Grab a mitzvah

The Torah is called a “tree of life for those who grasp it” (Mishlei 3:18). The way to grab onto a tree is to take hold of one its branches; in so doing, one has attached himself to the entire tree of which this branch is a part. So it is, explains Sefer Chareidim (ch. 61), with Torah. The way to attach oneself to the 613 mitzvos is by fulfilling one particular mitzvah with exacting precision and total dedication. Dedication and attachment to a single commandment will cause one’s soul to become united with Hashem and His Torah and will lead to the proper fulfillment of other mitzvos as well. Thus do we find, “Rav Nachman said: I will be rewarded [in the World to Come] for having [zealously] fulfilled [the mitzvah] to eat three meals on Shabbos. Rav Sheishes said: I will be rewarded for having [zealously] fulfilled the mitzvah of tefillin” (Shabbos 118b). The Talmud goes on to cite similar statements of other Sages and offers illustrations of how meticulously each sage fulfilled the mitzvah of which he spoke. Sefer Chareidim also cites Talmud Yerushalmi which states that fulfillment of a given mitzvah with total dedication and precision is a catalyst for earning the great reward of the World to Come.
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