Chasidut for Pirkei Avot 4:2
בֶּן עַזַּאי אוֹמֵר, הֱוֵי רָץ לְמִצְוָה קַלָּה כְבַחֲמוּרָה, וּבוֹרֵחַ מִן הָעֲבֵרָה. שֶׁמִּצְוָה גּוֹרֶרֶת מִצְוָה, וַעֲבֵרָה גוֹרֶרֶת עֲבֵרָה. שֶׁשְּׂכַר מִצְוָה, מִצְוָה. וּשְׂכַר עֲבֵרָה, עֲבֵרָה:
Ben Azzai says: Run to a "light" mitzvah as to a "heavy one," and flee sin. For a mitzvah begets a mitzvah and a sin begets a sin. [This is "the way of the world." If a man does one mitzvah, it is easier for him to do others and if one begins sinning, it is difficult for him to stop. And, what is more,] the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah, and the "reward" for a sin is a sin. [For Heaven assists, and places in the hand of one who has done a mitzvah the wherewithal to do another, in order to reward him for both; and thus with the "reward" for a sin. Or: All that one earns or enjoys in the doing of a mitzvah is reckoned to him as a mitzvah itself, and he receives reward both for the mitzvah and for the pleasure and the benefit that he derived therefrom; and the "reward" and the enjoyment that one derives from sinning is reckoned to him as a sin itself, and he is smitten both for the sin and for the reward and the pleasure that he derived from it.]
Kedushat Levi
Deuteronomy 7,12. “it will be that as a result of your listening, etc., that G’d will faithfully maintain for you the covenant and the attribute of love that He has sworn to your forefathers.”
It is an accepted principle that the “so-called” reward that G’d grants us for performing the commandments of the Torah is the least of all the pleasures that we will experience. The major pleasure is the satisfaction we derive from having been able to give the Creator a feeling of satisfaction that He created mankind, and that at least part of mankind, Israel, has seen fit to acknowledge this. This is what the Mishna in Avot 4,2 meant when the author states that the true reward for performing the commandments is the commandment itself. When we reflect on the significance of the performance of the commandment we will realize that having performed it was an unparalleled pleasure. Even the reward that G’d has “saved up” for us in the hereafter pales into insignificance when compared to the satisfaction of having been able to provide Hashem with pleasure.
This is what Moses had in mind when he described the mitzvah performance with the word עקב in our verse above. This word, meaning “heel,” when used elsewhere in Scripture, is used by Moses to describe the minute part of the pleasure that G’d’s “reward” provides for us when we compare it with the pleasure we provided for ourselves by having been the instrument to please the Creator.
It is an accepted principle that the “so-called” reward that G’d grants us for performing the commandments of the Torah is the least of all the pleasures that we will experience. The major pleasure is the satisfaction we derive from having been able to give the Creator a feeling of satisfaction that He created mankind, and that at least part of mankind, Israel, has seen fit to acknowledge this. This is what the Mishna in Avot 4,2 meant when the author states that the true reward for performing the commandments is the commandment itself. When we reflect on the significance of the performance of the commandment we will realize that having performed it was an unparalleled pleasure. Even the reward that G’d has “saved up” for us in the hereafter pales into insignificance when compared to the satisfaction of having been able to provide Hashem with pleasure.
This is what Moses had in mind when he described the mitzvah performance with the word עקב in our verse above. This word, meaning “heel,” when used elsewhere in Scripture, is used by Moses to describe the minute part of the pleasure that G’d’s “reward” provides for us when we compare it with the pleasure we provided for ourselves by having been the instrument to please the Creator.
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Kedushat Levi
Alternatively, we should focus on the words: אשר תשמעו in the next verse. This formulation is unusual, as the Torah normally writes: אם תשמעון, “if you will hearken,” and not אשר תשמעו.
Many of you, my readers, are familiar with a statement in the Talmud Kidushin 39 according to which no reward for observing Torah commandments may be expected in this life. There is, however, one kind of “reward” that man receives already during his life on earth, i.e. שכר מצוה מצוה, “having performed the commandment results in the satisfaction gained from the knowledge that one has been able to perform the commandment in question.” (Avot 4,2). What greater “reward” can there be than the knowledge that one has provided the Creator with pleasure by one’s deed? It is this that Moses tells the people here, “see that I have provided you with a blessing (reward) already this day, i.e. in this life.” All you have to do to qualify for this blessing is to serve Him. When becoming more precise about what must be done to qualify for this “reward,” the Torah (Moses speaking) continues with אשר תשמעו, “that you hearken to G’d’s instructions.” In other words, the very act of “hearkening” qualifies you for the blessing that Moses speaks of, a blessing that is available in their daily lives on earth. Comparison with the קללה, curse, of which Moses speaks which will be the people’s fate if they fail to hearken to G’d’s voice by departing from the proper path (verse 28), will show us that the word: היום, “this day,” while alive on earth, is significantly missing. Moreover, the very idea that the people might depart from the proper path is mentioned only as a possibility, i.e. אם לא תשמעו, not as certainty, i.e. אשר.
