“A nd he said ‘If Eisav comes to one camp and strikes it down the remaining camp will escape.’ ” (Bereishis 32:9)
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 105b) tells us that it pays to do actions even if they are lo lishmah even if they won’t be performed with the purest of intentions because such actions will come to be lishmah — for the right reasons.
Yet this idea comes with a disclaimer. A person must know that if he doesn’t try to direct his actions to approach lishmah then he’ll never reach it. He can do plenty of mitzvos but they will never change his inner self unless he yearns for it. (Rav Dessler Michtav MeEliyahu) “
“I’m going to be in Israel in January!”
