"Mitzvot" — The Choice To Do Good Could Not Be More Universal
"What we do, how we do it, and how it makes us feel are all intertwined. The words 'holy' and 'holistic' are not that far from one another."
By Michael Golden
Last Sunday afternoon, I was able to help a young person who is experiencing a great deal of pain. The reason I was able to help him is because I know exactly what he’s going through. Every single symptom, fear and point of strain that he’s enduring. We spoke for three hours. It was a mitzvah.
I’m not retelling that story here for any want of pat on the back. There are countless mental health professionals and trauma medical workers who are dealing with urgent cases every hour of every day. And God bless them.
The reason I wrote about my Sunday experience is because of how well it examples the Jewish concept of doing a mitzvah. The word and its meaning come from the Torah, but the meaning of the act itself is nothing short of universal.
In modern parlance, use of the word “mitzvah” means “good deed.” But the literal meaning of mitzvah, which comes from the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), is “commandment.” More to the point, it refers to the 613 commandments (mitzvot) in Hebrew scripture (and you thought there were only 10!).
Even though the word “commandment” sounds like an absolute order that’s been given, the reality is that every one of those 613 mitzvot are suggestions. Requests… Our free will plays a pretty big role in whether or not we follow God’s commandments. We can see this choice in His very words in the Torah:
“Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse; A blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you this day: And a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God, but turn aside out of the way…”
Dear friends of mine who are Torah observant (what most folks think of as “ultra-orthodox”) believe in the absolute letter of the Torah and live a life where they are working to serve God by observing all 613 commandments as best they can.
But a person need not be Torah observant — or even Jewish — to try to uphold many of the commandments born in antiquity. And plenty of them are common sense. Being welcoming to the stranger is not a stretch. Comforting the sick should be instinctual. Honoring one’s parents does not seem like a grand gesture. Etc.
I have a friend in Arizona named Todd who is one in a group of non-Jewish friends I’ve gotten to know over the last five years. This guy is one of my favorites. He’s hilarious and always fun to be with, but he also has leadership skills that I’m not even sure he is aware of.
When someone in the group is having trouble, or other folks we know from the place we play golf, Todd is the one who takes immediate action. Whether it’s taking up a collection, being the first one to visit the hospital, or providing referrals to other folks who can improve the situation, he does this almost reflexively. The frivolous stuff too: buying concert tickets, arranging dinners on trips — the details stuff that many don’t want to deal with.
These things that Todd does most certainly contribute to the way most of the guys look up to him. But that’s not why he does them. And he’s not a deeply religious person either. I know him well enough to know that he does them because he knows they are just good things to do — and doing them makes him feel good too. Just like I felt good helping that smart young man on Sunday. He’s going to get better, and thrive. I just know it.
What we do, how we do it, and how it makes us feel are all intertwined. The words “holy” and “holistic” are not that far from one another. I love the way Rabbi Brad Bloom ties all of this together in the conclusion to an essay he wrote for World Union for Progressive Judaism:
“The inner and outer worlds we all inhabit live together with each other. The question is are we able to balance them in our daily lives so that we feel the inner satisfaction of being a blessing to ourselves while at the same time having faith that what God asks us to do is as much for us as it is for God’s namesake.”
Amen. The most meaningful gift almost always lies in the giving.
MICHAEL GOLDEN is the Editor-In-Chief of JEWDICIOUS and founder of The Golden Mean.
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