והיה עקב תשמעון את המשפטים האלה ושמרתם ועשיתם אתם
“And it shall be the reward when you hearken to these ordinances, and you observe and perform them.”
The Ramban tells us that the word עקב means reward. Why does the Torah use this word to refer to reward instead of using a more obvious term such as שכר?
According to the law, the Torah Shebal Peh was not to be written down; rather, it was to be transmitted orally from generation to generation. Nonetheless, at the end of the times of the Tana’aim, they realized that the hearts of the people had weakened, and there was great forgetfulness in the world. They feared that if the Torah Shebal Peh would not be written down, it would be forgotten. Therefore, they permitted the Torah Shebal Peh to be written down. Tehillim 119:126 “עת לעשות לד' הפרו תורתך” – “It is a time to act for Hashem, they have voided Your Torah.” Chazal permitted the Torah Shebal Peh to be written down, although it was really improper, for the greater good of the Torah and mitzvos.
"והיה עקב תשמעון את המשפטים האלה"– And it was at the “end” – the end of the generations," תשמעון” – "תשם עון” – they “sinned” by writing down these mishpatim – the Torah Shebal Peh. The reason that they did so was so that the Torah should not be forgotten by Klal Yisroel, “ושמרתם ועשיתם אותם” – so that Klal Yisroel should heed the Torah and its commandments. However le’asid lavo, this sin of having the Torah Shebal Peh written down will no longer be needed because ושמר ד' אלקיך לך את הברית ואת החסד והשבועה אשר נשבע לאבותיך – This is the guarantee that Hakodosh Boruch Hu gave to our forefathers, that He would restore the full power of their memory back them, so that forgetfulness should not reign over them, as the possuk says in Devorim 31:21 “לא תשכח מפי זרעו”. Then, Torah Shebal Peh will revert to the way it was supposed to be: the Torah transmitted only verbally. (עוד יוסף חי)
How do we know that the word עקב means reward? We know this from Torah Shebal Peh. We need Chazal to teach us what it means. It is the Torah that we have to remember, as it is not meant to be written down but to be transmitted from rebbe to talmid, from father to son, from generation to generation. The Torah is teaching us a very important lesson about how we are to learn the Torah Hakdoshah. We must learn the Torah through the lens of the Chachamim.
The starting point must be that we will fulfill the commands of the Torah because Hakodosh Boruch Hu said so. However, once we accept the obligation to fulfill the commands of the Torah, we want to understand the meaning of the Torah Hakdoshah. If we will seek to truly understand the Torah, it will connect us to the Torah Hakdoshah even more. The more mitzvos we perform, the more mitzvos we will have to perform, and that will bring us closer and closer to Hakodosh Boruch Hu. There can be no greater reward than coming close to Hashem.
May we be zoche to receive much עקב, reward, more mitzvos, that will bring us closer to Hakodosh Boruch Hu.
RABBI YAKOV YOSEF SCHECHTER
