Sunday, 4 October 2020

Mitzvot and good deeds: don't forget your underwear

We learn in Avot (2:1) of the importance of treating mitzvot alike on the basis that we do not know which commandments are important to God and which are less so -- if indeed the relative importance of any mitzvah is a valid concept at all. 

An allusion to this principle appears in the Ma'amar HaKavod of Rabbi Eliezer Papo (better known for his classic mussar work, Pele Yo'etz). He compares mitzvot and good deeds to one's clothes. To paraphrase his message, when we get dressed we take particular care over our outer garments -- but we are not properly dressed if we should neglect to put on our underwear first. We should remember that there is more to us than our mere external appearance and that many things that may seem trite or trivial are actually just as important, whether we regard them as such or not.