Every Mitzvah a Chok: Reward in This World

1“So that he will command his children and his household after him, and they will keep the way of Hashem, to do righteousness and justice, so that Hashem may bring upon Avraham that which He spoke concerning him.”¹ Several points in this verse need a close look. First, why the long phrase “and they will keep the way of Hashem”? It would have been enough to say, “and they will keep to do righteousness and justice.” Second, why did Avraham Avinu command his children and the generations to come “to do righteousness and justice,” of all things? Third, what is meant by “so that Hashem may bring upon Avraham …”? This phrase raises two difficulties. The Mishnah teaches, “Do not be like servants who serve the master in order to receive a reward.”² How, then, could Avraham Avinu command his children and his household to do righteousness and justice for the sake of a reward? Moreover, “there is no reward for a mitzvah in this world.”³ How can it be that because they keep the way of Hashem, Hashem will bring upon Avraham what He spoke concerning him, which is reward for a mitzvah in this world?

2To understand this, we can draw on the words of my holy father and teacher, zt"l, on the verse “This is the chok of the Torah which Hashem commanded, saying.”⁴ The well-known difficulty is that the verse should have said “This is the chok of the red heifer,” not “the chok of the Torah.”⁵ My father explained that the Torah contains two kinds of mitzvos. The first are given as a chok, a decree without a reason. The second are the rational mitzvos, such as honoring one's father or the prohibition of theft, whose obligation and necessity every person understands. The goal is to keep the mitzvos, even the rational ones, as a chok: only because Hashem commanded us to keep them, without examining their reasons at that moment. This is the meaning of “This is the chok of the Torah”: the entire Torah must be kept as a chok, because Hashem commanded it. And “saying” means that all Israel is to be taught that this is the way to keep the mitzvos of the Torah. Those are his holy words.

3We may explain this more fully. The Arvei Nachal, and the Turei Zahav in the name of the Maggid of Mezritch, the Baal Shem Tov's successor, explain why there is no reward for a mitzvah in this world.⁶ A person cannot keep the mitzvos exactly as they were stated and given at Sinai, solely for the honor of the Creator, without any ulterior motives. So a person is not shown the reward for mitzvos in this world, lest ulterior motives become the main reason he keeps them. Accordingly, suppose a Jew reaches the level of setting aside all his ulterior motives and his own desires, and keeps the mitzvos solely for the Creator's honor. He is then fit to receive reward even in this world, since the reward will not lead him to ulterior motives. Keeping the mitzvos in this way, with everything done only for the honor of Hashem's Name and without ulterior motives, is what is called a “chok”: keeping a mitzvah only because His wisdom so decreed, and because Hashem commanded it.

4With this we can answer a question the Rambam raises.⁷ How can the holy Torah promise reward, as in the verse “If you walk in My chukim … then I will give your rains in their season,”⁸ when there is no reward for a mitzvah in this world? On our approach, we can explain “If you walk in My chukim and keep My mitzvos” this way. Suppose a Jew makes it his way to keep all the mitzvos of the Torah as “My chukim,” solely as a chok and for the sake of Hashem's Name. Then he will be rewarded in this world too, and “I will give your rains in their season,” with all the other blessings, will be fulfilled in him. Such reward is fitting for him, because his service has become complete: everything he does in keeping the mitzvos is for the honor of Hashem's Name, so the reward will not lead him to any ulterior motive.

5This is what Avraham meant. When Avraham Avinu commanded the generations to come, he said, “and they will keep the way of Hashem, to do righteousness and justice.” The words “and they will keep the way of Hashem” refer to keeping the entire Torah. He commanded them about this, and then explained how the Torah is to be kept: “and they will keep … to do righteousness and justice.” That is, they should keep the entire Torah not because of the reasons for the mitzvos, and even without understanding them, but only because this is Hashem's mishpat, the ruling and decree of His wisdom.⁹ [See the sefer Tzror HaMor, by one of the early authorities. It explains that Avraham would command his household to keep the way of Hashem for the sake of righteousness and justice and not for the sake of anything else: that is, to love righteousness for its own sake. This is “Righteousness, righteousness shall you pursue.”¹⁰ And see something similar in Kedushas HaYehudi, the teachings of the Yid HaKadosh.¹¹] The same idea is hinted at in the words “and they will keep the way of Hashem”: they should keep the mitzvos only because this is the way of Hashem and His will, and not for any other motive.

6This also answers our third question, on the words “so that Hashem may bring upon Avraham.” Avraham would command his descendants to keep the mitzvos so completely, so purely for the honor of Hashem's Name, that they would be worthy of reward in this world. For, as we saw with the Rambam's question, there is reward for a mitzvah in this world when one keeps the mitzvos as chukim, for the honor of Hashem's Name, without any ulterior motives.

7This also lets us answer a question that Tosafos, the medieval commentators on the Gemara, raise about the giving of the Torah.¹² Chazal say that the Holy One, blessed be He, held Mount Sinai over Bnei Yisrael like an upturned barrel, forcing them to accept the Torah. Tosafos ask why He did this, when they had already said, “We will do and we will hear.”¹³ They answer that perhaps the people would retract when they saw the great fire at Sinai. But this is difficult. On the contrary, the sight of the great fire would show them how precious the Torah is, so why would they retract? On our approach, we can answer Tosafos' question differently. The mitzvos of the Torah must be kept as a chok, for there is no other way to keep the entire Torah: if a person acts only on the strength of reason, how will he keep the chukim? So all the Torah's mitzvos must be kept only because “Hashem commanded, saying,” and not because of human understanding. That is why Hashem held the mountain over them: so that they would keep the Torah under compulsion. Had they accepted it because the great fire showed them its value, their acceptance would no longer have been as a chok.

8May Hashem grant that we keep the Torah and serve Him in the spirit of “You shall be wholehearted with Hashem your God,”¹⁴ and that through this we bring the time of the redemption near, speedily. Amen.