לך את הברית ואת החסד ואת השבועה אשר נשבע לאבותיך, that Hashem promises He will keep for us, He will fulfill the ברית, the covenant, and the kindness, and the promise, the שבועה, the oath that He made to our forefathers. So the simple translation is that because we will listen to what Hashem tells us, therefore Hashem will keep for us, He will fulfill for us the ברית, the chesed, and the שבועה, the covenant, the kindness, and the oath that He had made to our forefathers. But Rashi explains this pasuk a little bit differently. He says it means אם מצוות קלות שאדם דש בעקביו תשמעון. The word עקב, in addition to the simple meaning of cause, the word עקב means because, עקב also means the heel, as I just explained before. Now there are certain mitzvot that for some reason people step on them with their feet. Certain mitzvot people are careful with, very careful with, and for some reason certain mitzvot people think are not so important and they basically step on it. I don't want to use the lashon that certain mitzvot had mazal and certain mitzvot had less mazal, it's not correct, mitzvot don't have mazal, but I'm just saying it to understand what we're talking about, that there are certain mitzvot that people think are not that important, and therefore people are not so careful with. Is it because it doesn't catch the attention as much? Some things because it doesn't catch the attention, some things because people don't realize that they're that important, and some mitzvot, in truth, are really not that important. But no matter how not important they are, every mitzvah is important. But people think that since it's not so important, then it's not so, I don't have to really be careful with it, because we do have levels in mitzvot. It is true, we have levels in mitzvot. Some mitzvot are stricter, some mitzvot are not so strict.

Generally speaking, we have מצוות מדאורייתא, מצוות that are from the Torah. Hashem in the Torah gave us 613 mitzvot. Then we have certain mitzvot which are only מדרבנן, that the rabbis in later generations added. Now we have to keep those mitzvot. We can't say, well, after all it's only the rabbis, it's not Hashem that told us to do it, the rabbis, who are they? They're only human beings, they're great people, they're fine people, they're sages, but it's not so terrible if I don't keep it. It's not true. When we keep a mitzvah that the Rabbanan told us, we actually do what Hashem wants, because Hashem commanded us in the Torah that we have to listen to what the Rabbanan will tell us. So really it's just one step removed, but in truth it's keeping what Hashem said. The pasuk says וכל אשר יאמרו אליך, whatever they'll say, אליו תשמעון, it speaks about a navi or the prophet, you must listen to him, then it says לא תסור, you shall not turn away from whatever they tell you. So the Torah tells us that. It's interesting, I think I once explained it, that when it comes to making a bracha, we make the same bracha for a mitzvah that's from the Torah like a mitzvah that's miderabbanan. The basic expression, the basic nusach of a bracha is ברוך אתה השם אלקינו מלך העולם אשר קדשנו במצותיו וצונו. Then the end of the bracha differs. Some are once it's על נטילת ידים, על הדלקת נר של שבת קודש, or whatever bracha it is, but the beginning is the same. What's the meaning of the words? The meaning is ברוך אתה השם אלקינו, thank You Hashem, our God, King of the universe, that made us holy with Your mitzvot, and commanded us to do so and so. We make that bracha when we bentsh

Chanukah licht, too. Now Chanukah licht is not written in the Torah. Hashem never in the Torah commanded us to light Chanukah licht, or Shabbos candles, or read the Megillah, or many mitzvot that we do that's miderabbanan. So the question is, how can we say something which is not true? We say thank You Hashem for commanding us to do this mitzvah. The answer is, where the Rambam explains it, what we're saying is thank You Hashem for commanding us to listen to the Chachamim who told us to do this and this mitzvah. So really, when we listen to the Chachamim, it's also from Hashem. But nevertheless, people tend to think, well, it's only miderabbanan. Then there are certain things which are only מנהגי ישראל, they're Jewish customs, which Hashem wants us to keep the customs. It says a pasuk, אל תטוש תורת אמך, don't drop, don't forget the Torah of your mother, it says it means the customs, and that's an obligation upon us to keep the Jewish customs, but here certainly people tend to think, well, what are customs? Then bichlal, in even in mitzvot of the Torah, there are different levels. Certain mitzvot are very, very strict, certain mitzvot are not that strict, certain mitzvot are even less than that. For

