Thinking, Big and Small

One of the things I quickly learned when working out, is that when one stretches one part of the body, another part of the body reacts. It either reacts in pain or it is strengthened.  The dynamic of Torah works in a very similar way, our deeds have a parallel effect on ourselves, the entire community and perhaps the universe.

There are some mitzvos which are personal mitzvos, such as the mitzvah to wear tefillin or to respect your parents. When one does such a mitzvah it may effect him or her personally, there is reward for mitzvos. Conversely, when one does not do it, it may affect them negatively. It does not appear to have a parallel effect on anyone other than ourselves. Therefore, if someone else is not keeping such a mitzvah, we may mistakenly think that it really does not affect us.

Rav Reuven Sasson, in his masterpiece, VeShavsa Ha’aretz, explains that when we look at things from a broader, more spiritual perspective, we will see that in fact the entire Jewish community is made…