The parsha of Eikev starts out by saying "and it will be that ultimately you will obey the civil laws (Mishpotim) and you will watch them and do them". That if we do obey these civil laws the result will be that we will receive all the rewards that G-d has promised us. The obvious question begs for an answer. There are actually three types of Torah commandments, Mitzvos, Chukim and Mishpotim. Mitzvos are commandments such as Shabbos, Lulov, Tefilin, etc. Chukim are commandments such as the laws of purity. Mishpotim are civil laws. Moshe Rabbeinu says here that if we adhere to the Torah's civil laws then we will be rewarded. What about the Mitzvos and Chukim? Must we not also adhere and obey these commandments and will we not receive rewards for our obeisance to these laws?
To answer this let's first understand the concepts behind each of these types of Torah laws. Mitzvos are laws that G-d has commanded us to do that show our gratitude and appreciation to G-d for acts of kindness or miracles that He has done for us. These laws also express our acknowledgement that G-d is Almighty and "runs" the universe. Shabbos shows that G-d created the universe and commanded us to observe a corporeal rest which results in a spiritual state of holiness. Pesach and Tefilin show our gratitude to G-d for our exodus from Egypt. The observance of these Mitzvo laws all profess a deep gratitude and appreciation to G-d for all the things He's done for us in the past and continues to do. Chukim are laws that G-d has commanded us to do which seemingly have no reason behind them. These laws seem to purely extend G-d's reign over us as a King of the Jewish nation. We obey these laws because G-d has commanded us to do so, from our spiritual love for Him rather than any logical reason. Mishpotim, civil laws, on the other hand are laws that any humanistic society enacts. These laws such as not to steal and not to murder are logical laws promulgated by a society and obeyed as members of that society. These don't seem to require a commandment by G-d through the Torah.
We can answer this through an explanation of a part of the Shacharis prayer service. At the start of the morning prayers we recite several mishnayos that concern sacrifices and Temple services. This section concludes with a statement by Bar Kaporo: if we would add honey to the incense offering then we wouldn't be able to tolerate the amazingly beautiful aroma. Therefore we don't add honey. He then adds an interesting statement. "and why do we not add honey to the incense"? Why? We just stated why. Because we couldn't tolerate the wonderful aroma. But that's not what Bar Kaporo ends his statement with. He states, "and why don't we add honey? Because the Torah states that no honey nor leavening shall be added". Wait didn't he just say we don't add honey because we couldn't tolerate the aroma? Why add an additional statement about the Torah or why state the concept of the aroma being so powerful? The answer is that even obvious things that we do such as not adding honey because its more than we can stand, are done by us NOT just because they are logical things to do. We do these things because the Torah SAYS do this.
This is pshat in the posuk, "V'hoyo Eikev tishmeun". Rashi says that Eikev can also mean those things to which we don't attach much importance. We would obey the civil laws anyway. But Moshe is telling us that particularily these common sense laws that all humanity adheres to are to be obeyed because G-d has commanded us to obey them, not because they are humanly logical things to do. Why do we obey our civil laws? Because the Torah has commanded us to obey them. And for this we will receive a multitude of good blessings.
To answer this let's first understand the concepts behind each of these types of Torah laws. Mitzvos are laws that G-d has commanded us to do that show our gratitude and appreciation to G-d for acts of kindness or miracles that He has done for us. These laws also express our acknowledgement that G-d is Almighty and "runs" the universe. Shabbos shows that G-d created the universe and commanded us to observe a corporeal rest which results in a spiritual state of holiness. Pesach and Tefilin show our gratitude to G-d for our exodus from Egypt. The observance of these Mitzvo laws all profess a deep gratitude and appreciation to G-d for all the things He's done for us in the past and continues to do. Chukim are laws that G-d has commanded us to do which seemingly have no reason behind them. These laws seem to purely extend G-d's reign over us as a King of the Jewish nation. We obey these laws because G-d has commanded us to do so, from our spiritual love for Him rather than any logical reason. Mishpotim, civil laws, on the other hand are laws that any humanistic society enacts. These laws such as not to steal and not to murder are logical laws promulgated by a society and obeyed as members of that society. These don't seem to require a commandment by G-d through the Torah.
We can answer this through an explanation of a part of the Shacharis prayer service. At the start of the morning prayers we recite several mishnayos that concern sacrifices and Temple services. This section concludes with a statement by Bar Kaporo: if we would add honey to the incense offering then we wouldn't be able to tolerate the amazingly beautiful aroma. Therefore we don't add honey. He then adds an interesting statement. "and why do we not add honey to the incense"? Why? We just stated why. Because we couldn't tolerate the wonderful aroma. But that's not what Bar Kaporo ends his statement with. He states, "and why don't we add honey? Because the Torah states that no honey nor leavening shall be added". Wait didn't he just say we don't add honey because we couldn't tolerate the aroma? Why add an additional statement about the Torah or why state the concept of the aroma being so powerful? The answer is that even obvious things that we do such as not adding honey because its more than we can stand, are done by us NOT just because they are logical things to do. We do these things because the Torah SAYS do this.
This is pshat in the posuk, "V'hoyo Eikev tishmeun". Rashi says that Eikev can also mean those things to which we don't attach much importance. We would obey the civil laws anyway. But Moshe is telling us that particularily these common sense laws that all humanity adheres to are to be obeyed because G-d has commanded us to obey them, not because they are humanly logical things to do. Why do we obey our civil laws? Because the Torah has commanded us to obey them. And for this we will receive a multitude of good blessings.
