BackEverything Matters
By: Rabbi Dr. Abraham Unger
It’s often the little things – the small cues – that indicate a person’s character. There is usually no smoking gun that suddenly illuminates who a person really is. Getting to know people takes time. Consistency in daily human interactions forms a cumulative moral portrait.
Judaism offers a core guiding principle to discern the strength or weakness of a person’s integrity. Does he or she pay attention to the seemingly minor moments that flow through our day? Do we sanctify the mundane as much as the big events in which we participate? This week’s Torah portion advises that we not “tread” inattentively over the lighter commandments that don’t seem as powerful as acts that obviously carry major weight. For example, delivering a eulogy is a “Mitzvah Gedolah,” a great commandment. That clearly honors the deceased and is a public moment of love and respect. But what about saying a prayer to oneself over an apple? No one may hear it at all, and it is nothing but an utterance between a person and G-d.
The Torah teaches that those few seconds of a low-voiced blessing require as much intentionality as a eulogy or another more clearly grander mitzvah. Rashi teaches that all of these moments in total are precious to G-d. We are not just seen for our biggest gestures. We are recognized for the fullness of our character. Remembering our bounty by voicing thanks for an apple says something about who we are, and those are the moments that really count in representing our truest selves.