instance, certain mitzvot the the punishment for not keeping, that's actually how you see how strict it is from the negative part, for not keeping it, what's the punishment. Now we don't have a Jewish Beit Din now that's able to do the punishment anyway. For murder, Beit Din would kill. Certain mitzvot, the punishment is only karet, a person would die prematurely. And certain aveirot is only malkot, you'd get the 39 lashes. So there are different levels. So certain mitzvot are more strict, certain are less. And therefore people tend to think, well, this is not so important, therefore I don't have to keep it. So there are certain mitzvot that people step upon with their feet. So what the pasuk says, according to רש״י, והיה עקב תשמעון, that עקב you will listen, you should listen to the mitzvot that you step upon with your עקב, that you shall keep those mitzvot too. And therefore, the pasuk continues, he doesn't bring it here, but the pasuk continues like I said before, Hashem will fulfill for you the ברית, the covenant, the חסד, and the שבועה that He promised. So actually what the pasuk is saying according to this interpretation that when you will keep those mitzvot, even those mitzvot, doesn't mean only those, even those mitzvot that are עקב that people step upon, then Hashem says, I promise I will fulfill my covenant and my promise and חסד that I told gave over to your forefathers. So this is an additional peshat to the simple peshat. A simple peshat means והיה עקב תשמעון, because you are going to listen, then I promise I will keep I will then I will keep my promise. But this peshat is if you will listen to those mitzvot that you step upon with your עקב. But there's another peshat. Yes. I don't know, I might be mistaken, but I think there's 172 words for the עשרת הדברות, including the first sentence, and which והיה עקב תשמעון, עקב is 172. I

don't know if that's עקב is 172? Assuming that I'm right with that number, but I remember bikhlal it says there are תר״ך, there are 620 letters. It's the letters, but I think it's 172 Letters. That I don't remember, that could be. It's interesting you mention by עקב, there's a pasuk that says עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי, which means Hashem says, I love Avraham because, but it says the word ekev, which means because he listened to my voice. And the Gemara says that ekev is 172, because 172 years Avraham listened to Hashem. Why 172? Avraham lived 175 years, but בן שלש שנים הכיר את בוראו, he was only he was three years old when he recognized Hashem. So the first three years, he did not recognize Hashem, so he didn't really keep what Hashem said. But עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי, that 172 years Avraham listened to my voice, Hashem says. But then there's another peshat that the pasuk according to Chassidus, that where the pasuk says עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי, when Avraham listened to my voice, he listened so much, Hashem's voice penetrated into Avraham all the way down to his ekev, all the way down to his foot. Every part of Avraham was durkhgenumen, was absorbed with שמע בקולי, with listening to Hashem's voice. But they're not two opposite interpretations, they go together. For 172 years, Avraham was absorbed fully till his toes. Like they say, all the way down to the bone, or it was all the way down to the toes. He listened to Hashem. He was absorbed. And it fits to what it says in the Midrash, that האבות הן הן המרכבה, the Avot are the chariot. Now the simple peshat is, we know that Yechezkel saw God's chariot, and he describes the malachim and the different things that are there. So the Avot, they are the chariot. But Chassidus says it means something else. Just like when you drive a wagon, the wagon goes, the wagon moves, the wagon takes you different places, but it doesn't have a will of its own. It only takes you where you take it. It can't go by itself. Same thing, a person who is in the level of a merkavah, it means he is so much battel to Hashem, he has no ego of his own that he's like a wagon that's battel to the driver. And that fits to עקב אשר שמע אברהם בקולי that it actually was penetrated into into Avraham Avinu's foot. This fits, I mean we just got off the track, I hadn't planned, you know, I was thinking to finish it first, but it doesn't matter. We

say in says in פרקי אבות, עקביא בן מהללאל אומר, which actually the name of a person, this rabbi called Akavya ben Mahalalel, the son of Mahalalel, said, הסתכל בשלשה דברים ואין אתה בא לידי עבירה, you should look into three things, think about three things and you'll never come to do an aveirah, to do a sin. Which are the three things? מאין באת, from where you came, remember where you came from, ולאן אתה הולך, where you're going to, ולפני מי אתה עתיד ליתן דין וחשבון, and whom you're going to have to give a report to. So again Chassidus says, Akavya is from the word עקב. Mahalalel comes from the word הילול. הילול means to praise. When you daven, you praise Hashem. Akavya ben Mahalalel means the עקב, the foot of a davener, someone who praises Hashem, someone who davens the way you're supposed to, says if a person davens properly, even his foot will say הסתכל בשלשה דברים, look into these three things. If you daven properly, and you connect yourself to Hashem during the time of davening, then you realize these three things. And not only your head realizes it, your foot realizes it, every part of the person. That's the pshat. Akavya ben Mahalalel, the Akavya, the foot, the עקב of the Mahalalel, of the davener says, expresses this idea of הסתכל בשלשה דברים ולא תבא לידי עבירה. But anyway, getting back here, so the first pshat is והיה עקב תשמעון that you shall listen to keep even those mitzvot which you step on with your foot. תורת החסידות, ובתורת החסידות מוסבר פסוק זה כך: in Chassidus, in the sefarim of Chassidus, this pasuk is

