כל מצוה שאין לה דורש ואין מי שיבקש אותה תדרשנה לפי שהיא כמת מצוה ומצוה שאין לה רודפים רדוף אחריה לעשותה שהמצוה מקטרגת ואומרת כמה גרועה אנכי שנתעלמתי מכל וכל:
Every commandment which has no seeker and no one to search her out, seek it, because it is as the deed of caring for the dead.1Since nobody busies himself with this particular commandment it is as though it were “dead.” Hence his preoccupation with it is regarded as fulfilling the commandment to honor and care for the dead. And a deed which has no pursuers, pursue after her to do it, for the meritorious deed says accusingly, “How inferior I am that I have been overlooked.” 2Midrash Rabbah, ed. Soncino, Leviticus, IV, 239.
כל מצוה שאין לה דורש ואין מי שיבקש אותה תדרשנה לפי שהיא כמת מצוה ומצוה שאין לה רודפים רדוף אחריה לעשותה שהמצוה מקטרגת ואומרת כמה גרועה אנכי שנתעלמתי מכל וכל:
Every commandment which has no seeker and no one to search her out, seek it, because it is as the deed of caring for the dead.1Since nobody busies himself with this particular commandment it is as though it were “dead.” Hence his preoccupation with it is regarded as fulfilling the commandment to honor and care for the dead. And a deed which has no pursuers, pursue after her to do it, for the meritorious deed says accusingly, “How inferior I am that I have been overlooked.” 2Midrash Rabbah, ed. Soncino, Leviticus, IV, 239.