If you follow My statutes, and observe My commandments and perform them. (26:3) Rashi explains this Posuk, as there is a difficulty here: The Torah begins with, If you follow My statutes. I might think that this refers to the fulfillment of the commandments. However, when Posuk says, “and observe My commandments,” the fulfillment of the commandments is already stated. So what is the meaning of “If you follow My statutes”? It means that you must toil in the study of Torah.
The reference point is the Mishnah in Avos (3:45): Whoever takes upon himself the yoke of Torah thereby frees himself from the burden of civic and governmental obligations. The question is: the verse seems repetitive in that it uses three separate clauses; go, observe and perform, all seem to involve keeping the Torah. What is the difference between each phrase?
The answer is, that all three are required in order to merit all the blessings which Hashem will provide the Jewish people with peace and sustenance, laid forth in the next Posuk: I will give your rains in their time, the Land will yield its produce, and the tree of the field will give forth its fruit. Your threshing will last until the vintage, and the vintage will last until the sowing; you will eat your food to satiety, and you will live in security in your land. And I will grant peace in the Land, and you will lie down with no one to frighten [you]; I will remove wild beasts from the Land, and no army will pass through your land; You will pursue your enemies, and they will fall by the sword before you.
When one sees the tremendous rewards of doing what the first Posuk requires, this should soften the burden of the Yetzer Hara, and become closer to Hashem. The first requirement is toiling in Torah. The Gemarra in Kiddushin 30b relates a lengthy discussion on the benefits of learning Torah. A Sage from the school of Rabbi Yishmael taught: My son, if the evil inclination, encounters you, pull it into the study hall, go and study Torah. If it is a stone it will melt, and if it is iron it will break, as it is stated with regard to the Torah: “Is not My word like fire, says the Lord, and like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” (Yermiah 23:29).
Yet it is told that many scholars in Europe who toiled in Torah would still desecrate the Torah and Shabbos. Evidently, the Torah is so sweet and deep. There are the famous words of the Ohr Hachaim Hakadosh in Parshas Ki Savo: “If people would know the sweetness of Torah they would drop all material items like gold or silver, and run to learn Torah as Torah has in it all the goods of this world.” If so, it is understood that someone could immerse himself in Torah because it is sweet. Therefore, the Torah requires “and observe My commandments.” Toiling in Torah, is dependant on observing the Mitzvohs. If one toils in Torah, and is lax in observing what it says in the Torah, this would not bring him closer to Hashem.
Then we come to the third requirement, “follow My statutes.” One can toil in Torah and observe the Mitzvohs, can apply to many people who know that certain acts are forbidden. but, it is only knowledge. Hashem requires to actively perform the Mitzvohs too. When all three are intertwined, Hashem promises all the blessings set forth in these Psukim.
(Yehuda Z. Klitnick)