explained a little bit different. עקב, the word עקב מוסב על זמן דעקבתא דמשיחא, that refers to the time right before Moshiach, the heels of Moshiach. And when the pasuk says והיה עקב תשמעון, it means ואז ודאי תשמעון. Right before Moshiach, you will listen. The pasuk is not saying if you will listen. The pasuk is והיה, it will be עקב, the heels, the time of the heels of Mashiach. What's going to happen then? תשמעון, you will listen to Hashem. כהבטחת, Parshas Nitzavim, like Hashem promised in פרשת נצבים, שלפני ביאת המשיח יקוים ושבת עד ה' אלקיך, that before Mashiach will come, the pasuk where it says you will return to Hashem will be fulfilled. And as the Rambam says that Hashem promised that before Mashiach, we will all do teshuvah. And that's what this pasuk says: והיה עקב תשמעון. By the time of עקב, תשמעון, we will all listen to Hashem. Yes? I wanted to ask you, I don't there's some something's ringing a bell in my head that one of the things Rashi said over here, I think, was that one of those mitzvot is tefillah is davening that people dash? It says in sefarim, but it doesn't say in Rashi. Okay, so It does mention in sefarim that It's very interesting because you mentioned Akavya ben Mahalalel, right? עקב and praise, daven, so Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Yeah, it is one of those things that sometimes people take take for granted and we Right. don't mechaven, exactly. So, it's so here it fits, yeah. Yep, exactly. So we

have two pshatim here. One is that you have to keep the mitzvot that you step on with your foot, and one is that before Mashiach will come, by ikveta d'Mashicha, you will listen to Hashem. ויש לקשר שני הפירושים, you could connect the two explanations, the two interpretations. When we have more than one interpretation in a pasuk, as much as they might seem that they're two different things and they're not connected, but being that they're all on the same pasuk, they are definitely connected. So what's the connection between these two things? It seems like two separate pshatim. One is that we should listen to the mitzvot that you step on with your foot, and one is that you shall that we will listen to Hashem before Mashiach. So he says, no, there is a connection. What's the connection? העבודה בזמן הבית, the service of Hashem that was done in the time of the בית המקדש, שאז האירה אלקות בגלוי, at that time, Godliness shined in a revealed way to the people. So then, היתה מתוך תענוג, so the service of Hashem was done with pleasure. The people saw Godliness, felt Godliness, so they enjoyed serving Hashem. ובמילא היתה מעורבת בה גם המציאות של האדם. Therefore, the ego of the person was involved in their serving Hashem. On

one hand, it's very good if you serve Hashem with pleasure. You should enjoy serving Hashem. But on the other hand, when you serve Hashem with pleasure, that means I'm doing it because I enjoy it. So as much as I'm serving Hashem, I'm doing it to satisfy me. I like it. So the person's own ego was involved. מה שאין כן בעבודה בזמן הגלות, but the service we do in the time of גלות, זמן של הסתר פנים, a time when Hashem's face is covered, Godliness is not revealed. ובפרט בזמן של עקבתא דמשיחא, certainly the time that it's close to משיח, then certainly Godliness is not revealed. It gets darker and darker, and we get lower and lower. לא מעורבת בזה מציאותו, so when we serve Hashem, our being is not involved. We are not at the level to enjoy serving Hashem. We're not such great tzadikim. But on the other hand, מתגלה הביטול העמוק של אדם להשם. This reveals the true bitul of a Yid to Hashem. That when you do it without enjoying, and nevertheless you do it, so you're not doing it for your own sake, then you're really doing it for Hashem, because I don't really like it. So why am I doing it? Because Hashem said so. So in the time of the Beit Hamikdash you did it for Hashem, but still your own מציאות was involved, but now we do it purely for Hashem because we're not at a level to really feel it, to really enjoy it. והנה, so therefore, ועבודה הקשורה במציאות שלו, when you serve Hashem and it's connected to your own being, to your own ego, גורמת לחילוק בין מצוה אחת וזו לזו. One of the results is that there is a difference between one mitzvah and another. Certain mitzvot you enjoy, certain mitzvot you don't. Certain mitzvot you understand, certain mitzvot you don't. What happens then? Those that you enjoy you do better; those that you don't really enjoy you don't really do it, you step upon it, because you're doing it for your enjoyment. שכן המצות הקשורות בראש, the mitzvot that are connected to the head, הן מאירות אצלו יותר, there a stronger light shines and you feel it more. הינן חביבות אצלו, it's more beloved. ומקפיד בהידורן יותר, ובמצות הקשורות בעקב, and a person would be careful to do it more than those mitzvot which are not so important, seemingly. מה שאין כן כשקיום המצות הוא בדרך קבלת עול, but if a person does the mitzvot just because he accepts the yoke of השם, מצד ציווי האדון, because Hashem, the Master, said so, הרי הוא מקיים את כל המצות באופן שווה, then you do all the mitzvot equally, קלות כבחמורות, the lenient ones, the simple ones, as you do the strict ones. So we

