The truth & nothing but the truth – Ekev
Small words are often the most powerful. An example is kol, which means both “every” and “all”.
Rashi makes this point in commenting on a verse in the sidra. Kol hamitzvah… – “Every commandment which I command you this day shall you observe to do” (Deut. 8:1).
The p’shat (the plain meaning) is, “Keep every commandment”. There is also a midrashic explanation: “The whole of the commandment… shall you observe”.
Says Rashi, “If you have commenced a good deed, carry it through to the end, because it bears the name of the person who performs the final part of it.”
An example is the verse which refers to “the bones of Joseph which the Children of Israel brought up from Egypt” (Josh. 24:32). Surely it was Moses who busied himself to bring out Joseph’s remains (Ex. 13:19)!
But though Moses began the mitzvah, it was the people that completed it, and it is credited to them.
