The Effect of A Mitzvah

You never know how far the effect of a Mitzvah can travel…

The month of Elul is a time for change. Steady improvements are good for Shovavim, but Elul leads us into the beginning of a yearly cycle. Elul is a time for complete spiritual transformation. Elul is the month where I have gotten rid of things that were damaging to the potential growth of my rukhnius.

One year, I used the time of Elul to plan on how I would get rid of many possessions that would be considered non-Kosher. This includes objects  which could be near the boundary of Avodah Zarah. I’ve also tried to limit the social media that I was exposing myself to since there’s an enormous amount of unideal content on social media. 

On Elul of a different year, I decided to replace my smartphone with a flip-phone.  I was planning to go to a store at the local Kosher supermarket which had a store. I tried to hitch a ride from the Yeshivah to the supermarket. I didn’t get a ride ’till much later than I had expected. 

When I finally  arrived at the supermarket, I was walking towards the store that sold flip-phones, and on the ground I saw a bluetooth earpiece. On it was a printed name and cell-phone number. The first person I called upon receiving the flip-hone was the owner of the earpiece. After the owner came to pick it up, their family invited me that week for Shabbos.

More than a year later, I went to their house for Shabbos again. This was in the zman where I was in the Parshah of Shidduchim, and because of the impression they had of me, they were [talking about me with their neighbor] who then had someone “in mind” for me.

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To this day, I am still benefiting from the rewards of these Mitzvoth I did many years ago.