And Moses brought forth the people out of the camp to meet God; and they stood at the bottom of the mountain. (Exodus 19:17) Our Sages said that G-d uprooted Mountain Sinai and held it over the Israelites’ heads like a barrel, “If you accept My Torah, good. If not, this will be your burial place.”¹ This teaches that even when your do not feel like studying Torah or serving G-d, you must do so anyway, as if someone was forcing you; for “you are not a free man to exempt yourself from it.”² This is a good approach when you are in a time of small-mindedness.³and Gadlut) are kabbalistic terms used to describe various stages of the development of the sefiros. Lower sefiros move from Smallness to Largeness when the higher sefiros, that correspond to the intellectual faculties, enter into them. The Baal Shem Tov applies these terms to the human psyche, which at times is able to perceive something of G-d’s light, and feel a purpose to existence, and at other times, loses the vision, and falls to small-mindedness. See Baal Shem Tov on the Torah, Vayerah, for more on this idea. You should never stop studying or serving G-d, even when you lack the desire, for at least, you are performing the action.⁴ Ben Poras Yosef, Vayeshev, p. 66d

footnotes: ¹ Shabbat 88a. ² Pirkei Avos … ³ Literally, “Days of Smallness.” Smallness and Largeness (Katnus ⁴ The Baal Shem Tov taught that the main reward given to a person for observing Torah and mitzvos is based on his efforts during the time of Smallness. See Ben Poras Yosef, Vayeshev.