לקיים המצוות בתיקון
To keep the mitzvos properly
וְאִם תֵּלְכוּ עִמִי קֶרִי וְלֹא תֹאבוּ לִשְמֹעַ לִי וְיָסַפְתִי עֲלֵּיכֶם מַכָה שֶבַע כְחַטֹאתֵּיכֶם: (כו :כא)
If you behave casually with Me and refuse to listen to Me, then I shall lay a further blow upon you, seven like your sins. (26:21)
Rashi explains: If you behave casually with Me – Our Rabbis said that קרי means casually, by chance, a thing that only happens sometimes. So will you behave casually about the mitzvos.
Based on Rashi’s words, the Torah intends to inform us that even Hashem becomes angry with those who keep the mitzvos intermittently, and they only fulfill their obligation sometimes. For even though he is deserving to receive reward for his mitzvos, still, he is also deserving to be punished for the times he was flippant about them and did not keep them.
However, there is also room to explain that wrath does not emerge for the skipping, even though the person is destined to also be punished for it, the punishment mentioned here is because of the lack of appreciation for the Creator and His avodah, this is what caused the skipping, and this is also the cause that when he approaches the mitzvos and also leaves them, he keeps the mitzvos in a happenstance manner, by chance, without fear and love.
These words are precisely in the language of the Torah, it does not say 'אם תלכו עמי בדילוג' – ‘If you behave by skipping with Me’, for then it would be obvious that the wrath is coming because of the ‘skipping’. Rather, 'אם תלכו עמי קרי' – ‘If you behave casually with Me’, the main anger mentioned here is for a lack of appreciation for the mitzvos and the One Who commanded them, with the result that the mitzvos are kept casually, by chance.
This states that a person can learn and teach, daven and do mitzvos, and still, he chas v’shalom brings upon himself a curse and not a bracha. Why? Because the learning and mitzvos are in a way that shows a lack of appreciation.
This is the answer for those who suffer from pain and aggravation from Heaven, and they wonder among themselves why there is this great anger against them? Are they careful with the lenient like the stringent? However, they must know that even if they keep all the mitzvos, if it is in a way that is obvious that they are not keeping them with the true worth of the mitzvos, that is, they just keep them as an obligation like one repaying a debt, this is enough of a reason for anger and wrath to happen to them, Rachmana litzlan.
As an example of this, we will mention what is ruled as halacha in Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 191:3), that ‘it is prohibited to do work while saying a bracha’. The reason for this is brought down in the Mishnah Berurah (seif katan 5), ‘because it appears like you are making a bracha casually, by chance’. He adds, ‘even to do something easy, you are not allowed to do, needless to say, one should not be involved in something that requires attention’. He brings down in the name of the Taz that ‘one should be careful to not even look into words of Torah when one recites Bircas HaMazon, because this demonstrates that to him Bircas HaMazon is just casual and happenstance.’ He adds, ‘Not just Bircas HaMazon, the same applies when one is involved in Tefillah or while reciting another bracha, and this is included in the teaching of our Torah: 'ואם תלכו עמי קרי' – ‘If you behave casually with Me’ – that is, that the mitzvos should not be casual and happenstance to us.’
If we would think for a moment, perhaps all this is just by the mitzvos of the Torah, the Mishnah Berurah returns and point out in Shaar Tzion (Siman 183 os 41), that even those mitzvos which are just Rabbinical, it is prohibited to be involved in anything else while doing them, for by doing that one loses the entire mitzvah, when one is involved in other things when doing the mitzvah.
Therefore, we must accept upon ourselves to be very careful with all the mitzvos, not to do them casually, by chance, and not to be involved in anything else while doing them, especially during Tefillah and Kryas HaTorah when it is prohibited to even learn (see Shulchan Aruch Orach Chaim 146:2). Certainly, one should not talk during Tefillah or Kriyas HaTorah or during Kaddish, for this interruption (there 124:7) if one talks – he sins, and his sin is too great to bear, and they scold him.
I remember that HaGaon HaTzaddik Rebbe Binyamin Rabinovitch was very careful with this, and he especially saw this when he recited the bracha of ‘Asher Yatzar’, that he was not involved in anything else, not even drying his hands, rather he stood in a corner, and with awe and fear and holy emotion, he recited the bracha calmly and with much concentration.
Since we are discussing the obligation of doing this avodah with ‘koved rosh’ [seriousness], it is appropriate to warn how the yetzer connives from the other side of the coin, that is, sometimes it sees a boy or a young man who is on a little higher level and does his avodah to the Creator seriously, and he knows that he will not be tempted to listen to it to daven quickly and without warmth. It changes its skin and presents itself as the ‘yetzer tov’ and tempts him to add more kavanah and telling him that this is the right way from G-d. because He mainly wants kavanah. To do this, he must daven even slower, and slower means ‘b’yechidus’ [by himself, without a minyan], then without question this will bring more satisfaction to his Maker.
In a case like this, the person has to pick between shades, that is, between the true yetzer tov and the yetzer tov trying to trap him. The person knows that there is no greater satisfaction to the Creator than keeping the ‘Shulchan Aruch’, and it is ruled there that it is incumbent on the person to daven with the tzibbur [a minyan]. We see this in the Gemara (Rosh Hashanah 18a) that Tefillah with a minyan is received more than from an individual. If so, even if to a human it seems that slower Tefillah has more value, we must know that the opposite is correct.
True, there is no doubt that slow Tefillah with kavanah has great virtue, but, for this purpose, the one who wants this must come to shul early before the time to daven and start davening early. So that when the tzibbur reaches ‘Shemonah Esrei’, he will be counted with them, but so log as he has not done this, it is incumbent on him to daven with the tzibbur, even if this will have a small effect on his kavanah.
The same applies to anything the person does with the intent of doing it for the sake of Hashem, it is incumbent on him to first consider if there scheming of the yetzer mixed in with what he wants. If the situation that he wants to do does not bring him to lose an obligatory mitzvah, or if his will and action does not cause distress or pain to another. But if after considering it turns out that what he wants will result in undesirable results, he should know that he must negate his will because of the will of his Maker, and this will be his praise.
