Welcome to Daily Bitachon.
We continue our discussion on the importance of small things. Don't try to grab the massive things all at once. Why is it so crucial to work on the small things first?
Rabbi Yisroel Salanter explains that we are held far more strictly accountable for neglecting easily accessible mitzvot than for failing at exceptionally difficult ones. Neglecting the easy task incurs greater fault because there was no real barrier in your way. For example, attending Shacharit at 8:00 AM on a relaxed Sunday morning is relatively straightforward, whereas waking up for a 7:00 AM minyan during an exhausting, busy work week is genuinely difficult. Missing that effortless Sunday minyan carries far more culpability than struggling on a high-pressure weekday.
This principle comes from a Gemara in Masechet Menachot regarding the two types of strings on tzitzit: the white wool strings and the techelet (blue-dyed) strings. Historically, techelet was rare, expensive, and carried immense Kabbalistic significance, whereas white strings were simple and inexpensive. Yet, the Gemara teaches that the consequence for neglecting the white strings is far greater than for missing the blue strings.
How can the punishment be greater for failing at the "lesser" mitzvah?
The Gemara explains this with a mashal (parable): A king instructed one servant to bring him a golden vessel and another servant to bring him an inexpensive earthenware jar. Neither servant fulfilled their task. Yet, the king judged the second servant far more harshly.
Why? Because his task was effortless. Even though the golden vessel was rarer and more valuable, the clay cup was readily available. The king's grievance is clear: "It was so simple—why couldn't you manage that?" Neglecting an easy task demonstrates a profound lack of care.
Consider a modern parallel: If your mother asks you to assemble a complex piece of IKEA shelving and also asks you to take out the garbage, failing to build the furniture is understandable due to its complexity and difficulty. But failing to take out the garbage is inexcusable because it required minimal effort.
Similarly, if someone is tempted by a juicy piece of Lashon Hara (gossip) versus a trivial, nonsensical comment that could easily be avoided, the greater accountability lies with the trivial comment. Why couldn't you control yourself when it required almost no effort? We start with small things because failing at them carries greater culpability.
Rabbi Yisroel Salanter teaches a major chiddush: within every sin, there are varying degrees of difficulty. We must identify the easiest part of that sin and stop that part first, because that is where our greatest responsibility lies.
Consider an extreme mashal: A heavy smoker consumes twenty cigarettes a day. When Shabbat arrives, he struggles with his addiction and smokes all twenty throughout the day, from Friday night straight through Seudah Shlishit.
He decides he wants to lessen his sin. What are his easiest cigarettes to give up?
- The first one on Friday night: He just smoked an hour before sunset, so waiting another hour or two is entirely manageable.
- The last one on Shabbat afternoon: Shabbat will end in a few minutes, meaning he can easily hold off until Havdalah.
The greatest accountability isn't for the cigarette smoked on Shabbat morning when nicotine cravings peak; it's for the first and the last. You couldn't hold back ten minutes at the beginning? You couldn't wait ten minutes at the end?
The first layer of the onion you must peel away is the easiest one. Stop that first.
This is an essential focus during the month of Elul: identifying what is easy versus what is difficult, and fixing the accessible areas first. Rabbi Yisroel Salanter's radical insight is that by simply eliminating those two accessible cigarettes, that individual is considered a genuine Baal Teshuvah in that specific domain.
Someone might object: "A Baal Teshuvah? He's still smoking eighteen cigarettes on Shabbat!"
Yes, but within that easiest boundary of the sin, he fully stopped. The Pele Yoetz notes that when the shofar is blown, if a person firmly commits even to a small correction he is a baal teshuvah, for example he says "I will never again smoke the first and last cigarette on Shabbat," that specific layer of sin is completely removed from his life.
People often get discouraged: "Big deal, you stopped two out of twenty?" Yes, it is a big deal. Rabbi Salanter calls this rule "lessening the sin." Lowering the flame matters.
Every single action counts. Hakadosh Baruch Hu is not mevater—nothing is simply overlooked or lost in a pile.
Think of sins like calories: A person might say, "I already blew my diet with three scoops of ice cream, so I might as well add the sprinkles." But the sprinkles still add calories. When you eventually work to burn off the weight, you will have to burn off the sprinkles too.
Never underestimate removing the sprinkles. Conquering the small, accessible things saves immense effort down the line and builds lasting spiritual growth.