Perashat Ekeb 5778

Perashat Ekeb 5778

In this week's perasha Moshe Rabenu, knowing that he will soon die and not enter the Land, instructs Am Yisrael for life after his demise: "All of the missvah that I am commanding you this day you shall observe to do, so that you may live and multiply and come and possess the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers" (Debarim 8:1).

There is an anomaly in this passuk. The sentence begins in the singular, "Kol HaMissvah asher anokhi messavekha...", "all of the missvah [sing.] that I am commanding you", and ends in the plural "Tishmerun la'asot", "you [pl.] will observe to do".

Why is there a discrepancy in the language? I would like to present two different responses that interestingly complete each other.

The Keli Yakar claims that "all of the missvah" is written in singular form to teach us that even one correctly performed missvah will impact "Lema'an tihyun", "in order that you will live", referring to meriting eternal life in Olam Haba. This is not to say that the person who has kept only one missvah can be compared to one who has kept the entire Torah. Rather, even the observance of one missvah merits eternal life. 

The Ohr HaHayim takes another approach to this apparent inconsistent structure of the passuk. He explains that many of us wrongly measure the missvot on a scale of what they deem essential or relevant. In some cases, this is merely justification for ignoring certain missvot. People may rationalize that they are performing the more "important" commandments. This is certainly a misinterpretation since our sages say, "Be as careful with a minor missvah as with a major one [what you consider minor or major], for you do not know the rewards of the missvot" (Pirke Abot 2:1).

When Moshe says, "Kol HaMissvah," the entire Torah is seen as a single missvah which we are obligated to observe in its entirety. It is not a list of options from which we can pick and choose. For example, if we sever one part of our body, does it not impact the rest? Each part of the body affects the whole. This is what the Ohr HaHayim is referring to when he says that the entire Torah should be viewed as one missvah. When one missvah is missing, the whole is lacking. 

The views of the Keli Yakar and the Ohr HaHayim appear to counterbalance each other. On one hand, we must remember the great value that even one single missvah possesses. On the other hand, we must understand the incredible loss of neglecting even one commandment. Most important is that when one fulfills the missvot in their entirety, he merits all the blessings that are mentioned in this pasuk, "So that you may live and multiply, and come and possess the land that the Lord swore to your forefathers".

Shabbat Shalom,
Rabbi Mimoun Miller