One of the primary mitzvos of Pesach is the obligation to avoid eating chametz. The Torah warns us to guard the matzos to ensure that they do not become chametz – u’shmartem es hamatzos (Bo 12:17). Rashi adds an additional comment of Chazal. “R’ Yoshiya says: Do not read the word (only) ‘es hamatzos’, but rather (also) ‘es hamitzvos’. Just as we must be careful not to allow the matzos to become chametz by leaving them unattended, so too, we should be careful not to allow mitzvos to ‘become chametz’ by delaying their performance. Rather, if the opportunity to fulfill a mitzvah comes to your hand, do it immediately”. R’ Yoshiya is teaching that we should learn from the concept of chametz to perform mitzvos with zerizus – with alacrity and zeal.
How does one develop this middah of zerizus for mitzvos? Later in the parsha, the Torah refers to the night of the fifteenth of Nissan as a leil sheemurim. “It is a night of ‘keepings’ – leil sheemurim – for Hashem to take them out of the land of Mitzrayim. (12:42)” Rashi explains that the fifteenth of Nissan was the night that Hashem was shomeir u’metzapeh – he was keeping in mind and looking forward to – in order to fulfill His promise to take the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim. The word sheemurim is used in a similar way that the word shamar is used in the phrase “V’aviv shamar es hadavar – his father waited for the matter. (Vayeishev 37:11) While Yosef’s brothers were jealous of his dreams, Yaakov waited and looked forward to their fulfillment (see Rashi there).
This attitude of shemirah is the prerequisite for developing the middah of zerizus. Someone who anxiously anticipates the opportunity to perform mitzvos will run with enthusiasm whenever a mitzvah comes his way. And that is the true meaning of the phrase ushmartem es hamitzvos. R’ Yoshiya’s drasha is teaching not just that we should perform mitzvos without delay just as we would not leave matzos unattended, but that we should approach mitzvos with a feeling of shemirah – of eager anticipation. If we look forward to mitzvos, then we will naturally run with excitement to do them at the first opportunity.
The Torah expresses a similar idea regarding Shabbos. The possuk says, “And Bnei Yisrael shall observe (v’shamru) the Shabbos, to make (la’asos) the Shabbos for their generations, an eternal covenant. (Ki Sisa 31:16)” What does it mean “to make the Shabbos”? Rabbenu Bechaye explains that it means to prepare for Shabbos, as in the phrase, “And he hurried to prepare it – la’asos oso (Vayeira 18:7)” which refers to Yishmael who quickly prepared the meat to feed the angels who came to visit Avraham Avinu.
What is the relationship between v’shamru and la’asos? Ibn Ezra suggests that the Torah is commanding Bnei Yisrael to prepare appropriately before Shabbos so that they will not come to desecrate the Shabbos. But in light of Rashi’s comment in Parshas Bo, perhaps the word v’shamru is alluding to something else as well, and that is that Bnei Yisrael should demonstrate their anxious anticipation of Shabbos – how much they are shomeir Shabbos – by preparing properly for Shabbos. As the Rambam writes, Hilchos Shabbos (30:2), “What is meant by honor (k’vod Shabbos)? This refers to the statement of Chazal that it is a mitzvah for a person to wash his face, his hands, and his feet in hot water on Friday in honor of the Shabbos; he should wrap himself in tzitzis and sit with proper respect, waiting to receive the Shabbos as one goes out to greet a king.” One who prepares properly for Shabbos demonstrates just how much he cherishes the Shabbos and looks forward to its arrival.
We commonly refer to an observant Jew as a shomeir Torah u’mitzvos, which on a simple level means that he is careful to perform positive mitzvos properly and to avoid any aveiros. But the concept of u’shmartem es hamitzvos encourages us to be shomrei Torah u’mitzvos on a higher level by anxiously anticipating the opportunity to do mitzvos and by eagerly rushing to fulfill Hashem’s command.