When Serving G-d Goes Wrong - R. Eliyahu Maksumov - TorahAnytime.com

For a mitzvah, to have kedusha, it has to be commanded. It has to have what's called a tzivui. That's why if you look at the word mitzvah, the shoresh of the word mitzvah is tzav. What does tzav mean? Commandment. What makes a mitzvah a mitzvah is that it's commanded by Hashem. That's why what's the next word after asher kideshanu bemitzvosav? Vetzivanu. In order for it to be a mitzvah, it has to be vetzivanu. It has to be commanded by you, Hashem. Once you command it to me, once it's vetzivanu, then all of a sudden it's a mitzvah. And then it becomes kideshanu. So it's going in an order. I want holiness. What do I need to do to get holiness? Asher kideshanu. I want holiness. You want kedusha? Bmitzvosav, through the mitzvos. But the mitzvah itself is not a mitzvah unless it's vetzivanu, unless it's commanded by Hashem. Once it's commanded by Hashem, then it has kedusha. Without a commandment from God, you have no kedusha. Because you just decided to freelance. You had a good idea, and you decided to make it into a mitzvah. But who said this is what Hashem wants? Who said this is what God wants? Because you had a good idea decide this is you decide this is what God wants? Prove it. Where's your source? Where's the tradition? I want to see the mesorah. I want to see how it dates back to Harsidai. If you could prove that it goes back to Hashem, then it's a mitzvah. And if it's a mitzvah, then it for sure has intrinsic value, then it has intrinsic kedusha, it has holiness. But if it's not commanded by God, but it was your old school of thought. It was your own head. It was made in the factory of the mind. In the factory of your mind. Did you create this concept? Then it has no kedusha. Cuz you know why? God didn't command it. You know who commanded it? You commanded it to yourself. You commanded it to yourself, then it has no kedusha. And so, asher kideshanu bemitzvosav vetzivanu. When the mitzvah vetzivanu is commanded to us, then do you have kideshanu? Take away the vetzivanu, then you take away the kideshanu. Once you take away the kideshanu, even though you're doing something that sounds lofty, and it sounds holy, and it sounds religious, and it sounds, you know, all very lofty, very spiritual, but since it's not sanctioned, and since it's your own, it's your own idea, it's your own recipe, there's no kedusha. And when you do do things that you're own that don't have kedusha, it's bound to get derailed, and eventually it'll lead you on the wrong path. Because Hashem never commanded it. Hashem only commands things that are good for you. And things that you come up on your on your own that God didn't command you, you decided on your own this is what has to be done, and you didn't inquire, you didn't go find out from a rabbi, you didn't open up halacha, you didn't go and find out if this is really what Hashem wants, and you decided this is how the right way to serve God, then unfortunately many times this type of people who make up their own laws, they end up in the wrong path. And it leads them to unfortunately to do things that are considered foreign in our religion.