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Our Torah portion is a very significant one in that it is the very first in the Torah to contain laws, and the laws and practices are the backbone of our tradition. In the opening words to the first "action" part of our parasha, it says that "This month is to you- the first month of the months of the year." Literally it simply means that Nisan, the month of Pesach is the first of the Jewish months.

But the Midrash, as quoted by one Spanish exile, Rabbi Avraham Sebag says that we should read the verse differently. "This month is yours," they say. Whatever you do for G-d, for the sake of goodness, charity, worship, learning, this you do for you. Everything else we do, amassing of wealth, for instance, we do for others. What does this mean? A man works his whole life and becomes a rich man. Can he enjoy all the fruits of his labor? No, the government takes about a third, and the inheritors take most of what is left, as it says in the Psalms (49,11), "and they leave their wealth to others."

But whatever we do of meaning, we do for ourselves. No one can take it away from us. If we do the right thing, this is a type of self-esteem capital which no one can take away from us. We own it. You will feel good about it for the rest of your life. You can’t lose it with the crash of the stock market or a bad investment. It is yours.

And this is why we find that the Torah often describes mitzvoth in this way. "Take for yourself a lulav," "count for yourself (the Omer)," "go forth for yourself (to Israel)." When we do good, no one can take it away from us. It is ours forever.