Because you will hearken etc, (7:12)

All the commentators ask how Hashem promised to reward us for listening to the Torah and following the Mitzvos, when we are taught, there is no reward for Mitzvos in this world. (Kedushin 39b). We also have to understand why Hashem doesn’t pay for Mitzvos, since the Torah emphasized how important it is to pay the worker his salary on time. But this is one of the rationalizations. The rule is that the employer does not have to pay for wok done, until the job is completed. Since every person becomes obligated to serve Hashem from the time he is born, and continues to be obligated until his demise, his work is not considered finished until then, at which time Hashem does reward in Olam Habba.

Another explanation offered, is quite simple. The Gemora teaches that in the future world, Tzazdikim will sit opposite Hashem and enjoy His Ziv Hashechina.(Berachos 17a) Following this concept, every Monday, a person receives a check in the mail, informing him that for the Mitzvos he performed last week, he is entitled to 71/2 hours of Ziv Hashchina. He goes to the supermarket, makes his purchases, and hands the cashier his check, signed by the secretary representing Hashem. The cashier, not knowing how much this is worth in dollars, confers with the manager who is also ignorant in this currency, so that the person has no choice but to pay for his groceries with cash. Since he cannot cash this spiritual check, Hashem has no alternative, but to accumulate all the hours of Ziv Hashechina and pay each person what he earned in Olam Habba, where this is accepted as valid currency.

Another explanation is, that every Mitzvah is comprised from two parts, the actual item being used for the Mitzvah, Tefilin, Lulav, Suckah , and the money expended in performing the mitzvah, for which a person could be rewarded in this world, as is promised in our Parsha. Then there is the spiritual part of the Mitzvah expressed in the joy while performing, the thought before and during the actual Mitzvah, the desire to bring a nachas ruach to Hashem, and teaching others to perform the Mitzvos with a pure heart and joy. This spiritual part of the Mitzvah is dealt with only in the spiritual world of Olam Habba.

As to the question posed at the outset of our essay regarding the reward that Hashem promised us in this world, the answer is quite simple. A person who has money to invest but lacks the knowledge in a particular field he would like to enter, finds a person who has no money but is knowledgeable and trustworthy. They form a partnership., one sitting in the office as the ceo, while the second one carries on the daily transactions of the business. Each one receives his share at the end of the week or month, and both enjoy the fruits of the other person.

Hashem made a partnership with the Bnay Yisroel when He revealed His Torah to them. They will do their share, by performing the Mitzvos, and Hashem will do His share, by bringing rain in its time, causing fruits and grains to grow, assuring peace in the land and in general, providing the environment where people can live peacefully. This is not a reward, but the contribution Hashem makes to uphold His part of the bargain. Only people can perform Mitzvos and only Hashem can cause things to grow and multiply.

Because you will hearken etc, (7:12)

What is the difference between keeping and doing? Why are these words written in the plural and not in the singular, since the responsibility of keeping Mitzvos falls on every individual? The answer can be found in the beginning of the Chumash. When Hashem created Adam, He placed him in Gan Eden “to watch over it and to work it”. From whom was Adam supposed to watch the garden, since he was the only person? Why would he have to work it, since everything was growing following the command from Hashem? The answer given is that just as we translate the words in the Asseres Hadibros, Zachor Es Yom Hashabbos, remember, to keep it holy, by words, and Shamor Es Yom Hashabbos, not to transgress the holiness by doing any prohibited work, so too, did Hashem place man in His garden, asking that he follow all the commands of Hashem and not to disobey Him.

In our Parsha, these words are meant to convey the same message.

The Torah consists of two categories of Mitzvos. There are the Mitzvos Asay, which we are to perform, and the Mitzvos Lo Saasay, which we are prohibited from doing. Moshe is telling the Bnay Yisroel, it would not be enough to just keep the Mitzvos Assay and ignore the Lo Saasay, and still expect to receive the rewards enumerated in this Parsha. We must also refrain from transgressing any of the Mitzvos Lo Saasay, which the Yetzer Hara will challenge us to do, and only then can we expect Hashem to recognize our loyalty to Him.

By the same token, these words are written in the plural to impress upon us a basic Jewish philosophy, stated in the Gemora, Kol Yisroel Araivim Zeh Bazeh, All Jews are responsible for each other.

It is not enough for a person to keep all the Mitzvos and live piously, ignoring his neigbors who are secular. One must also assume the responsibility for inspiring other Jews to be religious and serve Hashem through the Mitzvos. Both words engender the same thought, that we must have a broad outlook on Torah observation in order to fulfill our religious obligation to Hashem.

Which He swore to your fathers: (Ibid)

The reason Moshe included the fathers in this verse could be understood in a different context. In Chumash Beraishis, we read numerous times that Hashem entered into a covenant with Avraham, and repeated this covenant to Yitzchak and to Yaacov. Hashem didn’t add anything new to those covenants, and only reiterated what He had sworn to Avraham. Hashem doesn’t make new covenants with every generation, but if the children follow in the ways of their forefathers, then He continues the original covenant with them.

Here, Moshe is telling the Bnay Yisroel, if they will keep the laws of the Torah, Hashem will keep to you, the covenant He swore to your fathers. He will not create a new nation and reveal a new testament to them. He will only perpetuate the original covenant, and that depends on whether we will follow in their footsteps.