Even as a young child, Rav Chaim of Sanz, zt”l, was renowned for his love of Torah and Mitzvos. Once, an adult saw little Chaim murmuring to himself with great seriousness, and he asked him why he was talking to himself.
The young boy smiled. He said, “I’m reviewing the 613 Mitzvos of the Torah. I want to know them by heart.”
The man responded, “Wouldn’t your time be better spent studying Chumash or Mishnayos?”
Chaim replied, “Let me explain. One day, I happened to overhear a conversation between two of the Czar’s soldiers. One soldier asked his comrade, ‘Do you remember what our commander instructed us to do during the military mission we’ll be carrying out tomorrow?’
The second soldier answered, ‘Of course. Every evening, I review the commander’s orders. A good soldier must know all the military commands by heart. Even if one soldier doesn’t bother reviewing and makes a mistake on the battlefield, he causes all the soldiers to lose the battle!’”
Young Chaim continued, “When I heard that conversation, I thought to myself that we Yidden are soldiers in the army of Hashem! Our ‘military commands’ are the Mitzvos, and I very much want to be a good soldier in Hashem’s army. That’s why I constantly review the Mitzvos!”
Reprinted from the Parshas Naso 5781 email of Rabbi Yehuda Winzelberg’s Torah U’ Tefilah.
