The Tiferes Shmuel sees hints in this Parshah to great lessons regarding our current exile and how important every mitzvah we do is in this difficult time.
He explains the verse of ‘it will be if (v’haya eikev) you listen to these laws…’ as a reference to the ‘ikvesa d’meshicha’, the time immediately before Moshiach’s arrival. The pasuk is exhorting us to listen to the laws of the Torah, even if we can only do so on a low level. In this merit ‘Hashem will guard the covenant and the kindness that He promised to your forefathers.’
The Tiferes Shlomo zy’a writes: ‘It is fitting for every person to understand and know that in the great darkness of the current times every hisorerus to serve Him, learn Torah and daven is very precious and desirable to Hashem, even if it is not perfect and not done with as much kavanah as was done in past generations. Still and all, even a bit of avodah is as valuable to Hashem as a lot of avodah was in past times.
‘The reason for this is that as a result of our many sins, darkness has increased. We are burdened by the yoke of exile and are weakened by all of the suffering and turmoil of our times. The evil forces pursue us all day long, with no respite. Therefore, a small amount of hisorerus for kedusha accomplishes a lot in our times. A small amount of light can push away much darkness.
‘Therefore, it is fitting for everyone to rise up with all of his strength and arouse himself to serve Hashem in these times. The King is, to speak, standing and waiting at the door for us to enter, and He will accept us with love.’
He explains this by saying that although low-quality food usually cannot be sold for much, in a time of hunger, when food is scarce, even subpar food sells for a high price. So too, if we do even ‘low-quality’ mitzvos in a time when they are scarce, they are very valuable.
With this in mind, he explains the verse ‘And Hashem will scatter you among the peoples, and you will remain few in number among the nations to where Hashem will lead you… And from there you will seek Hashem your G-d, and you will find Him, if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul.’ He explains that if we merely seek Hashem in times of golus, we will find Him.
The word ‘to find’ indicates getting something that one never imagined obtaining. Thus, the pasuk is saying that if we put forth a little effort to look for Hashem, we will find much more than we asked for because He greatly values every bit of hisorerus in times of darkness and exile.
This is why the pasuk says ‘v’haya eikev’, with ‘v’haya’ indicating joy. This is a hint that during the ikvesa d’meshicha, Hashem will have much joy from every mitzvah we do and, as a result, He will guard and protect us.
