Parshas Va'eschanan

In this week's parsha, the Torah records the first paragraph of Shema, the paragraph of "Ve'ohavta es Hashem Elokecha". There are several inconsistencies between the first and second paragraphs of Shema, some of which are mentioned by the Vilna Gaon.

First of all, the first parsha is written in singular form ("bechol levovCHA, ubechol nafsheCHA"), whereas the second parsha is written in plural form ("bechol levavCHEM, ubechol nafsheCHEM"). Second of all, the first parsha makes no mention whatsoever of schar ve'onesh, whereas the second parsha goes on in great detail about the rewards of following Hashem and the punishments of chas veshalom doing the opposite. And third of all, the first parsha mentions "bechol me'odecha" - serving Hashem with one's money, whereas the second parsha does not. What is the reason behind these discrepancies?

The answer is that the first parsha is referring to the special people who seek to be close to Hashem, whose profound dedication to Avodas Hashem sets them apart; the second parsha is referring to the more average person, whose religious convictions are more often dictated by the conventions of society.

The first parsha is written in singular form because there are only a few select people who really stand out in their Avodas Hashem, who have almost a private relationship with Him, so to speak. When a person reaches that level, that makes him truly an individual, hence the first parsha of Shema being written in the singular form; as opposed to an average person, whose religious observance is dictated by what other people are doing, and thus is addressed by a parsha written in the plural form.

Likewise, schar ve'onesh is not mentioned in the first paragraph because tzadikim do not need the concept of schar ve'onesh to keep them in line; they serve Hashem because of their love for Him. Such a concept belongs in the second parsha, since it is the average person who needs such motivation.

But perhaps the most crucial of the three is the third discrepancy: the fact that it says "bechol me'odecha" only in the first parsha and not the second. The reason for this is that parting with one's money for Hashem's sake is one of the most difficult tests a person can face, a test which only a true tzadik can pass. People can be very nice to one another and do lots of chesed, but when it comes to giving up of their wealth for Hakadosh Baruch Hu, they inexplicably find it difficult to come through. That is because money is the ultimate test of a person's dedication to Hashem. That's where a person must face the real challenge: am I just a beinini, whose parsha makes no mention of "bechol me'odecha" because serving Hashem with one's money can be too difficult to handle? Or do I wish to strive to be a tzadik, and to triumph the nisayon of money?