THE SIX COMMANDMENTS WHICH APPLY AT ALL TIMES, AS EXPLAINED BY THE CHOFETZ CHAYIM; TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH AND WITH INTRODUCTION ADDED BY RABBI JEFF FORSYTHE

Of the 613 commandments in the Torah, six apply to all Jews at every moment continuously. To a good extent, these are "mitzvos of the heart" - fulfilled by having thoughts and beliefs called for by these six Torah commandments. The beautiful thing about this is that one can keep these in mind constantly. If one does so for the sake of Heaven, with the intent that he is fulfilling each of these particular mitzvos, one can gain the merit and reward that comes for fulfilling mitzvos FOR EVERY MOMENT OF LIFE! Imagine fulfilling six mitzvos recurrently every moment!

There is a significant added benefit. These mitzvos call for avoiding forbidden ideologies, concepts and actions. By having these mitzvos on the constant forefront of one's consciousness, one will be saved from countless mental and active sins. If, for example, one is tempted to one of the ideological or practical sins covered by the prohibitions referred to herein, one not only has the mitzvos of fearing G-d and not going after his desires, he is saved from the sin and its brutal punishments.

This can be subtle and requires work to internalize. For example, the mitzva "not to go after one's eyes" would mean that a business person who is tempted with a profitable deal which entails cheating or compromise of his integrity, will fulfill this when he decides (or listens to his Rov) to stay away from the lucrative but dishonest venture, especially if there would be Chilul HaShem (profanation of G-d or Torah in the eyes of people) or violations of "Choshen Mishpot (business laws)." Or, if a person says that someone can discount a Torah principle because "a lot" or "most" people do otherwise, or because America is a democratic country which allows majority rule or freedom to do what you want, thereby dissuading himself or any other(s) from following the Torah rule, this person has added a deity or replaced G-d as the source of authority, rule and supervision of the world. This violates the mitzvos to have no other gods beside Hashem Yisborach (may He be blessed) and to deem Hashem to be One.

The Shulchan Oruch is the basic and universal code of Jewish law. It was compiled by Rabbi Yosef Karo in Israel in the mid 1500's. Rabbi Karo basically went through the rulings of the Rishonim (the great Talmudic commentators of the 600 or so years before him). He referred to those authorities who wrote in terms of law (as contrasted with those who wrote "pshat" or explanation of basic meaning of Talmudic statements). He primarily relied on the Rif, Rambam and Rosh [many rabbis are called by short names generally derived from their initials or their most famous book]; often choosing to decide the law in accordance with how two out of these three foremost Jewish law authorities decided. Occasionally he referred to other authorities.

Since Rabbi Karo was Sefardic, he decided law in terms of Sefardic custom and heritage. There were occasions on which Ashkenazic Jews ruled or practiced differently. A few years after Rabbi Karo published his code, Rabbi Moshe Isserless (called "Ramo"), who lived in Poland, made notes to the Shulchan Oruch adding the Ashkenazic law, custom or modification. Together, the writings of Rabbis Karo and Isserless have become accepted throughout Jewry as the authoritative code of Jewish law.

About 100 years ago, the Chofetz Chayim z'l wrote a commentary on Orech Chayim, the part of the Shulchan Oruch which deals with the laws of every day life [prayer, blessings, holy days, etc.]. He called his commentary "Mishnah Brurah" and it became an immediate classic which has come to be synonymous with the study of halacha in Orech Chayim. Since his commentary did not elaborate the background of his statements, he also wrote a "commentary on his commentary" called the Biyur Halacha, which elaborates or gives background to the teachings in the Shulchan Oruch or the Mishnah Brurah. It is in this where the Chofetz Chayim z'l wrote his explanation of the six mitzvos which apply to every Jew at every moment. The Chofetz Chayim used an asterisk type of mark (*) to signal the material for which he supplied additional commentary in the Biyur Halacha. This system has been replicated here to show the reader what he is commenting on, before proceeding to the commentary written by the Chofetz Chayim. In this case, the commentary elaborates a statement by the Ramo. At the appropriate point in the Ramo's writing the asterisk signal to the Biyur Halacha is supplied herein. The Biyur Halacha starts with the quote from the Ramo (indicated here by capital letters) which provide the basis for the commentary.