see the connection here between the two interpretations. One interpretation is that you should do even those mitzvot that are stepped upon, the simple mitzvot. Another interpretation is that before Mashiach you will listen to the mitzvot. The two go together, because the level we are at at the time before Mashiach, that is the level that brings us to keep even the small, simple mitzvot. When we're a level not before Mashiach, which means we're in a higher level, then we enjoy doing mitzvot. Then some mitzvot we enjoy, some we don't, so we don't really do everything. But the level we are at right before Mashiach, which is a level when we don't enjoy doing it and still do it, so what difference does it make if it's an important mitzvah or not? I don't like this and I don't like that, and I still do it anyway because I know Hashem wants. Well, if Hashem wants, what's the difference between this mitzvah and that mitzvah? Like I explained before, that even though there are mitzvot which are not as important, but even those are are important, as we see that all mitzvot have the same berachah: אשר קידשנו במצותיו וציוונו. That's one expression that all mitzvot have: important mitzvot and not so important mitzvot, because that idea of being the will of Hashem is in all. Yes. Yeah, but wasn't it one of the goals of Chassidut to bring עבדו את השם בשמחה to the world, to bring doing the mitzvot with the joy, with the ta'am, with some pleasure to it? Right. There are two ways you can in do mitzvot with pleasure and enjoyment. I was going to get to it, but you asked the question so let me explain it. It's not The order is אין מוקדם ומאוחר בתורה, there's no order. Right. You could have pleasure that comes as a result of kabbalat ol, and you can have pleasure that comes a result of your own מציאות. And that's the difference. You could have pleasure in the mitzvah because you know Hashem gave you the mitzvah, and therefore you do it. And because you are you have the זכות of doing Hashem's mitzvah, that's why you enjoy it. That's why you have this hitlahavut, and you have this simchah, and you have the ta'anug, because you feel how how lucky you are to be able to do Hashem's mitzvot. And sometimes you enjoy the mitzvah because it's a very good mitzvah. The mitzvah itself is very smart and have a lot of meaning, and that's why you enjoy it. And that's where Chassidut came, the Baal Shem Tov came to enjoy the mitzvot as it is based upon the foundation of kabbalat ol. Now, the צדיקים before, many people did the mitzvah because of their enjoyment. And that's a very high level. Imagine that your level should be that you actually enjoy the mitzvah itself! But on the other hand, it's not because of the קבלת עול that you enjoy, you enjoy because of what the mitzvah stands for, which is very good, but you're still lacking that foundation of קבלת עול. And if you're at that level, it's possible to do certain mitzvot, and other mitzvot not to be so careful with. That's why it says in the Midrash that a person should always be careful in all the מצות, קלות שבקלות כבחמורות שבחמורות, the simple ones, the simplest of the simplest as much as with the strictest of the strictest. It seems that this saying has a contradiction. On one hand you say you should keep all the mitzvot equally, in other words all the mitzvot are equal, and then he says, קלות שבקלות, חמורות שבחמורות, the simple ones like the strict ones. Ah, so there are simple ones, and there are strict ones. How could you say keep them all equally? Well, it depends. There are mitzvot which are more important, less important, but we have to keep all the mitzvot the same. Even the non-important mitzvot, in essence it's just as important as the important one. If you want to use the words of Chassidut and Kabbalah, it depends whether we look at the עצם or we look at the גילוי. The essence of all the mitzvot are the same. And what is the essence of all the mitzvot? One thing: קידשנו במצוותיו וציוונו. You made us holy with your mitzvot, and you commanded us. And that's an expression we say by every mitzvah. Why? Because every mitzvah has this idea of Hashem commanding us to do it. Now then, in גילוי, in the form it's done and what it accomplishes, well, there are different mitzvot.

Some accomplish more, some accomplish less. But even those that accomplish less, the essence is still there, and that's how we're supposed to keep it. But the only way we could keep it is if we have the proper קבלת עול מלכות שמים, the proper accepting of the yoke, doing doing it just because Hashem said so. I'd like to explain this a little bit more in detail based on the פסוקים that we spoke about. We are not on the position to figure out which is more important or less. No, some we do know. We know Shabbos is more important than עירוב תבשילין, I mean just using an example. But let's say but let's say a person has two mitzvot in front of him, what's a person make does he choose based on that criteria? Not him, but the Torah chooses. You can't choose on your own. There are a lot of rules of what what to choose, how to choose. עשה דוחה לא תעשה, for instance, that's one of the rules. A de'oraita is always stronger than a derabbanan. But it's important to know it's important to note this, that even though there are certain rules when there are two mitzvot and which one to push away for the other, the only reason we push one away from the other is because there are rules in the Torah. Hashem gave us rules how to do it, but not because we say one is less than the other. I see. On our own, we can't decide. Even though we know that one is more important after the Torah pushes away, but that's not our decision. Hashem wanted it. So just like we do everything Hashem wants, this is also part of what Hashem wanted. So that in itself is a mitzvah. Is in itself as a mitzvah, right, right. Wow. Like an example of a de'oraita and a derabbanan. You have certain mitzvot which you have to do from the Torah, certain mitzvot derabbanan. And the rule is that when you have a ספק, a doubt, so if it's by a de'oraita, by a mitzvah of the Torah, you have to go lechumra, you have to be strict. If it's a question, ספיקא דרבנן, a ספק of a דין דרבנן, you go lekula, to go lenient. So

