Musar к Дварим 7:13

After having reached the goal which is the attention of the worshipper who loves, we may ask: Now what benefit comes from all of this? And we answer that the all-embracing benefit which comes from the service of the Creator, blessed be He, and His love, is that the Creator should love the man that worships him, as it is said (Isaiah 43:4), “Since thou art precious in My sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee.” And it is written (Deuteronomy 7:13), “And He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee.” Now it is incumbent upon us to search out the meaning of the love of the Creator, blessed be He, for man, how it comes about and what it is. We say that in the case of simpletons and fools, it does not suffice for them that God’s love for them should be the sole reward of their worship of Him, so they wait for Him to give signs and proofs that they will attain great goodness and much pleasure. If you say to them that there will be given to them no other thing, except the love of God for them, it will not suffice for them, and they will think that His love is like the love of human beings who do not find love of a person sufficient unless there is with that love some advantage or pleasure. I wish to make clearer to you that there is no greater benefit than the love of the Creator for man. If God loves him he needs no other reward. He ought not to seek and ask whether his soul will live on or not after his death. For in the love of the Creator is contained all good reward. Obviously, he should believe that when a man dies in the midst of good deeds and has conducted himself piously, the Creator, blessed be He, loves him. Since He loves him, there is no greater reward than this. For since He does love him, there is no doubt that He will give him a good reward for all of his deeds. We ought not to explore just how this good reward will be given; however, if there is in a man a great lust or folly, all this great glory will not suffice. They will seek to discover whether there will be continuing life to their soul after it has separated from the body or whether the soul will be lost, as though the pathways of the world to come were known to them. They will try to discover in what way those who are deserving of the world to come will have their reward. This is impossible to know. Only if we were angels that walked among celestial creatures, would we know the way of reward of the souls and the nature of the life in the world to come. But for the man of intellect, one general rule should suffice for him, to know that there is a reward in the world to come for every deed. There is punishment for the wicked and there is reward for the righteous. But it is not for us to explore and search the method of the punishment or the reward, or of what it consists. But if a man should persist in searching out what will be after death, he can understand and believe that there is a reward after death, by twenty signs.

After having reached the goal, which is the attention of the worshipper who loves, we may ask: Now what benefit comes from all of this? And we answer that the all-embracing benefit which comes from the service of the Creator, blessed be He, and His love, is that the Creator should love the man that worships him as it is said (Isaiah 43:4), “Since thou art precious in My sight, and honorable, and I have loved thee.” And it is written (Deuteronomy 7:13), “And He will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee.”

ואהבת וברכך והרבך, "and He will love you, and bless you and multiply you" (7,13). The Torah mentions the three areas in which blessings are essential, i.e. life, sustenance, and children. The first expression והרבך, refers to life, i.e. למען ירבון ימיך, an increase in the number of our days. The second expression, וברך פרי בטנך, refers to children. The third expression, ופרי אדמתך, refers to our sustenance. The three areas in which the Torah promises us blessings are analogous to the three areas in which we strive to attain שלימות, perfection. The perfection of the נפש is achieved by the righteous who live on forever. The perfection of the body is assured when we experience the blessing of children who assure our continuity on earth. The perfection in money matters is attained when we experience the blessing of ample sustenance. Relating to this blessing in the proper manner, will bring about the first part of the verse: "And He will love you and bless you," and we will be blessed more than any other nation (7,14).