“And it came to pass because you hear these sentences and observe and do them.” “The Lord your God will keep with you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers.” “Because of humbleness and fear of the Lord.”

When a person walks in the ways of the Creator, he feels that each day he acquires a certain measure of Torah and Mitzvot [commandments], and he always adds, at times more and at times less. But during the week, he acquires a possession of Torah and Mitzvot. When Shabbat [Sabbath] comes, on the eve of Shabbat he has what he toiled. Thus, he feels that on Shabbat, he eats from what he toiled during the rest of the weekdays, called “six workdays.”

At that time, he knows that he needs lowliness, so he searches for some fault in himself in order to be able to say that he is still in lowliness. But the verse says, “Do not bring abomination into your home.” It is also written, “Anyone who is proud is an abomination to the Lord.” Also, here Rabbi Yochanan said in the name of Rabbi Shimon, “Anyone in whom there is crassness of spirit, it is as though he commits idol-worship” (Sotah 4b).

We should understand why one in whom there is crassness of spirit, it is as though he commits idol-worship. “Because of humbleness” means that the end of humbleness is fear of the Creator [Ekev means “because” and “heel”]. We should understand what is humbleness.

When a person feels that he has no Torah or good deeds, when he feels that he is the worst, it means that he sees that everyone engages in Torah and Mitzvot [commandments] and they are satisfied with their lives, while he is living without satisfaction in Torah and Mitzvot.

Because the general public is built in the quality of “surrounding,” and there is a difference between the whole of Israel and the individual, since in the whole of Israel the surrounding lights shine, so in general, each one from the public can mourn over the ruin of the Temple and await the revelation of Elijah and the complete redemption and the coming of the Messiah soon in our days, Amen, for in the quality of “surrounding,” each one has some sensation in these words, “exile” and “redemption.”

But when an individual asks himself and introspects, he sees that he has no clue about these matters. In this, there is a difference between the general public and the individual. That is, it is impossible for an individual to obtain inner light before one is rewarded with repentance.

Hence, when one wants to walk in the way of the Creator personally, namely not as part of the general public, engaging in Torah and Mitzvot the way the general public engages in Torah and Mitzvot, but rather individually, he sees that he has nothing. On the contrary, each day becomes worse for him, for the more he engages in Torah and Mitzvot on the path of truth, the more he sees that he is far from the truth.

At that time, he comes into humbleness, since he feels that he is worse than everyone, for everyone has at least an illumination in the form of “surrounding,” while he cannot go with the surrounding because he has already begun to work in the way of the individual, so he has nothing of the way of the general public.

So with his humbleness, with the afflictions he suffers from having no possessions, from being completely empty, he must make an honest prayer for the Creator to give him fear of the Creator. This is called “The Lord your God will keep for you the covenant and the kindness,” that the Creator will bring him closer to Him.

Conversely, one who has crassness of spirit, who thinks that he has more possessions than everyone, will never be able to achieve fear of the Creator. For this reason, it is as though he commits idol-worship, since he does not need the Creator to bring him closer.