The athletes take up their position crouched against the starting blocks. All those hours and years of training, patience and practise, all their unstinting mental exercise and exertion, will now be put to the test. The roaring crowds echo through the stadium, the beating sun on the track and the sweat dripping down their foreheads, the runners brace themselves in those precious final moments of preparation. They await the official, perched above the field, to utter those final words of preparation to the contenders, those words of anticipation, before signalling for the race to commence - "On your Marks. Get Set…Go!" Preparations are the essential ingredient to everything. It is foolish to act on an emotional impulse, to behave without a methodical and thought-out strategy.

In business or on the playing field, the commencement of any project demands the clear employment of tactics and planning are crucial.

There are people who unfortunately travel through life expecting to 'accidentally' stumble over or across any important issue or meaningful truths pertaining to their life. They are then bitterly disappointed when their aspirations fail to materialise. It is unrealistic to ever expect or to hope to achieve anything without the requisite preparation and training. No one would undertake a professional examination, become an athlete or turn up to a job interview without some basic level of preparation. Could one be foolhardy or less demanding with one's approach to life?

The Washbasin
One of the vessels in the Mishkan was the ki'yor, the copper washbasin. The Torah relates, "Aharon and his sons are to wash their hands and feet with it. When they arrive at the Ohel Moed they are to wash with water so that they do not die, or when they approach the Altar to serve, to burn a fire offering to Hashem. They are to wash their hands and feet so that they do not die; and this shall be an eternal decree for them-for him and for his offspring - throughout their generations" (Shemos 30:19-21).

Washing from it was "kiddush y'di'em v'rag'layim, the sanctification of hands and feet" before the Kohen's divine service (Talmud Bavli, Zevachim 20a). The washing of their hands and feet with the water of the ki'yor was not only a positive commandment (punishable by death) but also a vital prerequisite for his holy servitude; without it, his service would be rendered void (Rambam, Hilchos Beis HaMikdash 5:1). Rabbi Ovadiah Sforno (Shemos 30:18) addresses this very issue in answer to his question of why the ki'yor is not found within the Torah portion dealing with the other vessels such as the Aron and Menorah: "While the purpose of all the other utensils was to induce the resting of the Shechinah in the Mishkan, the function of the ki'yor was to prepare the Kohanim for their service". With this, the Kohanim entered into a state of preparation and readiness for the awesome responsibility that the avodah entailed.

The function of the ki'yor was to achieve a state of preparation, preparation to the performance of the service in the Sanctuary, preparation to kedushah, holiness. This beautifully enlightens us as to the suitability of the ki'yor's location in the courtyard rather than within the Ohel Moed. For the whole function of a courtyard is as a place of preparation prior to entering the main house or precinct.

The very fabric and origins of the ki'yor echo this same theme. The construction of the ki'yor was from the mirrors of the Jewish women dedicating their copper mirrors (Shemos 38:8). As their original use had been to assist women adorn themselves, Moshe was reluctant to accept these mirrors, terming them 'a tool of the yetzer hara'. G-d insisted upon their use for these mirrors were cherished before Him, having been the catalysts through which the Jewish women had successfully set up many hosts in Egypt. Beautifying themselves before these mirrors, the righteous women brought food for their husbands in the field where they lay exhausted from their harsh enslavement. With them, the women's pure intentions ensured the perpetuity of the Jewish nation, making these mirrors befitting material to be donated for the ki'yor (Midrash Tanchuma, Pekudei 9).

The very function of the mirror, as an instrument for one's beautification, means that it is used as a preparatory device. It was well employed in the crafting of the ki'yor -similarly a vessel used in preparation paving the way to holiness. In fact, the Targum Onkelos translates the word re'chetzah, washing as kedushah (see Ramban, Shemos 30:19). The ki'yor signified kedushah in marriage exemplified in the Jewish women in Egypt, kedushah in the service of G-d in the Sanctuary. And where the sanctity of marriage comes under question, the waters that would be drunk by the sotah, the wayward woman, were appropriately drawn from none other than the ki'yor.

The use of the word "veKid'ashtom, sanctify themselves" (Shemos 19:10) used to describe the Jewish people's obligation to sanctify themselves before receiving the Torah at Sinai, is rendered by the Targum Onkelos to mean "u'zaman'nim, prepare them" (see Tosefos Kiddushin 2b who also finds holiness synonymous with preparation). Of course, the attainment of holiness is a gradual process climbing up many rungs of Rabbi Pinchas ben Yair's spiritual ladder (Talmud Bavli, Avodah Zara 20b) upon which the ethical classic Mesillas Yeshorim, The Path of the Just is modelled upon. Sefer Ha'Ikkrim (Ma'amar 4) similarly comments how it is impossible for the powers from Above to rest on those receiving it, without the ideal prior preparation.

