Selfless Service Reveals Reward

במדרש במשל הפרדס נראה כי מי שאינו עובד ע"מ לקבל פרס וחביב אצלו לעשות רצון הבורא ית' להשלים כל הפרדס אף שיודע כי באילן זה יקבל יותר שכר אין נ"מ אצלו

In the Midrash, in the parable of the orchard, it appears that one who does not serve in order to receive a reward, and to whom it is precious to do the will of the Creator, may He be blessed, by completing the entire orchard, even though he knows that from this particular tree he would receive a greater reward, this makes no difference to him.

The Sfas Emes brings the Midrash's parable of the orchard: a worker who cares only about fulfilling the will of Hashem, completing every part of the orchard rather than chasing the tree that pays the most, serves out of pure love and not for the sake of reward.

אליו מגלין שכר המצות לכן כ' א"ח פן תפלס לכן נעו מעגלותי' כו' אבל מי שאינו חושב השכר יוכל לידע

To such a person the reward of the mitzvos is revealed; therefore it is written, "Lest you weigh the path of life; her ways wander" (Mishlei 5:6) — but one who does not calculate the reward is able to know it.

Precisely because such a person does not serve for the reward, Hashem reveals to him the true worth of the mitzvos; the verse in Mishlei warns that one who weighs and calculates the reward of each path will find its true measure hidden from him.

וכן יש לרמוז במשנה הוי זהיר במצוה קלה שאין אתה יודע מתן ש' של מצות אתה דייקא

And so too one may allude to this in the Mishnah, "Be careful with a light mitzvah as with a weighty one, for you do not know the giving of the reward of the mitzvos" (Avos 2:1) — "you" precisely.

This is hinted in the Mishnah's words "for you do not know" — the emphasis is on "you," referring specifically to the person who is mindful of reward and therefore is not shown the value of the mitzvos.

כי מי שיודע מתן שכרן וודאי הוא זהיר בקלה כמו בחמורה כי בלא"ה אין מגלין לו כמ"ש:

For one who does know the giving of their reward is certainly careful with a light mitzvah just as with a weighty one; for otherwise it is not revealed to him, as is written.

If a person were shown the giving of the reward, he would naturally guard a light mitzvah as carefully as a weighty one; since most people are not equally careful, it is a sign that this knowledge is deliberately withheld from those who serve with an eye on reward.

Summary: The Sfas Emes, drawing on the Midrash's parable of the orchard, teaches that the true worth and reward of the mitzvos is revealed only to one who does not serve Hashem in order to receive that reward. One who weighs and calculates which mitzvah pays more — chasing the more profitable tree rather than lovingly completing the whole orchard — has the value of the mitzvos hidden from him, as the verse in Mishlei warns against measuring the path of life. He reads the Mishnah's "for you do not know the giving of the reward of the mitzvos" with the stress on "you," since this lack of knowledge applies precisely to the one who is preoccupied with reward. Were a person truly to grasp the reward, he would guard a light mitzvah as scrupulously as a weighty one; the very fact that people are not equally careful proves that Hashem conceals this knowledge from those who serve for the sake of gain. The path to genuine knowledge of the mitzvos, then, is selfless avodah done purely to fulfill the will of the Creator.