Rabbi Chaim Vital was one of the main disciples of the Holy Ari (often referred to as the Arizal, the foremost Kabbalist of recent times who lived some 400 years ago). In his book Sha'ar HaGilgulim he recorded a remarkable teaching he heard from his great teacher, the Ari Hakadosh.

"I once asked my teacher how he could say that my soul was so exalted ... After all, even the least significant person of earlier generations was a righteous and pious individual whose level I cannot reach. He told me: 'You should know that a very small deed in this generation is equivalent to many great mitzvot in other generations. For in these generations, the forces of impurity are overwhelmingly powerful without limit, unlike in earlier generations.'"

If that was the case 400 years ago, then imagine how much more this applies to our own generation...

Every mitzvah that a person in our generation manages to fulfill is tremendously important and precious, due to the sometimes overwhelming difficulties and challenges we face, living in a world where the concept of holiness is ridiculed.

***

Around 100 years ago, a certain yeshiva student decided to make the long and difficult journey to one of the preeminent sages of the generation, the Chofetz Chaim, in order to receive his blessing. The student left his yeshiva in Lithuania and boarded a train to the Polish town of Radin, where the Chofetz Chaim lived. On the train, he met a distinguished-looking young man who asked about the student's destination, and when he heard where he was headed, the man told him, "I am also on my way to Radin."

During their journey, they conversed and the yeshiva student discovered that the man he was speaking with was Rabbi Tzvi Levinson, the Chofetz Chaim's son-in-law. He asked Rabbi Levinson to help him get an audience with the Chofetz Chaim and the rabbi agreed. Since it was already late at night when the train reached their destination, Rabbi Levinson invited the student to his home for a warm meal and to spend the night there, and the student happily agreed.

When they arrived at Rabbi Levinson's home, the student, tired from the long journey and chilled through from the intense cold, got into bed to warm himself under the blanket. Suddenly, he remembered that he had not yet prayed the evening prayer. After debating with himself for some moments, he decided to "just warm up a little bit" under the blanket before leaving the bed to pray. But the student's exhaustion overcame him and he fell into a deep sleep until morning. When Rabbi Tzvi Levinson woke him up for the morning prayer, he completely forgot about the evening prayer he had missed the night before.

After the morning prayer, the two had breakfast, and then Rabbi Tzvi Levinson took the yeshiva student to his father-in-law, the Chofetz Chaim. Before the yeshiva student could say a word, the Chofetz Chaim started speaking.

"In the old days, when there was great economic prosperity in Russia, if someone dropped a silver coin they wouldn't bother to pick it up. These days, with the economic situation being what it is, if a person drops even a copper penny he searches on the ground to retrieve it. Today, even such a small coin is considered very valuable."

The student was puzzled, wondering why the holy Chofetz Chaim was telling him such a story. The Chofetz Chaim continued:

"When the Jewish People dwelled in the Land of Israel, in the days when the Temple still stood, with the Priests performing their service, and the Levites and Israelites theirs, the world was rich in mitzvot; the Upper World was prosperous. During such times, perhaps the evening prayer of a certain young man wasn't of such great significance. But in our days, when darkness covers the earth and the number of Torah and mitzvah observers is so small, the world is spiritually impoverished and the Upper World is experiencing such scarcity that even a single prayer of a young man is of great significance and in Heaven, they don't  want to miss out on it..."

It was then that the yeshiva student remembered his forgotten prayer of the night before, and understood the words the Chofetz Chaim had spoken with divine inspiration...

***

In the Talmud (Kiddushin 1:10), the Sages state: "Whoever performs one mitzvah is treated well, his days are lengthened, and he inherits the land." Rashi, the great medieval commentator, explains: "'His days are lengthened' – in this world, 'and he inherits the land' – in the World to Come."

In his commentary on the Mishnah, Rambam (Maimonides) writes: "Among the foundations of faith in the Torah is that if a person fulfills one of the 613 mitzvot properly and appropriately, without any wish for material gain but rather out of love [for Hashem], he merits the World to Come through it. Therefore, Rabbi Chananya said that because of the multitude of mitzvot, it is impossible for a person not to perform at least one of them perfectly at some point in his life, via which his soul will achieve eternal life."