My son Avi has always been a boy of few words.

“How was school?”

“Fine.”

“What did you learn today?”

“Nothing.”

It was a rare day on which something had sparked his interest enough for him to share it with me, but when he did, I was all ears.

Like the time, years ago, when Avi was in first grade. “Rebbi loved Akiva’s mitzvah note today,” he offered.

“Oh. What was it about?” I asked, sure he would be unable to remember.

But Avi practically recited, “Akiva gave the meshulach who came to the door a drink of water.”

Wow! As one of those mothers who scrambles in the early morning rush, bribing her preschoolers with, “If you hurry up and get dressed, I’ll write you a mitzvah note that says you got dressed nicely,” I was hugely impressed with this unique mitzvah note. Something so beautiful. So different from “said Modeh Ani so nicely” and “got dressed so nicely” and “said a brachah so nicely.”

Sure, those mitzvah notes are lovely, but don’t you always kind of wonder at the poor morahs and rebbeim who read 20-something of them every morning and still manage to sound enthusiastic?

After that, whenever I heard mothers complain about the “chore” of thinking up original mitzvah notes every day, I shared Akiva’s mitzvah note and everyone — without exception — would exclaim, “Oh, what a great idea! I could do that too!”

It became more than a mitzvah note idea. It became about the mitzvah. I mean, what a fantastic thing to do! From then on, I too encouraged my kids to offer a meshulach a drink.

And — as we were taught ever since we were kids — mitzvah goreres mitzvah. The meshulach who comes to the door gives us an opportunity to give tzedakah, is offered a drink and with it the opportunity to say a brachah, and we, in turn, are given the chance to say “amen.” (Talk about a goldmine of mitzvah note material!)

Avi’s in middle school now, but recently I saw Sara, Akiva’s mother, at the local grocery store.

After a few minutes of small talk, I said to her, “You know something? I always meant to tell you how your little mitzvah note idea snowballed.”

Of course, she had no idea what I was talking about, so I told her and she laughed.

(Excerpted from Family First, Issue 631)