In the twenty first chapter of Devarim, the Torah gives the parsha (section) of the egla arufa (the calf whose neck is broken). If a person is found murdered outside of a city, the elders of the nearest city must perform a ceremony in which they must take a calf which has never worked to field that has never produced fruit and break its neck to atone for any guilt that their city may have had in contributing to, or in failing to prevent, the murder. Rashi, the foremost commentator on the Torah, says that the calf and the field specifically must never have born fruit to symbolize the terrible fact the this dead person will never have children. Sifsay Chachomim, another major commentary, asks a kashia (a question with a seeming contradiction) on Rashi. The mitzva is undifferentiated for a person who cannot have children or for an old person who will not have any more children. If the procedure is the same for all kinds of victims, Sifsay Chachomim says that never having born fruit does not and can not refer to offspring. It refers to the victim never being able to produce any more mitzvos! A person's main "fruit" is his mitzvos! A person should spend every moment of life doing mitzvos so that he can enter the eternal world with the maximum amount of merits possible. The tragedy of the murder victim is that he cannot do any more mitzvos and accumulate any more merits for his eternity.

We see from this the importance of using every precious moment of life for doing mitzvos. The wonderful thing about having six mitzvos that apply at all times is that they enable us to be engaged in one mitzva, if not six, every possible moment of life; especially when we are not actively doing a practical mitzva such as learning Torah, doing chesed, praying, making kiddush, giving charity, making peace, shaking a lulav, eating seder matza, circumcising a baby or working on midos. When we are walking down the street, waiting on line, stopped at a red light...any time we are not doing "something," there are six "somethings" we can be doing that bring us closer to our Creator and gather more eternal life, holiness and bliss for our souls.

SHULCHAN ORUCH; ORECH CHAYIM; HILCHOS HANHAGOS ODOM BABOKER, SIMMON ALEF; DIN HASHKAMAS HABOKER [TORAH CODE OF LAW; SECTION FOR LAWS FOR THE DAILY COURSE OF LIFE; THE PERSON'S BEHAVIOR IN THE MORNING, PART ONE; THE LAW OF WAKING IN THE MORNING].

A person must strengthen himself like a lion to get up in the morning to the service of his Creator, that he be awake with the dawn. (Ramo:) At least he must not delay his waking to miss the permitted time for prayer in which the congregation prays. * "I place Hashem before me always (Psalm 16:8)" is a crucial principle of the Torah, and is a key attribute of the righteous who walk before G-d. This is because a person is never alone in his house when he sits, moves or engages in any activity. All of his sitting, movements and actions are in front of the greatest King. When in front of another person of his house, or his relatives, one might speak or open his mouth with just anything he wants, but he does not likewise speak what he wants in the presence of a king. All the more so, when a person assimilates into his heart that the biggest King, the Holy One blessed be He, Who fills the entire universe with His glory, stands over him and sees all of his deeds...awe, humility and fright of Hashem, may He be blessed, reach him, and he is embarrassed in front of Him always. He will never be embarrassed in front of human beings if they degrade him for serving Hashem, may He be blessed. He will always walk modestly. When he sleeps on his bed, he will know in front of Whom he lies, and when he awakens from his sleep, he will awaken with zeal to the service of his Creator, may He be blessed and exalted.

BIYUR HALACHA. * "I PLACE HASHEM BEFORE ME ALWAYS" IS A CRUCIAL PRINCIPLE OF THE TORAH." The person who wants to fulfill "I place Hashem..." properly, must make himself zealous to fulfill what is written in the name of Sefer HaChinuch. And because this is so greatly precious, many Torah authorities copied this in their books. The Chinuch mentioned this in the introduction and in several sections. This refers to six mitzvos that are obligatory continuously. These will never stop or part from a person, even for a single moment, all of his days. At every time and moment that a person thinks into these, he fulfills active commandments, and there is no limit to the amount of reward given for the mitzvos. And these are [the six mitzvos which apply at all times].