some people say, well, obviously the mitzvah derabbanan is not so important, so therefore if you're in doubt, nisht geferlekh if you don't do it. That's not the reason. This is one of the rules Hashem gave us. Hashem gave us rules how to conduct ourselves in cases when we have conflict of interests. Wasn't the But it's not that we decided that we think this is less. Wasn't it the rabbanan themselves who made the rule that that when they have a when you have a doubt about a mitzvah derabbanan you go lekula? Yes, but there are some that say that the rabbanan made the rule that by a de'oraita you go lechumra is also derabbanan. They made the rule. The machloket is the Rambam and the Rashba, not getting into rishonim. The Rambam holds like that. The Rambam says that ספיקא דאורייתא לחומרא is miderabbanan. And the Rashba says ספיקא דאורייתא לחומרא מדאורייתא. So Good, but whatever said, even when the rabbanan said it, we don't care, because when the rabbanan said, they said it with the power of the Torah. Right. And we have to listen to them because the Torah says we have to listen to them. So whatever the rabbanan said to us it's the same. And we can't say, well, this is derabbanan, we don't Some people actually, if you don't real learn Chassidut, you might come to such such a a a thought, or I would say such a mistake, thinking that the derabbanan is really not as important. But when you learn Chassidut, you know it's all the same, because the רצון, the will, is all one. And this is also the will of Hashem. Why are we lenient? Because Hashem told us. Part of the Torah is that in this case be lenient, but not that we have we're less. Anyway, I'd like to explain a little bit the pesukim that are connected to this inyan here. The pesukim are

after Hashem said והיה עקב תשמעון The pesukim after the words והיה עקב תשמעון which means and because you will listen, or and you will listen to the foot, the mitzvot that you step on with your foot, or you will listen at the time of the עקב which is before Mashiach, the pasuk continue Continues, as I said before, ושמר לך את הברית ואת החסד ואת השבועה שנשבע לאבותיך, השם will fulfill for you the covenant, the the kindness, and the shevuah, the oath that he made to your forefathers. Now, the question here is this seems to be a contradiction. The idea of a brit, the idea of a covenant is that the connection between the two who make this brit is beyond any limits. The old days, people used to make בריתן, treaties. You find in Chumash. What is the purpose? A treaty that we should be friendly. Why have to make that treaty? Why don't you be friendly? You want to be friendly together, each other, be friendly. The purpose of the brit was that now we have a reason to be friendly. What's going to happen when the time will pass and maybe this those reasons won't be here anymore? So because of the treaty, we still should continue to be friendly. That's the whole idea of a brit, that that should be even at a time when there is no reason. Similar what it says in Pirkei Avot that you have two types of אהבה, two types of love. אהבה התלויה בדבר, אהבה שאינה תלויה בדבר, a love that's dependent on something, and a love that's not dependent on something. If

it's a love that's dependent on something, בטל דבר, בטל אהבה. If the reason is not there, then there is no more love. But if it's אהבה שאינה תלויה בדבר, it's not dependent, it's an essential love that's between the two people, then even if the reason that was there in the beginning is not there anymore, it's still going to be. That's what a brit is, that no matter how we are, we still should have that. What's the idea of a shevuah? An oath, it's the same thing. It brings in strength. If a person wants to prove something is right, and he explains and explains, and it's still not accepted by the people, they still don't believe it, and he says, \"You know what? I swear.\" What's that? So you swear, so? But when you swear, people believe it. Why? Because when you swear, it shows that you connect yourself to this much deeper than the logic and than what it seems. From the lower level, from the superficial level, you didn't get your idea across. People still didn't accept it. But when you swear, it shows, oh, this is something that comes deeper from the person, deeper than this just this on this the surface, the superficial level. Now according to that, when Hashem made a brit with our forefathers, and Hashem made a shevuah with our forefathers, what does that mean? That means Hashem promised Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov that I will give your children all the good things that they need, no matter what they're going to do. If it's going to depend on their behavior, for that you don't need a brit. Obviously, if we're good, Hashem is going to give us. We deserve it. Someone works for you and he deserves a salary, you pay him. If there is a reason to love him and to show your love, express your love, then you'll love him. You don't need a brit for that. The brit means that even if there will be no reason to love, Hashem will still love. The reason for Hashem making a shevuah, Hashem swearing, giving an oath, is to is too that even in a time when there will be no reason for me to give them everything, I still will give them. Now, according to that, we don't understand pshat in this pasuk. The pasuk says, והיה עקב תשמעון, because you're going to listen to me, therefore I will fulfill the brit and the chesed and the shevuah. If they're going to listen, then you don't need a brit for that. On the other hand, if they there is this brit and this shevuah, then why connect it to listening? That is beyond listening. So how come the pasuk here says והיה עקב תשמעון, and therefore I will give ושמר לך את הברית ואת החסד ואת השבועה, that Hashem will fulfill the berit and the chesed and the shevuah? In other words, just to explain this a little more, there are two ways that Hashem gives us everything that we need. Or two ways בכלל that two types of השפעות, of influences that there is from Hashem to the world.

