of this important religious axiom. We learn at a young age to fulfill the commandments whether we understand their content and essence or not. Furthermore, we are commanded to fulfill the commandments since that is the will of God. We do not perform the mitzvah for the purpose of receiving a reward, as it says in the Ethics of the Fathers. Rather, at every moment, a person serves our Creator for such was the mandate we received at Mt. Sinai.
In the Netivot Shalom commentary on Yitro, the Slonimer Rebbe (1911-2000) writes: “And when I say, ‘I believe in full faith’, it is a faith that no scholarly studies will be able to move, if you maintain full faith. And if you do not have faith through your own volition, then you should believe by force … because a Jew needs to believe. We believe not because we see and know, but because it is written in the Torah.” Yet, the message of the verses above is exactly the opposite. This Torah portion of Bechukotai tells us to perform the commandments in order to receive reward and merit the accompanying physical blessings.
In the Talmud (Kiddushin 39b), the sages said: “There is no reward for the performances of a mitzvah in this world.” In light of this, we need to explain why the Torah tells us that the purpose of fulfilling the commandments is to receive physical reward in this world. Likewise, why do all the blessings deal with material matters, but not one of them deals with matters regarding the world to come.
Rabbi Isaac Karo (1458-1535) wrote in the Toldot Yitzchak: “God wishes to lead Israel on the way that a father takes his small child to study Torah. When the child is young, the father says to him, go to the home of the melamed, or teacher, and I will reward you with pomegranate seeds or figs. When the child gets older, the father says I will give you a coin. Next, he says to him, I will give you a garment. Finally, he says to him, go study and you will inherit olam haba, the world to come. After that, ultimately, he tells him the truth, “Go, study, solely for the glory of God Who created the world and bestowed us with our soul, and not for any reward. All this being done so that the action which began for a different purpose, will ultimately be for the glory of God’s name.”
The message then is twofold. God explains that if a man does not come to complete faith on his own he can fulfill the commandments with intent to receive reward. By fulfilling the commandments in that way, one may arrive with God’s help at the goal of serving God for God’s sake alone.
Once, Rabbi Lau was asked the following question by soldiers on an air force base. It was before the Pesach seder and a soldier opened the haggadah: It says, “This year we are here, but in the coming year let us celebrate in Israel. This year we are servants, next year we will be free.” The soldier asked, “How is it relevant to say these words of “Next year in Israel,” or “We are servants,” if we currently find ourselves living in Israel on a powerful air force base? Rabbi Lau answered: “When we say ‘We are servants,’ or ‘Next year in Israel,’ we are not praying for ourselves alone. We have truly merited to live in Israel and to be free here, with God’s help. But as we live here, there are Jews scattered throughout the world in different situations. Our request in this prayer is for those Jews, that they should merit, God willing, in the coming year to be free in the land of Israel.”
In our time, assimilation has left a mark on all paths in Judaism, and we live in a time of God’s concealment, when many Jews are not fulfilling the commandments of the Torah, thinking it’s not relevant for them. People may think that these matters are too exalted for them. Our parsha informs us that even if a Jew does not merit to fulfill the commandments with an understanding that this is the Divine Will, he can still fulfill it with the intention to receive reward from God, and there is great value in this.
We see then that there are different levels in the fulfillment of the commandments. Fulfilling commandments in order to receive reward has value in the eyes of God. Nevertheless, such is not the ultimate purpose. A person must wish to attain a higher level in fulfilling the commandments, that of fulfilling the commandments for the will of God alone, to fulfill the command of the glorious king, God.
The Netivot Shalom explained the great obligation of a Jew on this matter in Yitro. “A Jew needs to believe not because he sees and knows but because it is written in the Torah, I am the Lord your God.” Such is a faith that is not dependent on examination and awareness but rather is solid and clear in every situation. When one feels the belief or not. And even when thick clouds cover the light of faith, that light may be found within oneself as it says, “I am the Lord your God.”
We find ourselves counting the days of Sefirat HaOmer. May it be His will that we reach the clarity that is sought from us, and that we merit to fulfill the commandments with pure faith and clarity, soon in our days. Amen.”
Translated by Akiva Herzfeld (akivaherzfeld@gmail.com)