You have affirmed this day that the LORD is your God, that you will walk in His ways, that you will observe His laws and commandments and rules, and that you will obey Him. (Deut. 26:17)

Isn’t this odd? If we walk in G-d’s ways and guard his laws and commandments and rules, then why does the Torah tell us further, that we should lishmo’a b’kolo, which is translated in the above as “obey him”?

Isn’t that phrase redundant?

Perhaps it is not – if we start by acknowledging that all translations are flawed, because they never include essential context.

lishmo’a b’kolo does not – really – mean “obey him.” So what does it mean?

The root word for “hearing” (translated as “obey” above) in the Torah is much more about internalizing or considering, than it is about obedience.

The first time phrase lishmo’a b’kolo is mentioned is:

They [Adam and Eve] heard the sound of the LORD God moving about in the garden.

The first shomea kol is not a commandment at all! It instead describes the awareness of G-d’s presence – the knowledge that G-d is near and seeks to communicate with us!

So does this change the meaning entirely, and add a different dimension to our relationship with G-d? Isn’t it telling us that in addition to commandments of all kinds, G-d is actually asking for something much greater and yet much more basic: that we should be sensitive to G-d’s presence in our lives and in the world around us, just as Adam and Eve, after eating the fruit, were sensitive to G-d’s presence?

In which case, the Torah is telling us to be more like Adam and Eve were, in a world before there were any formal commandments from G-d to mankind at all. Specifically, that we are supposed to sense G-d’s presence. That we, like Adam and Chava after eating the fruit, are supposed to be cognizant of our failures, and embarrassed by them, knowing that G-d will call us to account for all that we do. That we do not get to merely go through life by doing what we are told, painting by numbers: instead, that there is a dimension to our relationship to G-d that is meant to be mindful and sensitive, instead of mere obedience?

This meaning is echoed elsewhere in the text, reinforcing the message: Abraham heard my voice and guarded my charge: my commandments, my laws, and my guidance. (Gen. 26:5)

With the same explanation, right? After all, with Avraham, being sensitive to G-d’s presence in the world was what enabled everything else?

The very same phrase is used to describe the golden pomegranates on the robes of the High Priest:

… a golden bell and a pomegranate, all around the hem of the robe. Aaron shall wear it while officiating, so that the sound of it is heard when he comes into the sanctuary before the LORD and when he goes out. (Ex. 28:34)

Isn’t this the same meaning? That the sound reminds us to be mindful of G-d’s own presence, especially during the service, of the High Priest on Yom Kippur?

Is there a lesson in this as we approach Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur? After all, in addition to filling our waking time with trying to fulfill commandments, is the Torah telling us that there is a qualitative requirement that, no matter how many commandments we keep or how much Torah we learn, there’s always room for improvement? That we can always seek to be more sensitive of G-d’s presence in ourselves and other people and the world around us?