Mitzvah an action performed according to our understanding of the Torah

A mitzvah is an action performed (or refrained from) according to our understanding of the Torah, as a part of our berit, our covenant with God.

In our understanding, there is a brit or covenant made with God by our ancestors. After all the violence, distress and wickedness of the circumstances of Genesis 6 we can find God’s willingness to save through the provision of an Ark, in which the principles of atonement (Heb. kafar, “pitch”) are revealed, and the judgment against sin is shown in the action of Noah and his family (chs. 6-8). God revealed to Noah His purpose to destroy the human race, but all who wanted to live according to the ethics of God would be able to survive. During the building of the Ark Noah preached righteousness to his contemporaries, but not many were interested in what he had to tell. In the end, the ark contained only eight persons Noah, his wife, three sons and their wives, and two of every kind of unclean animals, seven pair of animals that were clean, and seven pair of all kinds of fowls. (Ge 6:17-22 Ge 7:1-16)

In Genesis chapter 9 the record opens on a new era of joy and glory. The seal of Jehovah’s work is shown in the glory of the rainbow — apparently seen by Noah for the first time in history. It is declared as the seal of HaElyon on His covenant with the earth.

The Elohim also made a covenant with Abram after he had sojourned in the land of promise twenty-four years, and changed his name to Abraham. The Adonai, Who is the Great Infinite, Truthful, Gracious, Merciful and Compassionate God proposed to form out of Abraham a great nation and to perpetuate the covenant through his offspring. (Ge 17:6,7) Birth and purchase were the conditions of membership in this covenant of circumcision. (Ge 12:13)

Throughout history, there have been many men of faith. Centuries have gone by, and now we find ourselves in a world which could be compared similar to times those men of faith encountered. In today’s society, God is hard to find, even in the communities where three gods are worshipped and viewed as the Holy Roman Catholic Church, we see that the number of members has shrunk enormously. In those communities, they no longer adhere to the conditions that the Supreme had set for Him to come to terms.

Whether, or not, religious authority speaks to us today, is absolutely fundamental. How many people would, when they see a rainbow

“remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth.”

Rabbi Seth Adelson writes:

The struggle within Judaism today highlights the tension between autonomy and what Immanuel Kant, the 18th-century German philosopher, calls “heteronomy” – the idea that we are subject to some kind of motivation and laws outside of ourselves, i.e. the framework of 613 mitzvot. As modern Jews, we feel this tension between what we choose to do – autonomy – and what we know our tradition mandates – heteronomy. {What’s My Motivation? – Shemot 5784}

Arne Unhjem explains:

Heteronomy (alien rule) is the cultural and spiritual condition when traditional norms and values become rigid external demands threatening to destroy individual freedom. Autonomy (self-rule) is the inevitable and justified revolt against such oppression, which nevertheless entails the temptation to reject all norms and values. Theonomy (divine rule) envisions a situation in which norms and values express the convictions and commitments of free individuals in a free society. These three conditions Tillich saw as the basic dynamisms of both personal and social life. {Heteronomy, theme in Tillich’s theology in Paul Tillich: Early life and education}

It was after Moshe received the Torah on Mt. Sinai that we find the Elohim providing the basis of both personal and social ethics. Theonomic ethics asserts that the Bible has been given as the abiding standard for all human government, the political system by which a country or community is administered and regulated, (individual, family, church, and civil) and that

‘biblical law must be incorporated into a Christian theory of biblical ethics.’

The great thing is that God provided guidance for people to keep themselves free from any problems and build a peaceful good life. Even if they are only basic rules and guidelines, these scare many people. The vast majority of the population is not at all interested in those rules that God has set for them. They think they can do much better on board without Divine ordinances.

In God, humanity has One who can fully trust Him. He wants the best for humanity. Few want to see that.