Many of you, my readers, are familiar with a statement in the Talmud Kidushin 39 according to which no reward for observing Torah commandments may be expected in this life. There is, however, one kind of “reward” that man receives already during his life on earth, i.e. שכר מצוה מצוה, “having performed the commandment results in the satisfaction gained from the knowledge that one has been able to perform the commandment in question.” (Avot 4,2). What greater “reward” can there be than the knowledge that one has provided the Creator with pleasure by one’s deed? It is this that Moses tells the people here, “see that I have provided you with a blessing (reward) already this day, i.e. in this life.” All you have to do to qualify for this blessing is to serve Him. When becoming more precise about what must be done to qualify for this “reward,” the Torah (Moses speaking) continues with אשר תשמעו, “that you hearken to G’d’s instructions.” In other words, the very act of “hearkening” qualifies you for the blessing that Moses speaks of, a blessing that is available in their daily lives on earth. Comparison with the קללה, curse, of which Moses speaks which will be the people’s fate if they fail to hearken to G’d’s voice by departing from the proper path (verse 28), will show us that the word: היום, “this day,” while alive on earth, is significantly missing. Moreover, the very idea that the people might depart from the proper path is mentioned only as a possibility, i.e. אם לא תשמעו, not as certainty, i.e. אשר.
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Me'or Einayim
But the truth is as follows: the performance of a mitzvah is primarily based on the aspect of receiving the Face of the Shekhinah, which is the Attachment, from the terminology of Fellowship which is implied by the terminology of mitzvah. Just as [the Sages] said in [Pirkei] Avot, “The reward of mitzvah is mitzvah” (Mishnah, Avot 4.2), the essential reward from the mitzvah is the mitzvah, i.e., the Godly Attachment and the Spiritual Enjoyment that is in the performance of a mitzvah in the aspect of receiving the Face of the Shekhinah. For without this, the mitzvah is called “empty,” meaning it is without life-force and soul, and is merely the body of the mitzvah as is known. It is only called mitzvah through the Desire and Attachment of the Godly part that dwells within him to the Blessed Root along with all the parts of Israel, as is known. For all Godly Service, whether in speech or action, has the aspect of Body and Soul, which gives life to that speech or action and without which it is without life-force. And therefore “the wicked are called ‘dead’ in their lifetime” (Babylonian Talmud, Berakhot 18b) because their actions are without life-force. But in truth the request made by Abraham our Ancestor, peace be upon him, was this: do not pass by etc., because he was engaged in receiving the Face of the Shekhinah with certainty as is explicit in the verse And the LORD appeared to him (Gen. 18:1). And at the moment he saw the guests he asked Blessed God that even when he went to fulfill [the mitzvah of] welcoming guests do not pass by your servant: let the mitzvah not be empty, God forbid, but may You be with me even there, so that I can fulfill the mitzvah with Attachment, which is the aspect of receiving the Face of the Shekhinah. And the proof of Rav Yehudah’s [interpretation], that welcoming guests is greater than receiving the Face of the Shekhinah, is that if welcoming guests were not greater, Abraham our Ancestor, peace be upon him, certainly would not have set aside the certainty of receiving the Face of the Shekhinah and gone to welcome guests, which is in doubt [as to whether it will or will not include receiving the Face of the Shekhinah]. For [Abraham] needed to request, regarding [welcoming guests], that there would also be receiving the Face of the Shekhinah and Attachment to Blessed God. And specifically it is known what our Sages of Blessed Memory said, “They appeared to him as Arabs” (i.e., ordinary passersby; Babylonian Talmud, Kiddushin 32b), and so as far as he could tell they were not called “Faces of the Shekhinah.” Rather, certainly the mitzvah itself is much greater, even if – God forbid – it would not include receiving the Face of the Shekhinah; but [Abraham] requested to do this mitzvah in complete wholeness, as he said, do not pass by etc., and understand this.
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Kedushat Levi
Another way of explaining the wording of our verse is based on the realization that G’d in His love for the Jewish people gave them commandments by means of which they would establish their claim to eternal life after their bodies had died. (Makkot, 3 Mishnah 16) The Sabbath features especially largely in that context, as by observing it we experience a foretaste of the afterlife. On that day, as part of its observance, every Jew can experience the meaning of a truly spiritual experience and the satisfaction it brings to the person enjoying it.
However, seeing that we have a rule that reward for performance of the commandments of the Torah is not given in this world, i.e. during a person’s lifetime on earth, (compare Kidushin 39), and therefore his enjoyment of the spiritual pleasure on the Sabbath, G’d has arranged for this “foretaste” of what to expect in the afterlife, the principal reward being preserved for when the person’s soul returns to its celestial origins.
