"Awake at the Wheel": Mindfulness in Our Service of God

(37) Wholeheartedness - that service before the blessed G-d be with purity of motive, namely, for the sake of His service alone and not for any other motive.

(38) This also includes that one be wholeheartedly devoted in his service, and not like one "wavering between two sides" (Kings 18:21), or like one doing out of habitual rote. Rather, that his whole heart be devoted to this.

(13) My Lord said: Because that people has approached [Me] with its mouth And honored Me with its lips, But has kept its heart far from Me, And its worship of Me has been A commandment of men, learned by rote—

And their service of me has been instructed by their teachers and parents, who accustomed them to pray in their youth,and it has remained a service of rote.

The people feel that by presenting the commandments as being beyond human comprehension that they are honoring God, in that they are saying His word is too great for the human intellect to fathom. In reality, though, they are doing a great disservice, in that their presentation of the commandments as such leads people to perform the commandments by rote, without having any real understanding of what they are doing. Moreover, it can lead people to do the commandments in such a habitual way that they will even forget that the commandments are divinely ordained.

"And their service of Me has remained a commandment of men and simply practiced by rote", in the sense that if one only serves God in the way in which he was taught, without innovating new approaches in the service, it is indicative that his service is not whole-hearted and genuine.

(45) All these curses shall befall you; they shall pursue you and overtake you, until you are wiped out, because you did not heed the LORD your God and keep the commandments and laws that He enjoined upon you. (46) They shall serve as signs and proofs against you and your offspring for all time. (47) Because you would not serve the LORD your God in joy and gladness over the abundance of everything,

The Or Zaruah records an episode where one purchased what he believed to be tin, and then decided to sell it to another person. it was then discovered that it was really silver plated with tin [ and as such, the seller wished to repossess it]. Rabbi Eliezer of Metz ruled that the middle party certainly had no claim to the metal in question, seeing as he never intended to purchase silver. As such, he had never really acquired it. This ruling illustrates an incredible principle- one who does not recognize the value of what he has does not really own it. Similarly, even if one observes the commandments, if he does not appreciate their value, he can not be said to truly "own" them.