1. To believe that there is one G-d in existence Who made to exist everything which exists. Everything which exists now, or existed in the past or will exist in the future forever is His will and exists because He wants it. And, He brought us out of Egypt and gave the Torah to us. And this is an active commandment, as the Torah says, "I am the L-rd your G-d Who took you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of slavery." The meaning of this is, "You must know and you must believe that there is a G-d of the universe Who supervises, just as He took you out of Egypt."

2. We are to never believe in any other god beside Him, as the Torah says, "You will not have any other gods besides Me." Even if one acknowledges that the Holy One blessed be He is the ruler over everything, except he will imagine in his mind that He turned over the management of the universe to an angel or a star, this is succumbing to idolatry and violates "You will have not have any other gods besides Me." Instead, each person must believe that the Holy One blessed be He by Himself and by His own honor supervises everything in existence everywhere and that everything else is a creation which has absolutely no power to do anything without His will. Therefore, the Holy One blessed be He is called the "G-d of gods."

3. To attribute oneness to Him, as the Torah says, "Hear, Israel, the L-rd is G-d, the L-rd is one." The meaning of this is that," Hear, Israel, and know that it is Hashem Who caused everything in existence to be. He did this with His will and He is our G-d Who supervises everything everywhere in existence. He is One G-d without any partners.

4. To love the Omnipresent, may He be blessed, as the Torah writes, "And you will love the L-rd your G-d with all your heart...". And how will a person come to achieve this love? Through Torah. And the Sifri (Midrash) brings [the question] that with [the Torah's] saying, "And you will love...", I would not know how to love the Omnipresent." Therefore the Torah continues by saying, "And you shall put onto your heart these things which I command you today." Through this, you will recognize He Who spoke and the universe came into being. This means to say, that through contemplation in Torah, a person will recognize the greatness of the Holy One blessed be He. There is no way to appraise Him. He has no end. [Considering, understanding this] causes love to dwell automatically in a person's heart. And the point of the mitzva is that a person will see that he direct all of his aim and all of his thinking after love of Hashem, may He be blessed. And he will cause his heart realize that everything that there is in the universe, whether wealth or children or honor, is all the equivalent of nothing in comparison to the love of G-d, may He be blessed. A person must always exert himself in seeking the wisdom of the Torah in order to grasp knowledge of Hashem. The person who ensconces his thinking in materialistic matters and worldly futilities, not being for the sake of Heaven, but rather to please himself and attain honor, nullifies this active commandment, and his punishment is huge.

5. To have fear of Hashem, may He be blessed, before oneself in order to remain free of sin. On this the Torah says, "Fear the L-rd your G-d." When a sinful thing will come to a person, he is obligated to awaken his spirit and to put into his heart in that situation that the Holy One blessed be He is the Supervisor of all deeds of every human being. Even if [the sinful] deeds will be in the dark, Hashem will respond to them punishing vengefully in accordance with how evil the deed is. The prophet says, "'If a person will hide in the most hidden place, will I not see?' says Hashem."

6. Not to stray after the impulses of the heart. The substantiation for this is the Torah verse, "And do not go straying after your hearts and after your eyes." Our Talmudic sages said, "'After your hearts' means heretical ideologies, and 'after your eyes' means sexual improprieties." In the reference to "heretical ideologies" is included every concept foreign to, or the opposite of, Torah instruction. In the reference to "sexual improprieties" is anyone who chases after any worldly desires [money, honor, food, self-indulgence of any kind, power, etc.], when [the desire is] without any good intention. This means to say that a person may not follow such desires except where they produce good health and enable the person to strive in service the person's Creator. [The sinful violation in when the person] intends only continuous indulgence of great worldly delights for his spirit.

I have anthologized all of this from the lovely language [of Sefer HaChinuch] in shortened form, being like salve for the eyes. The person who fulfills these properly will end up happy. You may see further detail [of these six ongoing commandments] in chapter one of Chayai Odom, who explains these extensively also.