One is that it is dependent on the behavior of the people. And then there is another way that Hashem gives, which is we call it חסד חנם. It's for free. It's not because we deserve. For instance, it says that the first 26 generations from the creation of the world till the Torah was given were fed, supported by Hashem, out of his being חפץ חסד, out of wanting to do chesed. They didn't deserve it, because they didn't have the Torah, and without the Torah, there they didn't do anything to deserve. Actually, the Gemara says that's why we have 26 times the word כי לעולם חסדו. הודו להשם כי טוב כי לעולם חסדו, הודו, it says 26 times כי לעולם חסדו. What does that mean? That your chesed his chesed, his kindness is forever. So it says, what Why 26 times? This is to remind us of the 26 generations that lived before the Torah was given, that they were ניזונים, they were supported בחסדו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, just because the chesed of Hashem'. But later generations, we are fed by Hashem' because we keep the Torah. We do the mitzvot, so Hashem' gives us. It's not only because of his chesed. But there is a concept of Hashem' giving because of his chesed. That's the idea of a berit, that Hashem' made a berit with Avraham, that even if the time will come when there will be no chesed, there will be, I mean, no, no reason to give because they might not keep the mitzvot, I make a berit that still I will love them and I will give them, and that's why he made a shevuah. So what is the meaning here of the pasuk where it says, והיה עקב תשמעון, because you're going to listen to ה', I will keep the chesed and the shevuah and the bris? That's there even if you don't listen. So basically those which keep the Torah and mitzvot they get the chesed because... and those which do the Torah and mitzvot they get it because they deserve it. Right, right, right. Is there a difference in... in what? Yes, yes. A lot of difference. This is called אריך אנפין, this is זעיר אנפין. In Kabbalah we learn a lot of differences between these two levels. That means if you deserve it it's from אריך אנפין? It's from, from one way it's more limited, but on the other hand it's a much higher level because you worked for it. In truth, nowadays, after the Torah was given, the general approach is that you have to deserve it. Till then, since there was no Torah, the general approach was, it was בחסדו של הקדוש ברוך הוא, sheer kindness. After the Torah was given, you have to deserve it, and now, takeh, that's how it is. And the

only thing is there are certain people who get even without deserving, that's only because of בחירה חפשית, free choice. Imagine if those people would not get, it would be no more free choice. Imagine if you do a mitzvah, million dollars falls down from the ceiling, you do an aveirah, a rock falls down hits you over the head, there would be no more free choice. So ה' didn't do that. But the philosophy behind it is that if you the reason ה' gives is because we deserve, and those that don't deserve he gives them anyway so people shouldn't realize it. And the goyim? Well, they also deserve to their, in their way. They also have שבע מצוות. The same thing. And, but it's, yeah, it's a different level, but it's the same idea. Right, right. But the question is in that case why does it say that עקב תשמעו, yes. Rabbi, you know sometimes בעלי תשובה, you know, when they're first drawn in ה' seems to send them a lot of shefa. It's like a little honeymoon period. It's like making an investment in them. Is that true always? No, sometimes it does. I know sometimes people become בעלי תשובה they lose all their money. Opposite. Opposite. I saw it more than that. Many times I saw people becoming בעלי תשובה, rich people, and after the first year they lose their money. Wow. And that's how that's the first test that ה' gives them to see how sincere they are, if it's just out of convenience or they really mean it. And like we could say baruch Hashem', we could tell ה', most of these people withstood the test. Meaning all the people that I know, I know many people like that, and they all withstood that test. Wow. So ה' is definitely proud of them. There's no question about it. Because I've seen a few people. Well, halvai everyone would be like that. We don't need tests. We always say, we say every morning in דאווענען, ואל תביאנו לידי נסיון, don't bring us to a nisayon. We're not asking for tests. We don't need tests. But when the test does come and you withstand it, it's a very high madregah. And most people do, most people do. Yeah. I was going to say thank God. Thank them! Thank God, too! Anyway, so what's the answer to this question that the pasuk connects you will listen to ה' and for that he'll give you the bris? If you listen, you don't need a bris then, he'll give you anyway. So the answer is like this: even the השפעה, all the things ה' gives as a result of the bris, which actually is not dependent on whether we deserve it or not, ה' still wants that there should be something that we should do to get it. ה' set up the world in such a way that he does not give anything if we do not deserve. Even the things he wants to give beyond, he wants you should do a little bit, something that fits to whatever he's going to give us. The reason is very simple: the Zohar says that if a person receives something without working for it, it's called nahama d'kisufa. That's called bread of embarrassment. Someone gives you a handout and you didn't work for it, you're embarrassed to take it. And therefore the Gemara says, אדם רוצה בקב שלו יותר מתשעה קבים של חבירו. A person would rather have one amount that he worked for and it's his own than nine times as much if somebody gave him. That's the nature of a person. A person doesn't really enjoy if you get something for free. You want to work for it, and when you earn it, you feel good about it. Same thing with Hashem'. Because of this nature, Hashem' made it that we should earn earn what we get. Hashem could have given us anything, everything just without us working. But then, since Hashem is שלמות הטוב, he's the real, pure good. So he wanted to give us the best. So Hashem said, \"If I want to give them the best, I want to give them something that they will feel good about. So if I'm going to give it without their earning it, then it's not the best. But if I'm going to give it when they earn it, then it's the best.\" Now we could elaborate on that itself. The question is who made that nature? Hashem himself. So what's the big deal? Why didn't Hashem change the nature? Hashem made the nature that we're embarrassed if we don't work for it, and therefore he said, \"I want to give you the best, so I want to give you you should work for it.\" If Hashem made the nature, he could have made a different nature that we would enjoy and be happy if we don't work for it, and then he would give us without working and then we'd have everything. I've been waiting for this for a long time. Oh, so now your answer will come. I don't know if I'll satisfy you with this answer, but you'll hear the answer. Some people, they work and they don't get anything. That's a test. That's a test. I don't mean working physically working, you're working for Hashem. For Hashem, yeah. Yeah, well that's the question that Moshe Rabbeinu has, Avraham Avinu has, the Gemara that's a a question that's about 4,000 years old. למה דרך רשעים צלחה? That's a question, that's Gemara, says it was asked by Moshe Rabbeinu. Sometimes Hashem makes a nisayon and it's also for bechira chofshit, for free choice. Hashem, yeah, some people are tzadikim and they don't. The main reason is because they get their reward in olam haba. Hashem doesn't want to give them the reward here because it'll take away from their reward in olam haba, so he doesn't want to give them here. But also שכר מצוה מצוה, so how do we know we're not getting a reward? Maybe by doing Okay, a reward, right, right, a ruchniyusdike reward, other mitzvah, the other parts of your reward. A reward is not only money. Reward is mitzvot, reward is ruchniyut, and reward is in olam haba. And if Hashem gives us in this world, he takes away from the other world. So that's why some tzadikim, because they're so great, he doesn't want to give them in this world.