[The concept discussed here is part of one of the Sabbath songs sung at the Jew’s table on Friday nights, the last part of which commences with the words: מעין עולם הבא יום שבת מנוחה, “the Sabbath rest is a foretaste of the world to come.” Ed.] When a Jew experiences that as a result of observing the Sabbath he enjoys an additional dimension of spiritual and physical well being, he does not need to be an intellectual in order to fantasize about how much more of this he will experience in the world to come where he has been assured that the principal reward for Sabbath observance as well as mitzvah observance generally will be shared out. It is clear therefore why our sages understood the manner in which the Torah refers to the observance of the Sabbath in our paragraph as an announcement of a valuable gift that G’d was given to the Jewish people. The point the Torah made was that observance of the commandment of keeping the Sabbath results in additional advantages for the Jews doing so, over and above the reward that G’d had promised the people for observing the legislation spelled out in the Torah generally.
Not only that, were it not for the foretaste the Jew experiences of the world to come whenever he observes the Sabbath, he would have no such foretaste by observing any of the other commandments, so that observing the law to observe the Sabbath is an encouragement to observe all the other commandments with equal zeal. This may be at the core of the sages in Avot 4,2 having made a somewhat puzzling statement when they said: שכר מצוה מצוה, usually translated as: “the reward for fulfilling a commandment is the commandment itself.” A more appropriate translation, interpreting this saying as referring specifically to the commandment of observing the Sabbath, would be: “the reward for observing the commandment of observing the Sabbath is that one will also observe the other commandments.” The revelation of this aspect of the reward for Sabbath observance is something that was not revealed to the gentile nations. By not revealing it to them, G’d made certain that the gentiles would not want to socialize with Jews observing the Sabbath and benefit by such socializing.
At this point the author comments on part of the Sabbath morning prayers, between ברכו and קריאת שמע, which goes as follows: [the Ashkenazi versions is slightly, but insignificantly different, Ed.] אין ערוך לך ואין זולתך אפס בלתך ומי דומה לך אין ערוך לך ה' אלוקינו בעולם הזה ואין זולתך מלכנו בעולם הבא אפס בלתך גואלנו לימות המשיח ואין דומה לך מושיענו לתחיית המתים “There is none to be compared to You, and none beside You; there is nothing without You and who is like You? There is none to compare to You O G’d our G’d in this world, there is none beside You; O our King for life in the world to come, there is nothing without You O our Redeemer in the days of the messiah and none is like You our Saviour in the revival of the dead.”
However, seeing that we have a rule that reward for performance of the commandments of the Torah is not given in this world, i.e. during a person’s lifetime on earth, (compare Kidushin 39), and therefore his enjoyment of the spiritual pleasure on the Sabbath, G’d has arranged for this “foretaste” of what to expect in the afterlife, the principal reward being preserved for when the person’s soul returns to its celestial origins.
[The concept discussed here is part of one of the Sabbath songs sung at the Jew’s table on Friday nights, the last part of which commences with the words: מעין עולם הבא יום שבת מנוחה, “the Sabbath rest is a foretaste of the world to come.” Ed.] When a Jew experiences that as a result of observing the Sabbath he enjoys an additional dimension of spiritual and physical well being, he does not need to be an intellectual in order to fantasize about how much more of this he will experience in the world to come where he has been assured that the principal reward for Sabbath observance as well as mitzvah observance generally will be shared out. It is clear therefore why our sages understood the manner in which the Torah refers to the observance of the Sabbath in our paragraph as an announcement of a valuable gift that G’d was given to the Jewish people. The point the Torah made was that observance of the commandment of keeping the Sabbath results in additional advantages for the Jews doing so, over and above the reward that G’d had promised the people for observing the legislation spelled out in the Torah generally.
Not only that, were it not for the foretaste the Jew experiences of the world to come whenever he observes the Sabbath, he would have no such foretaste by observing any of the other commandments, so that observing the law to observe the Sabbath is an encouragement to observe all the other commandments with equal zeal. This may be at the core of the sages in Avot 4,2 having made a somewhat puzzling statement when they said: שכר מצוה מצוה, usually translated as: “the reward for fulfilling a commandment is the commandment itself.” A more appropriate translation, interpreting this saying as referring specifically to the commandment of observing the Sabbath, would be: “the reward for observing the commandment of observing the Sabbath is that one will also observe the other commandments.” The revelation of this aspect of the reward for Sabbath observance is something that was not revealed to the gentile nations. By not revealing it to them, G’d made certain that the gentiles would not want to socialize with Jews observing the Sabbath and benefit by such socializing.
At this point the author comments on part of the Sabbath morning prayers, between ברכו and קריאת שמע, which goes as follows: [the Ashkenazi versions is slightly, but insignificantly different, Ed.] אין ערוך לך ואין זולתך אפס בלתך ומי דומה לך אין ערוך לך ה' אלוקינו בעולם הזה ואין זולתך מלכנו בעולם הבא אפס בלתך גואלנו לימות המשיח ואין דומה לך מושיענו לתחיית המתים “There is none to be compared to You, and none beside You; there is nothing without You and who is like You? There is none to compare to You O G’d our G’d in this world, there is none beside You; O our King for life in the world to come, there is nothing without You O our Redeemer in the days of the messiah and none is like You our Saviour in the revival of the dead.”
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