The Rambam's Tenth Principle: Necessary Preparations are Not Separate Mitzvos
The Rambam (Maimonides) has 14 rules, which he employed as his criteria in compiling his list of the 613 mitzvos. For 14 weeks, once a week, we will share brief illuminations on these principles.
Certain statements in the Torah are introductory statements to the fulfillment of mitzvos, not actual mitzvos themselves. For example, Leviticus 24:5 says to take flour and to bake it into loaves in order to make the lechem hapanim (“showbread”), which was kept on the shulchan (table) in the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and, later, the Temple. The taking of the flour and the baking of it into loaves are not mitzvos, they’re just necessary precursors to the placement of the lechem hapanim, which is a mitzvah (Exodus 25:30). Similarly, taking oil isn’t a mitzvah (Exodus 27:20), it’s just a prerequisite to lighting the menorah, which is a mitzvah (in the same verse).
The Rambam gives other examples, such as the preparation of the incense, the cleaning of the lamps, and the like. These are not mitzvos in and of themselves, but necessary preparations to fulfilling the mitzvos. Think of it like cleaning your house for Shabbos or cooking for the Seder; it needs to be done, but it’s not the actual mitzvah you’re striving ultimately to perform.