לקוטי שיחות חלק י״ט - עקב ב

The difficulty is: How can it be said that entering the Land depended upon fulfilling “all the mitzvah,” when at that time the Jewish people were able to fulfill only a small portion of the mitzvos? Rashi therefore explains, “according to its plain meaning,” that the intention is to all the categories of mitzvos that they were then able to fulfill. He then cites the Midrash to explain why the verse uses the singular form: “If you began a mitzvah, complete it.”

Rashi comments on the verse, “All the mitzvah”:

“According to its plain meaning. The Aggadic interpretation is: If you began a mitzvah, complete it, for a mitzvah is credited only to the one who completes it. As it is stated, ‘The bones of Yosef, which the Children of Israel brought up from Egypt, they buried in Shechem.’ Did Moshe alone not occupy himself with bringing them up? Rather, because he did not have the opportunity to complete the mitzvah, and the Jewish people completed it, it was credited to them.”

We must understand: What difficulty does Rashi find in this verse that requires explanation?

It is difficult to say that the question is why the verse says “all the mitzvah” in the singular while referring to the mitzvos as a whole, because this expression already appears in Parshas Va’eschanan, and there Rashi offers no explanation.

The explanation is as follows:

The verse states, “All the mitzvah that I command you today you shall observe to perform, so that you may live, enter, and inherit the Land.” This implies that through fulfilling all the mitzvos—“all the mitzvah”—the Jewish people would merit entering the Land.

The difficulty, however, is that at that time, before entering the Land, they were able to fulfill only a small portion of the mitzvos. How, then, can the verse say “all the mitzvah”?

Rashi therefore explains, “according to its plain meaning.” The intention is to all the categories of mitzvos that they were then able to fulfill—not only on that particular day, but throughout the entire period.

Nevertheless, according to this explanation, a slight difficulty remains. The verse uses the singular expression “all the mitzvah” to refer to mitzvos in general, while in fact it refers only to a small portion of all the mitzvos.

Rashi therefore cites the Midrash, explaining that the singular form teaches: “If you began a mitzvah, complete it.”

The connection between this teaching and the verse is that although the Jewish people had fulfilled mitzvos throughout the forty years in the wilderness, entering the Land is credited to those who completed the process. Therefore, entering the Land depended upon the fulfillment of the mitzvos by the generation that was about to enter.

Rashi continues at length concerning Moshe and the bringing up of Yosef’s bones in order to clarify an additional point.

Moshe’s inability to complete the mitzvah was not under his control. By contrast, the Jewish people who completed the mitzvah could have participated in it from the beginning, yet they did not assist Moshe. Nevertheless, because they completed the mitzvah, it was credited to them.

The same applies to the generation that entered the Land. There were some who had not wished to enter Eretz Yisrael, but because they were under twenty years old, they were not included in the decree. There were also many who wished to enter, but because they were between twenty and sixty years old, they were included in the decree and could not enter.

Nevertheless, the reason why one person was able to complete the mitzvah while another was not is not the determining factor. The mitzvah is credited to the one who completes it.

In the inner dimension of Torah, this contains a lesson for the Jewish people in this generation of the heels of Mashiach, who will bring the Geulah. Although we are only completing the service of all the preceding generations, the mitzvah will nevertheless be credited to the one who completes it.

There is an additional lesson: Those who began the work of spreading the wellsprings of Chassidus cannot turn their attention to other matters. Rather, “If you began a mitzvah, complete it.”