Parashas Bechukosai · Aliyah 1 · Passuk 3
Chabad.org — English translation + Rashi
Torah Temimah cites Avodah Zarah 5a (baraisa: “אין אם אלא לשון בקשה”).
E-Daf.com — Tsurras Hadaf (size=3)
HebrewBooks / Shas PDF of the daf
English: The Rabbis taught: “If you walk in My statutes” — the word im (“if”) is nothing other than a language of request / entreaty. Likewise it says (Tehillim 81): “If only My people would listen to Me … I would soon subdue their enemies.” And it says (Yeshayahu 48:18): “If only you had heeded My commandments, your peace would have been like a river.”
Linguistic / lexical derasha on the particle im. The verse is read not as a neutral conditional but as an expression of Hashem’s desire and plea that Israel walk in His statutes.
The opening of the blessing section is framed as a divine request rather than a cold “if-then.” Hashem wants Israel to keep the statutes; the language of im conveys longing and invitation, parallel to the prophetic “if only” passages that express the same yearning for Israel’s obedience and the resulting blessing.