Lighter Mitzvos As Foundation

ברש"י מצות קלות שדש בעקב

Rashi explains that the parsha opens with the words "and it will be eikev (because) you heed" — referring to those lighter mitzvos that a person tramples with his heel (eikev).

Rashi reads the word eikev (heel) in the opening verse as a hint to the lighter mitzvos that people tend to tread upon with their heel and treat as unimportant.

אף שאין כן הצדק להיות דשין אותם בעקב

Yet it is not truly just that these mitzvos should be trampled underfoot.

The Sfas Emes raises a difficulty: it cannot be that the Torah is endorsing the idea that these mitzvos deserve to be trampled.

ולמה נקראים ע"ש מעשה רשעים

And why, then, are they called by a name that evokes the deeds of the wicked, who tread upon them?

If trampling these mitzvos is the conduct of the wicked, it is puzzling that the Torah would name them after that very act.

רק הפי' שיש מצות שתלוין בראש האדם ובלב ובשאר אברים כמ"ש רמ"ח מצות כו'

Rather, the explanation is that there are mitzvos which correspond to the head of a person, and to the heart, and to the rest of his limbs, as Chazal said that there are two hundred and forty-eight positive mitzvos corresponding to the limbs of a person, and so on.

He resolves this by introducing a framework: the mitzvos parallel the parts of the human body, with two hundred and forty-eight positive mitzvos corresponding to a person's limbs.

ויש נגד העקבים והם מצות קלות

And there are mitzvos that correspond to the heels — and these are the "lighter" mitzvos.

Within this parallel, the "lighter" mitzvos correspond not to the head or heart but to the heels — the lowest part of the body.

כמו שהראש חשוב מן הרגל ומ"מ קיום האדם על רגליו שהם היסוד שהאדם עומד עליהם

Just as the head is more distinguished than the foot, yet nevertheless the very standing of a person rests upon his feet, which are the foundation upon which he stands —

He draws the lesson that although the head outranks the foot in honor, a person literally stands only on his feet, which form his foundation.

כמו כן מצות קלות להם הקדימה שכל היסוד עליהם כנ"ל:

so too these "lighter" mitzvos have the precedence, for the entire foundation rests upon them, as explained above.

So too, precisely the "lighter" mitzvos that seem lowly are actually the foundation that everything else rests upon, and therefore they take precedence.

Summary: The Sfas Emes addresses Rashi's reading of the word eikev (heel) as a reference to the "lighter" mitzvos that a person is prone to trample with his heel. He asks why such mitzvos would be named after an act of the wicked, when it is surely not just to tread upon them. He answers by mapping the mitzvos onto the human body: just as there are mitzvos corresponding to the head, heart, and limbs, there are mitzvos corresponding to the heels, and these are the lighter ones. The deeper point is that although the head is more distinguished than the foot, a person stands only upon his feet, which are his very foundation. So too, the "lighter" mitzvos that seem lowly are in truth the foundation of everything, and for that reason they actually take precedence.