Famous story with Rav Chanina ben Dosa. Chanina ben Dosa was very poor, and he was his wife Finally, he she begged him, he davened to Hashem to make him rich, to give him enough to live on. So from shamayim, he saw from heaven came down a gold a silver or golden foot. Leg, leg, yeah. Leg from a table. And to sell that, he can make a lot of money. So he felt, \"Oh, Hashem gave me enough to live off for 120 years.\" That night, they had a dream. Him and his wife had a dream. In the dream, they saw that they're sitting in Gan Eden, and all the tzadikim are there with their families. They were so happy to see that they're there. They looked around, they saw something funny. All the tzadikim are sitting with tables that have four legs, and their table has only three legs! So they asked, \"What's going on here? How come we only have three legs?\" \"Well, one leg we gave you already when you were in this world.\" Next morning when they woke up, they said, \"Hashem, please take it back.\" And they davened to Hashem, and it was taken back. And the Gemara says that the second miracle was greater than the first, because מן שמיא, מיהב יהבי, משקל לא שקלי. From shamayim they give, they never take back. And here they took it back! That was a great miracle. But anyway, we see from there that if you take in this world, Hashem takes away from the other world. So some tzadikim he gives in the other world, some in this world. But whichever way it is, Hashem rewards us, and he rewards us if we work! We don't work, he doesn't. And why? So we said because otherwise we'll be embarrassed, and Hashem wants to give us the best, we shouldn't be embarrassed. So the question is, why didn't he make the nature we shouldn't be embarrassed by taking hand-me-downs, and then we would be happy and we wouldn't have to work for it? So the answer is that there's much more to it than that. And just in short, yes? Somewhere I read that they said that sometimes tzadikim suffer so that the community can be redeemed. That's also true. That's a different reason. Sometimes tzadikim suffer for others. Emet. True. Uh? On Mashiach it's said, but it's also said on other tzadikim, too. It says even tzadikim sometimes leave this world, pass away, to be mechaper, to forgive על עון הדור. Yeah, because it says if a tzadik died, they bring from Gehinnom a lot of neshamot out. That's the the neshamot who are already in Gehinnom, in the other world. That's one thing, but it even helps the people in this world. It's mechaper, it says it forgives for the aveirot of the generation. And sometimes it's not dying, but it's just suffering, yeah. In other words, that's answers require a lot of reasons, and we never know one why some tzadikim, some righteous people who work a lot for Hashem and they don't get. But generally, the idea is that you do get. Hashem doesn't remain a בעל חוב. It doesn't stay the debt is always paid. The question is in which way, in which form? Sometimes he gives it in money, sometimes gives it in health, sometimes gives it nachat from children, you know. Never know what's rich. And sometimes he gives it in service of Hashem. And

