26 Mar JUST DO IT!

Did morning ever come too early, and you
gave yourself “just five more minutes”? You
close your eyes… and somehow five minutes
turns into thirty.
Maybe you had a friend, an acquaintance,
who was feeling under the weather. You
make a mental note to call tomorrow. But
tomorrow never happens. Nor does the next
day. Life gets busy. And then, your friend
feels better. You missed out on the
opportunity to do bikur cholim.
How often does that little voice inside us say,
you can do it later, there’s always
tomorrow… only to leave us with missed
opportunities.
This week’s parsha, Tzav, opens with
HaShem instructing Moshe “Tzav es Aaron,
Command Aaron”. Not “speak to”, or “tell
Aaron”, but “tzav, command”. Rashi
comments that tzav is “lashon zerizus”, an
expression denoting urgency, alacrity, and a
spirit of enthusiasm. Rashi continues with a
powerful message to us, “mi’yad u’l’doros,
for now and for future generations.” A
message for all time. To be both passionate
and prompt about our adherence to mitzvos.

We are the children of Avrohom Avinu. We
carry his spiritual DNA. The Torah tells us
that Avrohom was a man of zerizus. When
the three angels appeared to Avrohom in the
guise of nomadic travelers, he ran to greet
them. “V’yorotz likrosam, He ran towards
them.” It was an extremely hot day. Avrohom
was elderly and recuperating from his bris.
Despite all this, Avrohom ran to do the
mitzva of hachnossas orchim, welcoming
guests. He felt the urgency to do the mitzva
and was determined not to lose the
opportunity.
We also find, that when Avrohom was
readying himself to go with Yitzchak to the
Akeidah, the Chumash tells us “Vayashkeim
Avrohom baboker, And Avrohom rose early
in the morning”. No hitting the snooze

button, no turning over for some extra shut-
eye, but jumping out of bed to get going to

do the mitzva.
Avrohom infused himself with the midah,
the trait of zerizus. A strong desire to follow
HaShem’s words with alacrity.
Oftentimes, I am asked how did my mother
a”h accomplish so much. Mother,

grandmother, shul rebbetzin, teacher, world-
wide speaker, author, columnist, shadchan,

and mentor. Always available for
family and klal.
My answer is always the same.
Everything she did was with zerizus,
coupled with enthusiasm. If there was
something that needed to be done, it
was done now. Procrastination was not
part of her vocabulary.
I remember my mother raising us
children with the message of “Kumu
l’avodas haBoray, Get up to do the
work of HaShem.” What a wonderful
way to be awakened! Wake up to
accomplish your tafkid, your life
mission.
In the biography of my mother, The
Rebbetzin, by Rabbi Nachman Seltzer, he
relates a story from Jennifer Gross:
“My husband and I were honored at one of
the Hineni dinners. Since we were the
honorees that evening, many of my friends
were in attendance, and I had gone on and on
about the Rebbetzin’s incredible speaking
abilities and how they were about to hear the
speech of their lives.
I was somewhat taken aback, however, when
the Rebbetzin rose and took her place at the
podium. Because for whatever reason, her
speech that night was about the rooster
and its greatness! At that point in time, I
was still not familiar with the blessing we
say in morning prayers — “Asher nasan
lasechvi vinah, Who gives understanding
to the rooster” — and I couldn’t fathom
why the Rebbetzin had chosen this topic
as the theme of her speech.
“It is very important to be like a rooster,”
she said, in her charismatic way, as my
friends stared at her blankly, not
comprehending why it was so important to
be like a rooster, of all things.
The Rebbetzin went on.
“The rooster knows that he has to wake up
every morning to crow like he’s supposed
to. You will never see the rooster waking
up and asking himself, ‘Am I too tired to
crow right now?’ He’ll never say, ‘You
know something, I’m just not in the mood
to crow
today!’
“The rooster does what the rooster is
supposed to do, and that’s how a Jew is
supposed to live his life!
“You don’t wake up and say, ‘I’m not in
the mood to keep kosher’ — we keep
kosher! We don’t wake up and question
the Sabbath or all the other things we do
that make us different from everybody
else!”
Not being familiar with the blessing she

was referring to, I was confused and found
myself asking, “What’s with the rooster? I
don’t understand why the Rebbetzin is
making such a big deal about roosters!”
It was pretty ironic: I was being honored at
the dinner, yet had no real idea of what the
Rebbetzin was talking about!
But the speech was the speech.
When I finally learned the blessing of the
rooster, I suddenly realized what an
important message the Rebbetzin had
delivered at the dinner — a message I had
missed at the time, and only grasped later on
— that Jews have to be the best roosters they
can possibly be, every single day of their
lives!
In my mind, the Rebbetzin’s speech at the
dinner ended up ranking among the most
important lessons I ever learned! We are
Jews, and as Jews, we need to be the best
roosters in the world! When I recite the
morning blessings these days, I remember
the Rebbetzin and how there are no excuses.
Basically, I remember the lesson of the
rooster and how it changed my life.”
I find that each time I turn to Tehillim, the
words of Dovid HaMelech resonate with me.
“Chashti v’lo his’ma’hemoti, I hurried, I did
not delay.” (Tehillim 119:60) The message
of zerizus, alacrity, is one that our sages have
transmitted to us throughout the ages.
Pirkei Avos teaches “V’im lo achshav,
eimasai, If not now, when.” Rabbi Moshe
Lieber shares a story about Rav Dov Ber of
Radoshitz. When traveling, he would
awaken fellow lodgers by saying, “Wake up
my brothers, a guest you have never seen has
arrived. Once he leaves, you will never see
him again.”
“Who is the guest”, they would ask. Rav
Dov Ber answered, “Today.”
Tzav. A command to live one’s life with
zerizus. To act quickly, and not squander the
gift of time. And, like the rooster who never
tarries, be ready to do Avodas HaShem and
value today.
As the Nike slogan reminds us: JUST DO
IT!