The legal scholar Robert Cover wrote:

The basic word of Judaism is obligation or mitzvah. It… is intrinsically bound up in a myth– the myth of Sinai. Just as the myth of social contract is essentially a myth of autonomy, so the myth of Sinai is essentially a myth of heteronomy… The experience at Sinai is not chosen. The event gives forth the words which are commandments. {“Obligation: A Jewish Jurisprudence of the Social Order,” Journal of Law and Religion 5:1 (1987) pp. 65-74.)}

Like parents want to protect their children, Jehovah as Heavenly Father also wants to protect His children.
Just as our children may or may not follow our house rules in daily rules, it is also up to man whether to follow the rules of God. He does not oblige anyone to do anything. He only proposes his rules as the best way to save us from disaster.

When we give our ear to God, and learn from His Word it is like we can put on an armour of God, so that we may be able to resist the evil of this world.

“13 Therefore, put on the whole Armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and, having done all, to stand. 14 Stand therefore, having the utility belt of truth buckled around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, 15 and having fitted your feet with the preparation of the Good News of peace; 16 above all, taking up the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the evil one. 17 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God;” (Eph 6:13-17 WEB)

What matters is that we just try to understand what our heavenly father, Almighty God, expects from us and thereby see how He encourages us to follow His rules as closely as possible, so that we can also avoid all evil.

Cover does not mean “myth” the way that we often understand it, just as a fancy story or as a symbolic falsehood narrative. Rather, he uses it the way that Rabbi Neil Gillman, taught to understand it:

a set of stories which help us make sense of our world.

So the Sinai myth is the one that sets up this principle that we are commanded, that we have mitzvot to which we are obligated.

“Commandedness is Judaism’s concrete foundation”

teaches Rabbi Seth Adelson.

With those stories from the Holy Scriptures, we may find the authority of those myths lying in the Hands of the Bore. the word myth deriving from the Greek mythos, in our instance, has a range of meanings from “word” or “logos,” through “saying” and “story,” the Word coming from the Most Divine Who had let it written down by His chosen men.

The true stories recorded in the multiple books that make our grassroots supporters study bring us examples and life lessons so that we can clarify how God wants us to behave and why such behaviour is best for us.

According Rabbi Seth Adelson

No matter where you are on the spectrum of practice, there has to be something there outside of you that leads you to, for example, light Hanukkah candles or Shabbat candles or fast on Yom Kippur or put on tefillin or avoid eating ḥametz on Pesaḥ or sit here in synagogue listening to me.
It cannot be purely social, because that is not enough of a basis on which to maintain our traditions and our communities. I suspect that if our tradition were solely based on autonomous choices, we would have faded into history with every other fashion trend. We need at least a modicum of heteronomy for the Jewish people to continue. {What’s My Motivation? – Shemot 5784}

We must recognize that God is not a tyrant and that we certainly should not be, and thus should not impose obligations on others that cannot always be justified. We have to be very careful when we ask or even demand certain things from our fellow brothers. As Jeshuaists we should remember that rebbe Jeshua ben Josef clearly showed how we had to read between the lines and should allow freedom for others to decide how they wanted to go through life. It is not up to us to judge others.

It is up to each of us to make the right decisions and raise our children according to the rules of God. To this end, we must allow them to ensure regular study of the Torah. Hora’ah of the Scriptures is something that must be an established matter for us and our children. We can’t start early enough to get our kids to attend Bible class. As soon as they are mature enough to go to the yeshiva, we can give them the opportunity to allow them to have a profound formation in the Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha, Torah and Jewish philosophy.

The obligation for everyone to read and analyse the texts themselves and then discuss them with others is an ideal way to obtain spiritual training. We are pleased that each Sjabbes we may find youngsters willing to partake in study at the Bais Hamedrash, be it boys or girls learning the many Halachos (religious laws) and philosophy necessary for their roles in society. That way it did not stop giving the necessary knowledge from one generation to the next generation, taking also care of certain traditions (we admit).

In our services as well as in our schools, we remain faithful to God’s Word and let Him guide the solid education that we can interact with our families and in communions build on. Traditionally, in the yeshiva everyone is prepared for daily life in the commercial world, but also for life in the faith community.

