Mitzvot – The Embodied Torah of Jewish Living

Divre Harav – September, 2021

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Now is the time to begin thinking about what you want to get out of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur at Ahavas Israel and how the synagogue can add to your life in the year that follows.

Because you are reading these words, probably a member of the synagogue or considering membership, I’m guessing that some level of Jewish content in your life is important to you. You may have Holocaust survivors or victims in your family tree and are affirming a Jewish connection because of that. You might enjoy Jewish community and culture, Jewish music or literature. You might feel connected to specific Jewish practices. You might be moved by a sense of God and even feel a sense of commandedness with respect to mitzvot.

My job is to enable you to deepen your connection to traditional Jewish practice, to convince you that there is something about prayer, Shabbat, the Jewish calendar and the system of Torah and Jewish ethics that is worth your time. The mission of the synagogue is to deepen your connection, to see you become more fully Jewish, that over the course of your lifetime, you are engaged in a continual journey of Jewish discovery.

What’s the benefit to you? I wouldn’t be doing this work if I didn’t believe that my life is better because of Shabbat, because of the time I spend in prayer, and because the time I spend in Torah helps me to be a better person and make better choices.

That is why beginning this year, I will be offering you a program designed by the Shalom Hartman Institute called “Foundations for a Thoughtful Judaism.” It is:

●  A sophisticated introduction to foundational concepts of Judaism and Jewish life,

●  An invitation for learners to join Judaism’s interpretive conversation, and

●  A curriculum designed specifically to be accessible for adult learners taking their first steps into Jewish thought.


It’s basic aims are:

●  To explore and make accessible the most compelling and deepest questions in Jewish thought,

●  To demonstrate the principles and debates that underlie our Jewish heritage, and

●  To reject the assumption that every learner is on track toward practicing Judaism in a specified way.

Whether a Sunday morning conversation, an afternoon study group, or evening class, please make time to:

●  Explore the role of peoplehood in Judaism,

●  Wrestle with the complexity of faith in our tradition,

●  Debate the meaning of mitzvot, and

●  Engage in conversations about Jewish ethics.

Hebrew Words of the Month:

  • Am – People
  • Emunah – Faith
  • Avodah – Practice
  • Musar – Ethics

Divre Harav – November/2017

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[Rabban Gamliel says,], “Make God’s will into your will, so that God will make your will into his will. Nullify your will on account of his will, so that he will nullify the will of others for you.” Pirke Avot 2:4

Rabban Gamliel may be responding to the teaching of a sage from generations earlier, Antigonus of Sokho, who said, “Do not be like servants who serve the master in order to get a reward, but rather be like servants who serve the master with no expectation of reward.” [Pirke Avot 1:3] One proposes altruism as the guiding value, and the other proposes utilitarianism as the guiding value.

Although both sages are speaking of our relationship with God and attitude towards doing mitzvot, I suggest that part of the purpose of mitzvot bein adam la’Makom, mitzvot directed towards God, is to teach us the best way to behave towards our fellow human beings, other creatures, and the environment in which we live. Therefore, the ideal that Antigonus presents, that of a life of pure altruism, could also apply to doing acts of love for other people without expectation of reward. While a beautiful philosophy, it is not realistic. Most of us, much of the time, expect that when we do something for someone, that we will get something out of it. Perhaps it makes us feel good to help others. Perhaps we hope that we’ll get a favor back in return someday. Perhaps we hope that going above and beyond and treating customers well will result in more business in the future.

So Rabban Gamliel responds with his instructions for how to behave towards someone you love. If they have a desire, you should have the same desire. And there is nothing wrong with hoping that when you want something, that the person you love will want the same thing. The same thing applies to things that we don’t want – we want the person we love not to want them either. He suggests a very practical, utilitarian, philosophy. I’ll scratch your back because I want you to scratch mine.

There are problems with both philosophies. As I suggested, it is very difficult to maintain pure altruism, and holding this as an ideal discourages expressing of gratitude. By this, I mean that if I believe that your motivation ought to be pure, then I also might believe that you neither want nor need thanks or recognition for what you do for me. And regarding Rabban Gamliel’s approach, it is unreasonable to expect that two individuals (or a human being and God) can ever be so closely aligned that we get everything we want from the other.

The teaching texts of Judaism include both sages because life is a mixture of both philosophies. Sometimes, we do things for others because we know it is the right thing to do or because we love them, and sometimes we do things because we want or expect something in return. As in so many other areas of ethics, the goal is to find balance in the golden mean.

Hebrew Words of the Month:

  • • Makom – place. Also, a name for God, probably derived from the association of God with a sacred place like the Temple.
  • • Ha-Kadosh, barukh hu – “The blessed Holiness,” more often translated as “the blessed Holy One.” Some scholars believe that the original form of this appellation for God was Ha-Kodesh, barukh hu. Kodesh is a participial noun, referring to the place of holiness, the Temple.
  • • Ratzon – will or desire.

Psalm 91

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“I will rescue him and honor him.” (91:15)

Psalm 91 is commonly read as part of the Jewish funeral liturgy. In that context, it suggests that one who has faith and fidelity in God’s sheltering presence will be protected from harm and live to a ripe old age. To my mind, however, there is an implied promise of salvation beyond the grave that is more important than the immediate promise of long life. The person who embraces a life of mitzvah will be honored during his or her lifetime to be sure, but beyond as well.

Psalm 81

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“For it is a law for Israel.” (81:5)

What makes us Israel is a shared sense of law, of obligation. We are Israel when we clean our homes and celebrate Passover. We are Israel when we are conscious of the contents of the food which we put into our bodies. We are Israel when we rest from creative acts on Shabbat. We are Israel when we join a Jewish community for prayer. We are Israel when we celebrate a boy’s birth with circumcision, celebrate puberty with bar or bat mitzvah, celebrate marriage with a huppah, and commemorate a death with Shiva.

Psalm 79

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“… with none to bury them.” (79:3)

Burial is a fundamental Jewish mitzvah (God-commanded obligation). Along with procreation, brit milah (circumcision), and refraining from eating the sciatic nerve of a kosher animal, it is one of a small handful of mitzvot one can learn from the book of Genesis (from Abraham’s burial of Sarah in Genesis 23, although normally derived from Deuteronomy 21:23). Many Jewish communities, in fact, began with the formation of burial societies and the purchase of land for a cemetery. Planning for one’s burial in a Jewish cemetery is a basic Jewish behavior.