Summarized by Daniel Herman, Translated by David Strauss
In our parasha, Moshe Rabbeinu reaches the final stages of his great oration, which spans most of the book of Devarim. The main thrust of this part of the speech concerns the covenant between the people of Israel and God. There seem to be four verses that contain the essence of the oration and of the message that it is meant to convey to those who hear or read it:
This day the Lord your God commands you to do these statutes and ordinances; you shall observe and do them with all your heart and with all your soul. You have affirmed the Lord this day to be your God, and [for you] to walk in His ways, and keep His statutes, and His commandments, and His ordinances, and hearken to His voice. And the Lord has affirmed you this day to be His nation of treasure, as He has promised you, and [for you] to keep all His commandments; and to make you high above all the nations that He has made, in praise, and in name, and in glory; and that you will be a holy people to the Lord your God, as He has spoken. (Devarim 26:16-19)
This passage is comprised of two parts: the first two verses describe Israel's side of the covenant, while the last two deal with God's side. Israel undertakes to observe God's commandments and to set amplification of His name as their primary concern. In return, God promises to amplify Israel and to set them apart in the world. Within God's promise, however, is embedded another demand upon Israel; the status of a chosen people is not a privilege without responsibility, but includes the injunction to "be a holy people to the Lord your God." The chosen people are enjoined to ensure, via the establishment of justice and the religion of truth, that God's name is not profaned in the world.
This covenant, the covenant of Moav, is not the first between the people of Israel and God; it was preceded by the covenant of Sinai. Is there a difference between these two covenants? There seems to be nothing new here about Israel's commitment to observe the commandments of the Torah, or above the promise of the unique status of the nation of Israel as the chosen people. Both of these elements are found explicitly in God's words to Israel prior to the revelation at Sinai:
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles' wings and brought you to Myself. Now therefore, if you will indeed hearken to My voice, and keep My covenant, then you shall be My treasure from among all peoples; for all the earth is Mine. And you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests, and a holy nation. These are the words which you shall speak to the children of Israel. (Shemot 19:4-6)
What new element, then, was introduced in the covenant of Moav? It is possible that the novelty of the covenant of Moav lies in the last words of verse 16: "And do them with all your heart and with all your soul."
At the revelation at Sinai, Israel heard God's demands of them and immediately responded: "We will do and we will listen." However, a fundamental difference exists between that response and the response to Moshe's demand in this speech. Israel's "we will do and we will listen" expresses their acceptance of God's lordship, a service motivated by fear of punishment and based on their absolute dependence on God to provide the manna and guide them through the wilderness.
On the other hand, in the plains of Moav, on the threshold of their entry into the land, Moshe demands of the people that they accept the Torah with all their heart and with all their soul, with a sense of connection and internalization.
It seems to me that it is not by chance that two of the newly introduced commandments in the book of Devarim, as noted by the Ramban, touch deeply on service of the heart and the soul: the recitation of Shema, in which it is stated: "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart" (Devarim 6:5), and prayer, which is "service of the heart," alluded to in the words "and to love the Lord your God with all your heart" (Devarim 11:13).
This principle seems to receive its greatest force in the section dealing with the curses, where it is stated that the curses will come upon the people:
Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart, due to the abundance of all things. (Devarim 28:47)
While Rashi on the spot interprets these words as a description of a time when a person enjoys all things good and yet fails to serve God, the plain sense of the verse pulls in another direction – that serving God with joy is an integral part of our obligation to Him, and its absence is a blemish and a breach of the covenant. But does this interpretation make sense, when we have never before heard of such a commandment?
It would seem that this is indeed the understanding of some Amoraim and Rishonim. The Gemara in Arakhin (11a) attempts to establish from where in the Torah we learn "the fundamental [need for] song." Among the proofs proposed there is the above-mentioned verse, which is understood as a mandate for the proper way to serve God. The Rambam writes:
When a person eats, drinks, and celebrates on a festival, he should not let himself become overly drawn to drinking wine, mirth, and levity… For drunkenness, profuse mirth, and levity are not rejoicing; they are frivolity and foolishness. And we were not commanded to indulge in frivolity or foolishness, but rather in rejoicing that involves the service of the Creator of all existence. Thus, it is stated: "Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and with gladness of heart." (Hilkhot Yom Tov 6:20)
The Rambam explicitly states that we are "commanded" to rejoice in our service of God.
With their entry into Eretz Yisrael, where the Jewish people would face challenges and begin to fulfill their mission in an institutionalized manner, as a people in their land, the demand for observance of the commandments intensified. No longer could one rely on service of fear, which ultimately focuses on the individual and his fear of punishment; rather, one would have to serve the Lord out of love, out of joy, and out of a sense of mission. Such service could rally the entire people of Israel and lead them forward on the path of sanctifying God's name in the world.
[This sicha was delivered by Harav Baruch Gigi on Shabbat Parashat Ki Tavo 5776.]
(Edited by Sarah Rudolph)
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