Why David Feared the Light Commandments Trampled Underfoot

Midrash Tanchuma Buber, Eikev 1:1

Curated by Arthur·Translated by Maggid (Beta)·

(Deuteronomy 7:12:) "And it shall come to pass, because [eikev] you heed [these statutes]." This is what Scripture says (Psalms 49:6): "Why should I fear in the days of evil, when the iniquity of my heels surrounds me?" Blessed be the Name of the Holy One, blessed be He, who gave a Torah to Israel, in which there are six hundred and thirteen commandments, light ones and weighty ones; yet people do not heed them, but rather cast them beneath their heels, as if to say that they are light. Therefore David was afraid of the Day of Judgment, and he would say: Master of the worlds, I am not afraid of the weighty commandments that are in the Torah, since they are weighty. Of what am I afraid? Of the light ones, lest I have transgressed one of them—whether I have performed it or not—because it is light, and You have said: "Be as careful with a light commandment as with a weighty commandment" (Avot 2:1). Therefore he said, "Why should I fear in the days of evil?"

Themes

DavidLightCommandmentsPsalmsHumor

Biblical References

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