What mitzvot are incumbent upon the feet?

Greetings,

Indeed, this is what Rabbeinu Chaim of Volozhin, may his memory be for a blessing, wrote in his work Nefesh HaChaim (Gate 4, chapter 29), that it is His way that measure for measure an act done by a person is repaid. The very limb that he damaged and impaired through his sin is the limb upon which sufferings are brought upon him. His purpose, may He be blessed, in this is so that through the suffering a person will understand and know for which sin it came, and will take it to heart to admit, abandon, and return, and he will be healed. Similarly, in his work Ruach Chaim on Pirkei Avot (chapter 4, mishnah 11), he writes that a person must carefully reflect, through the affliction, to know in what matter he damaged and impaired, for it is measure for measure.

Here are several mitzvot dependent on the feet, from a list compiled by Rabbeinu Elazar Azkari, may his memory be for a blessing, in Sefer Charedim (positive mitzvot of the Torah dependent on the feet and possible to fulfill every day, chapter 6): A person is obligated to stand before his father or mother to his full height. He is obligated to honor this rising in the presence of his grandfather and grandmother, and the husband of his mother and the wife of his father. It is a positive mitzvah for a person to rise to his full height before a Torah scholar when he comes within four cubits of him, even if he is not elderly. To rise to full height before an elder, even if he is not a Torah scholar. To rise before a Torah scroll. One who knows testimony for his fellow has a positive mitzvah to testify for him in court, and he is commanded to state the testimony while standing. To visit the sick and endeavor on their behalf in all that they need. To escort a person who is departing on a journey. Escorting the dead. The mitzvah of prayer (Shemoneh Esrei) must be recited while standing.

And there (negative commandments of the Torah dependent on the feet, chapter 6): not to bow down on a stone floor before Hashem, may He be blessed, anywhere except in the Temple; therefore, mats or kinds of straw or stubble should be placed in synagogues that have stone floors, to separate between the congregants and the stones.

And there (positive mitzvot from the words of tradition and from the Sages dependent on the feet, chapter 6): it is a mitzvah to align one’s feet one opposite the other (in Shemoneh Esrei), as though they were one foot. It is a mitzvah to bend the knees somewhat, and afterward to bend the entire body like a bow; this should be done at the beginning and end of Avot, and at the beginning and end of Modim, and in Oseh Shalom. In Oseh Shalom, one takes three steps backward, as one taking leave from before the king. To greet one’s teacher and a fellow who has come from a journey. To go to a house of mourning. To go to a wedding feast. It is a mitzvah to run toward the kings of the nations, for if one merits in the future to see the greatness of Israel, he will discern how much greater it is than that of the nations.

And there (negative commandments from the words of tradition and from the Sages dependent on the feet, chapter 6): not to go more than 2,000 cubits outside the city on Shabbat, and likewise on Yom Kippur, and likewise on Yom Tov. It is forbidden to take a large stride when leaving the synagogue. It is forbidden to take a large stride on Shabbat. Hashem hates one who enters his home suddenly, and needless to say, another person’s home. It is forbidden to sit beside one who is standing in Shemoneh Esrei or to stand before him until one has moved four cubits away from him. It is forbidden for a person to walk four cubits with an upright posture. See there further in his holy words.

A complete recovery very soon,

Hillel Meirs