what we have to look at is gam zu letova, whatever he does is for the best, and whatever we get, Hashem knows what he's doing. Maybe sometime, you know, a tzadik doesn't know all the Torah, you know, that's why he doesn't get. He doesn't do? He doesn't know all the Torah, that's why he doesn't get, because it's saying in the book, like you say tzadik, he need to know all the Torah. Well, if he did his best, it doesn't say you have to know the whole Torah, you have to know what's That's what say the book. You have to know the maximum amount you're able to. You never expect a person to know more than he is able to. Some people are able to know the whole Torah, some people are able to know half of the Torah, הלוואי we should know a millionth of the Torah. But a person is expected to do the maximum of his kochot, of his ability, not of somebody else's. Well, the famous expression that R'' Zusha said, R'' Zusha of Anipoli once said, \"I am not worried that when I come to the World to Come, they're going to ask me, 'Why aren't you like Moshe Rabbeinu?' You know what I'm going to answer them? 'I'm not Moshe Rabbeinu. What do you want from me?' I'm not worried they're going to ask me, 'Why are you not like the Baal Shem Tov?' I'll tell them, 'I'm not the Baal Shem Tov.' What I'm worried is they're going to ask me, 'Why aren't you Zusha?'\" Because whatever we're able to, we have to do to the maximum. So tzaddik did his maximum, then he is a tzaddik, and he could be a tzaddik gamur, he could be a complete tzaddik. Anyway, I still have to answer that question. I want to keep you in suspense. Yeah. I held on to it for a number of years, so And you probably couldn't sleep nights over it. I don't know about that.

Ever since I opened Derech Hashem, I think I had that question. It was throwing the first page of Derech Hashem, that concept, you know, Hashem would just change the nature and And then what, he will give us without us earning it, deserving it. Right. But then there's no free choice. So, so why do we need free choice? No, the question, why don't we appreciate it, because that's the nature of a person. Hashem would change the nature, we would appreciate it even if we didn't work for it. That's the whole question. Now, the way we are, we wouldn't or we don't appreciate if we don't work for it. Hashem says, \"I want to give you that you should appreciate, so I want you to work for it.\" He could have made a different nature, that we would appreciate even if we don't work for it and that's it. The reason is Because that's what Hashem wants, that's No, that's not a reason. If we say that, I'll tell you what we could do: close the book and say Hashem said and that's it! We're here to learn. That's why I always say, the Rebbe once said, the greatness of the Yidden is that they said נעשה before נשמע. We will do before we will understand. So he asked the question, wouldn't it be better if they wouldn't say נשמע at all? Would be even greater! The whole thing is, they said נעשה and then we will understand. Most people do the opposite. They first say נשמע, then נעשה. But wouldn't it be better if they wouldn't say נשמע at all? נעשה and finished! Rebbe said, \"No, it's not good. We have to have נשמע. We have to try to understand. We have to.\" The only problem, only difference is not to start with that. If you start with your seichel that if you understand you will do, you got a wrong foundation. What things you will understand, you'll do; things you don't understand, you won't do. And even things you do understand, when tomorrow you won't understand, you'll forget or someone will ask you a question, you'll stop doing it. That's why it has to be based on נעשה. But then we have to have a נשמע. We definitely have to understand. That's what Chassidus Chabad is all about. Chabad means חכמה, בינה, דעת. It means seichel. We got to use our brains. It's not like people think that and some people, I heard, you know, some people say, \"Well, when I was a young kid, I used to ask questions of my parents and in Yiddishkeit, they'd say, 'freg nisht kein kashes, don't ask questions! That's what it says, and finished!'\" Well, people who were not learned, maybe, you know, simple people didn't have an answer, so they would say that. But it's not and they get the impression that Torah has no answer. They just told you, \"Got to do it, there is no answer.\" There's an answer for every question.

Obviously, there are certain things we don't understand. But even that's with seichel. We come to a conclusion with our understanding that there are certain things we can't understand. That's not beyond understanding, it's not something that's blind faith. Logic logic dictates that there has to be something which is beyond understanding. Logic itself understands that seichel has a limit. I don't want to get into that subject separately, that's another subject in itself. But in logic, we come to an understanding there has to be a point where logic starts and there is a level beyond that. So there is a so what so we have to understand everything with seichel. So the answer to this, why Hashem wanted free choice, which actually means why He wants us to work and work hard, that means that when we work, we accomplish, if we wouldn't have the free choice and we wouldn't work, there's nothing that we accomplish, everything is given to us, is for this reason. Generally, we know there are four levels, four different species, so to speak, sort of things in the world and that's the whole universe is made of that: דומם, צומח, חי, מדבר. דומם are the unmovable objects, צומח plant life, חי is the animal life, and מדבר is the human race. And that includes everything in the world. The Rambam divides it into these four. Now, these four, the purpose of each one of these four is to try to reach the next step, the next level. For instance, the דומם, when does a דומם come to its goal? If it makes things grow, so it uses itself to become a צומח, to become the next level which is plants. When an animal eats from the plants, then these plants become part of the animal. Whatever an animal eats becomes דם ובשר כבשרו, it becomes the flesh and blood of the animal. So then it's not a plant. It started as a plant, but then it turned into blood and flesh of an animal, so it became חי.