We tend to read quickly – but when a text is as rich as the Torah, we invariably miss a lot of detail. I’d like to walk you through a single verse, and look at some of the meanings that are revealed when we read carefully:
אִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַ֖י תֵּלֵ֑כוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֺתַ֣י תִּשְׁמְר֔וּ וַעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָֽם׃
If you follow in my statutes, and be attentive my commandments, and do them;
וְנָתַתִּ֥י גִשְׁמֵיכֶ֖ם בְּעִתָּ֑ם וְנָתְנָ֤ה הָאָ֙רֶץ֙ יְבוּלָ֔הּ וְעֵ֥ץ הַשָּׂדֶ֖ה יִתֵּ֥ן פִּרְיֽוֹ׃
then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
It seems simple, right? Do what I command, and you will get blessings. Of course, if it is really that simple, then why not just say so? Why so many words?
The answer, of course, is that it is not that simple. Start with the first half:
If you follow in my statutes, and be attentive to my commandments, and do/make them;
There are three verbs here: following, being attentive, and doing/making. All of these deal with actions from mankind that are symbolic or spiritual in nature. But they actually escalate: “following” is first used in the Torah to describe the way a river winds its way across terrain. It speaks of generally conforming, finding a common path. But there is nothing specific in it; it is a way of going, not a precise action.
“Being attentive” is about being mentally engaged and aware: Cain asks whether his job is to “be attentive” toward his brother, for example.
Lastly, there is the “doing” part of the verse. This is action – but action that comes only after generally following an idea, and then being attentive to the details. G-d does not want thoughtless action. So there is a progression in this verse, turning ideas into actions: from general consciousness to specific awareness to actualization.
And look at what is linked to these verbs! Following is connected to statutes, chukim, symbolic commandments, commandments that shape the way we think about the world, like eating kosher or separating wool and linen.
Being attentive is connected to commandments, specific divine instructions.
And Doing/making is connected to a fantastic result, just as with the first time it is used in the Torah: And God made the firmament … And God called the firmament Heaven.
In this single half-verse we see that G-d is telling us that the road to Heaven comes through following this progression: following the symbolic guides, and being attentive to specific instructions leads to making, just as G-d created Heaven.
Pretty cool!
But it gets better. The second half of the verse mirrors the first! The first half is all about spiritual instructions and actions to mankind. And what is promised if we invest spiritually? Physical reward!
Then I will give you rain in due season, and the land shall gift its increase, and the trees of the field shall gift their fruit.
There is a paired quality to these blessings. The river that we follow in the first half, is connected to the rain that falls in the second. The land that gifts us with increase if we are attentive, is the very same land that cries out when Cain is not attentive to his murdered brother! (Similarly, we are commanded to be attentive to Eden – and the reward is increase from the land.)
And the trees, of course, are linked to the concept of a static heaven, a place where we do not need to work to earn our sustenance, because fruit is the only thing we can eat in the natural world that does not need preparation. If we do spiritual investment then the reward will be that we do not have to do physical investment.
[I write about the meaning of a gift here.]
This second half of the verse, like the first, is also a progression: rain leads to plant growth, which leads to fruit. Growth and blessings happen in stages.
So on the top level, the lesson is very simple: we invest spiritually, and G-d reciprocates physically. But as you start to peel the onion, you see layers upon layers of conforming – yet deeper – meaning.