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Harav Hagaon Yitzchok Caplan Shlita

בס”ד

It’s All in the Little Things

Parshas Eikev

Harav Hagaon Rav Yitzchak Caplan

In the beginning of Parshas Eikev, the passuk says, וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֵת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה וּשְׁמַרְתֶּם וַעֲשִׂיתֶם אֹתָם וְשָׁמַר ד’ אֱלֹקיךָ לְךָ אֶת הַבְּרִית וְאֶת הַחֶסֶד אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ, If you keep the mitzvos, then Hakadosh Baruch Hu will give you all the brachos that come as a result of keeping those mitzvos (דברים ז’:י”ב).

Rashi comments on והיה עקב תשמעון and asks which mitzvos specifically we are referring to. He explains, אם המצוות קלות שאדם דש בעקביו תשמעון, we are speaking about the easy mitzvos, the small mitzvos that a person treads upon with his heel. If those small mitzvos are the ones that you are careful to fulfill, ושמר ד’ אלקיך לך את הברית ואת החסד; then Hakadosh Baruch Hu will give you all the brachos. The psukim then go on to enumerate the tremendous bracha that Hakadosh Baruch Hu will give us as a result of our keeping these mitzvos.

וַאֲהֵבְךָ וּבֵרַכְךָ וְהִרְבֶּךָ וּבֵרַךְ פְּרִי בִטְנְךָ וּפְרִי אַדְמָתֶךָ דְּגָנְךָ וְתִירֹשְׁךָ וְיִצְהָרֶךָ שְׁגַר אֲלָפֶיךָ וְעַשְׁתְּרֹת צֹאנֶךָ עַל הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּע לַאֲבֹתֶיךָ לָתֶת לָךְ.בָּרוּךְ תִּהְיֶה מִכָּל הָעַמִּים לֹא יִהְיֶה בְךָ עָקָר וַעֲקָרָה וּבִבְהֶמְתֶּךָ.וְהֵסִיר ד’ מִמְּךָ כָּל חֹלִי וְכָל מַדְוֵי מִצְרַיִם הָרָעִים אֲשֶׁר יָדַעְתָּ לֹא יְשִׂימָם בָּךְ וּנְתָנָם בְּכָל שֹׂנְאֶיךָ. (דברים ז’:י”ג-ט”ו)

He will give you produce, health, parnassah b’shefa, and nachas. You will have whatever you need; you will be protected from your enemies. You won’t have any diseases. Hakadosh Baruch Hu will give you all these brachos as a result of what? This is the reward for keeping the small mitzvos that a person tramples with his heel. What is so special about these mitzvos that in their wake, a person receives this tremendous bracha? There are a number of reasons for this phenomenon.

How to Do Teshuva

It is well known that Rav Yisroel Salanter says that when a person does teshuva, the first place he should focus is on the bechinos hakalos, on the easy aspects of his Avodas Hashem. What is the reason for that? Is it because Rav Salanter lived in the nineteenth century, and there was a discount for the people who could not do full teshuva? No, that is not it. Rav Salanter said this because that is the real way to do teshuva. Why is that?

Rav Salanter quotes the Gemara (מנחות מ”ג:) which tells us, “גדול עונשו של לבן יותר מעונשו של תכלת.” The onesh a person gets for not fulfilling the mitzvah of wearing white tzitzis strings is much greater than the onesh for not putting the required techeiles tzitzis strings onto his garment. What is the reason for that? Because the white strings do not cost a lot, but the techeiles strings are very expensive. So we can understand if a person does not want to spend the extra money to put on the techeiles. However, we question the person who does not want to put on the white strings—those are so cheap! Why wouldn’t somebody want to do that? It’s so easy. Therefore, since it is so easy, if a person does not do it, the punishment is much greater.

We see from this that Hakadosh Baruch Hu takes into account the fact that things are hard. So the reason why a person should focus on the easy things is not just because they are easy and therefore he will be able to do them. It is also because therein lies the greatest potential punishment. Because if the mitzvah is so easy, why didn’t you do it? So that is where our main focus should be.

