03 Dec MAKING EVERY ACT COUNT

Students of the Torah
are well aware that there
is nothing superfluous
in the language of the
Torah. Every phrase
comes to teach us a
myriad of lessons.
Therefore, when the
Torah says, “Vayeitzei Yaakov miB’er Sheva
v’yeilech Charanah – And Yaakov left the
city of Be’er Sheva and went to Charan,”
Rashi immediately wonders why it didn’t
simply say, “V’yeilech Yaakov Charanah –
And Yaakov traveled to Charan.” The Beis
Halevi explains beautifully that Yaakov
actually had a double mission. First, he
was leaving his home on the instructions of
his mother Rivka, to escape the danger of
his vengeful brother Eisav. Secondly and
simultaneously, he was embarking on the
journey to find a wife in the house of Lavan
in Charan, to fulfill the directive of his father
Yitzchak. This explains the posuk perfectly,
for Yaakov left Be’er Sheva to escape the

wrath of Eisav while he traveled to Charan
to find a mate.
This is not simply a historical vignette.
Rather, it is teaching us a very important
principle for living. Any action one does
can be, in reality, a fulfillment of not just
one mitzvah – but a whole series of mitzvahs.
In our day and age, when multi-tasking has
become a way of life, this is a concept into
which we can sink our teeth.
Let’s take a simple example: One gets up in
the morning and washes his face. If he’s a
thinking Jew, he immediately realizes that
he is preparing himself for prayer, to speak
with G-d, and therefore washing his face
is a fulfillment of the directive, “Hikon
likras Elokecha Yisroel – Prepare properly
to greet your G-d, O Israel.” Upon further
reflection though, if he is married he is also
making himself look suitable for his spouse;
a fulfillment of v’simach es ishto, to cause
one’s wife to rejoice. Still, if we dig a little
deeper, there is yet a third mitzvah that one
fulfills by washing the face: he is polishing

the bust of Hashem, for man is created in
the image of G-d and when he washes his
face with thought, he is polishing Hashem’s
statue, thus doing an actual act of honor to
his Creator.
See what the thinking Jew can accomplish
when he puts his mind into what he’s doing.
And keep in mind that every time we do a
mitzvah, we create a powerful angel who
protects us. As it says, “Chonei malach
Hashem saviv liyarei’av vayichaltzeim – The
angel of Hashem can surround those who
fear Him and those who deliver Him.”
Let’s take another example: Someone sits
down to eat a meal. The first mitzvah that
comes to mind is V’nishmartem meod es
nafshoseichem, the positive commandment
of meticulously watching our health. This is
especially so if one takes a little care to eat
properly, avoiding foods that might not agree
with him such as an excess of cholesterol or,
for some people, too many carbohydrates.
On the other hand one can choose wisely,

especially during the winter months, to beef-
up on vitamin C. Others who are getting

on in years might choose wisely to have a
diet rich in calcium. In all of these cases
and many others, this kind of thoughtful
and careful eating is a wonderful mitzvas
asei, a positive precept.
But, that’s just the beginning. There’s an
old saying: Some people make a bracha
in order to eat; others eat in order to make
a bracha. While many of us are not on
the lofty level to eat so altruistically,
we can definitely have in mind that our
eating is also a vehicle to enable us
to make intently meaningful brachos.
Bear in mind that bentching the Birchas
HaMazon is a fulfillment of several
biblical commandments. Thus, when we
allow our eating to be a means for blessing
and thanking Hashem, that is yet another
mitzvah activity.
Still, we are only touching the surface.
When one plans to learn Torah or to daven,
or to take care of the children, or to go to
work to support one’s family, or engage
in a shalom bais activity – and one eats
beforehand with the thought in mind that
the meal will fortify him or her to have
more strength, enthusiasm, and patience
for the task ahead – this meal becomes
a hechshar mitzvah, an accessory to the
learning or davening or familial task.
And, there is a well-known Talmudic
dictum, Hechshar mitzvah k’mitzvah, the

preliminary of a mitzvah is like the mitzvah
itself. Thus, the very act of eating becomes
an extension of the Torah learning, or prayer,
or child rearing, or shalom bais.
Of course, there are other lofty goals in the
act of eating. We have heard that sometimes
there can be a gilgul in our food that is
uplifted by our blessing on the food and our
eating correctly. When we eat on Shabbos
and enjoy the cholent with the thought that
it is in honor of Hashem Who created our
world and an affirmation of our belief in
the Creator, that is yet another wonderful
mitzvah. So too, when we eat with the proper
meaning during festivals, or at any one of the
vast array of seudas mitzvah, meals in honor
of a specific mitzvah such as a bris, pidyon
haben, bar mitzvah or wedding.
Let’s bear in mind that these are only two
simple examples. The message is one
that applies to all our actions throughout
the day and night. As the posuk tells us,
“B’chol derachecha da’eihu, v’hu y’yasher
orchosecha – In all your ways acknowledge
Him, and He will set your path straight and
upright.”