All this requires detailed, conscious preparation.

Foundation base
Preparations are, most certainly, the requisite foundation to every undertaking. To build a house or office block, the most imperative and the first stage of the work, lies in the foundation that must be dug to behold and accommodate the structure. These are definitely not auxiliary to the construction, but absolutely essential to the well being of the property built. And the larger the projected building, the more solid and secure, the foundation base must be.

Both psychological and mental preparation for a mitzvah is essential. The Sefas Emes incredibly asserts that "greater is the power and success in the preparation of the mitzvah, more than the actual fulfilment of the mitzvah. A mitzvah is for a moment, but its preparations are from the world of infinitude". The quality of preparation, remarked Rav Yerucham the Mirrer Mashgiach, determines the main part of a mitzvah and its true level., Rav Eliyahu Dessler elaborates the reason for this. "Man's preparatory action to a mitzvah represents that measure of worth that the person attributes to the mitzvah in the inner recesses of his heart. A beautification of the mitzvah is not something external to the mitzvah, but rather it represents the quantity level of importance that the person attaches to the performance of this mitzvah" (Michtav Mi'Eliyahu V, p.191).

Our existence represents a preparation phase. Our very presence within this world itself is one of preparation - preparation in this ephemeral life for the future world of eternity. "This world is analogous a lobby before the World to Come, prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may enter the banquet hall" (Avos 4:16). The present world created by G-d is merely a preparation for the World to Come. It follows that we Jews are in a continual process of preparation, a lifetime of toil and labour in avodas Hashem and the observance of mitzvos working tirelessly on ourselves in readiness, in our preparation for eternity! The foundation to construction of an eternal life mandates the strongest, dependable preparation and base erected in this world.

Preparation for the Sabbath
As Shabbos is m'ein Olam Haba, the analogy of the World to Come, by extension, we find how preparations are essential to attain the holiness of Shabbos. The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 250:1) rules, "One should arise early on Friday morning to prepare the needs of Shabbos. Even if he has many slaves, he must persevere to prepare something himself for the Shabbos day, in order to accord it honour". The week is for Shabbos. And in the same way that life in this world is a preparation for the next, the work of the week is aimed towards Shabbos. This theme of preparation runs deeply within the halachos of this holy day.

An object that has not been earlier prepared and designated for possible use on Shabbos before nightfall is halachically rendered muktzeh and cannot be moved on the Shabbos day. This is because, by definition, it is not mo'chon m'boyd yom, prepared before Shabbos's commencement. Remarkably, if a utensil lacks this state of preparation that renders it muktzeh, it is unable to play any role in contributing to the holiness of Shabbos! The very word muktzeh means "cut off, set apart", in-other- words, something that has been consciously disassociated from any function on this Holy day. Furthermore it is forbidden to use a vessel on Shabbos for any purpose that will thereby remove it from its state of usefulness on Shabbos, by rendering it unfit for use (muktzeh) for the remainder of Shabbos. This prohibited action is termed mavatel keli mehaychano, nullifying the preparedness of the utensil for use on Shabbos (Talmud Bavli, Shabbos 43a). Thus the grounds granting a vessel's usage on Shabbos, is intimately associated with the theme of preparation.

A timely, honoured custom is to verbally prepare for a mitzvah by reciting a brief passage of premeditation, commencing with the words "Hin'eni mo'chon u'mezuman, Behold I am prepared and ready…" for the very action of a mitzvah induces a state of kedushah, reflected in the text of the blessings "asher kide'shanu be'Mitzvosov, Who sanctified us with His mitzvos." Immediately upon a person's awakening, he is required to wash his hands preparing and sanctifying him for the day ahead. The Rashba (cited by Mishnah Berurah, Orach Chaim 4:1) explains how man, in a sense, emerges as a new creation each morning. Everyone is "enjoined to thank Hashem that He has fashioned us for His Honour, to serve Him and Bless His Name, reciting various blessings in the morning to this affect. It was similarly instituted to sanctify ourselves in His Holiness and to wash our hands from a utensil just like a Kohen sanctifies his hands from the ki'yor before his avodah in the Sanctuary."

The ki'yor encapsulates the preparedness and noble intentions that should be the prerequisite to our every action, to the attainment of kedushah. The Prophet enjoins the Jewish people "Prepare to meet your G-d, O Yisrael" (Amos 4:12). The profundity of preparation is beautiful captured in the following pithy saying: "Fail to prepare; prepare to fail".

It is in our interest to prepare ourselves. The Jew knows that his calculated, methodical approach to mitzvos and life itself, means that he can never "Just do it!" Before he jumps up and races into action at the word "Go!" he should have comprehensively prepared himself beforehand - "On your Marks. Get Set. Go!"

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