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All the
commandments which I command you this day you shall observe to do, that you
may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the Land which the Lord swore
to your fathers. Deuteronomy 8:1
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Apparently,
the simple meaning of the verse is that we are instructed to observe mitzvot
in order to merit entering the Holy Land, that is, the mitzvot are to be
fulfilled in order to receive a reward. Sho'el u'Meshiv (Rabbi Yosef
Shaul Nathanson [1810 – 1875]) expresses astonishment at this possibility, as
it contradicts our Sages' dictum [Ethics of the Fathers 1:3] that one must not
be as a servant who does his master's bidding in order to receive rewards.
Rather,
explains Sho'el u'Meshiv, inheriting the Land is in itself a mitzva,
and the meaning of the verse is that if we observe the other mitzvot, we
will merit inheriting the Land, thereby fulfill an additional mitzva, as
well as the mitzvot which are
dependent upon the Land. The verse does not deal with reward for fulfilling mitzvot,
but with the opportunity to merit performing more and more mitzvot.
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