On Friday, Chavi came into the kitchen with a bright cheery smile on her face. "Mommy, I'd like to help you cook for Shabbos this week. Please tell me what I can do." Chavi washed her hands and looked eagerly at her mother.

"I'm so proud to have such a helpful daughter," Chavi's mother said, planting a kiss on her forehead. "Here, the first job I'll give you is to peel six cucumbers."

In a few minutes Chavi presented the bowl of peeled cucumbers. "So fast?" her mother asked in surprise.

"That was so easy!" laughed Chavi. "Can I have my next job now? As a matter of fact, Mommy, would you tell me the next two jobs? I'll do them one right after the other." Soon, Chavi had completed jobs number three, four and five, too.

Later, at the Shabbos table, Chavi's mother praised her in front of all the children and guests. "It wasn't such a big deal," Chavi said bashfully. "I was glad to do things for Mommy."

"I think that the cucumbers had a lot to do with it," Chavi's father said with a twinkle in his eye.

"What do you mean?" asked Moshie, Chavi's brother.

"We can learn a similar lesson from this week's parshah - Ki Seitzei," he said.

Now everyone was really wondering. "Peeling cucumbers in the parshah?" someone exclaimed.

"Well, the lesson is not exactly about peeling cucumbers," his father replied. "I'll explain. Let's think about Chavi and Mommy in the kitchen this morning. Chavi wanted to help, and the first job Mommy gave her was peeling the cucumbers. That was an easy job and when Chavi completed it, she felt happy and eager to do more. One job followed another, and everything was done.

"In this week's parshah, we read about the mitzvah called shiluach haken. If a person finds a bird's nest and wants to collect the eggs that are in it, the Torah tells us that he must first shoo away the mother. Once the mother bird is out of sight, he can take the eggs.

"Following this mitzvah, the Torah tells us about other mitzvos like building a fence around a house roof, mitzvos of the field and mitzvos about our clothing.

"Rashi tells us that these mitzvos are listed one after another because mitzvah gorreres mitzvah - one mitzvah leads to another and another. Just as Chavi wanted to help Mommy today, every Jew wants to fulfill HaShem's mitzvos. The first job Mommy gave Chavi - the cucumbers - was easy. Since it was easy, she finished quickly and was even more eager to continue to help.

"The Torah lists the mitzvah of shiluach haken first in this group of mitzvos. It's an easy mitzvah to do, and since one mitzvah leads to another, fulfilling this one makes it easier to perform all other mitzvos."

(Adapted from Likkutei Sichos, Vol. IX, p. 133)