The Power of a Single Step: How Small Deeds Shape Destiny in the Torah

Before the Jewish people left Egypt, a short and direct route stood before them, that could have brought them immediately to the Land of Israel. This route was known as “the way of the land of the Philistines,” identified by our sages as the area of Gaza. Yet instead of leading them along this direct path, God turned them around and sent them on a long, indirect journey through the Sinai Peninsula — one that included crossing the Sea of Reeds and traveling through a desert filled with dangerous wild animals.

“Because It Was Close” — A Puzzling Explanation

Why did God avoid the shorter route? The Torah explains: “God did not lead them by way of the land of the Philistines, because it was close” (Shemot 13:17). At first glance, this seems counterintuitive. Precisely because it was close, shouldn’t that have been the preferred path, allowing the people to reach the Land of Israel more quickly?

The Midrash explains that the words “because it was close” do not refer to geographic proximity, but to recent merit. The Philistines still possessed merit from a good deed they had performed not long before. Their “hourglass” had not yet run out. Had Israel passed through their land, they would have been required to fight and destroy them, as Moshe later commanded Yehoshua regarding certain nations: “You shall not allow any soul to live” (Devarim 20:16). But because the Philistines’ merit was still active, their time for punishment had not yet arrived. As a result, the entire nation of Israel was required to wander through the desert.

What good deed could have earned them such powerful merit?

A Single Gesture in Honor of Yaakov

When our patriarch Yaakov passed away, the Torah says: “The Canaanite inhabitants of the land saw the mourning at the threshing floor of Atad” (Bereishit 50:11). The Canaanites witnessed the immense funeral procession and the deep public mourning for Yaakov.. In response, they expressed participation by pointing and saying, “This is a heavy mourning for Egypt.”

Because they lifted a finger in honor of Yaakov, his honor was magnified — and that small gesture earned them a reward that was still due to them in this world.

From the time of Yaakov’s passing until the Exodus, 193 years had already elapsed, and yet their merit had still not been fully exhausted. God does not withhold reward from any creature. An entire nation remained alive because of a single respectful gesture.

God Pays the Nations in This World

Throughout history, we see a recurring pattern: God repays the nations — especially Israel’s enemies, in this world. From the enormous reward they received for even minor actions, we can draw a powerful kal vachomer (a fortiori lesson) regarding the immeasurable reward awaiting us in the World to Come for every mitzvah we perform.

Og King of Bashan: Reward for Assisting Avraham

Og, king of Bashan, merited extraordinary longevity — living from the days of Noach until the time of Moshe Rabbeinu — simply because he once assisted Avraham Avinu. His merit was so great that when Moshe was commanded by God to kill him, Moshe feared that Og’s ancient merit might still protect him. God therefore reassured him: “Do not fear him, for I have delivered him into your hand” (Devarim 3:2).

Pharaoh’s Reward

Even Pharaoh the wicked, our sages teach (Sotah 46b), received immense reward because he once escorted Avraham Avinu. His reward was that the descendants of Avraham would eventually be enslaved in his land. The original decree of slavery did not specify where it would take place — and because Pharaoh accompanied Avraham, he and his land were granted that role.

Based on this, Rabbi Yosef Chaim (the Ben Ish Chai) explains the verse: “And it happened when Pharaoh sent out the people…” (Shemot 13:17). The Midrash notes that the word vayechi (“and it happened”) is a term of distress, and asks: who said “woe”? The answer given is Pharaoh.

At first, this seems obvious — who else would mourn the loss of Israel besides Pharaoh, who lost his slave nation? But Rabbi Yosef Chaim explains that Israel, too, may have felt fear. Just as the earlier Pharaoh in Avraham’s time earned reward for escorting him, perhaps this Pharaoh — who accompanied Israel as they left Egypt (as described in Shemot Rabbah), would also earn reward and eventually re-enslave them.

The Midrash therefore asks: who truly said “woe” — only Pharaoh, or also Israel? It answers: Pharaoh alone. The earlier Pharaoh accompanied Avraham willingly and joyfully, while this Pharaoh sent Israel away unwillingly, under compulsion. The proof is that he cried “woe.” Because of this, he lost the merit of his “steps,” and Israel no longer needed to fear.

Nevuchadnezzar’s Four Steps

Another gentile king who received enormous reward for a few steps was Nevuchadnezzar the wicked. The Gemara (Sanhedrin 96a) relates that when King Chizkiyahu recovered from illness, God turned the sun back ten hours, astonishing the nations.

When Merodach Baladan, king of Babylonia, noticed the unusually long day, he was told it occurred in honor of King Chizkiyahu. Impressed, he decided to send a congratulatory letter. Since Nevuchadnezzar, the royal scribe, was absent, a servant drafted the letter and sent a messenger to deliver it to the Land of Israel.

Upon his return, Nevuchadnezzar reviewed the letter and protested that it mentioned God last, after the king and Jerusalem. Outraged, he ordered the messenger to be stopped so the wording could be corrected. Since the messenger had already left, Nevuchadnezzar ran after him.

After taking only four steps, the angel Gavriel stopped him. Rabbi Yochanan states that had Gavriel not intervened, there would have been no remedy for Israel’s enemies, because Nevuchadnezzar’s merit for honoring Heaven would have been overwhelming.

Despite the effort involved in just four steps, that act was fully accounted for. In reward, Nevuchadnezzar was granted absolute dominion over the world — so complete that even animals feared him, and no creature dared laugh in his presence (see Esther Rabbah 1; Shabbat 149b). This was a man whom our sages describe as profoundly wicked.

A Powerful Lesson for Us

Consider this:

• The Philistines merely lifted a finger in Yaakov’s honor.

• Og merely assisted Avraham.

• Pharaoh merely escorted Avraham.

• Nevuchadnezzar took only four steps.

And yet they received enormous reward in this world, so that their reward would not remain for the World to Come.

How much more so if we, the people of Israel, God’s beloved children, take upon ourselves to safeguard the honor of Heaven and increase it, we can only imagine the immeasurable reward that awaits us in the World to Come for every word of holiness, every word of Torah, every step taken to a synagogue or Torah class, every effort invested in fulfilling God’s commandments.

The reward grows according to the effort and exertion involved in a mitzvah. If four difficult steps taken by a wicked man were weighed so precisely, how much more so will the effort of someone whose toil far exceeds four steps be accounted for, with an exactness beyond imagination.

Never Belittle a Mitzvah

We must therefore never belittle any mitzvah, even the smallest one which contains enormous potential. At times, a single movement lasting only a moment is recognized in Heaven as a lofty deed whose merit sustains a person for many years.

When we internalize this and engrave it upon our hearts, we will be filled with boundless joy, knowing the greatness of the reward awaiting us in the World to Come — and we will lift our feet and run to every mitzvah with happiness and delight.