Why Do We Do Mitzvot? The Kedushat Levi on Pure Intentions

“You shall surely return the pledge to him when the sun sets, so that he may sleep in his garment and bless you; and it shall be considered righteousness for you before the Lord your God.” (Deuteronomy 24:13)

When a person returns a pledge to a poor person, the recipient will undoubtedly bless him and thank him. This could lead a person to perform the mitzvah for the wrong reason: in order to receive the poor person’s blessings and gratitude.

The verse therefore warns us: Do not perform the mitzvah with the intention of receiving a blessing from the poor person.

As the Kedushat Levi explains:

“‘And he will bless you, and it shall be considered righteousness for you before the Lord your God’ (Deuteronomy 24:13). See Rashi’s commentary. It appears that this may be explained as follows: When a person returns the pledge to the poor person, the poor person will certainly bless him. It is therefore possible that he might do this in order for the poor person to bless him. The verse therefore teaches that he should not act with this intention, but rather should do it for the sake of Hashem and not expect the poor person’s blessing because of it.”

Doing a Mitzvah for the Sake of Hashem

The Kedushat Levi thus interprets the verse: “And it shall be considered righteousness for you”: You are the one performing this act of righteousness.

“Before the Lord your God”: But it is truly a mitzvah when you perform it for the sake of Heaven, because Hashem commanded you to do so, and not in order to receive blessings from the poor person.

Mitzvot should be performed with pure intentions: to fulfill the will of Hashem, rather than to receive gratitude, recognition, or blessings from others.

As the Kedushat Levi writes: “This is the allusion in the words, ‘And it shall be considered righteousness for you’: You perform this act of righteousness when you perform the mitzvah. ‘Before the Lord your God’ means that you perform the mitzvah solely because of the command of the blessed Creator, and not because of the poor person’s blessing.”