And Sit There
The verse in this week’s Torah reading, Parshat Vayishlach, says (35:1), “And God said to Yaakov (Jacob), “Get up and go up to Beit-El and sit there, and build an alter for your God who appeared to you when you were running away from Eisav (Esau) your brother.” Yaakov was commanded to bring sacrifices to express gratitude for being spared from the threatening situations he experienced. Why does the verse say, “and sit there?” What was this sitting about?
The Sforno (commentary on Tanach) says that God was commanding him to sit before he gets busy with the altar and the sacrifices, and prepare himself for the service. The Sforno adds that the concept of preparing before service is stated in the Talmud, as the Talmud tells us (Brachot 30b) that the early pious ones would spend a whole hour preparing their minds before they began praying.
Preparation is Key
Every aspect of our service of God really deserves preparation. The Chovot Halevavot (a classical work on Jewish Ethics) writes (gate 5 chapter 6) that the biggest contributor to either the deficiency or the perfection of one’s deeds is the intention with which he does them. If a person does deeds which on the surface are positive actions, but with ill intentions, all his service can be for naught. On the other hand, when one does mitzvot (good deeds) with proper intentions, with the purpose of serving God, he can gain tremendous levels of spiritual perfection and closeness to God. But in order to focus our thoughts on our deeds and ensure we have proper intentions, we need to prepare ourselves beforehand. It is only through adequate preparation for a mitzvah that we can gain the true achievement we can accomplish with a mitzvah.
Preparation for the mitzvah is so great that the Sfat Emet says (Ha’azinu 634) that in a certain aspect the preparation for a mitzvah is greater than performing the mitzvah itself. The Sfat Emet explains with this concept the Midrash that says that during the days between Yom Kippur and Sukkot, Jews are saved from sin because of their involvement in preparation for the mitzvot of Sukkot, more so than on Sukkot itself when the mitzvot are performed.
Investing Our Minds to Level Up the Mitzvah
A pupil of the Yismach Yisrael (Yerachmiel Yisroel Yitzchok Dancyger) wanted to observe his Rebbe (Chassidic spiritual leader and mentor) perform the mitzvah of lighting the Chanukah candles. He hid in the room where the Rebbe would be lighting the candles, and he observed the Rebbe pour the oil and prepare the wicks with great devotion and excitement. However, when it came time to actually light the menorah, the pupil noticed that the Rebbe was relatively subdued and unemotional. He was greatly surprised, as he expected that the actual mitzvah would be preformed with even greater intensity and emotion than merely during the preparations alone.
The following day, the Rebbe explained to him, “The main role a person has in performing a mitzvah is doing the preparations. When it comes to the mitzvah itself, it’s a matter of inspiration from Heaven.” Any important accomplishment in life requires preparation. Doing mitzvot is no different. Every mitzvah is an opportunity for tremendous accomplishment. But in order to really gain the most we can from mitzvot we must invest in preparation. By investing our minds and feelings into the preparations of a mitzvah, we take our mitzvah performance to an entirely new level.
By Rabbi Yitzchok Aryeh Strimber torah4every1@gmail.com