This is why the ba’alei mussar tell us that when a person makes a kabbalah, it should always be in the easiest thing for him.  This is not just because if you do not do an easy thing, you are not going to be able to continue. It is also because if something is hard to do, Hakadosh Baruch Hu takes that into account. But if something is easy for you to do, and you do not do it, that is the main thing you are going to get punished for. Because Hakadosh Baruch Hu asks why you did not do it if it was so easy. That is why a person should focus on the easy things. And of course, obviously if a kabbalah is too hard, the person is not going to be able to keep it.

Stay Under the Radar

Rav Wolbe relates an amazing mashal about teshuva that he experienced firsthand. After the Yom Kippur war, Rav Wolbe was flown to Egypt to speak to the troops who were stationed there. As they entered Egyptian airspace, he realized that they were flying just a few meters above the trees. He got nervous that maybe they were they having engine trouble so he went over to the pilot (it was a small plane) and asked him what was going on. He wanted to know if there was a problem. The pilot replied that they were not having trouble but that they just entered enemy airspace and were therefore trying to fly below the Egyptian radar. Rav Wolbe said that we can learn an amazing lesson from this.

The yetzer hara works the same way. His radar only picks up “flying high” kabbalos. When a person takes on a kabbalah that is too high, he can be sure that the yetzer hara will shoot it down. A person has to take on a small kabbalah and fly below the yetzer hara’s radar so that the yetzer hara does not even pick it up because it is such a small thing. Those are the types of kabbalos we have to make—the small things, and that is the ikar avodah of a person. The מצות הקלות שהאדם דש בעקביו. The first tremendous ma’alah that the small mitzvos have is that a person’s ikar avodah is about the small, easy things. That is where the biggest punishment is, that is where a person’s avodah starts, and that is where he is supposed to focus his kochos.

Our Deeds Define Us

In addition to this, we cannot underestimate the value of every single mitzvah. We have to appreciate even the smallest mitzvos. There is a great ma’aseh told about Rav Steinman, זצ”ל. He used to give one shekel to tzedakah every day as a zchus for the six million kedoshim who were killed during the holocaust. He was questioned about this practice because if you divide one shekel by six million, it is a teeny amount. So what is each neshama even getting? What are you doing already? Rav Steinman said that the person was right. If you are dividing one shekel by six million, then it really does not come out to very much at all. However, one mitzvah is nitzchiyus, eternity, and nitzchiyus can easily be divided by six million. Appreciate that one shekel is nitzchiyus that can surely be divided by six million. From this perspective, every single ma’aseh is so chashuv, and there is so much that we can gain from it.

There is a well-known Ramban at the end of Parshas Bo that explains that Hakadosh Baruch Hu performed all of the nissim in Mitzrayim in order to show us that He is in charge. The Ramban says, “מן הניסים הגדולים אתה מכיר בניסים הקטנים,” by looking at all of the tremendous nissim that Hakadosh Baruch Hu does, a person can recognize that the small nissim are also from Him. And there is really nothing that is not from Hakadosh Baruch Hu, even if it does not look like a nes. Everything is from Him. We see this from the big ma’asim that He does to show that He is in charge, and then we know that He is in charge of the small things as well.

I think that it is the exact opposite with humans. With a human being, we are able to define him by the small things. From the small ma’asim a person does, we can see that when he does big ma’asim, those big ma’asim are also really something special. Why is that?

The Gemara (עבודה זרה י”ח) tells a story about Rav Chanina ben Tradyon. The Romans had decreed that it was forbidden to learn Torah, yet Rav Chanina ben Tradyon literally sacrificed his life to gather Yidden together and teach them Torah publicly. His rebbe, Rav Yosi ben Kisma, was imprisoned, and Rav Chanina ben Tradyon went to go visit him. His rebbe asked him, “Rav Chanina ben Tradyon, I hear that you are gathering Yidden together publicly. Don’t you know that Hakadosh Baruch Hu gave the Romans the dominion, and they are in charge now? You have to do what they say.” Rav Chanina ben Tradyon responded, “מן השמים ירחמו, Hakadosh Baruch Hu will have rachamim.” Rav Yosi ben Kisma said, “I am telling you rational things, and you are responding that Hashem will have rachamim? I’ll be shocked if they don’t burn you together with a Sefer Torah in your arms.” And that is what really happened to Rav Chanina ben Tradyon in the end.

