The Six Constant Mitzvot

[muman613]

The Chofetz Chaim enumerated six mitzvot which a Jew should be doing at all times.

1. To believe that there is one G-d in existence Who made to exist everything which exists. Everything which exists now, or existed in the past or will exist in the future forever is His will and exists because He wants it. And, He brought us out of Egypt and gave the Torah to us. And this is an active commandment, as the Torah says, "I am the L-rd your G-d Who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery." The meaning of this is, "You must know and you must believe that there is a G-d of the universe Who supervises, just as He took you out of Egypt."

2. We are to never believe in any other god beside Him, as the Torah says, "You will not have any other gods besides Me." Even if one acknowledges that the Holy One blessed be He is the ruler over everything, except he will imagine in his mind that He turned over the management of the universe to an angel or a star, this is succumbing to idolatry and violates "You will have not have any other gods besides Me." Instead, each person must believe that the Holy One blessed be He by Himself and by His own honor supervises everything in existence everywhere and that everything else is a creation which has absolutely no power to do anything without His will. Therefore, the Holy One blessed be He is called the "G-d of gods."

3. To attribute oneness to Him, as the Torah says, "Hear, Israel, the L-rd is G-d, the L-rd is one." The meaning of this is that," Hear, Israel, and know that it is Hashem Who caused everything in existence to be. He did this with His will and He is our G-d Who supervises everything everywhere in existence. He is One G-d without any partners.

4. To love the Omnipresent, may He be blessed, as the Torah writes, "And you will love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart...". And how will a person come to achieve this love? Through Torah. And the Sifri (Midrash) brings [the question] that with [the Torah's] saying, "And you will love...", I would not know how to love the Omnipresent." Therefore the Torah continues by saying, "And you shall put onto your heart these things which I command you today." Through this, you will recognize He Who spoke and the universe came into being. This means to say, that through contemplation in Torah, a person will recognize the greatness of the Holy One blessed be He. There is no way to appraise Him. He has no end. [Considering, understanding this] causes love to dwell automatically in a person's heart. And the point of the mitzva is that a person will see that he direct all of his aim and all of his thinking after love of Hashem, may He be blessed. And he will cause his heart realize that everything that there is in the universe, whether wealth or children or honor, is all the equivalent of nothing in comparison to the love of G-d, may He be blessed. A person must always exert himself in seeking the wisdom of the Torah in order to grasp knowledge of Hashem. The person who ensconces his thinking in materialistic matters and worldly futilities, not being for the sake of Heaven, but rather to please himself and attain honor, nullifies this active commandment, and his punishment is huge.

5. To have fear of Hashem, may He be blessed, before oneself in order to remain free of sin. On this the Torah says, "Fear the L-rd your G-d." When a sinful thing will come to a person, he is obligated to awaken his spirit and to put into his heart in that situation that the Holy One blessed be He is the Supervisor of all deeds of every human being. Even if [the sinful] deeds will be in the dark, Hashem will respond to them punishing vengefully in accordance with how evil the deed is. The prophet says, "'If a person will hide in the most hidden place, will I not see?' says Hashem."

6. Not to stray after the impulses of the heart. The substantiation for this is the Torah verse, "And do not go straying after your hearts and after your eyes." Our Talmudic sages said, "'After your hearts' means heretical ideologies, and 'after your eyes' means sexual improprieties." In the reference to "heretical ideologies" is included every concept foreign to, or the opposite of, Torah instruction. In the reference to "sexual improprieties" is anyone who chases after any worldly desires [money, honor, food, self-indulgence of any kind, power, etc.], when [the desire is] without any good intention. This means to say that a person may not follow such desires except where they produce good health and enable the person to strive in service the person's Creator. [The sinful violation in when the person] intends only continuous indulgence of great worldly delights for his spirit.


http://www.shemayisrael.com/rabbiforsythe/personalgrowth/sixmitzvos.htm