Tehillim 119:6

Wednesday, December 25, 2013 · Posted in , , , , ,

Tehillim 119:6 az lo evosh behabiti el kol mitzvoteicha
Then I will not be ashamed, when I look at all your commandments.

If I will "observe Your statutes" (v119:5), I will also observe Your ordinances.  As a result, when I open up the Torah and study it closely, "I will not be ashamed" that I did not keep "all Your commandments."

However, when one realizes that some aspect of his behavior is not in accordance with G-d's precepts, he should be filled with great shame for betraying his Creator and Father.  Moreover, he has betrayed himself and fallen short of his true potential.

If I will find a good reason for keeping the statutes, and subject myself to their observance, then I will assuredly "not be ashamed."  I will stand up to the prosecuting angel, "when I look at all Your commandments." For I will behold the reasons for all of them.

If I will keep the mitzvot, "then I will not be ashamed, when I look at all Your commandments."  For instance, if someone steals and then he sees written in the Torah, "You shall not steal!" (Shemot 20:13), he will be ashamed.  Therefore should every man be wary of every evil deed, so as not to be ashamed when he reads the Torah.

It was Rambam's custom to begin each of his works by citing a pasuk (verse). One such example is his introduction to the Mishneh Torah (as well as at the outset of each of the fourteen books that comprise the Mishne Torah). The verse used to introduce the Mishneh Torah is "Az lo evosh b'habiti el kol mitzvotecha" "Then I will not be ashamed, when I look at all Your commandments" (Tehillim 119:6). This verse serves as a "motto" that encapsulates the entire Mishneh Torah.

This verse teaches us that there is a supreme added value to having the Torah in its entirety laid out before us. Thus the Rambam in the Mishneh Torah summarizes the entire Oral Torah. The Midrash describes to us the shame one might feel upon reaching the Gates of Paradise without having learned all the sections of the Torah. By laying out the Oral Torah before us, the Rambam is assisting us in avoiding this very shame. (Rav Y. Steinberger)

Tehillim 119:5
Tehillim 119:4
Tehillim 119:3
Tehillim 119:2
Tehillim 119:1


MeAm Lo'ez
Chazal
Sefer Tehillim - Schottenstein Edition

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