The Torah could have written עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְׁעוּן, without the word וְהָיָה, and we would have understood the possuk just as well. Why, asks the Ohr Hachaim, did the Torah add this word?
Another question asked by the Ohr Hachaim is why the word עֵקֶב was necessary. Why could the Torah not say אם תשמעון, like it said אם בחקתי תלכו? Chazal, as quoted by Rashi, write that the possuk is referring to those Mitzvos that a person may be inclined to trample on with his heel. The word עֵקֶב doubles as the word heel, and the Torah is hinting that we must be equally careful with those Mitzvos that we do not consider important.
The Ohr Hachaim quotes the Gemara that the word וְהָיָה is an expression of happiness.
The master of the Nevi’im used his pleasant language to awaken Klal Yisroel to true Avodas Hashem. A person should learn that true and complete happiness can only come as a result of fulfilling ALL of Hashem’s commandments. When we are careful about all of them, not even neglecting those that seem to be worthy of trampling with the heel, we will reach happiness.
If we are neglectful of some Mitzvos and mistreat them, we will be included in the category mentioned by Shlomo Hamelech – ולשמחה מה זה עשה – what does happiness do?
The possuk now reads differently. והיה – happiness will arrive, עקב תשמעון at the end of your hearkening. When a person follows the Torah in its totality, not ignoring or neglecting any part of it in the slightest, he will reach that Simcha that he hopes for. He needs to follow all of the ordinances, he needs to keep each and every Mitzvah, and then he will reach his happiness.
The Ohr Hachaim offers another explanation of the message of this possuk. The Torah is telling us that the happiness that a person can derive from keeping Mitzvos is only at the end of his story, The word עקב, meaning heel, can also mean the end, as the heel is the end of a human’s body. Until a person’s death, he cannot rely on himself and his spiritual level. He cannot be happy with himself because he may still fail. When he dies, he can be happy.
Another lesson from this possuk is that a person must learn Torah with happiness, not depression. An Avel – a mourner – may not learn Torah, because Torah makes a person happy.
Another hint derived from this possuk is based on another possuk in Tehillim פִּקּוּדֵי ה' יְשָרִּ ים מְשַׂמְחֵי לֵ ב - The precepts of Hashem are right, rejoicing the heart. The reward a person receives for learning Torah is Simcha – happiness. At the end of listening to Hashem, we will reach Simcha. The Mishna tells us that one Mitzvah drags another in its wake. The Mitzvah of learning Torah brings the Mitzvah of Simcha in its wake.
The Zohar and the Simcha of Torah
The Ohr Hachaim progresses to another, more profound explanation. The Zohar writes that there is no happiness in front of Hashem like that of Hashem when Klal Yisroel are occupied with learning Torah.
והיה – the great Heavenly Simcha takes place, the Simcha that will fill the world in its entirety and make everything else filled with happiness. When Hashem shows this happiness, it spills over to the entire world.
This happiness will be in the future when a person reaches the Middah of עקב – the heel. A genuine humble person does not walk in an arrogant fashion, he walks slowly, with measured steps and his heel touching the toes of his other foot. If a person acts with humility, he will reach happiness. He will then merit תשמעון – to hear and understand Torah.
It is possible that the extra נו"ן at the end of the word תשמעו refers to the fiftieth ‘gate of understanding. The Torah has fifty gates; only forty-nine were revealed in this world. The fiftieth gate of understanding is their highest, and only Moshe Rabbeinu merited this.
A person who acts with this humility and merits the great levels Hashem grants him, will end up ושמרתם – guarding all of the Torah. Torah protects a person from all aveiros, and this person who learns Torah as he should, will merit this protection too.
