Are the promises mentioned here a reward for keeping the Torah?
(7,12) “And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform them, that Hashem, your G-d, will keep for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers. And he will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your soil, your grain…”
We know from Chazal that no reward is given for mitzvos in this world, but behold, we see that the Torah does promise reward in this world, for example, the posuk in Vayikra 26:3 says, “If you walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and perform them. Then I will give you your rains in their seasons…”. And also in our parsha it says, “And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform them…He will love you and bless you…”.
But behold, all the goodness of this world is to enable us to observe the Torah, as Chazal said, if there is no flour there is no Torah. And they also said (Eruvin 42b) that poverty causes a person to violate his will and the will of his Creator. So we see that the goodness of this world is to give us the ability to keep the Torah properly. So too wrote the Rambam, that the promises mentioned in parshas Bechukosai are not meant as reward but to enable us to keep the Torah.
Now, Chazal taught on the posuk in Vayikra 18:30 “And you shall keep my charge” that you shall make a safeguard for my charge, that is, that a person is obligated to make a fence around the Torah in order that he will not come to transgress the Torah itself. And behold, Hashem conducts Himself with people measure for measure, so that if a person sees fit to make for himself safeguards to hold back all the obstacles which could prevent him from keeping the Torah, then Hashem will also see fit to do good things for him and banish all the obstacles which prevent him from keeping the Torah. But if a person does not strive to keep away the obstacles and causes which prevent him from keeping the Torah, then Hashem will also not keep obstacles away from him. This is what the posukim are saying here, “and it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform them”, if you keep them by making safeguards in order that you can perform them without any hindrance, then Hashem in return will bless you with much goodness.
This explanation is sweeter still according to how Rashi explained the word “eikev” from the Midrash - if you will heed the minor commandments which a person usually tramples with his heels. Because the severe sins do not require safeguarding so much since a person stays away from them in any case. But those sins that a person treats as if they are permitted, and he tramples them with his heels, they do require safeguards and fences so as not to transgress them.
This is what the posuk is saying, “eikev you will heed”, that you will heed even those sins which a person tramples with his heels. And how will you do this? Because you will “keep them and perform them” - you will make for yourself safeguards in order to perform them. And if you do this, then Hashem will act correspondingly, and “Hashem, your G-d, will keep for you the covenant and the kindness which He swore to your forefathers”. That is, Hashem will guard you so that He will not come to abrogate this covenant and kindness, because if you sin, it will result in the holding back of the covenant and kindness. But if you make for yourself safeguards, Hashem will make for you a safeguard for the covenant and kindness which He swore to your forefathers. And what will be His safeguard - “He will love you and bless you and multiply you...”, and therefore you will not come to poverty, which might cause you to violate the will of your Creator, and thus Hashem will make for Himself a safeguard for his oath concerning the covenant and the kindness, so that nothing will hinder its fulfilment.
What two advantages did Klal Yisrael gain by being commanded to keep the Torah?
(7,12) “And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep them and perform them, that Hashem, your G-d, will keep for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers. And he will love you and bless you and multiply you; He will bless the fruit of your womb and the fruit of your soil, your grain…You will be blessed above all the nations…”
An alternative explanation of these posukim is according to what I have written many times before in my writings, that actually Klal Yisrael had the ability to keep the Torah even if they had not been commanded to, just as the forefathers kept it. But because one who does a mitzvah which he has been commanded to do is greater than one who does a mitzvah which he has not been commanded to do, Hashem wanted to benefit Yisrael by commanding them to keep the Torah, either to increase their reward, or in order that they should not worry that the other nations will come to observe the Torah by themselves, and so be equal to them. Therefore Hashem commanded us to keep the Torah, and thus we are assured that even if the rest of the nations will observe the Torah they will not be equal to us, since they would be keeping the Torah as one who is not commanded in it, and we are keeping it as one who is commanded.
But in order that Yisrael will not worry and say that although in one aspect there is an advantage in being commanded, because there is greater reward, and also because the other nations cannot do likewise, but on the other hand there is a disadvantage in being commanded to keep the Torah, in that there is no reward for mitzvos in this world, whereas one who is not commanded receives reward in this world, as I wrote earlier in parshas Pinchos. This is also clear from what Chazal taught, that the one who answers Amen is greater than the one who makes the blessing, but the one who makes the blessing receives reward faster. So we see that even though the reward of the Amen is greater, nevertheless with regard to payment, the one who makes the blessing receives payment first. Here too, even though the one who is commanded to do mitzvos is greater than one who is not commanded, nevertheless, the one who is not commanded receives his reward before the one who is commanded, receiving his reward in this world. If so, Yisrael might worry that they would lose this advantage, and not be paid reward in this world, but receive their reward only according to the rules of one who is commanded.
Therefore, Hashem informed them that this would not happen, but rather they would receive a double benefit by being commanded to keep the Torah. Because granted if the one who was commanded did not have the ability to do like one who is not commanded, then he would only receive reward like one who is commanded, and not more than that. But since in truth Yisrael had the ability to keep the Torah without being commanded, only they obeyed Hashem’s will to make them as one who is commanded, therefore they will get paid according to both rules - a greater reward as one who is commanded, which in truth they are, but also they will receive reward immediately in this world like one who is not commanded.
Now, the expression “hearing” many times means understanding, and “keeping” implies doing something which one has been commanded, and so this is the explanation of the posukim - “And it will be, because you will understand these ordinances”, that is, that you would understand them by yourselves, and you would be able to observe even before you were commanded, and nevertheless, “you keep them and perform them”, you keep them as one who is commanded, therefore Hashem will reward you twofold - He will “keep for you the covenant and the kindness which He swore to your forefathers, and He will love you and bless you”, and give you reward in this world, just like the forefathers who kept the Torah as one who is not commanded. And also you will have the advantage that you will not worry lest the other nations will come and keep the Torah and they will equal to you, because “you will be blessed above all the nations” - you will always be on a greater and higher level than them, because you are commanded to keep the Torah.