Posted by Rachel on: 03.12.2007 /
mitz·vah
1. any of the collection of 613 commandments or precepts in the Bible and additional ones of rabbinic origin that relate chiefly to the religious and moral conduct of Jews
2. any good or praiseworthy deed.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2006
For some time, I have been fascinated with the Jewish concept of the mitzvah. This term can refer specifically to the laws that govern the lives of observant Jews, or more generally to any good deed or act of kindness. According to Chabad.org, mitzvot are “the observances that define our lives as Jews and connect us to each other and to G-d.” For the devout Jew, observing the commandments of the Torah is a total lifestyle. Following the dietary guidelines for a kosher diet, for example, takes lots of time and deliberate effort. In Jewish practice, each mitzvah is an acknowledgment of God, a recognition of being connected to something much larger than one’s self. The “inconvenience” of the practice is what makes it so meaningful.
I have been thinking about how this concept can be incorporated in the life of a non-Jew as well. According to askmoses.com, the word mitzvah means “commandment” but it also means “connection.” All of us can seek to live a life of connection, a life that acknowledges our relationship to our fellow human beings, to our communities, to the earth, and for those of us who believe, to God. Each of us can practice mitzvot in our own lives by making daily, regular adjustments in how we live, by chosing to take time for small, simple inconveniences that demonstrate our respect for others and for our environment. We can practice mitzvot that step by step move us closer to our authentic values, motivated not by guilt or the need to perform, but by a genuine desire to remain connected.
What are some mitzvot that you are practicing or would like to begin practicing in your daily life?
How do (or how could) these simple acts help you to stay connected or live out your values?
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Comment by: Helen
1 03/12/07 6:52 AM | Comment Link |Rachel, my husband and I came across this word a number of years ago - I love it too! I’m not sure how we came across it; probably through my Jewish relatives (my maternal grandparents are Jewish).
We use it with each other to refer to something which we don’t really want to do for someone else, which will make them happy. I know it doesn’t have that narrow a meaning but, that’s how we use it.
I love that there is this word specifically for ‘good deeds’ - I love that it puts an emphasis on what we do.
I didn’t know it was defined as connecting us with each other and God. That’s neat and it turns out to fit the way we use it pretty well, actually.
In my own life, I’ve come to appreciate aspects of Judaism more and more. I wasn’t raised Jewish and the first things I heard about it were from the simplistic viewpoint of some conservative Christian that it’s ‘legalistic’.
But the more I find out about it the more I like many things about it, because what I found is that their practices and rituals have deep meaning. The definition you gave about how they connect us - that’s a great example of how a Jewish practice is much more than just ‘rule-keeping for the sake ofo rule-keeping’.
I like the idea that we should look carefully, not dismissively at what other traditions do and learn from that, and incorporate what is best into our own lives. This especially makes sense for followers of Jesus and Judaism, I think, since this is the way Jesus lived. In my opinion, it’s unfortunate that anti-semitism, or whatever, drove such a sharp rift between Christianity and Judaism in church history that Christianity is lacking much of the richness of Jewish tradition. In my opinion again - it shouldn’t have been so all or nothing that changes wrought by Jesus had to mean abandoning all the Jewish heritage.
One significant time for me was finding out that some Jewish believers in Jesus choose to follow the Jewish Law because they find it profoundly beneficial. It was an eye-opener to me that this was not just pointless legalism.
Anyway, all that to say, this is a great topic - thanks for posting about it!
Oh, the questions ;-)
Ummm…I have various things I aim to do, with varying degrees of success - in the very big picture ‘be kind to people’ is the ultimate goal of many of them. And when I’m successful I do feel more connected and more at peace because I’m living out my values instead of contradicting/being in conflict with them.
My post Narrowing the gap on CatE is actually asking a similar question to yours i.e. how do you put your values into practice as mitzvot?
Comment by: Rachel
2 03/12/07 5:24 PM | Comment Link |I relate to that, Helen. I was taught that by following the Torah, Jews were trying to “earn their way to heaven” and laboring under a heavy load of guilt and fear. It has been very enlightening to me to learn that in Judaism practicing mitzvot is considered a joyful act, not something that must be done perfectly to escape punishment.
Unfortunately, the version of Christianity I was raised in was full of its own legalistic rules. As I have learned more about grace, my faith understanding has changed. But I also don’t want to embrace the attitude that “God loves me so it doesn’t matter what the heck I do!” I believe that following the Way of Jesus means seeking to become more like Jesus. I want to incorporate more and more practices of love and kindness, of generosity and simplicity, of justice and care for the earth into my daily life.
But it’s almost as though I haven’t known how to do that in a free and joyful way. Because I’ve thought that as soon as I recognize a change I should make or an action I should take, then I have to start feeling guilty. I have to feel guilty for not having done that thing in the past and then when I try to start doing it, I have to feel guilty every time I don’t.
I love the idea of the mitzvah, seeing good deeds as expressions of connectedness, a lifestyle of gradually incorporating more of those acts into my life. It shouldn’t be about guilt because then we become paralyzed from moving closer to our authentic values.
PS - I am a follower of Jesus, so I talk about things using the language of my faith. But I want to be sure to communicate that people of all beliefs or nonbeliefs are welcome and valued in this conversation. So please feel free to express yourself in the language of your own worldview.
Comment by: Helen
3 03/12/07 5:50 PM | Comment Link |Yes - so true.
Why is it that in spite of the belief that Jesus died on the cross to take care of guilt, some Christians struggle so much with guilt over how they live their Christian life?
That’s not meant as a criticism of you, Rachel. It’s just something I wonder about.
Comment by: Laura M.
4 03/13/07 1:45 AM | Comment Link |Rachel, I didn’t realize that was what mitzvah meant, so thank you for the vocabulary lesson!
