Sometimes though not only mundane things need to be more salted and peppered, inherently holy things need to be as well. For as Ramchal puts it, “the more we do to motivate ourselves to draw close to G-d”, be it holy or mundane, “the more help we’ll get from Him to do that”.

That’s why our sages enjoined us to recite a blessing before we perform various mitzvot. The blessing reads, “Blessed are You, G-d our L-rd, King of the universe, Who has sanctified us through His mitzvot, and commanded us to (do thus and such). ”

Saying that has the mitzvah we’re about to perform stand out in our minds and adds heft to it. After all, we cite G-d’s name first thing in the blessing and thus remind ourselves Whom we’re serving through the mitzvah. And we also concentrate on thanking G-d for singling us out as His emissaries in this world, and for enabling us to better our spiritual standing.

Text Copyright © 2005 by Rabbi Yaakov Feldman and Torah.org.