“And it will be, on account of your understanding these judgments [and keep them, and do them, and Hashem Your God will keep the covenant and the loving-kindness which He promised to your forefathers].” (Devarim, 7:12) “And it will be” is always a term denoting simcha (joy), as it is said in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba 42:4). The verse says ekev, meaning both “because of” and “heel”—and thus signifies “the end.” This is in order to show that in the future God will reveal to each soul in Israel the understanding that no statute or law in the Torah, no matter how inscrutable, was without meaning. At present, all the difficulties that Israel suffers over the fulfillment of mitzvot are due to an inability to understand the depth of the good contained in the mitzvot. It appears to them that these statutes are without meaning, and therefore they suffer from them. Yet when it becomes perfectly clear that everything was done in justice for the benefit of Israel and was not without meaning, “then our mouths will be filled with laughter,” (Tehilim, 126:2) and we will rejoice.
וְהָיָה עֵקֶב תִּשְׁמְעוּן אֶת הַמִּשְׁפָּטִים הָאֵלֶּה. אֵין וְהָיָה אֶלָּא לְשׁוֹן שִׂמְחָה כִּדְאִיתָא בַּגְּמָ' (בראשית רבה פרשה מ"ב,ד'), עֵקֶב הַיְינוּ לַסּוֹף, וְהוּא כִּי לֶעָתִיד יְגַלֶּה הַש"י לְעֵין כֹּל, וְכָל נֶפֶשׁ מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל יָבִין כִּי לֹא הָיָה שׁוּם חֻקָּה בְּלִי טַעַם, כִּי לְעֵת עַתָּה כָּל הַסַּבְלָנוּת שֶׁל יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁסּוֹבְלִין מִקִּיּוּם הַמִּצְוֹת, הוּא מִפְּנֵי שֶׁאֵינָם מְבִינִים עוֹמֶק הַטּוֹבָה הַנִּמְצָא בָּהֶם, וְדוֹמִין בְּעֵינֵיהֶם כְּחֻקָּה בְּלִי טַעַם וְלָכֵן סוֹבְלִין מֵהֶם, אַךְ כַּאֲשֶׁר יִתְבָּרֵר כִּי הַכֹּל הָיָה בְּמִשְׁפָּט לְמַעַן יוּטַב לָהֶם לְיִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֵינָם בְּלִי טַעַם, אָז יִמָּלֵא שְׂחוֹק פִּינוּ וְנִהְיֶה בְּשִׂמְחָה.
“And it will be, on account of your understanding these judgments [and keep them, and do them, and Hashem Your God will keep the covenant and the loving-kindness which He promised to your forefathers].” (Devarim, 7:12)
“And it will be” is always a term denoting simcha (joy), as it is said in the Midrash (Bereshit Rabba 42:4). The verse says ekev, meaning both “because of” and “heel”—and thus signifies “the end.” This is in order to show that in the future God will reveal to each soul in Israel the understanding that no statute or law in the Torah, no matter how inscrutable, was without meaning. At present, all the difficulties that Israel suffers over the fulfillment of mitzvot are due to an inability to understand the depth of the good contained in the mitzvot. It appears to them that these statutes are without meaning, and therefore they suffer from them. Yet when it becomes perfectly clear that everything was done in justice for the benefit of Israel and was not without meaning, “then our mouths will be filled with laughter,” (Tehilim, 126:2) and we will rejoice.