Our Gemara on Amud Beis rules that the final line in the contract can only be a review of the contents, and cannot serve as evidence of any additional obligations or information. This is a safeguard against fraud, as this makes it difficult for a forger to squeeze in additional information between the bottom line of the contract and the witness’s signatures.

Sefer Daf al Saf quotes Sefer Haikarim (IV:40) who uses this to add depth to the closing admonition given by Moshe to the Jewish people (Devarim 32:46-47):

He said to them: Take to heart all the words with which I have warned you this day. Enjoin them upon your children, that they may observe faithfully all the terms of this Teaching. 

For this is not an empty thing for you: it is your very life; through it you shall long endure on the land that you are to possess upon crossing the Jordan.

Just as it is customary to review the conditions of the contract on the final line, so too at the closing section of the Torah, Moshe reviews the covenant. In his words, he alludes to both blessings of the Torah: material success and everlasting life. The phrase, “It is your very life”, refers to the world to come. The phrase, “Endure on the land”, refers to material and societal success. Sefer Haikkarim explains that the declaration,  “Mitzvos are your very life” is literal. By keeping the Torah, everlasting and true life is achieved. He, like many philosophic rishonim, holds Immortality is not so much a reward but rather the consequence of the elevation of the soul achieved through attachment to God. This occurs via incorporating the values of the Torah because the way we are made in the image of God is via the intellectual capacity. Therefore to internalize thought patterns that are closest to the ultimate source of wisdom and intellect, creates a form of resonance and conjoinment with God. (Intellect is not a great translation, as this is not knowledge of facts alone but also wisdom and character that informs judgment.) To the degree that we, that is our souls, achieve this, is the degree of Godly life force we become part of. The Torah is life because it allows access to the immortal.

The reader may note that there is emphasis on the development of character and intellect, i.e. the soul, and no mention of behavior. This too is representative of the philosophical rishonim who understood the performance of mitzvos as a form of learning on the job to incorporate the higher moral virtues that become a part of self. Mitzvos either instruct and inspire, or are an automatic expression of the deeper moral truth that it embodies. Paradoxically, even though the thought and state of mind is the ultimate goal, practically this cannot be achieved by moral action alone, but moral actions are the byproduct of the elevated state of mind and inevitable to one who has evolved a Godly character.

Returning to the metaphor of a contract used by the Sefer Haikarim. Is he just using a borrowed term as a clever melitzah, or does the metaphor hold true even in the particulars? That is, does the idea that the final line of a contract serves as a review help us understand why Moshe reviewed the covenant at the closing section? I think yes. To the less westernized mode of thought, all matters are interrelated. The idea of reviewing a contract represents a deeper truth that goes beyond legalities. The way humans integrate, learn and incorporate ideas is via summary and review. To agree with something, one must grasp the entirety of it, which is impossible due to the large amounts of data that is in every agreement. The data must be summarized so the mind can “click on accept.” 

If I ask you, “Do you believe in honoring the Constitution?” You might pause for a moment before your answer, but unless you're the Rogotchover or the Steipler, you didn’t review the entire text. Instead, you have a file in your brain that was created over years with the title, “The Constitution”. In this file are memories, key points and personal associations. You quickly scan the mental file, and decide to say yes or no. 

The spiritual idea of attachment to God via harmonization of intellect and character can be seen that way. The totality of the Torah and God are too large to grasp, but by the review and summarization of its ideas, an ability to intuitively see all of it manifests itself, even though its true nature can never be fully comprehended. Just click on accept.

Translations Courtesy of Sefaria, except when, sometimes, I disagree with the translation

Do you like what you see? Please subscribe and also forward any articles you enjoy to your friends, (enemies too, why not?)