The Purpose of Mitzvah

Ideas inspired by Rabbi Israel Chait

by Rabbi Moshe Ben-Chaim

The purpose of a mitzvah is not to benefit our temporary bodies: it’s not the performance that is most vital. Mitzvah exists to teach concepts, to grasp God’s intended perfection of our eternal souls: our ideas and convictions. However, the mitzvah’s performance is required because that is the barometer of conviction and this is the goal of Torah and life: for man to arrive at conviction in truths, which means to see reality so clearly, that we act on it. If one says charity is important but never gives charity, he does not truly value charity. For when a person values something, he expresses it in action. That is how we are designed. If you don’t know the purpose of a mitzvah, it has little use, although you still must perform it. But when you under- stand the purpose of a mitzvah like charity, then your mind develops more, and benefits from the agreement with that value, even if you have not yet performed it. You soul has become more perfected. But if you fail to fulfill the mitzvah, then you lack conviction with the mitzvah’s value. Wearing tefillin has little benefit if one does not know its purpose. But when realizing tefillin were commanded immediately after the end of the 10th plague, when God displayed His unparalleled control over all existence, we then understand the meaning of those Torah sections tefillin contains, affirming God as the sole creator and power, and that our minds and emotions (head and heart) are in unison in this belief. Then we no longer wear mysterious black boxes, but we embrace the Torah sections contained inside, sections recalling God’s unparalleled power over imagined Egyptian gods.