Today in my meditation, the following question came to me: What is the purpose of mitzvot?
There are infinite answers. All of them correct.
In preparing to write this post, I mentally scanned my learning for a few:
Reasons that candidly, do not resonate with me: We do mitzvot to earn merits in this world and the world to come. We do mitzvot to tip the scales of mitzvot v. aveira (sin) in our favor. We do an easy mitzvot because it is "easy" and that will lead us to doing "harder" mitzvot.
Reasons that about which I feel neutral: We do mitzvot as a sign of obedience to H'. We do mitzvot because even if we don't understand them, G-d knows what is best for us and has set objectively "good" or "pure" things in this world and objectively "bad" or "impure" things.
Reasons that do resonate with me: We do mitzvot because we should take every single opportunity possible to connect with H'. We do mitzvot because the purpose of this life is not material pleasure and gain, it is spiritual pleasure and gain (which are directly caused by the performance of a mitzvah).
A new, somewhat amorphous reason came to me during my meditation today which is that we do mitzvot in order to purify the body and manifest the soul. G-d sent us down to this world with a soul that came pure and unadulterated and will always remain that way. I am certainly not saying that immoral deeds, negative thoughts, actions, and emotions, and outright aveirot tarnish something - I just am not sure, or perhaps would not like to think, that they impact our soul. I would like to believe that no matter what happens, our soul came to us perfect, remains perfect during this iteration of our existence, and returns to H' perfect once that iteration is complete.
The purpose of mitzvot, therefore, is to remind us of that perfection (and strengthen our relationship with the Source and Maker of all souls, G-d, of course). I was running through an extremely brief list of sample mitzvot - ranging from kashrut and shatnez honoring one's parents and not committing murder and, for me, the paradigm of observing the mitzvot in an effort to maintain and remember the soul's perfection in this earthly, sometimes impure existence, just makes sense.
How will I apply this practically? Earlier today, when I was laying tefillin, I was thinking about my soul's intricate beauty and precision and how this is manifested in the tefillin. I touched the arm tefillin to my heart and felt something buzz. I checked the knot on the back of my head and the placement of the head tefillin and felt that similar buzz. When I eat, I think about how this food and drink will have a direct impact on my soul's outward appearance in this world and the degree to which it will appear. And when I observe a negative commandment, I will remember that G-d, through the soul which H' has given me, wants me to try so hard, even though H' knows it will be difficult, to maintain a connection and live a life positive actions, thoughts, and emotions.
Of course, I know that this is not the beginning and end to my meditation on this fundamental question - perhaps one of the most fundamental of our lives. But it's a start.
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