Have you ever thought about what happens when we do a mitzvah? On the most basic level we fulfill the will of Hashem and are credited with reward for it that primarily awaits us in Olam HaBa, the afterlife of the World to Come.
Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzato in his famous work, Derech Hashem, tells us that every mitzvah has a powerful effect on us. (Excerpts from Derech Hashem- The Way of G-d, Feldheim Publishers)
The purpose of each commandment is either to allow man to earn and incorporate in himself a particular level of true excellence, or to remove an area of deficiency and darkness. This is accomplished through doing what the commandments require and avoiding what they forbid. (Section 1, Chapter 4, paragraph 5, P. 67)
Every state in which an individual exists […] is a result of either the presence or absence of G-d’s light […]. The Highest Wisdom decreed that every act of observing G-d’s commandments should bring a person closer to G-d to a particular determined decree. The individual then attains a degree of G-d’s Light corresponding to this degree of closeness and this in turn causes a degree of perfection resulting from that enlightenment to become an integral part of him. (Section 1, Chapter 4, paragraph 5, P. 71)
The purpose of all this is, "to become close to G-d and enjoy his good" (Section 1, Chapter 4, paragraph 5, P. 64).
A comment of Ohr HaChaim on this week’s parsha sheds further light on this question.
דַּבְּרוּ אֶל־כׇּל־עֲדַת יִשְׂרָאֵל לֵאמֹר בֶּעָשֹׂר לַחֹדֶשׁ הַזֶּה וְיִקְחוּ לָהֶם אִישׁ שֶׂה לְבֵית־אָבֹת שֶׂה לַבָּיִת׃
Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month they shall take for themselves, each one of them, a lamb/goat to a family, a lamb/goat to a household [for the Korban Pesach, the Paschal Sacrifice]. (12:3)
Ohr HaChaim asks why the Torah needs to state, "וְיִקְחוּ לָהֶם אִישׁ, they shall take for themselves, each one of them". It would suffice to state, "they shall take a lamb/goat etc." He answers that the Korban Pesach was the first active mitzvah given to the Jewish people to perform. Hashem wanted to allude to them the amazing nature of every Mitzvah.
The word אִישׁ (pronounced ish) cited in the above verse means man. But the Talmud (Sotah 42b) states that this word can also refer to Hashem as we find in Shemot 15:3: ד’ אִישׁ מִלְחָמָה , Hashem is a man (Ish) of war.
The three words above, וְיִקְחוּ לָהֶם אִישׁ, can be read as ”They will take Ish". Based on the Talmud that the word Ish can refer to Hashem, these words are meant to convey that when the Jewish people take the animal for the Korban Pesach, that they will take Hashem with it! For every time we do a mitzvah, writes Ohr Hachaim, the Shechina, the Divine Presence, rests upon us.
Hashem’s message to the Jews who were about to perform their first Mitzvah and to Jews of every generation was that when you do a mitzvah you are taking and attaining something great and awesome. You are taking Ish; you are taking Hashem!
Shabbat Shalom!
Yitzchak