BH

Day 1
Start At The Beginning
Transcript & References

". ...""
BeraishisThe entire purpose for Creation is for the Torah and the Jewish
people.
-Chumash Beraishis 1:1, Rashi and Ramban.
"." ][ ][
The entire purpose of my creation is only to serve my Creator.
-Talmud Bavli. Tractate Kiddushin, 82b.
TRANSCRIPT:
If you start off with, This is my life, Im here, I want to make the most out of my life, and
I decide that the most you can make out of life is to do Mitzvos and serve the
Aybershter, so then when youre doing a Mitzvah, youre doing Him a favor. And He
owes you, because you gave up part of your life for Him.
But if you start at the beginning, Its not my life, so then when youre doing a Mitzvah
itsyour Zchus.
". ..."
He tells His words [Torah] to Jacob, His statutes and His ordinances to Israel.
What He does, is what He tells Israel to do.
-Midrash Raboh. Shemos, Parsha 30:9.
"." "
The Holy One, Blessed be He, told Moshe: I have a wonderful present in my
Treasure House and its name is Shabbos. I wish to give it to the Jewish people.

-Talmud Bavli. Tractate Shabbos, 10b.

First, theres a Mitzvah. A Mitzvah means, for example, like Shabbos: Ki Sheshes
Yomim Osa Hashem Es Hashomayim Vies Haretez Uvayom Hashvivi Shovas
Vayinofash. (For [in] six days the Lord made the heaven and the earth, the sea and all
that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day.) Its His Shabbos. Now, at Matan
Torah, He gave us the Mitzvah of keeping Shabbos. So first theres Shabbos, then,
weregiven the Mitzvah of Shabbos.
So how important is Shabbos to Him? Infinitely! He doesnt mess around, when He
wants something its all the waySo Shabbos is His Shabbos, Es
ShabbsosaiTishmoru, Keep My Shabbos. Shabbos is holy to Him, Shabbos is
important to Him, He needs Shabbos! And He keeps Shabbos, the questions is, why
does He give us Shabbos?
"
". .
If one performs one mitzvah, he tips his balance and that of the entire world to
the side of merit and brings deliverance and salvation to himself and others. This
is implied by [Proverbs 10:25] A righteous man is the foundation of the world,
i.e., he who acted righteously, tipped the balance of the entire world to merit and
saved it.
-Rambam. Mishneh Torah. Laws of Teshuva 3:4.
Obviously, Hes giving us Shabbos, not Malachim - He doesnt ask a Malach to keep
Shabbos, He asks us to keep Shabbos - because when we keep Shabbos, its
meaningful, it changes the world, and it changes us. So obviously, the Mitzvah was
givento have an effect on the world.
But what is a mitzvah to begin with? Or to put in different words, the Aybershter gives us
the Mitzvah to make the world better, but how does a Mitzvah make the world better?
"."" "
The 248 Positive Mitzvos are the 248 Limbs of Hashem.
-Tikunei Zohar. Tikun 30. (74d).
"."
Anochi is a Roshei Teivos, its 4 Letters stand for the 4 words Ano Nafshi
Ksovis Yehovis I am giving you My soul in writing.

-Talmud Bavli. Tractate Shabbos, 105a.

In other words, if Shabbos, or any other Mitzvah was not essential to the Aybershter,
like a piece of Him, if the Mitzvah was not essential to the Aybersheter, then why would
doing it have a powerful effect on the world?
Or in different words, the Aybershter gives us the Zchus of doing a mitzvah. Why is it
aZchus? Because its something personal to the Aybershter, its something valuable to
Him, its something that He needs, because of its G-dly Divine nature, and He lets us do
it, thats a Zchus! But if He really didnt need it, and it wasnt very important to Him and
He lets us do it, whats the Zchus? Youre giving Me your Shirayim [leftovers]?
Yes, the Mitzvah is about Him, not about us.