Eikev (3): Listen Deeply

והיה עקב תשמעון את המשפטים האלה ועשיתם עושם

And it shall be when you listen to the laws and do them...

What does it means to "listen" to the laws? And if listening to them simply means to obey them, then why is there a need to also write "when you do them"? Certainly that's repetitious. And as all the Sfarim do, we need to analyze what is this unique term of "עקב".

The Agra D'Kala (by the Bnei Yisachar zy"a) writes as follows:

We don't always take Mitzvos so seriously. One piece of advice given is to find the root of every Mitzvah in the Ten Commandments. Those ten, as explained by the Rishonim, encompass all of the Mitzvos. By understanding this concept every Mitzvah takes on greater weight.

The Komarna Rebbe zy"a wrote an encyclopedia explaining how each one of the six-thirteen connects to a specific letter in the commandments.

Menachem Mendel M'Riminov explained that Dvarim Bteilim is included in Lo Sirtzach - Don't murder. Alternatively, in the words of R' Noach Weinberg zt"l - Killing time is suicide on an installment plan. This is one small example from a very deep and intricate study, but once we internalize the truth that every Mitzvah finds a root in the Aseres HaDibros, even a seemingly small commandment takes on a much more potent significance. 

By realizing that a seemingly small Mitzvah finds its source in the Aseres HaDibros, I come to learn that there is a permeating sanctity in the whole Torah. All of the Torah - that which strikes us as impactful and that which comes across as less so - is all interwoven.

We know that the Pasuk describes Ma'amad Har Sinai as an endless and everlasting sound. קול גדול ולא יסף.  Now we can add a new explanation as to why. Har Sinai is endless because it reverberates in every other Mitzvah. Every time I do the right thing I am tapping back into that original experience.

This provides us with a powerful explanation of the Pasuk: והיה עקב תשמעון את המשפטים האלה - If you listen to the עקב - the 172 words of the Luchos (עקב=172) and see how they are an endless sound that penetrate all Mitzvos... then it will lead to ועשיתם עושם, you will take all the Mitzvos seriously and do them.