Rav Chanina ben Tradyon then asked his rebbe if he has any zchus to make it into Olam Haba. The question itself is remarkable. What does that mean? We were just told a second ago about how he is literally putting his life at stake to teach Hakadosh Baruch Hu’s Torah. Is there any greater zchus than that? But apparently, that was not enough, as he asked his rebbe how he will merit Olam Haba. The puzzling conversation continued, and Rav Yosi ben Kisma asked Rav Chanina ben Tradyon if he performed any special ma’aseh that he deserves to get Olam Haba for. He replied in the affirmative and related the following: I had my own money that was designated for my Purim seudah, and it got mixed up with money that was slated for tzedakah. I did not know which money was mine and which money belonged to tzedakah so I gave it all to tzedakah.

Rav Yosi ben Kisma said, “If so, halevai that I should have the same chelek that you do in Olam Haba.” The whole story is astonishing. How do we understand this? It is perplexing, to say the least. From the tremendous ma’aseh of being moser nefesh to teach Torah, we are not sure if he will get Olam Haba. However, for the small ma’aseh of his money getting mixed up with tzedakah money and his giving it all to tzedakah—for that he does deserve Olam Haba? That is his big zchus?

The answer is as follows. Even if a person sacrifices himself for Hakadosh Baruch Hu, founds tremendous organizations, and does other things that make the headlines, it is all for that reason—to make the headlines! Was it really done for Hakadosh Baruch Hu? Not necessarily. How can you tell if something was really done for Hakadosh Baruch Hu?  When it is in your house, when it is on your own dining room table. You have some money that got mixed up, and there is no one there besides the Ribbono Shel Olam who knows. And then you go ahead and take that money and do something especially for Him. It can be something small—a few dollars, even one shekel—and you are not sure if it is yours or tzedakah’s, and you give it to Hakadosh Baruch Hu.

Small ma’asim like this are what really define a person, the מצות הקלות שהאדם דש בעקביו. From these small ma’asim, we now know that the big ma’asim that he did, like gathering people together to learn Torah publicly, were also for Hakadosh Baruch Hu. That is the tremendous ma’aleh of the small ma’asim.

The Mystery of Ba’al Pe’or

This principle also explains the concept of Ba’al Pe’or. We know that the way to worship Ba’al Pe’or is to relieve oneself in front of it.  This is mindboggling. What type of Avodah Zarah is that? How did Bnei Yisrael fall for such a thing? Why did they cleave to Ba’al Pe’or? Rav Hutner told Rav Wolbe that the Avodah Zarah of Ba’al Pe’or is really pessimism. People are pessimistic. They say that it does not make a difference if you have a succulent steak or a red apple or any other delicious food. Whatever it is does not matter because at the end of the day, it all turns into excrement. But it is much deeper than that.

People are pessimistic, and they say that no matter what you do during your lifetime, it does not make a difference. Because at the end of the day, a person ends up in a cleft in the ground. But Yiddishkeit stands diametrically opposed to that. In Yiddishkeit, everything is choshuv. Excrement is the beginning of new life; it is used as fertilizer to grow new things. And when a person dies, he passes on. That is when he really starts living in Olam Haba, for eternity. There is nothing which is not choshuv. Everything is choshuv. Every small mitzvah is choshuv. If you are waiting on line, you can say a kapittel Tehillim. If you have two minutes to spare, you can pick up a phone and make a call to make someone else happy, to share a good word somewhere. There is nothing which is not choshuv in a Yid’s life. The small things are all important.

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