09 Sep KI SAVO: A PERSON MUST FIND PLEASURE IN MITZVOS

In the middle of the
terrible string of curses
in this week’s parsha,
the pasuk says,
“Because you did not
serve Hashem, your
G-d, with gladness and
with goodness of heart,
out of an abundance of everything.” [Devorim
28:47] The Torah is teaching that in some way,
the Tochacha resulted from a failure to joyfully
perform the mitzvos.
The difficulty with this statement is obvious.
The Tochacha is a horrific litany of calamities.
When Rashi and the classic commentaries
wrote their insights into the pasukim
describing the terrible punishments set out in
this parsha, it was as a prediction of what
could happen in the future. Unfortunately, we
know that everything spelled out in these
pasukim actually transpired. The pasukim are
not exaggerations. They happened as literally
as they were written.
The obvious question is — did these
punishments really occur merely because we
did not have appropriate joy and enthusiasm
for keeping G-d’s mitzvos? Could it be true
that despite the fact that we actually kept all
the mitzvos, we were punished for our attitude
alone?
Rav Simche Zissel Ziv, “the Alter of Kelm,”
(1824-1898) suggests that the Tochacha did
not occur because people did not have the
proper joy in fulfilling mitzvos. It came about
because they stopped fulfilling mitzvos –
period! So why does the pasuk attribute the
Tochacha to a failure to fulfill mitzvos
joyously? The Alter of Kelm explains this
based on human nature.
People do not do things that they do not
enjoy. People need an incentive to do things.
Sometimes the incentive is financial.
Sometimes the incentive is based on physical
pleasure. Sometimes the incentive is
emotional. There must be some benefit from
an activity or we will not continue to do it.
A person who views the life of Torah and
mitzvos as a tremendous goal and tremendous
benefit, rather than as a burden, will obviously
continue learning Torah and performing
mitzvos. Of course, there are times in every
person’s life when his interest in something
may wax or wane. But as long as the general
feeling towards Torah and mitzvos is that “this
is what it is all about,” they will give him
pleasure and ultimately give him a purpose in
life. When that is the case, he will continue to
do them. When that is not the case, Torah and

mitzvos may become rote and mundane. They
then become a burden. When that happens the
person may eventually stop doing them
entirely. The result of ceasing to do mitzvos is
the Tochacha.
I always try to make the point to students in
the Yeshiva that it is crucial for a person to find
his own niche in learning. At some point in
life, a student must develop a pleasure
(geshmak!) in his learning. When he leaves the
Yeshiva – at whatever age – and is looking
forward to the next 40, 50, or 60 years of life
without a yeshiva supervisor (mashgiach)
telling him “You need to show up to the Beis
Medrash for learning,” only one thing will
keep him learning. He must enjoy it! He needs
to feel a sense of pleasure and accomplishment.
If not, he will just stop learning. When a
person stops learning, the spiritual
ramifications are not pretty.
Every person should strive to find pleasure in
some aspect of learning. It can be more
expansive study (bekius) or more analytic
study (b’iyun). It can be Tanach or Talmud;
Halacha or Hashkafa. Everyone must find
pleasure somewhere in the vast universe of
Torah study. He must find a place in Torah
where he can study “b’simcha” and thereby
guarantee the continuity of his Torah study

commitment.
If there is one thing we as parents must try to
give over to our children, it is the esthetic
beauty and pleasure of mitzvos. If we can
transmit the pleasure of being an honest
religious Jew, of properly observing Shabbos,
of a Succah experience, of a family Seder, of
doing any mitzvah, to the next generation,
then we can feel confident that they will
cherish those experiences for the rest of their
lives. The pasuk “Because you did not serve
Hashem, your G-d, with gladness and with
goodness of heart…” alludes to the alternative.