long to warn Klal Yisroel regarding
Watch Your Step
Developing Greater Appreciation for the Smaller Mitzvos
The following was
written by Rabbi Daniel
Yaakov Travis based on
a drasha given by Rav
Moshe Shternbuch,
Rosh Av Beis Din of the
Eidah Hachareidis of Yerushalayim,
on leil Shabbos Parshas Eikev.
•••••
“Eikev refers to the seemingly
insignificant mitzvos that a person
treads on with his heel” (Rashi).
In truth, every mitzvah is filled
with depth and there is no such
thing as an insignificant mitzvah.
Mitzvos are commandments of
Hashem and they must all be
treated with the greatest impor-
tance. Treating a mitzvah with con-
tempt is paramount to rebelling
against the King of kings.
Only by studying the halachos can
we give mitzvos the respect they deserve.
Overcharging, interest and theft are only
a few examples of Torah prohibitions
that we can easily violate as a result of
unfamiliarity with their guidelines.With-
Easy Mitzvos
By Rabbi Nachum Eisenstein
Lakewood, N.J.
“Rak chazak levilti echol
hadam - Be strong so as not to
eat the blood” (Devorim 12:23).
The Torah’s use of the word
chazak, strong, intrigued Rashi. It
would have sufficed to inform us
simply of the prohibition against
eating blood. Why does the Torah
need an extra emphasis?
To resolve this, Rashi notes that
this question also troubled Chazal,
who deduced that the Torah is ac-
knowledging human character. Al-
though people detest blood, they
cannot rely on that instinct alone
and must seek additional means to
ensure that they refrain from this
practice. Thus, even in areas where
a person’s nature is to refrain from
a certain practice, he cannot rely
solely on his character trait but
must find different avenues to pro-
tect himself from falling into the
trap. This is the meaning of the
words rak chazak.
Based on this, Rav Yeruchom
Levovitz zt”l, the pre-war
Mirrer Yeshiva mashgiach, ex-
plained a Mishnah in Avos (4:2)
which states, “Ben Azzai said,
‘Run to perform a minor mitzvah
and flee from an aveirah.”
The Mishnah’s intent is not
to weigh one mitzvah against
another to determine which is
greater. A previous Mishnah
had already stated that a person
should be careful to fulfill an
easy mitzvah the same as, what
is, seemingly, a greater mitzvah.
Thus, the Mishnah is teaching
24 Av 5769 • August 14 2009
should know that whatever money has
By Rav Moshe Shternbuch
out proper knowledge, we will tread over
these mitzvos on a constant basis.
Right after teaching us the Aseres
Hadibros in Parshas Yisro, the Torah
follows with Parshas Mishpatim, which
focuses heavily on financial rulings.
What is the deeper meaning behind this
We should know that
whatever money has been decreed
for us will come into our hands,
not a penny more or less.
juxtaposition? The Torah equates the
mitzvos, comparing business law to the
severity of the Ten Commandments.
A rov once came to Rav Yisroel
Salanter and told him that he wanted
to resign from his position in
rabbonus.As rov, perhaps he had ruled
improperly and caused a distortion of
Torah law. Instead, he said, he would
earn a living as a businessman.
Rav Yisroel replied that the rov’s
us how to perform mitzvos in a
manner that we will always be
able to execute them.
“Easy mitzvah” refers to the
ease in which the mitzvah pre-
sents itself to us. Giving
tzedakah when we are making
money is not so difficult. How-
ever, when the economy is
tough and we are a bit unsure
We should not let the mitzvos happen nonchalantly;
rather, we should focus on every mitzvah and pay
attention to it.
as to the direction of the mar-
ket, that particular mitzvah be-
comes a bit more challenging.
How can we guarantee that we
will always give tzedakah ac-
cordingly? The answer is that
even when we are doing well
we have to exert energy and re-
inforce the notion that we are
doing a mitzvah. In that way,
even when it becomes difficult
we will be used to it and still
properly fulfill the mitzvah.
The same holds true for
learning Torah. When we have
few demands on our time to
learn, we readily keep to our
schedule. When we are pres-
sured for time, however, we
tend to be lax with our study.
If, though, when it is easy we
exert energy - meaning that we
do not take it for granted but
these mitzvos which are generally trod-
concern that he was not fulfilling his
role properly was admirable. Ruling
halacha for the public is a tremen-
dous responsibility and it should be
approached with the greatest sever-
ity. In fact, every rov should share
these noble sentiments.
However, that which he felt that
in business he would be free from
transgression was a fundamental
mistake. It is just the opposite. The
business world requires a greater
knowledge of halacha to keep one’s
hands clean of transgression. When
a person gets to the Next World, the
first question he will be asked will
be, “Were you honest in business?”
Why did Moshe Rabbeinu wait so
realize that we must make the
effort - then even when it is
difficult we will not relax our
guard and will keep up our
learning time.
The Shulchan Aruch’s very first
halacha states that a person should
arise in the morning like a lion; he
should awaken before dawn or at
least not come late for davening.
