The Gemara in Nedarim (40a) relates that R’ Akiva visited a sick student. While there, he swept and cleaned the floor. The student recovered and lived because of this. After that, R’ Akiva said, whoever does not visit the sick is as if he sheds blood.
So how does R’ Akiva define “bikur cholim,” visiting the sick? Rashi tells us, “Those who visit the sick attend to all their needs.” Yes, even mopping the floor. It’s not beneath you. It is a mitzvah, high above you, but well within your reach.
As a teenager, when R’ Zalman Sorotzkin visited the Chofetz Chaim, he could not bear to see the elderly sage making up the bed for his guest (young Zalman) and insisted on doing it himself.
The next morning, the Chofetz Chaim said to him, “Zalman, may I put on Tefillin on your behalf?” The point was clear, each mitzvah is precious and to be carried out on one’s own. No mitzvah is beneath one’s dignity.
Parshas Pekudei is replete with references to doing things as HaShem commanded. Every mitzvah is an opportunity to follow G-d’s will and to do - what only you can do.
