וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם וְשָׁמַר יְהוָה אֱלֹהֶיךָ לְךָ אֶת־הַבְּרִית וְאֶת־הַחֶסֶד אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ׃
And the result will be when you will listen to all these laws and guard and perform them, that Hashem, your G-d, will guard for you the covenant and the kindness that he made an oath with your forefathers. (Devarim 7:12)
The Hebrew word eikev is translated here to mean result. It also means heel as in the heel of one’s foot. Rashi cites the following explanation as to what the Torah is alluding to by choosing to use in this context this word that means heel.
It means if even the lighter commands which a person tends to tread on with his heels (i.e. which a person is inclined to treat lightly), you will listen to. There are mitzvot (or details of mitzvot) that people tend to deem insignificant. We are told that if we are meticulous to keep even those mitzvot, Hashem will shower us with his kindness.
What kind of mitzvah would a person “tread upon with his heels”? The commentaries explain that this is referring to mitzvot that people think that there will be little reward for them. For example, people might think that the mitzvah of Tzitzit doesn’t carry much reward because all you do is wear them. Therefore the Torah teaches us that for the fulfillment of every mitzvah, even the ones people deem insignificant, there will be reward in its fullest, which is the degree of reward promised to our forefathers.
I’d like to offer another explanation.
Let’s go back to Noah and all the animals he tended to in the Ark. It was non-stop feeding. As animals do, they let Noah know they were hungry through growls, roars, and an assortment of other noises. The Midrash tells of one bird called Orsheina that remained silent. When Noah discovered this, he asked the bird why it remained silent when it needed to eat. It responded that it would rather go hungry then add to Noah’s burdens. Noah was so touched that he blessed the bird with eternal life for its kindness and sensitivity.
The Orsheina was truly considerate. But why did it deserve such a special reward? Rabbi Dovid Goldwasser answered that before the Flood the world had become cruel and selfish. In the Ark, the animals were being animals- completely absorbed in themselves and demanding their needs. The Orsheina was bucking the tide. In an environment of self-centeredness, it was being selfless. To practice goodness when everyone else around you is just concerned with themselves is doubly hard to do and therefore carries a much greater degree of merit and reward.
The importance of what the Orshiena did is metaphorically expressed in a halacha (law) found in the Shulchan Aruch (the Code of Jewish Law). Before Shechita (ritual slaughter) can be performed on an animal, it has to be tested for broken limbs. Broken limbs are considered a sign that the animal will soon die and that renders the animal unkosher. The test is to allow it to walk or swim and if it does so properly it is considered to be of sound body. The swimming test though is only valid if it swims against the current because even a lame and dying animal can be carried along with the flow.
The lesson here is that if in life you’re ready to swim against the current you’re spiritually healthy and you will live. If you just follow the lead of others life in its truest sense will just slip away.
When people tread on a mitzvah with their heels, this creates the same situation the Orsheina bird found itself in. If people are lax in the performance of a mitzvah or in its details that creates an environment of laxity towards that mitzvah. But if you buck the tide you will be handsomely rewarded for the extra effort involved in performing it.
It will also show that you are truly alive!
Shabbat shalom!
Yitzchak