In this way, everyone can have the opportunity to learn the importance of pleasing God and to see if we really love God how we can keep His mitzvot. Remembering:

“When one’s nefesh longs for pleasure from Hashem, when with copious love it persistently yearns to cling to Him, when it craves perceiving pleasantness of Hashem, when it wants to savor the King’s essence, when it wishes to relish in the brilliance of His honor, when through all this thirsting for Hashem he finds plentiful simchah (joy), the result is his heart forever and fully remembering Hashem’s holiness.

Let us daily study Dvar Hashem seeking to cling to Him Who is the Highest, with the willingness to be tied to HaElElyon with tenacious bonds of love, fulfilling `in all our heart’ that overflows with ahavas Hashem (love of God).

 

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Preceding

1. Justified and connected
2. Lucky to belong to Am Segullah
3. This fighting world, Zionism and Israel #6
4. That brotherly love may continue and have people join hands

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Additional reading

1. Understand what the will of the Lord is
2. Words God speaks unto all and the Spirit that quickens
3. Human & Biblical teachings
4. Hebrew Language #6 Hebrew Literature #3 Halakhah
5. Hebrew Language #7 Hebrew Literature #4 Mishnah and Midrash
6. Hebrew Language #8 Hebrew Literature #5 Talmud and Masorah
7. Disobedient man and God’s promises
8. From the Primeval history of judgment to a story of hope
9. Necessity of a revelation of creation 3 Getting understanding by Word of God 1
10. Necessity of a revelation of creation 6 Getting understanding by Word of God 4
11. Necessity of a revelation of creation 7 Getting understanding by Word of God 5
12. Thoughts on the reading for Monday 4th January 2024
13. Today’s Thought: “Until that day when …” (January 24)
14. Men of faith
15. the Story of Abraham
16. By a man of faith hope coming unto us
17. Our life depending on faith
18. 15th of Av one of the two most auspicious days on the Jewish calendar
19. Expectations for kashrut to meet individual and contemporary norms
20. Memorizing wonderfully 9 Keeping the commandments 1
21. When there is a God is it possible to relate to HimRelationship with God
22. When there is a relationship with God there is a possibility to grow
23. Main verses in the Bible telling us Who God is #3 The Set apart or holy One faithful and righteous God
24. Main verses in the Bible telling us Who God is #5 The Great Infinite, Truthful, Gracious, Merciful and Compassionate God
25. Main verses in the Bible telling us Who God is #7 The Stronghold and Rock God a Refuge and strong Shield and Tower
26. Memorizing wonderfully 69: Ephesians 6:14-18 Prayer and Supplication for all Saints
27. When believing in God’s existence and His son, possessing a divine legislation
28. Backbone book
29. Collection of books
30. A collection of holy writings to show God and His Works
31. Divine revelation mediated by Moshe and other selected people
32. Moshe Rabbenu and Torat Moshe
33. Reading to grow and to become wise concerning the most important thing in life 1 Times of reading
34. Woe to those who dwell on the earth
35. Sukkoth, Gog, Magog, Armageddon, a covenant and Jerusalem
36. Creation of the earth and man #4 Of the Sabbath day #2 Days 1,7,8 and 50
37. Not trying to make the heathen live like Jews #1
38. Bringing over with a voice
39. Laws that Value People
40. Soar to Places Unknown
41. A new yeshiva or studyplace to be

 

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3. For the Psalmist (David)
4. Nation Shopping. Deut. 4:6,8-9.
5. Internal Self(Rule)
6. Obedience: Why does God give us laws, statutes, rules and ordinances to follow
7. To Bind On Earth and Heaven
8. What Is the New Testament?
9. Washed: The Nature & Purpose of Baptism
10. If we are saved by grace, why keep the commandments?
11. Four essentials of being a church
12. Jewish schools and groups ask students to focus on kindness