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The
Kedushat Levi on Re'ei
Hagaon
Rav Levi
Yitzchak of Berditchov zt”l on Parshat Re'ei
(from
Kedushat
Levi on Devarim)
"Today's
Blessing"
Print
Version
The Parsha opens with, "See that today I place before you a blessing and
a curse." The word "today", asks the Kedushat Levi,
seems superfluous. Why didn't the Torah say, "See
that I place before you. . . "?
The Parsha opens with, "See that today I place before
you a blessing and a curse." The word "today", asks
the Kedushat Levi, seems superfluous. Why didn't
the Torah say, "See that I place before you. . .
"?
The explanation lies in clarifying our conception
of the reward for keeping the commandments. The
Sages teach us that the real reward and punishment
for following G-d's commandments lies in the World-to-come.
However, they also teach us in Pirkei Avot that
the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah. This means,
in the Kedushat Levi's words, that "there is no
need for any more reward, for there is no greater
reward than the mitzvah itself - having the merit
('zechut') of being able to give pleasure to the
Creator through following his commandments."
This explains the wording of the verse. The blessing
itself is that you are able to fulfill the Divine
commandments. That is why the Torah uses the word
"that" instead of "if". The Torah is not only speaking
of a future blessing that is contingent on fulfilling
the commandments, but about the blessing that is
inherent in fulfilling them right now.
That is the "today" of the first verse of the Parsha.
The "today" in the sentence "See that today I place
before you a blessing and a curse," is not only
the day that Moshe Rabbeinu spoke to the people
of Israel, but every day that any Jew fulfills a
mitzvah. As we are doing the mitzvah today we are
experiencing the blessing.
[prepared
by Eliezer Kwass]
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