וְהִזַּרְ תֶּם אֶת בְּנֵי יִשְׂ רָ אֵל מִ טֻּמְ אָתָם וגו' אֶת מִ שְׁ כָּנִי אֲשֶׁר בְּתוֹכָם (טו, לא)
And you shall separate the children of Yisroel from their impurity, and that they will not die from their impurity... (16:31)
Sefer Zerah Kodesh explains the words “v’hizartem es bnei Yisroel” as follows:
A Jew may think that the fact that he doesn’t learn all day is an aveirah. Although he recited Kriyas Shema in the morning and at night, and he fulfilled his minimal obligation of Torah study, he is still pained by the fact that he can’t learn all day. The same applies in many other ways. If a Jew does a mitzvah, but believes he could do it better, he considers this to be an aveirah. For this alone, he deserves a wreath (“zeir”) and a crown.
