Leviticus 26:3

If you will go forward in the statutes of My law, and keep the orders of My judgments, and perform them,

If you follow My laws … observe, and practice … We are required to study and to teach as well as to do .

אם בחקותי תלכו, chukkot are like Royal decrees, something person has to be guided by if he expects his endeavours in life to prosper. The Hebrew expression describing the fact that one abides by them is called הליכה, “walking.” We have encountered this expression in connection with these חקים already in Leviticus 18,3, as well as in 18,4. We also find the term in the Books of Prophets, for instance in Ezekiel 33,15 בחקת החיים הלך, “he followed the laws of life.” ואת מצותי תשמורו; the term שמירה in connection with G’d’s commandments, [something intangible, so that the word “guarding” seems at first glance somewhat incongruous, Ed.] is the meticulous observance of them, i.e. performance in accordance with what they represent. It means that they cannot just be performed by rote but must be performed consciously as such. This has been spelled out by Sifri, Parshat Re-ay where the wording is: “שמור =study.” The thrust of our verse then is as follows: “if you will conduct yourselves in accordance with the practical part of My Torah, i.e. the performance of commandments requiring deeds, and you will study these laws in order to understand their purpose and in order to give meaning to your performance of these laws, you will accomplish that you will deserve the description of being a creature which reflects “His image.”

ועשיתם אותם, if you will carry them out in the above-mentioned manner, not as servants who are afraid of incurring the wrath of their masters, this will be the “finishing touch” of your establishing a total claim to the land of your inheritance. You would demonstrate that you perform His will as if it were your own will. (Avot 2,4)

אם בחוקותי תלכו, ורדפו מכם חמשה מאה, “and five of you will put one hundred of your adversaries to flight;” there is something peculiar about the ratios here. Why would 100 Israelites be able to put 10000 adversaries to flight, not 2000 as we would have expected from the first example given? We can understand this better when comparing the efficacy of a prayer said in the privacy of one’s home, and a prayer said in the Synagogue when each person is part of a congregation. The latter prayers are far more effective, and presumably reach the throne of the Almighty more speedily. In Deuteronomy 32,30 Moses asked the rhetorical question of how it had been possible that under certain circumstances one gentile could put 1000 times his number of Israelites to flight, and only two enemies could put 10000 Israelites to flight? Besides, seeing that we have a tradition according to which blessings are always described as more powerful than corresponding curses, (Compare Talmud, tractate Sanhedrin, folio 100), how come Moses in Deuteronomy appears to paint the opposite of that scenario? Contrary to what we might think, that Moses in Deuteronomy 32,30 speaks about enemies chasing Israelites; he said that if the Israelites had only reasoned logically, they would have realised that the disproportionate numbers in both instances could only have occurred through direct intervention by Hashem. The gentiles had realised this in retrospect when the Israelites had fallen out of favour with their G–d. Previously they had mistakenly credited the Israelites with superhuman abilities. The best example of this completely unbelievable performance in battle, is found in the Book of Judges 15,16, where Samson has been credited with killing one thousand Philistines using only the jawbone of an ass as his weapon. A similar feat of unbelievable military success is reported in the Book of Samuel, I chapter 14, where King Shaul’s son Yonathan and his arms bearer, is credited with putting the Philistine army to flight, killing many on the way. Yonathan had seen a sign that G–d was on his side by judging the Philistines’ behaviour. [It is suggested that the reader read up that chapter in the Book of Samuel. Ed.]