There is another advantage to knowing the reasons for the commandments. This is that through knowing the reasons, one will come to sanctify himself even with things which are permitted. An example of this is the prohibition of the Torah to lend money with interest. Once one understands the reason for this commandment, one will understand that HaKadosh Baruch Hu wanted that Klal Yisrael should do philanthropic kind deeds and lend free of charge. It is therefore recommended to try to avoid lending for interest even with a “Heter Iska” (business contract which is not included in the prohibition) if possible. Another advantage in knowing the reasons of the commandments is that if one understands the reasons, it can be considered as if one has fulfilled even those commandments which he is not physically able to fulfil. An example of this is the commandment to bring offerings in the Beis HaMikdash, where the reason for bringing an offering is so that the one who brings it will think that the actions which are being done to the animal should really be done to him, and through this he will humble himself. When a man understands this reason, he will even now be able to fulfil the reason for the commandments and it will be as if he fulfilled the commandments themselves, as it says “A broken spirit is the offering of Hashem.”. The same is true for all other similar commandments and each man should consider these things, listen and add understanding.
When dealing with those commandments which have no known reason, one should think that Hashem wanted to give Klal Yisrael the opportunity to gather many merits, and for this reason he gave us much Torah and many commandments. And it is a wonderful idea that before performing each commandment one should say out loud which commandment he is about to perform, what is the reason behind it and the correct way to perform it. This is the correct for a person who wants to serve Hashem in a complete way.
