All the Punishments of Gehinom Are Worth the Reward of One Mitzvah
But What Will Happen to the Aveiros?
When we speak of the greatness of these eternal things, a person can make the cheshbon and ask: If the mitzvos are indeed so precious, then the aveiros that I did are terrible! I can’t think about the greatness of these mitzvos, because then I must also think about the other side; the damage that I have wrought through my aveiros. And this isn’t so pleasant anymore... I don’t want to think in this direction.
Furthermore, a person may say, all things considered, I am at a deficit; the aveiros I have done far outweigh the mitzvos I have accumulated. What he’s saying is that if the entire purpose in the nisyonos is for us to earn an eternal reward... it should be “bread of embarrassment (when we would get something as a free gift)”—then I have failed. Sadly, I do more damage than good.
People tend to generalize about this, and they will bring the entire program into question: The whole concept of Hashem choosing us and rewarding us through our nisyonos is a failure... because people fail at it. What about the aveiros, they say.
The Reward of Positive Mitzvos Is Indescribable
The answer to this challenge can be found in an incredible yesod from the Sefer Charedim. In the introduction, he asks, why it is that regarding the תעִשה לְאָ מְצוות, the negative commandments, the punishment is written explicitly for each one, while for the עִשה מְצוות, the positive commandments, the individual reward for each one is not enumerated. Furthermore, neither is the punishment for neglecting a positive commandment written out, as Chazal (Avos 2:1) tell us מְתן יודעִ אָתה שאָין מְצוות שלְ שכרֵן, for you don’t know the reward of the mitzvos. Why, indeed, is it this way?
Explains the Charedim, when a person, chas v’shalom, transgresses a לְאָ תעִשה, he must indeed endure punishment—because these aveiros must be erased. But there is an end to the punishment and to the aveirah. However, if one has fulfilled even one mitzvah, it remains forever and ever, with an eternal reward!
For this reason, he explains, the punishment for תעִשה לְאָ מְצוות are explicitly told to us—because their only purpose is to cleanse the person from the aveirah, and they have an ending. However, the reward for positive mitzvos cannot be written, because they’re never-ending. There are no words that can describe the reward! Similarly, the punishment for neglecting a positive mitzvah cannot be written out, because this alone is the punishment: losing out on the incredible reward and eternal good.
The Neshamah Is Prepared to Endure All Punishment Rather Than Lose the Reward of One Mitzvah
The Charedim is teaching an incredible idea. Suppose a person comes up to the Next World, and he is faced with a heavy load of תעִשה לְאָ transgressions, Hashem yerachem—all of which must now be addressed through bitter punishments that will erase them. On the other hand, he possesses one solitary mitzvas asei for which he will reap the reward.
If we will come to this person and propose a “plea bargain” in which he will not be punished for any of his aveiros—but he must give up the reward for the single mitzvah that is coming to him. Will he take it?
Says the Charedim, the neshamah will never agree to such a thing. It would never agree to forgo the reward of even one mitzvah even though it means being spared much punishment. The neshamah would prefer to endure all the purifications of the punishments only to be able to reap the reward for the mitzvah afterward.
Why is this so? The reason for this is that in the Olam HaEmes, the World of Truth, the neshamah sees the picture clearly. We are no longer confined to the smallness of This World, and there, in the Next World, we can properly appreciate the true worth of every mitzvah!
