USCJ Review - Spring 2005
Mitzvot and Community Building
A bare-headed man with tzitzit hanging out. An intermarried woman with a strictly kosher home. A shomer-Shabbat McDonald's franchise owner. With so many mitzvot to observe, where is the conversion candidate, the bar or bat mitzvah student, the Jew trying to grow in observance, supposed to start?
"Be attentive to a minor mitzvah as to a major one," said Rabbi Yehuda Ha'Nasi (Avot 2:1). But how are we supposed to know which mitzvot are "minor" and which are "major"? There is no simple answer. But understanding the ways our sages looked at the mitzvot, and considering the needs of our local community, provides some perspective.
People have sometimes said, "I feel strongly about being Jewish, but I don't do the mitzvot." Really? We can only hope that mitzvot like "Thou shall not kill" or "You shall not place a stumbling block before the blind" are in fact being widely observed even by our "non-observant" neighbors. Sometimes the ritual mitzvot are mistakenly treated as if they are the only mitzvot.
A distinction is made between mitzvot between a person and God and those that govern the behavior of one person to another. Some may choose to focus on one or the other, but traditional Judaism values both. Ritual is social, educational, community-building, edifying -- if it's done right. The simple act of saying a one-line blessing before eating requires that we think before we eat. We must pause for an instant to identify the food so we can say the correct blessing.
The radical act of interrupting our feeding to think creates many possibilities: Were workers or animals exploited in making this food? Is it healthful? Will I regret this later? We think for just an instant about the benefits we enjoy, not about our wants. The habit of expressing appreciation, of not taking everything for granted, is a fundamental civilizing force needed today more than ever. We train our children to say "the magic words" in the hope that someday they will actually mean them. Rote ritual may lead to meaningful intentional performance. Ritual matters.
Our sages classified mitzvot as de'Oraita, that is, directly commanded in the Torah, and de'Rabbanan, rabbinically mandated. In theory, we might properly place de'Oraita above de'Rabbanan. But in our community, the de'Oraita mitzvah of shatnez (not wearing garments that contain both wool and linen) yields to the de'Rabbanan rule requiring monogamy for men. It is not that these mitzvot are in conflict, it is just that we choose to promote one more urgently than the other. Significantly, the rabbis sometimes insisted on rabbinic laws more stringently than on Toraitic, lest the public come to take rabbinic rules lightly. The sages would not have imposed rules unless they thought there was a real need for them.
Mitzvot are also classified as asei (prescriptions or "positive" commandments) and lo ta'asei (prohibitions or "negative" commandments). Among the prescriptions are those that are simply "mitzvot of opportunity," such as the requirement of tzitzit (fringes). If a garment happens to have corners, then the tzitzit must be attached. But there is no law that says we must have corners on our garments. Other mitzvot, such as giving alms to the poor on Purim, require that we actively seek out an eligible beneficiary so that we can act as the law commands.
Alternatively, we might categorize the mitzvot by severity of punishment. Penalties may include fines, lashing, incarceration or execution -- at least in theory. But in practice, we may be outraged at the sight of a man without a kippah in shul or an uncovered hallah before kiddush but rarely comment on the major crime of picking up sticks on Saturday (a capital offense).
In theory, we should rank the de'Oraita mitzvot above those with de'Rabbanan status; the proscriptions by severity of punishment; the active prescriptions above the passive. But our reality is that certain mitzvot may seem more important to us. In New Haven, the majority of our synagogue members observe kashrut and many families attend public worship regularly, so anyone converting in our community is expected to do so as well. Equally, these two mitzvah areas are essential to our community building efforts. Being able to host others for a kosher meal is a significant part of that effort. So is giving tzedakah (obligatory payments to support the community) and shemirat ha'lashon (conscientious speech). But most in our community do not use tefillin daily, and while we require b'nai mitzvah to own and train in tefillin, we do not insist that converts use them daily.
We have departed from twentieth-century conventions in designing our b'nai mitzvah curriculum to reflect the traditional priorities in performing the liturgy. While reciting the haftarah was the sine qua non of a previous era, it is now a low priority. Our students learn to recite the Shema, weekday and Shabbat Amidah, and kiddush; then the evening and morning services; then Torah reading; and finally, haftarah. Here, the interest in fulfilling the requirements of prayer is consistent with the desire to empower students to become active participants in the daily and Shabbat worship. Halakhic requirements, utility, and ability to participate in community are the criteria for prioritizing our curriculum.
While promoting a kashrut initiative (KINAHARA: The kashrut Initiative of the New Haven Area Rabbinical Assembly), we have also given much emphasis to shemirat ha'lashon. Both are essential to our efforts at community building and the spiritual well-being of our members.
At the same time, in guiding the individual, we offer a lot of leeway. What mitzvah area is most interesting, most attainable, most challenging, most needed? Lighting the Hanukkah menorah might not rank high on the "official" chart, but if families love it, why not make the most of it? We try to build on what works.
Some people (although not members of our congregation) have also said, "Women should not wear tefillin because they should do the mitzvot actually required of them first, which they are not doing, before taking on 'optional' ones like tefillin." While there is a certain logic there, we have never applied this reasoning to any other realm. We have not said, "Don't recite a Psalm until you have said Shema" or "Don't give mishloah manot (Purim gifts) to a second person (since only one is required) until you have visited the sick." Although some acts are technically more important than others, they are not exclusive of one another. Observing the mitzvot is not an all-or-nothing endeavor. Each person must perform, or confront, the mitzvot one at a time, as they arise in his or her life. As Ben Azzai said, "One mitzvah leads to another" (Avot 4:2).
Rabbi Tilsen is the spiritual leader of Congregation Beth-El-Keser Israel in New Haven, Connecticut.
