Love Doing the Right Thing

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Re'eh (Deuteronomy 11:26-16:17 )

"You shall surely open your hand" (Deut. 15:11). When the Torah tells us that we should help someone, it always uses the same Hebrew word twice. The English translation doesn't quite account for this and translates it as "surely help."

Similarly, when the Torah tells us we'll be blessed for helping others, it uses the word "blessed" twice, which again, is translated as "surely blessed." The Kli Yakkar (16th century) explains that the Torah is talking to two aspects of our personality. It doesn't only want us to do what's right; it wants us to love doing what is right.

The difference between doing what's right begrudgingly or with benevolence is night and day. The Talmud picks up on this and explains that the blessings a person acquires for doing an act with the proper attitude and a loving heart are exponential.

But leaving aside the blessings, the Torah is trying to ingrain in us that doing a mitzvah should never be seen as a burden, but as a privilege. That's why we always say a blessing before doing most mitzvot: to remind us it isn't a mundane act, but rather an opportunity to connect with the Eternal. That's the double blessing to which the Torah is referring. By doing a mitzvah with the proper attitude, we can receive both a blessing in this world and the opportunity to take a fleeting moment and transform it into a real soul experience that will be with us for eternity. What greater blessing could there be?

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