Rav Yosef Cairo chose this phrase
because it is the most basic concept
in regards to keeping mitzvos. The
first step is to actively exert energy
in mitzvah performance. If we so
start the day, our entire day will be
geared to serve Hashem, regardless
of life’s various pressures.
Should we, however, allow our-
selves to do things routinely, ex-
erting no energy, we will fall into
dangerous traps. The posuk in this
week’s parsha states, “You shall
eat no abomination.” Rashi ex-
plains this to mean those things that
the Torah prohibited. The Ibn Ezra
explains that the intent is to avoid
eating disgusting things. The
Ramban also follows this interpre-
tation. Although certain foods are
basically disgusting, a person nev-
ertheless can come to eat them. The
Torah, therefore, cautions us not to
rely on our natural habits and di-
rects us to take strides to prevent
ourselves from succumbing to
these activities.
The posuk (Devorim 29:18) states,
“Thereby adding the drunk to the
thirsty.” Rashi interprets this to mean
YATED NE’EMAN
den on? While the Jewish people were
in the Midbar, they dined each day on
monn and pheasant, and did not need
to concern themselves with financial
laws. Now that they were preparing
themselves to enter Eretz Yisroel, the
reality of the situation necessitated
strengthening these halachos.
This is the intent behind Eikev
tishme’un - i.e., before these halachos
become relevant. Even though these
laws would only become applicable
later, nonetheless, Moshe Rabbeinu
mentioned them now. Tanach is filled
with warnings about monetary in-
fringements, since Hashem consid-
ers them to be among the most seri-
ous transgressions.
Rav Yisroel Salanter points out
that each group of individuals has its
own unique daily nisyanos.
Bochurim and avreichim need to en-
sure that they are making the proper
efforts to learn Torah, businessmen
have to be sure that they act with in-
tegrity and give the proper respect to
talmidei chachomim, and rabbonim
have to make sure that they are mak-
ing the proper efforts for the sake of
Klal Yisroel.
The one factor which unites all
Jews is that all financial matters should
be carried out with integrity. We
that if a person commits aveiros in-
tentionally, Hashem will combine
those aveiros that he committed un-
intentionally and hold him account-
able for all of them. The Ramban
takes a different approach and ex-
plains that if a person allows himself
to overindulge in hedonism, he will
eventually commit acts that were for-
eign to him, acts of which in his wild-
est dreams he could not have dreamt
of doing, even acts that disgust him.
Yet, only because he allowed himself
to be uncontrolled does he commit
these despicable acts.
The Gemara states that the
yeitzer harah has seven names. Six
neviim designated it by a certain
name, and Hashem calls it ra’ah,
evil. Rav Yeruchom interprets this
name to mean that the yeitzer harah
needs no proper reason to persuade
a person to do wrong. It does this
solely because it is evil. A person
cannot rely on his good character
traits because the yeitzer harah can
easily overtake him. Life’s sundry
been decreed for us will come into our
hands, not a penny more or less. Ef-
forts made dishonestly to acquire more
than our share will lead to nowhere,
and will only cause a desecration of
Hashem’s name.
The Avnei Neizer adds that
the reason one must be espe-
cially wary of the seemingly in-
significant transgressions is be-
cause such an attitude destroys
one’s whole outlook on Divine
service. Repentance is charac-
terized by the recognition that
we sinned ‘in front of Hashem,’
and constant repetition wears
away at that realization. Be-
cause it is so hard to separate
oneself from these small sins,
the posuk places special empha-
sis that we should be careful in
these matters.
•••••
Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel
of Kollel Toras Chaim in
Yerushalayim, and is the author
of Shaylos U’Teshuvos Toras
Chaim and “Praying With Joy -
A Daily Tefilla Companion,” a
practical daily guide to improv-
ing one’s prayers, available from
Feldheim Publishers. For more
information about his work, con-
tact dytravis@actcom.com.
pressures, moreover, can direct him
to work against himself.
He must find the avenue that will
channel his activities on a proper
course that never allows him to de-
viate. The avenue is that which the
Mishnah directed us: “Run to per-
form a minor mitzvah,” as Rav
Yeruchom explains. We should not
let the mitzvos happen nonchalantly;
rather, we should focus on every
mitzvah and pay attention to it. We
should realize that although it seems
relatively easy, nevertheless we are
conscious of it and fulfill it with our
whole heart. Thus, even when it is
difficult to perform we will have the
strength and courage to do so.
This is the intent of the posuk,
“Rak chazak levilti echol hadam -
Be strong so as not to eat blood.”
Although we naturally despise
blood as a drink, we must, never-
theless, put forth a concentrated ef-
fort when we refrain from it. The
reason we refrain is not because it
naturally disgusts us; we refrain be-
cause Hashem prohibits it. If we
take this approach to every mitzvah
we do and refrain from aveiros be-
cause that is what the Torah directs,
and not because we dislike them,
we will merit to always fulfill
mitzvos and learn Torah regardless
of the circumstances.
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