“Watch over the matzos”: Just as one must not sit by and
passively cause matzos to become chometz, so too one must
not sit by and cause mitzvos to ‘become chometz.’ Rather when a
mitzvah comes your way, do it immediately.
(Rashi on Shemos 12:17, quoting the Midrash)
How to Stop Pushing Off Avodah
Even the slightest procrastination puts a mitzvah at risk. The only way to safeguard the mitzvah is to do it immediately. But this needs explanation. In general, we push off a task because it’s difficult. So too in Avodas Hashem: we tend to push off the mitzvos we find challenging. We know from experience that deciding to do the mitzvah isn’t enough. As long as the difficulty remains, we’ll still push it off. So are Chazal’s instructions to do the mitzvah immediately an effective solution?
By comparing the leavening of matzos to the “leavening” of mitzvos, Chazal teach us a surprising insight. The danger of pushing off a mitzvah isn’t just that some external hindrance might arise in the meantime; pushing the mitzvah off is itself the danger. Just as delaying the baking causes matzah to become chometz, pushing off a mitzvah directly damages the mitzvah. But how?
We think of a challenging mitzvah as a distant destination we want to reach, and the difficulties we experience are just obstacles in the way. Doing the mitzvah immediately seems like a call to “just do it”: to use our muscles and push through all the obstacles, like an athlete leaping over hurdles.
But doing a difficult mitzvah is really like climbing a mountain. The only way to reach the top is to create a customized plan for this specific mountain, taking into account its unique challenges. Brains, not brawn, is the way to succeed. Instead of ignoring the difficulties, you must use them to guide you to the appropriate plan.
That’s how we have to approach a mitzvah. Getting pumped up and powering through the difficulties isn’t the way. The challenges aren’t just there to overcome; they guide us to our individual path in avodah. Engaging with the challenges, instead of leaping over them, spurs our personal development. We grow through the mitzvah, instead of just doing it.
Rather than frustrate us, the difficulties we encounter should make us think. Say, for instance, we can’t focus in Shemoneh Esrei. We have to consider whether our problem is concentrating in general, feeling that we’re talking to Hashem, or achieving mental calmness.
Creating a plan is the way to “do” even the most difficult mitzvah immediately. When Chazal say to do it immediately, they don’t mean to leap to the mountain peak. They mean to take the first step right away, and never stop progressing till you reach the top. A step-by-step plan is the way to do that.
Without a plan, the mitzvah is formidable, and we procrastinate. Even if we eventually muscle our way to the top, we miss out on the personal growth we could achieve by engaging with the challenges. That’s how procrastination turns the mitzvah into “chometz.”
This is Chazal’s solution to procrastination in Avodas Hashem. Once we have a step-by-step plan, the distance to our goal isn’t so daunting. It’s a journey of growth, not an obstacle course. We can start the journey with confidence, and grow until, with Hashem’s help, we finally reach the top.