"The wise-hearted takes commandments": Small Acts and Eternal Reward

Samuel said to Rav Yehuda: Seize and eat, seize and drink, for the world we are leaving resembles a banquet. Today it exists and tomorrow it is gone. (Tractate Eruvin 54a and Rashi)

A person is invited to an event. A team of waiters stands ready to serve him and fulfill his requests. Now is his opportunity to eat and drink as much as he desires. But the day after the event, if he comes to the hall and asks for some food or drink, he will receive nothing. The celebration is over!

Our Sages said (Eruvin 22a): "Today to perform them and tomorrow to receive their reward," Today - this world. Tomorrow - the world to come. Here in this world, a person can, with little effort, merit Torah and mitzvot. While in the world to come, even if one were to give a fortune to merit answering "Amen" once, it would be impossible.

There is a story about two countries that fought each other for many years without resolution. One day, the king of one country announced that whoever could find a way to end this long and bloody war would be given the opportunity to enter the king's treasuries for five minutes and take whatever he could carry. Indeed, one day a man wisely found a way to end the war, to the delight of the king and all the people. As promised, a date was set for him to come to the king's palace and receive the great prize. As the designated day approached, the king struggled with how to fulfill his promise. On one hand, he was horrified by the fact that during the time this man would spend among his treasures, he could empty the entire treasury that his ancestors had collected and stored. On the other hand, if he did not keep his promise, there would be no greater disgrace. One of the advisors stood up and said: "My lord, I will give you advice on how you can keep your word yet cause no damage to your treasures. I know that this prize winner loves to listen to music. Therefore, on the designated day, place a concert with the world's best cantors and musicians at the entrance to the treasury, and there is no doubt that the sweet voices of the cantors will distract the man during the critical five minutes, and consequently he won't be able to take much." The king liked this idea. On the anticipated day, the man wore rich clothing and dressed his entire family similarly, even though he didn't have much money. He took everything on credit, ordered an elegant carriage to his home, and traveled with his family to the king's palace. Family members accompanied him to the entrance of the treasury and eagerly awaited the special moment when the door would open and he would emerge as a wealthy man. When the treasury door opened, the man was surprised to see a huge orchestra with the world's finest cantors. Such wonderful melodies, captivating heart and soul, a taste of the world to come! The man stopped, completely amazed by the songs, and thus the minutes passed. He suddenly came to his senses and said to himself: "Don't forget why you came here." But this rebuke didn't help much because at that moment more musical instruments joined in a heart-capturing song. The voice was so sweet and wonderful that when he remembered to get to his task, a strong hand gripped his neck and pulled him out. "Your time is up," an unknown voice informed him. "Go outside." Disappointed, depressed, and frustrated, the man outside awakened from his dream. All his life he would reprove himself for being misled by the sweetness of the music and forgetting his purpose and task, thereby missing a great opportunity to become very wealthy.

The moral is clear and understood: Our years in this world are considered like five minutes, and even less than that, compared to the eternal world, the world to come. And during life, the evil inclination plays sweet melodies in our ears and other means of distraction, and all kinds of temptations and vanities, just to divert a person from his main purpose in this world. Sometimes a person wakes up and remembers why he came here, but sometimes a person doesn't wake up at all from the wonderful melody through which the evil inclination succeeds in "putting him to sleep." A person should always and at every moment strive to awaken himself and be a "discerning and wise" person and gather Torah and mitzvot with great strength and power, because only in this world can one fulfill mitzvot.

Small Acts and Eternal Reward

The sister of the Vilna Gaon, together with her friend, would occasionally go from house to house collecting donations for orphans and widows. They made an agreement between themselves: the first one of them who would pass away and reach the world of truth would come to her friend in a dream and tell her what she sees there. The Gaon's sister passed away first. After several days, she came to her friend in a dream and told her: What happens in the world of truth - I cannot, and I have no permission to tell. However, I will tell you one thing: Do you remember that one day when we were going around collecting charity, I told you that we should go solicit a certain wealthy person, and I pointed my finger in the direction of his house? For that raising of a finger - you have no idea how great and immense my reward is. ("From the Beginning of Faith" p. 158)

And Rabbi David Luria told that when the holy soul of the Vilna Gaon departed for the heavenly academy, he held his tzitzit and cried, saying: How difficult it is to part from this world, the world of action, where through a simple mitzvah of tzitzit, a person merits endless reward in the world to come, to see the Divine Presence. And where can one find such a mitzvah in the world of souls?! (Branch of the Tree of the Fathers, p. 298)