כלי יקר — ראה נתתי לפניך היום את החיים ואת הטוב

Q — The verse pairs 'החיים ואת הטוב' — life and good — in that order. But shouldn't *good* come first, since *doing* good is what *earns* life? Why is life mentioned before good?

A — Kli Yakar reads the word order as a precise warning against instrumentalizing morality. If good came first, one might infer: 'I do good *in order to* live.' Life would become the goal and good the means. By putting life first, the Torah inverts the relationship: 'יחיה כדי שיעשה טוב' — live in order to do good, not do good in order to live. Tehillim 34:13 makes the same point: 'מי האיש החפץ חיים אוהב ימים לראות טוב' — the one who wants life loves days *so as to see good*. And the parsha's final verse closes the loop: 'לאהבה את ה' אלהיך... כי הוא חייך' — Hashem isn't *for* life, He *is* life's purpose. The verse's order is its theology.