The Sfas Emes remarks on his commentary on the Chumash that “the preparation for a mitzvah can take ‘l’olam’ – forever.” I think the Sfas Emes is saying that while the performance of a mitzvah is “1,2, 3, gamarnu (done)!” one can spend their entire life working on having the right kavannah (intention) and preparing the mitzvah so it is done more and more perfectly.
Moreover, it is imperative to understand that the kavannah is everything. Although in most cases it is better to do a mitzvah without kavannah (in the hope you will eventually have the kavannah) than to not do the mitzvah at all, there is one exception: when the kavannah you have is negative. That is, if you do the mitzvah grudgingly, if you are not happy and excited to do the mitzvah, it is not counted as a mitzvah.
Let me give an example. Suppose a wife gets sick in the middle of the night, and after some hours of trying to go back to sleep, realizes that she must have a certain medication in order to go back to sleep.
Scenario #1: her husband, although tired and groggy, dutifully gets up, runs to the local drug store, and comes home with his prized possession. He portions out the medicine for her with a glass of water, and they go back to sleep together.
Scenario #2: her husband loudly complains about how tired and groggy he is. He gets up, runs to the local drug store, and comes home with the medication. He hands her the bottle, practically throws a glass of water at her, and goes to sleep. She takes the medicine and falls asleep sometime later.
The husband got her the medication in the middle of the night in both scenarios. The difference was his kavannah, what he was thinking as he performed the mitzvah. But, you say, there were other differences too! The whole WAY he got her the medicine was different! Exactly. It is exceedingly difficult to perform a mitzvah perfectly without the correct intention, because you simply won't be engrossed in the mitzvah enough to understand the details of what need to be done. Therefore, the more perfect the kavannah, the more perfect the mitzvah itself will be.
Let’s take this further. Imagine the difference in the wife’s reaction to each scenario. In Scenario #1, she is probably able to fall asleep not only because of the medication, but also because of the wonderful manner in which her husband acted. The mitzvah brought her and her husband closer. In Scenario #2, she is probably angry. “After everything I do for him,” she thinks, “he can't do a thing for me when I need it! I would have gone myself if I knew he was going to act this way.” Her frustration probably makes it harder to fall asleep and prolongs her pain, as she lies looking at her “insensitive” husband sleeping peacefully once more.
Does the mitzvah have the same reward in each case? Certainly not. While his wife has the medicine in Scenario #2, she is not happy about it, it does not increase the affection she has for her husband, and it actually distances them further.
The same is true when we do mitzvot. Mitzvot are meant to perfect us and bring us closer to Hashem. When we do them b’simchah, with joy, this is certainly achieved, and Hashem rewards us accordingly. However, when we do mitzvoth in the manner of the husband in Scenario #2, not only do we not get the reward for the mitzvah, Hashem is angry with us, just like the wife is angry at her husband, even though he did get up and get the medicine.
This also explains the verse in the Torah: “these curses shall come upon you because you did not serve the Lord your G-d with joy.” When mitzvot are not done with joy and gladness, with a happy heart that is glad to be able to make Hashem “happy” (Scenario #1), then not only are we not blessed, we are cursed!
Therefore, as the Sfas Emes remarks, we must strive l’olam, forever, to constantly perfect our kavannah and do mitzvot with increasing joy. And in turn, the more we perfect the kavannah, the more perfect the mitzvah itself will be done as well.
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