21 Mar PARASHAT VAYIKRA: THE JOY OF MITZVOS

The Torah in Parashat
Vayikra discusses
the various kinds of
sacrifices, including the
sin-offering that one
was required to bring
after committing certain
sins. In introducing this sin-offering, the Torah
speaks of “Nefesh Ahat” – literally, “one soul”
– who accidentally sins. The Torah then adds,
“Ba’asotah Ahat Mi’kol Mitzvos Hashem
Asher Lo Te’asena Ve’ashem” – literally, “by
doing one of all the commands of G-d which
must not be done, and he bears guilt” (4:27).
While the overall intent of this verse is clear
– referring to a person who committed an act
which G-d commands us not to commit – the
formulation is unusual. Why does it refer to the
individual with term “Nefesh”? And why is the
sinful act described as “one of the commands of
G-d which must not be done”? Once the Torah
describes a person who accidentally committed
a sin, why do we need this elaboration, that he
committed an act which he is commanded not
to do? Furthermore, why does the Torah say
about such a person, “Ve’ashem” – “he bears
guilt”? If the sin was committed by accident,
why is the person described as “bearing guilt”?
The Mishna in Pirkeh Abot (4:2) famously
teaches, “Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah” – one
Mitzvah leads to another. Once a person
performs a Mitzvah, he is led to do another.
Many commentators raised the question of why
we do not always see people who perform a
Mitzvah being naturally led to perform others.
It is not uncommon to see people who perform
Mitzvos sporadically and inconsistently. How
could this be? If one Mitzvah naturally leads
to another, then are we not all constantly doing
Mitzvos all the time?
The answer that many have suggested is that
the Mishna refers only to Mitzvos which we
perform with genuine joy and enthusiasm.
If a person performs a Mitzvah without any
feeling, simply going through the motions
because he feels he has to, without any fervor
or excitement over the privilege of serving G-d,
then the Mitzvah will not have the effect of
drawing him to additional Mitzvos. This is why
we are not always drawn to additional Mitzvos
after performing one Mitzvah. If we perform
a Mitzvah by rote, or only out of a sense of
obligation, without any joy or excitement, then
it will not lead us to additional Mitzvos.
With this in mind, we can return to the difficult
verse from Parashat Vayikra which we cited
earlier. The Torah here alludes to a “Nefesh,”
a soul that is deficient, lacking the joy and
fervor that ought to characterize Mitzvah
observance. In such a case, the individual
will likely perform “Ahat Mi’kol Mitzvos
Hashem” – only one Mitzvah, because, “Asher
Lo Te’asena” – his Mitzvah will not lead to
additional Mitzvah performance,. And then,
“Ve’ashem” – he will end up being guilty of
sins, because the neglect of Mitzvos wrought
by his lack of joy will ultimately result in his
violating Torah laws.

As we enter the season of Pesach, we must
strive to increase our joy in the performance
of Mitzvos. This is a very special time of year
when we have so many Mitzvos to perform.
The more joyful we are in our observance,
genuinely enthusiastic about the great

privilege we have to serve our Creator, the
more the Mitzvos of Pesach will lead us
to perform additional Mitzvos, and thus
catapult us to greater heights of Abodat
Hashem (service of G-d) and closeness to

Rabbi Eli Mansour the Almighty.