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Fulfilling ALL the Mitzvot? By Kivi Davis (‘24)

5784/2024

In this week’s Parashah, Parashat Mishpatim, we have the

,said they And” “,ויאמרו כל אשר דבר ה׳ נעשה ונשמע” :Pasuk famous

‘All that Hashem has spoken we will do and we will listen”

(Shemot 24:7). Last week, in Parashat Yitro, we had a very

the And” “,ויענו כל העם יחדו ויאמרו כל אשר דבר ה׳ נעשה” :Pasuk similar

entire nation answered as one and they said ‘All that Hashem

has spoken we will do” (ibid. 19:8). There are two obvious

differences between these Pesukim: 1) Why in Yitro does Bnei

Yisrael just say Na’aseh, but in Mishpatim they say Na’aseh

VeNishma? and 2) Why in Yitro does the Pasuk say they

answered Yachdav, as one, but not in Mishpatim?

The Meshech Chochmah answers in the following way: we

know that it’s not possible for one person to fulfill all 613

Mitzvot. There are some that are only possible to be done by

Kohanim, or Levi’im, or the King, or the Sanhedrin. Therefore,

there are two ways that one could fulfill all the Mitzvot: 1) one

could do all the Mitzvot he is able to do, and learn about all the

other ones, which is a partial fulfillment of them, or 2) If every

person does the Mitzvot he can do, then collectively we have all

done all 613 Mitzvot.

Says the Meshech Chochmah, these are the two Pesukim. In last

week’s Parashah, we just said Na’aseh, we will actually do the

Mitzvot, that’s when we need the Yachdav, that everyone needs

to combine to collectively do all the Mitzvot. This week, there is

no Yachdav, but it’s Na’aseh VeNishma - Na’aseh we will do all

the Mitzvot we can do ourselves, VeNishma and we will learn

about all the ones we cannot.

Either way, whether we choose to fulfill all our Mitzvot by

learning about them, or by combing with all of Bnei Yisrael,

may we be Zoche to see the Keitz Galuyoteinu BeMheirah

BeYameinu!