The Mishna in the fourth chapter of Masechet Avot cites the following teaching from Ben-Azai:
הוי רץ למצוה קלה כבחמורה ובורח מן העבירה, שמצוה גוררת מצוה ועבירה גוררת עבירה, ששכר מצוה מצוה ושכר עבירה עבירה.
Run to a minor mitzvah like to a major one, and run away from sin, because a mitzvah causes a mitzvah, and a sin causes a sin; because the reward for a mitzvah is a mitzvah, and the punishment for a sin is a sin.
To explain what this somewhat confusing Mishnah means, let us imagine going over to the parents of a young, sweet, innocent, playful toddler, and telling them that in another 15 years, this child will be cursing 30 times a day.
Of course, they would be pretty shocked. This boy is so sweet and innocent. How could he possibly end up cursing 30 times a day!?
But we know how it works, unfortunately.
It starts when he hears foul language for the first time. A little while later, he says one word. Then he hears more, and starts using it more. One stage after the other, he becomes a foul-mouthed teen.
The reality of life is that things lead to other things. Every step we take in one direction brings us just a bit closer to something else further down the road.
Many people think to themselves, “If I ever become rich, I’m going to give TONS of tzedakah.” And they make list in their minds of all the needy individuals, families and institutions that they would support once they make it big. And yet, as we know, there are wealthy people who do not give nearly as much tzedakah as they can. (Of course, there are many, many others who do, baruch Hashem!) Why?
Because something happens along the process of their becoming wealthy. One step at a time, they change. Their values and priorities and change, little by little.
I’ll never forget the time many years ago, as the internet was first becoming widespread, when I was in my father’s shul, and a wonderful man in the shul, with strong religious values, came over to my father and said, “Rabbi, there’s something I don’t understand. There are extreme Rabbis giving speeches about how dangerous the internet is. I don’t get it. What are they talking about?”
Fast forward to 2020. If any parent in America, Jew or non-Jew, would be asked to list the top 5 challenges in raising kids nowadays, the internet is on that list, and would very likely be number 1.
Perhaps back then the spiritual challenges of the internet didn’t seem like a big deal. But with each step forward the technology took, we got one step closer to where we are now, when this is one of the top – if not the top – challenge facing parents.
The Rabbis of the time of the Talmud instituted many laws which, to some, seem unnecessarily extreme. These laws were made to protect against serious infractions, and people hear about them and laugh, wondering why the Rabbis were so worried.
The answer is very simple: THINGS LEAD TO OTHER THINGS. This is nothing particularly deep or profound. It’s very clear.
Many people laugh when they hear about the prohibition of yihud, which forbids a man and woman from being alone in a room unless they are family members. They think, “Come on, what’s the big deal?! Do you really think something is going to happen?!”
Well, there was entire “MeToo” campaign a number of years ago to raise awareness of how often things happen when men and women being secluded. And today, throughout America, every office has a window – precisely as our Rabbis required!
This is what the Mishna teaches: מצוה גוררת מצוה ועבירה גוררת עבירה. Everything we do has consequences for who we are and what we do. Every small action, innocent and inconsequential as it might seem, moves us in one direction or the other.
This is true about improper conduct, but it’s also true about mitzvot. Every mitzvah we perform makes us into more of a person who performs mitzvot. If we pray once a day, we are closer to being a person who prays twice a day. And when we pray twice a day, we are closer to being a person who prays three times a day. When we do something kind and generous, we become closer to being thoroughly kind and generous people.
Let us, then, heed the Mishna’s call, and seize every small mitzvah opportunity, and avoid even seemingly minor infractions, so we move every day a step closer to being the people who we truly want to be.