אִם־בְּחֻקֹּתַ֖י תֵּלֵ֑כוּ וְאֶת־מִצְוֹתַ֣י תִּשְׁמְר֔וּ וַֽעֲשִׂיתֶ֖ם אֹתָֽם: "If you walk in My statutes and keep My laws, then I will give you rain in the right time and the earth will give its produce." How do you know if something is true? True means unchanging. If something is true then it is always true. Relationships work in the same way. True love stands the test of time. If love is conditional, if it dependent on the circumstances we find ourselves in, the moods we are in or the behavior of our spouses, then it is not true love. So what is Hashem telling us in this weeks Parsha when He says "if" you walk in My statutes then you will receive tremendous blessings. Is God's love for us conditional on our behavior? God is the ultimate truth and it follows that His love must be true. If God's love is true how could it be conditional? The Gemara in Avodah Zara (5a) explains our passuk a little bit differently. Rather than translating the word אִם to mean "if" the Sages translate it to mean please. It now becomes clear that Hashem's love for us is not conditional on our behavior but we are left with an equally troubling question. Is God polite? Does God need to entreat us to do His will? Now we are on the opposite side of the spectrum. Initially we considered that God's love for us was conditional and now it seems that God is asking us to do His Mitzvos. Does a commander ask his soldiers to charge into battle? We are commanded by God to do His Mitzvos. Why is God asking u
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