During the lifetime of the Bal Shem Tov there was an individual who lived in the town of Lubavitch by the name of Reb Yisroel “the Joyful.”
He would often say that “’a mitzvah without intent is like a body without a soul.’ What is the intent of mitzvos? The intent of mitzvos is at is says in the verse[1] ‘I am the Lord, your God, Who took you out of the land of Egypt.’ The creator is He who drags man out of all types of mud. If I, Yisrolik, who am a nothing, merited to fulfill the commandment of the Almighty, I must therefore jump and dance with tremendous joy.”
(Likutei Torah, 1, pg. 152)
