‘And if you will offer a meal-offering of first fruits to G-d’. This is one of three places in the Torah where the word im cannot mean ‘if’, as the action in question is obligatory not optional. In this case the Torah is referring to the offering of the Omer which must take place from the new crop on the day after Pesach. The other two cases concern charity: ‘if you will lend money to My people’ and the Jubilee: ‘if there will be the Jubilee’. In all these cases the action is a mitzvah, not a voluntary action. Various reasons are given for this wording. It can be said that in all these cases the ability to perform the mitzvah is dependent on Divine favour. The Jewish people have to be in the land in order to operate the Jubilee year, one must have extra money in order to be able to lend it and the harvest has to be successful in order to be able bring the Omer. Yet we can also find and other reason for the use of the conditional clause in commanding what is in fact an obligatory action. All these mitzvot, although obligatory, need in some fashion an emotional willingness on behalf of those taking part. The return of land to its original owners in the Jubilee could cause resentment. There must be a deep realisation of the fact that the land really belongs to G-d, in order to willingly accept this transfer. In a like manner, although giving to the poor is an obligation, it should be done from the heart and with graciousness, not begrudgingly. The Omer too, is an offering that needs emotional commitment. It is a realisation of the debt we owe to G-d for His bounty, and thus needs to be given in a manner of gratitude and joy. Yet this concept can actually be extended to our attitude to the whole of the Torah. On the one hand, we are commanded by G-d to keep the mitzvot. On the other our service of G-d should be done joyously and willingly. This dichotomy lies at the heart of Judaism, and these three mitzvot merely illustrate it. This tension between obligation and choice is what gives Judaism its dynamism and its ability to adapt and survive in changing circumstances. We do things because we are commanded, but these commands themselves need to become part of our conscious life choices. So as we come up to Pesach we face lots of work and expense. We go through all this hassle because we are commanded and that is what Jews traditionally do. Yet we also need to inject an element of willingness and enthusiasm into our actions. We need to work with joy.

Parshat Vayikra