Little Things

Someone told me something once. He was moving out. That's because he and his girlfriend had been living in the same small room, paying rent for just one person, and when he had moved in, he had said it was just him and she was going to be living somewhere else. With her parents, they said. So after a while, the third (or fourth) roommate and I asked if she would kindly help pay for the utilities. We would split it four ways. She declined in the form of a long email detailing why she should not be required to pay $40 for utilities because it was unfair, due to the fact that she was just out of High School, was only working part-time, and her mother made her pay rent to store things at her house. She tried to leave without paying. I confronted her, and she screamed at me, calling me names. But her mom was there, and she handed me $40 for the utilities.

The point is, the guy told me, when he was moving out, that he didn't feel good about living with me anyway. I asked why. He said because of "a lot of little things."

And that's the way it always is, isn't it? Things don't break off because of one big thing, usually. Sometimes they do. It makes for a more dramatic plot. But usually it's the little things that add up, and create the whole situation. And those little things can be good or bad. That determines the nature of the outcome.

And it occurs to me that that is what the Mitzvoth are. They are little things (and sometimes big things) that we can do or not do, which eventually add up to a life well lived, if we take them to heart. Doing them is not just a commandment, but a choice that we make, and a commitment, to live life always in the best possible way.