There is a beautiful Rashi that gives us a whole different way of looking at our possessions and Mitzvot.
In this week’s Parasha, there is a list of Mitzvot that are placed near each other, and there is always a reason behind these juxtapositions.
For example, it talks about the Mitzvah of Shiluach HaKen- sending away the mother bird and taking the babies. Then it talks about building a new house and putting a gate around the house. Then it talks about a man that has a vineyard, and how he is supposed to treat his vineyard (you are not supposed to mix wheat and grapes). Then it talks about how, when you plow your field, you can’t plow with a cow and a donkey together. Then it discusses items of clothing, and says not to wear Shaatnez, a mixture of wool and linen. Then it talks about Tsisit. Then it talks about a man that gets married.
What is the connection between all of these Mitzvot? It seems just like a random list, but Rashi says that a man walking on a road does not need to own a home in order to do the Mitzvah of shooing the mother bird. If anything, it’s the opposite, it’s supposed to be done in the wild. So the man walking on the road finds the nest and sends away the mother bird. Then he will build a house and fulfill the Mitzvah of the fence. Then he will buy himself a vineyard, and then he will buy a field, and then he will have nice clothing and he will fulfill the Mitzvot of shaatnez and Tsisit. This all sounds nice; talking about fulfilling different Mitzvot, and acquiring new possessions as the story unfolds.
Rashi adds three important words- Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah -
One Mitzvah drags along another Mitzvah. This is a huge Hiddush. The man that sent away the mother bird got the house because the mitzvah of sending away the mother bird dragged along the Mitzvah of erecting a fence. You cannot put up a fence if you don’t have a house, so Hashem gives you a house, so that you can put a fence around it.
Once you have put the fence on the roof, that drags along the next Mitzvah of how to properly plant a vineyard.
Each Mitzvah brings with it the ability to perform that Mitzvah. And so on and so on, with the field and the clothing.
The way we usually look at it is that the main thing is that we have a house, and so we might as well put a fence around it, or put up a mezuzah. And if we have clothing, we might as well put on Tsisit and be careful with shaatnez. That how we think, but the opposite is actually true. Everything comes from the Mitzvah perspective. Mitzvot drag along the other Mitzvot, and in order to fulfill the next Mitzvah we need something else.
It’s not that if we give charity, we will become wealthy. It’s that once you have done the Mitzvah of charity, that Mitzvah brings the Mitzvah of giving more charity- but you can’t give more charity if you don’t have more money.
So the Mitzvot are behind the snowball affect of success in worldly possessions.
Mitzvot are the driving force.
It’s as if there’s a train with goods carried on top, in containers.
The train is driving everything, not the containers on top. We think that the train is our possessions, our houses, our clothing, our cars, our families, then, with those things, we do Mitzvot. But actually, the train is the Mitzvah. The Mitzvah is driving, and since we can’t fulfill Mitzvot out of thin air, our physical possessions are given to us, in order for us to fulfill and perform Mitzvot.
This is an eye-opening way to look at life, especially in the high holiday season.
Our focus should be on what mitzvot can we do with our possessions. This is a successful way to pray, when we realize that all of our possessions are there in order to perform Mitzvot.
We learn that the nine Berachot of our Rosh Hashanah Amida are from Chana.
We read about Chana on Rosh Hashanah, and she was blessed with a child on Rosh Hashanah. What was so powerful about Chana? The rabbis tell us that Chana’s prayer to Hashem was that everything created in a woman was put there for a purpose, such as her hands, feet etc. It’s all there to serve Hashem. She asked Hashem, “You gave me the ability to nurse a child, but I don’t have a child! What was the purpose, if I don’t have a child?”
So Hashem gave her a child, because Chana understood this principle, that the driving force is the Mitzvot.
The only reason that we have our possessions is in order to fulfill those Mitzvot.
The more Mitzvot that we fulfill, the more possessions and acquisitions we will have, to enable us to fulfill more Mitzvot.
All the things that we have are just enablers, enabling us to do the mitzvot. They aren’t the focus- the focus is the Mitzvah. This is a very different way of looking at things. It’s a powerful, and deep concept on how to look at life. Mitzvot are driving the train, not our possessions. Every time we do a Mitzvah, it brings another Mitzvah with it and that Mitzvah needs a possession in order to be fulfilled. Have a wonderful day, and Shabbat shalom.