A
MITZVAH (which is often mistranslated as “good deed”) is a commandment, but I
prefer to think of mitzvot (the plural) as opportunities, gifts, or human responses
to a divine summons. While Conservative
Jewish philosophy considers the mitzvot not to be optional, (after all, they
are not the “Ten Suggestions”), it makes sense to hear these words of the late Rabbi
Arnold Jacob Wolf, who spoke of the mitzvot as being comparable to jewels
embedded in the road that we call Judaism.
“One
stone is marked “Sabbath” and one “civil rights” and one “Kosher” and one “honor
your parents” and one “study of Torah” and one “you shall be holy.” There are
at least 613 of them and they are different shapes and sizes and weights. Some
are light and easy for me to pick up and I pick them up. Some are too deeply embedded
for me, so far at least, though I get a little stronger by trying to extricate
the jewels as I walk the street. Some perhaps I will never be able to pick
up. I believe that God expects me to
keep on walking Judaism Street and to carry away whatever I can of its
Commandments. I do not believe that God expects me to lift what I cannot, not
may I condemn my fellow Jew who may not be able to pick up even as much as I
can.”
The
613 mitzvot, as delineated by Maimonides, can be found here. But these opportunities to partner with God in
perfecting the world are not “written in stone,” so to speak (even if ten of
them were). The list is always evolving,
and sometimes old laws are reinterpreted to respond to changing times. That evolution is called the Halachic
process. While that process of change
can be tedious, it grounds any innovations in the rich heritage of tradition. While no Jew actually observes all mitzvot
completely, it is preferable to set a high bar that is unachievable than to
lower the bar simply for our convenience.
Living a life of “mitzvah” is less about the achievement than about the
striving, the learning and the continual process of growing and deepening our
spiritual connections.
See
also A Mitzvah is
a commandment
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