Not So Small

by Rabbi Joshua (characteristically known as The Hoffer) Hoffman

Parshas Eikev begins with the verse “Because you hearken to these ordinances and observe and perform them, the Lord your God will safeguard for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers” (Devarim 5:10). The Torah then continues to list the rewards that will be bestowed for observing the mitzvos. The word used for ‘because’ - eikev - is unusual. The word used more commonly would be ‘ya’an.’ The midrash, as cited by Rashi, relates the word eikev to the similarly spelled word for ‘heel,’ and says that the Torah is alluding to the mitzvos that people deem to be minor, and tread upon with their heel. The image of the heel may also allude to the fact the skin there is rougher/less sensitive, which is the way some people treat such mitzvos. The Torah is therefore telling us that if we observe even these mitzvos we will receive great reward. I believe that the allusion here to a part of the human body has wider implications, as well.

Actually, the Torah’s assertion that we will receive earthly reward for observing the mitzvos is problematic. After all, the Talmud in Kiddushin (39b) tells us that there is no reward in this world for observing the mitzvos. Many answers are given to this question, perhaps the most famous of them being that of the Rambam, who says that the bounties mentioned are not a reward for keeping the mitzvos, but rather, divine help to enable us to continue observing the mitzvos. The Kesav Sofer, in explaining the use of the word, ‘eikev’, suggests another answer. He says that the allusion to the heel evokes the image of someone who ‘digs his heels in to do the mitzvos.’ Explained in this way, the reward promised is not for the observance of the mitzvos, per se, but for the manner in which one performs them. Seen in this way, he says, the allusion to a part of the human body indicates that the observance of the mitzvos is something that should change the human personality in a way that it is observable that the person is someone who observes the mitzvos.

This idea can be drawn from a comment by Rav Mordechai Ilan, in his Mikdash Mordechai, on our verse. He relates the word ‘eikev’ as used here to the word eikev as used in the verse ‘eikev anavah yiras hashem’ (Mishlei 22:4) - a result of humility is the fear of God. Although Rav Ilan explains the allusion as coming to teach that one who is humble will be able to succeed in his torah study, we can apply it to the manner in which one observes the mitzvos. The Torah is thus telling us, that if a person, in his observance of the mitzvos, develops the character quality of humility, he will receive great reward. Humility, as the Ramban wrote to his son in his letter of ethical instruction, is the finest of all character traits. What the Torah is alluding to, therefore, by using the word eikev, is that observance of the mitzvos, in the totality, is meant to lead to a different, improved level of character development, and it is for this kind of development, rather than for the observance of mitzvos per se, that reward is promised.