Hashem, your God, you shall fear, Him shall you serve, to Him shall you cleave, and with His name shall you swear.
Rashi quotes a Midrash that derives the following ruling from this Passuk; Hashem, your God, you shall fear, Him shall you serve, to Him shall you cleave; and only after all these traits will be found in you, ‘with His name shall you swear’. We need to understand why the Torah grants permission for one to swear with Hashem’s name only after acquiring these three particular traits.
Swearing falsely is an extremely grave sin, as the Gemara in Shevuos (לט ע"א) relates: The judge frightens the defendant when he is about to swear and tells him: The entire world trembled when Hashem stated at Sinai ‘You shall not take the Name of Hashem in vain’. Furthermore, this sin brings about much devastation to the world, as the Navi Yermiah (כ"ג י') cried out: כי מפני אָלָה אָבְלָה הארץ, יבשו נאות מדבר - For due to false oaths the land has become desolated and the pastures of the wilderness withered. We can explain that it is because of this great stringency of swearing falsely that the Torah requires one to have these specific noble attributes before permitting him to swear, for it is these attributes that cause one to be most concerned about the wellbeing of the world, consequently preventing him from swearing falsely, as that can ultimately bring about desolation and devastation to the world that he is trying to protect.
את ה' אלוקיך תירא - Hashem, your God, you shall fear. The Gemara in Shabbos (ל ע"ב) quotes a Passuk at the end of Koheles, and expounds on it as follows. ‘The summary of all the matters discussed in this book is to fear Hashem and keep His commandments, for this [i.e. the person who achieves this goal] is all of mankind’. What is meant by the expression ‘for the person who fears Hashem and keeps His commandments is all of mankind’? R’ Eliezer says: It means, the entire world was created only for the sake of this person. Because the world was only created on behalf of the Jew who fears Hashem, he would certainly be most vigilant not to swear falsely, as that would essentially bring destruction upon the world that was created on his behalf.
Yet this virtue alone, of fearing Hashem, is not enough to ascertain that one won’t swear falsely and bring about devastation. For although the one who fears Hashem is essentially the reason behind the worlds creation, and therefore is at least partially committed to the worlds wellbeing by going to great lengths in preventing the worlds destruction, nevertheless only one who is entirely committed to the wellbeing of the world, by doing his utmost in preventing the world’s destruction as well as doing his utmost in sustaining it, can we be certain that he would never do something that might bring about its destruction. Consequently, in order that the Torah be able to determine that one would never swear falsely, one would need an additional virtue which would cause him to also want to do his utmost to maintain the world.
אותו תעבד - Him shall you serve. The virtue of servitude to Hashem causes one to be especially meticulous in observing Hashem’s positive commandments with ultimate devotion. Now, because the primary source of the world’s sustainment is through the observance of Hashem’s positive commandments, therefore one who has this attribute of servitude to Hashem and is thus meticulous in observing His positive commandments, is indeed doing all that he can to sustain the world. Therefore, only one who fears Hashem, which prevents him from bringing on destruction, and also serves Hashem, which brings him to do all that is within his power to upkeep the world, is entirely committed to the wellbeing of the world, and thus so much closer to be established that he won’t swear falsely.
Yet even these two most important virtues cannot guarantee that one won’t swear falsely. The Torah needs one to have one more positive trait before verifying that he would never swear falsely.
ובו תדבק - To Him shall you cleave. The Gemara in Sotah (יד ע"א) explains that cleaving to Hashem means to cleave to His ways; just as Hashem bestows kindness unto others, so too should we bestow kindness unto others. The Gemara in Avodah Zara therefore says; Whoever engages in Torah study alone [i.e. and doesn’t also engage in acts of kindness] is like one who has no God, [for he doesn’t cleave to and emulate Hashem’s primary attribute of lovingkindness]. Consequently, one who doesn’t engage in acts of kindness, notwithstanding the other good virtues that he may have, the Torah cannot determine that he won’t ever swear falsely in his God’s name, because it is, so to speak, as if he has no God.
We can now understand why it is only after acquiring these three virtues that the Torah can be absolutely certain that one would never swear falsely.
זרע שמשון פרשתנו אות ו
