Fixed Times

11 Shevat 5782

“They shall gather each day’s allotment on its day” (Shemos 16:5)

“Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai was asked by his disciples: Why did not the manna come down for Israel once a year?

He replied: I shall give a parable. This may be compared to a king of flesh and blood who had an only son, whom he provided with sustenance once a year, so that he would visit his father once a year only. Thereupon he provided for his sustenance every day, so that he called on him every day.” (Talmud, Yoma 76a)

“For the commandment ‘I am G-d’ contains all the 248 positive precepts, while the commandment ‘You shall have no other gods’ contains all the 365 prohibitive commandments.” (Lessons in Tanya, Likutei Amarim, beginning of Chapter 20)

Similarly, we too see the power of daily engagement with Hashem in our lives. Indeed, Rava in Shabbat 31a teaches that one of the first questions a person is asked when he is brought in for judgement in heaven is “Did you establish fixed times for Torah study?” It is also taught that giving tzedakah in smaller, daily increments supersedes even giving a larger amount all at once, as it says, “Everything is [judged] according to the multiplicity of action” (Avot 3:15).

One can only fathom the greatness and simultaneous unity of Hashem–how all mitzvahs, written and rabbinical, can derive from two simple concepts, ‘I am G-d’ and ‘You shall have no other gods,’–in small portions. Similarly, we can only bind ourselves to Hashem through regular, daily mitzvahs, not through extraordinary one-time efforts. Hashem is simply too great as that we could make His will ours all at once. We need to slowly win over our nature, and pull His daat (knowledge) into our’s one day at a time.

“Thus will I sing the praise of Your Name forever, as I fulfill my vows each day.” (Tehillim 61:9)

When you have made a commitment to Hashem, you must never back down. It is like a vow that you must now carry out, with no room for compromise. Hashem has already given you partial reward, simply for your commitment to do, without doing anything yet. Because of this, you are indebted to Him, to “an eye that sees, an ear that hears, and a book into which all deeds are written” (Avot 2:1). You now have no choice but to fulfill your obligation, day after day, until you are ready to add another mitzvah, which you must then keep with the same unrelenting precision as those you added before.