Tefillah Tips - Baruch Sheamar IV

The next phrase in the prayer Baruch Sheamar is “Baruch Meshalem sochar tov liyrayav- Blessed is Hashem that pays a good reward to those that fear him”.

There are two questions that beg to be asked – 1) Why is G-d paying us anything to follow the Torah? And 2) what is meant by the phrase a “good reward”?

The answer to the first question is that it is beyond logic why G-d offers mankind reward to fulfill the Torah. Avinu Malkaynu- He is our Father, our King- He sets up the rules and we should follow them. Did you ever see a policeman give a reward to somebody driving within the speed limit? So why does Hashem promise eternal benefit to those that serve him? The answer is as the prophet Isaiah teaches, “that G-d’s ways are not man’s ways and our thoughts are not like His”. We should however appreciate the unique reward system that G-d has set up for us.

To answer the second question-the phrase good reward is explained by the commentator the Iyun Tefilla. He remarks that the word good-Tov implies everlasting and eternal. Therefore, the good reward that is being mentioned in the tefilla is an eternal reward in the world to come.

This interpretation synthesizes very well with the talmudic teaching in Kiddushin 39b that advances the idea that the entire world with all of its natural and processed riches does not contain enough worth to compensate the fulfillment of one mitzvah. Therefore for all of the prayer, study and chessed that you do, Hashem promises that you will be entitled to a good, fitting and eternal reward.