Question:

One of your Mitzvah Minutes states that loving G‑d "is one of only six mitzvot that are applicable every waking moment." What are the other five?

Answer:

It was the Chinuch (a thirteenth century Spanish scholar of uncertain identity) in the introduction to his acclaimed work on the 613 commandments, who wrote that "we have six mitzvot which are perpetual and constant, applicable at all times, all the days of our lives."

He enumerates them:

  1. To believe in G‑d, and that He created all that exists.
  2. Not to believe in any power other than the One Creator.
  3. To believe in His absolute Oneness.
  4. To be in awe of Him.
  5. To love Him.
  6. Not to pursue the passions of the heart or stray after the temptations presented by the eyes.

Rabbi Israel Meir Kagan (1838-1933, known as the Chafetz Chaim) discusses the applications of these mitzvot and comments:1 "At every time and moment that a person ponders these, he fulfills commandments, and there is no limit to the amount of reward given for the mitzvot..."

Let me know if this helps.

Yours truly,

Rabbi Yisroel Cotlar

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