In the shadow of the war: Jews yearn to keep the Torah’s commandments

Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto’s talks are known throughout the Jewish world. They combine chassidic teachings and philosophy, along with tips for a better life. We have collected pearls from his teachings that are relevant to our daily lives. This week he comments on the Torah section of  Lech Lecha.

"And Abram went as God had told him."

One of the major principles of Judaism is that there is no reward for commandments in This World. A  commandment is so important and its reward is so great that there is nothing in our physical world that can suffice as a reward. Therefore the reward for commandments is only in the Hereafter, except for certain commandments whose reward was specifically stipulated in This World.

Nevertheless, this begs the question: if all the commandments that a person keeps is only rewarded in the Next World, what will provide him with vitality until he gets there? What will afford him success and blessing throughout his life in This World?

The answer is that a person's longing to fulfill commandments is rewarded in This World. Although he won’t get a reward for the commandment itself in This World, but for the longing that he had to do the commandment, he will be rewarded here.

The same goes for commandments that a person is not required to fulfill, but does so out of his own good will. He receives a reward for them in This World as well.

This week’s Torah section begins, "And God said to Abram, ‘Go for your sake from your country and from your birthplace and from your father's house to the land that I will show you.’" After God commanded our patriarch Abraham to set out on a journey, the Torah continues, "And Abram went as God had told him." Isn’t it obvious that Abraham was going to fulfill God's command? So why does the Torah have to specifically inform us that Abraham went and did what God told him to do?

The explanation is as follows: From the moment God told Abraham to leave his country and his homeland, Abraham was filled with enthusiasm and a strong desire to fulfill His commandment and do it exactly as God commanded him. When the Torah tells us that "Abram went as God had told him” it is telling us that Abram was as enthusiastic about fulfilling God's commandment as the first moment when God spoke to him. He was thrilled with the commandment and yearned to fulfill it. When a person longs to fulfill a commandment, he is rewarded in This World too.

This principle also appears in the next week's Torah section of Vayera, where the Torah tells us "And Abraham circumcised his son Isaac when he was eight days old" (Genesis 21:4). The commentators ask why the verse says shmonat yamim (literally, “son of eight days”) instead of the usual shemoneh yamim  (eight days old)? They explain that Isaac was a "son of eight days" because during each one of the eight days our father Avraham felt like he had just been commanded by God to keep the covenant of circumcision.

Every day of the eight days our father Avraham was longing and waiting and yearning to do the commandment of circumcision with as much enthusiasm as on the first day that he heard God’s command to perform it.

The Gemara tells us (Menachot 44a) about a man who faced a great trial and almost stumbled in sin, but then the tassels of his four-cornered garment suddenly slapped his face and stopped him in his tracks. Let us understand what it means that the tassels slapped his face.

If it was a different commandment for which no reward is given for it in This World, the commandment would not have protected him and slapped him on the face to save him from sin. The commandment of wearing tassels on a four-cornered garment is a commandment that a person does not have to fulfill because the commandment only applies if he is wearing a garment with four corners. In this case, if he performs a commandment that he is not obligated to fulfill, he has done an act so great that it gives him a reward even in This World. That is why the commandment of wearing tassels on a four-cornered garment protected the man at his moment of trial. Since he didn’t have to fulfill the commandment but did so nevertheless, the commandment saved him from transgression.

This is an important principle to know. When a person longs for a commandment and does it happily, is enthusiastic about it and finds himself excited by it, he will be rewarded in This World. The evil inclination fights with all its might to cool down a person’s fervor and enthusiasm for commandments he is not obligated in because it doesn’t want the person to get a reward in This World. Every person should want to make a big effort and have a great desire to fulfill a commandment he is not obligated in with enthusiasm, because such a commandment will be rewarded in This World.

In these days when the people of Israel are in a state of sorrow and danger, there has been a great awakening to hand out tasseled four-corner garments to the soldiers. We heard that even those who have not worn these garments until now, have been inspired to ask for them. They are running to fulfill the commandment with great enthusiasm and desire. With God's help, the merit of this great commandment as well as the enthusiasm and longing to fulfill it, should stand for all the Jewish people to be saved from the difficult situation and be redeemed soon in mercy.

This article was written in cooperation with Shuva Israel