The Torah introduces the Aseres Hadibros—the Ten Commandments—with the passuk, “Vaydaber Elokim es kol-hadvarim ha’eileh,” and then adds, “leimor—to say...” before continuing with the first of the Dibros, Anochi Hashem... What is the purpose of adding “to say”?
The Ahavas Shalom suggests one reason, which illuminates a fundamental principle in the Torah. Now that the Torah has been given to Am Yisrael, the obvious question is: What for? What is the end-goal of all these mitzvos? He explains that the word “leimor” hints that the purpose of all the Torah, kol hadvarim ha’eileh, is “to say Anochi.” All the mitzvos — in fact, everything a Jew does — should be fulfilled with the intention of achieving awareness of and closeness to Hashem.
Other sefarim expand on this idea, stressing that even limmud haTorah itself is ultimately intended to bring nachas ruach to Hashem. The Torah describes a “naval be’reshus haTorah,” someone who acts in a disgusting manner which is ostensibly within the Torah’s guidelines — this is the exact opposite of aiming, via learning the Torah and fulfilling its commandments, to connect and bring pleasure to Hashem.
When we keep in mind this end-goal, many of our everyday decisions become much easier to make. The question is no longer a vague “what’s the right thing to do?” but “what will bring greater nachas to Hashem?” This applies in every area of life, and especially in shalom bayis and chinuch habanim questions, where having the right goal in mind is so crucial.
That’s not to say that putting the decision into practice necessarily becomes easier, because sometimes it may mean a lot of hard work. However, at least making the decision should become easier as the focus is clearer: Will this bring me closer to my goal, or further away? What is the goal, for instance, in chinuch habanim? We aren’t aiming for short-term successes such as getting our children to do what we say, but rather for the long-term goal of bringing up our children to be ehrliche Yidden.
Even with all the hard work we invest in doing the right thing, reaching the goal isn’t in our hands, of course. Only Hashem decides the outcome of our actions, but we still need to put in the effort and aim in the right direction.