Helen said
I really like how you put that. I agree with what you and Rachel are saying here. I wonder if anyone else watched the episode of Seventh Heaven where the father, who is a Christian Protestant minister, was upset to find out that his oldest son was converting to Judaism. The son was marrying a Jewish young woman and neither family had any objection to the marriage, but in order to have a Jewish wedding (her father was a Rabbi) the groom had to convert.
After discussing with his father his fear that to him conversion meant his son was rejecting Jesus, the son explained that was definitely not the case. He was just accepting a different set of rituals and traditions that he felt complemented those which he had been raised with.
I thought it was a beautiful message, and that episode remains one of my favorites.
Although I am an atheist, my oldest daughter has attended Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish worship with her freinds over the years. She found things she valued about each of these traditions. We live in an area with a high Jewish population and often see people in the neighborhood walking during Shabbat. I commented once that I admired their commitment to their faith, and although they didn’t appear to be at all ‘oppressed’ by their religous obligations, they must at times resent all the legalism. Walking on a hot day seemed a perfect way to lead a person to not want to attend worship, in my mind.
My teenage daughter then let me know how much fun she’d often had walking with her friend to temple when she’d spent the weekend with her !
Surprisingly for me, one example of mitzvot in my own life recently has been attending church. I only began attending because my youngest daughter wanted to participate in Sunday School. I’ve been very surprised at how much I’ve been enjoying the services. Granted, it is a Unitarian Universalist church which had been recommended by other atheists. I never knew such churches existed, especially here in Dallas ! But the exerience has definitely helped me to feel ‘connected to something larger than myself ‘.
Another thing I do is to make my best effort to give a little food or a small amount of money to any homeless person who asks. I always feel bad about it when it turns out I don’t have any cash on me at the moment. I know that some of those people are scam artists who scrape by a living grifting money off folks, but then I figure they’re the ones who need the hand out the most. I mean I hope they feel some of what I do when I reach out my hand to offer a dollar or two, and they reach out their hand to take it. In that moment they know I’m not judging or condemning, I’m reaching out and trying to connect to them because whoever they are or whatever their reasons are for asking , I think they’re worth a couple of moments of my time, and yes, a couple of my dollars.
Comment by: Helen
5 03/13/07 7:20 AM | Comment Link |Laura M wrote:
Yes - that’s exactly what I’ve heard from people who believe in Jesus but also like to observe Jewish traditions and rituals.
lol :) yeah, I can imagine going to church being a mitzvah…
It’s wonderful when you do a mitzvah for someone else and it ends up being enjoyable!
By the way, I’m posting something about an atheist and UU on the ebay atheist blog tomorrow (Wednesday). I hope you’ll stop by; you might find it interesting.
I like your attitude about the people who are ’scam artists’ - you want to give them something and connect with them even so.
Comment by: Rachel
6 03/13/07 7:56 AM | Comment Link |Welcome, Laura! I love your examples of mitzvot. I think it is beautiful that you take the time share with homeless people who ask for help. A while back, my daughter and I put together “snack bags” - large zip-lock bags full of granola bars, jerky, little plastic bottles of juice, etc. Then when we would see someone asking for help, we’d give them a bag. I will always remember one particular guy with a weathered face and a pack on his back who I gave a bag to the day before Father’s Day. His face lit up and he said, “This can be my Father’s Day present!”
We really need to get more of those bags made up!
Comment by: Laura M.
7 03/13/07 8:05 AM | Comment Link |Thanks Helen :-)
I feel that the value of their humanity is worth a lot more than my spare change.
Kewl, I will stop by.
( I hope Benjamin doesn’t mind, but I’ve decided he has to share the word ‘kewl’ with me :8-Q )
Comment by: Laura M.
8 03/13/07 8:09 AM | Comment Link |Rachel, thanks so much for the welcome, and WOW , what a great idea with the snack bags !
Comment by: Helen
9 03/13/07 10:15 AM | Comment Link |Laura, maybe I shouldn’t speak for Benjamin, but my guess is he’ll think it’s kewl that you like his word ;-)
Comment by: Benjamin Ady
10 03/13/07 1:42 PM | Comment Link |Laura,
It’s kewl with me if you say “kewl”. Because saying “kewl” is kewl!
Reminds me of Fezzik and the man in black
Comment by: Rachel
11 03/13/07 5:30 PM | Comment Link |One thing that is a mitzvah for me is recycling. Over the last several years, our family has been gradually recycling more and more. Fortunately we have a great recycling program in our community, so that makes it easier. Every household has a big cart on wheels and it is picked up every two weeks. The program is called co-mingling, which means you can throw everything recyclable (except glass) into the cart all mixed together. The sanitation company has worked really hard to educate people about everything that is recyclable. Now that we are recycling so much, we have the smallest size garbage cart and we never even fill it up! Yay!
We have also been working at reusing things more, like lining our wastebaskets with the plastic bags from the grocery and so on. We’ve definitely made some progress on the reuse & recycle part. My goal now is to work on gradually reducing the amount of packaging and “stuff” that we consume in the first place, because I know that recycle & reuse is good, but reduce is better. I feel like the bit of extra time and effort this takes is a mitzvah because we are working to care for God’s creation and recognizing the effects of our waste and consumption on others. Also, working on this area has showed me how much I idolize convenience and that is an area where I am seeing myself change.
Comment by: Laura M.
12 03/13/07 8:26 PM | Comment Link |Kewl !
Comment by: Staci
13 03/14/07 2:23 PM | Comment Link |I find myself worshipping regularly at CCC (Convenience Central Church.)
The three R’s fit perfectly into this concept of Mitzvah (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle - must be an acronym day for me.) The whole point of 3R is recognizing connections: how do my actions/choices affect other people, places, things.