The small things count

By Rabbi Mendy Greenberg

One frequently voiced challenge to Judaism is its obsession with trivial details. Does G-d really care about the small things?

Nowhere is this preoccupation with details more pronounced than in the holiday of Passover, when we refrain from eating, deriving benefit from and even possessing Chometz (any grain mixed with water that was allowed to rise). In fact, if even one miniscule crumb falls into a huge pot of food, the entire mixture is not kosher! It is incredulous that one small crumb can make the difference between observing the Festival of Freedom properly or not! How is that freedom? It sounds so stifling and confining.

Indeed, most of the Torah is filled with G-dly commands that dictate to us how we should think, talk and act.

And here is the question — why would an omnipotent G-d be concerned with minutia, such as the minor details concerning the food we eat, the words we speak, etc.? Wouldn’t G-d get more out of the more spiritually glamorous experiences than with the minute details of our everyday lives? Doesn’t G-d care about the big things in life rather than some minor detail of a ritual?

In truth, the answer is, precisely because G-d is absolutely infinite, He can relate to anything without it affecting His greatness. Humans are limited. Simple people can handle small things and great people can relate to the big, sophisticated things, but not to the small.

G-d, by contrast, has no such limitations. The more trivial the action that we do for G-d, the more it demonstrates that G-d is truly infinite, before whom the most insignificant act can be endowed with cosmic importance.

If we need support for this premise, G-d has given us a powerful lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic. One microscopic virus from a remote part of the world has wreaked havoc on the entire world. This miniscule creation of G-d has captured the attention of all of humanity in unprecedented ways.

If there is a silver lining to this horrible, catastrophic pandemic, it is that each and every small, and apparently insignificant, action, word or even thought, counts, and it counts significantly.

One kind word can save the life of a person contemplating suicide, G-d forbid.

We can now understand why Chometz is so objectionable and even the tiniest crumb cannot be tolerated. Chometz represents an inflated ego. That inflated ego can be the root cause of so many conflicts, which can degenerate into something catastrophic. Frequently, it begins with but one person allowing his or her ego to inflate.

With this in mind, we can better appreciate Maimonides’ statement, based on the Talmud, that even one positive action can save the entire world.

To ensure the future of the world, the ultimate age of redemption, one does not have to necessarily perform some earth-shattering gesture. One minor act of kindness and goodness, one more Mezuzah on our doorposts, one more dollar to tzedakah, just one Shabbat observed, can be the one act that brings salvation and transforms the entire world.

The recognition that every mitzvah counts will usher in the future redemption through the coming of Moshiach.

Moreover, when we show our reverence for even one small mitzvah, we demonstrate that we are aware of the true infinite nature of G-d. Just as G-d is not limited by human standards, so too G-d is not limited by His greatness; He can relate to and appreciate the small things in life. That recognition itself is the beginning of the process of redemption when G-d’s true infinite nature will be fully revealed within our finite world.

Wishing you all a kosher and happy Passover.

Rabbi Greenberg serves at Chabad of Bonita Springs and Estero.