Have you ever gone on an exhilarating hike or thrilling adventure and felt a sense of true euphoria? Have you ever eaten the prefect diet for a day and felt totally connected to your body? Have you ever spent a sacred moment with a loved one and felt completely one with each other?
During those "highs" your entire being sensed a type of perfection and ease with the core of your being. We strive for these highs and sometimes abhor the "lows" of the daily grind.
But, let's ask ourselves: Can our body survive on "highs" alone? Are the highs sufficient to keep us going until the next one?
We may be tempted to answer yes, but that would only be fooling ourselves. Without constant human interaction we would be depressed and lacking the interpersonal tools to reach a truly intimate or meaningful moment with another. Without regular food our bodies would die before we attained harmonious food consumption. Without the mundane - boring! - daily life we would never arrive at that euphoric moment. And, if it happened every day, it would not be special.
It turns out that our bodies need both - the lows and the highs.
The same holds true for our souls. They might be energized on Yom Kippur or at a wedding. They might soar to great heights when we study a deep Chassidic discourse or engage in meditative prayer. They might relish the camaraderie and inspiration of a farbrengen. They might feel a true sense of elation when we save a life.
But, our souls need spiritual food to survive, day in and day out. Without daily mitzvot, our souls are in jeopardy of being malnourished, leading to eventual decay. True, our souls will never die. But, the spark of G-d can virtually die within the soul.
This is perhaps the deeper message in this week's parsha, Pinchas, when G-d insists that He receives great pleasure from the daily offerings. Certainly He enjoys the Festival offerings, the unique donation sacrifices and the like. But, His real sustenance comes from the daily offering - the same sacrifice that was offered each and every morning. It is the fiber that keeps the connection between G-d and His people going. Day in, and day out.
The next time I am feeling uninspired about a mitzvah, I'm going to try to remember that - just like my body - my soul needs food to survive, The Mitzvot are food for the soul.
And, just as the body craves the food it so desperately needs, so does the soul yearn for just one more mitzvah.