When you think about it, one can ask the question, why do I need to do a mitzvah to feel connected to G-d? If you just look around you, you will see living testimony of the existence of G-d in the world, from the heavens above to the earth below. Everywhere you look you can see G-d, as long as you are willing to see. Why do I also need to add my mitzvot into the mix?
In this week’s Torah portion, Shoftim, we learn that we rely upon two witnesses to establish the facts on the ground. However, there are two kinds of witnesses. There are those who just tell us the facts that happened but they don’t create anything new. For example, if two people have a business transaction, like borrowing money from each other, the witnesses do not create the reality, they only testify to the facts of what happened. The reality was created between the two people. Yet, there is another type of testimony in Judaism with witnesses of a different nature. Here, the witnesses don’t only watch something happen so that later it cannot be disputed, but if they are not there, the act is meaningless. An example of that is marriage. If a man gives a woman a ring with the intention of marriage but there were no witnesses present, the marriage is questionable, even if the bride and groom admit to the action. In other words, in such a case, not only do the witnesses testify to the facts, but they also create the reality!
That is why it is not enough for us to see the wonders of the world and see how they testify to the existence of G-d, as that is the obvious “witness.” We want to create the facts that are not as obvious, we want to bring a greater level of G-dliness into this world, one that doesn’t exist just by looking at the world around us, but by uncovering what is deep inside the world. We do this by performing a mitzvah.
Just as marriage brings two people together, revealing the deeper dimension of their souls closer to each other—and this is done not just by being with each other but with witnesses under the chupah—so too, when it comes to our connection with G-d that is created with mitzvot, when we perform a mitzvah, we are not just going through the motions, we are testifying to our connection to G-d, we are revealing a deep desire to become closer to G-d in a way in which we were unable to prior to fulfilling this particular mitzvah.
As we prepare for Rosh Hashanah, the marriage of the Jewish people and G-d, we should find our own set of witnesses to testify to our connection to the Creator so that when the High Holidays come around, our relationship should be a healthy one.