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G-d's Commandments: Believing is Doing
In this week’s Torah portion Ekev, Moses gives the most succinct “musts” of Judaism: "It will come to pass that if you are mindful of G-d’s Mitzvot (commandments), preserving them and doing them, that G-d will fulfill the Covenant and eternal love that G-d swore to your ancestors." It is not so much about believing. Instead, as Jews, we are “commanded”, given a sacred task to fulfill in this world based on deed, not creed, on action rather than doctrine.
What are the Mitzvot exactly? We know that there are 613 of them, but what is the overview? Basically, every Mitzvah in the Torah, from visiting the sick to lighting Shabbat candles, from giving Tzedaka to building a Sukkah has two parts:
1) Acting in accordance with kindness and justice; doing the right thing and the good thing, not "when weI feel like it" but out of a sense of moral obligation, an essential part of being who we are; 2) Through these actions, strengthening Jewish identity and peoplehood. When we light Shabbat candles with our family, when we invite a guest to join us, we are creating a moment of peace and togetherness in a stress-filled world. We are creating a place and moment of refuge and appreciation. We are also building a Jewish memory, a moment of identity. Every single Mitzvah has this dual aspect of doing the loving, kind and right thing and of continuing the Jewish saga.
Living a Jewish life is creating a community that seeks to set an example of the values of compassion and justice, bringing the presence of the G-d of compassion and justice into the world in a concrete way. Not through preaching, not through filling arenas and halls with worshippers, and not through televised sermons, but through gentle, small and consistent acts that give Torah values form through action. As Jews, we have a sense of “commandedness”. Whether because of our history of persistence and resilience, of stubbornly holding on and bringing incredible blessings into the world, of continuing to adhere to the values our parents and parents’ parents passed down, or of something beyond words that touches us, we do what we do because we are called to.
In shorthand, this is called being commanded. The word in Hebrew for commanded is Metzuveh, connected to Mitzvah, commandment. Rather than having to analyze, explain and hold a position, we have a shorthand phrase that comes through in all of our prayers and teachings. The Torah says that we all stood at Sinai and heard the commandments from on high. Not just those who were physically there but all of us. Whether we believe that as a metaphor, a spiritual teaching, a literal truth or even as a literary device, it scarcely matters. Believing only matters inasmuch as it leads to doing. Being a Jew includes in our identity a sense of being called to take action for justice, compassion and nurturing Judaism. It says in the Prophets that a righteous person lives by their faith but for us, faith isn’t belief. It is embracing who we are as joyful, compassionate, proud and committed Jews by doing, being and living.
Hebrew Word of the Week - Dugma (דוגמה)
Dugma means "example". Leadership in Judaism is all about living your message. We talk not about “setting an example” but about “being a Dugma”. The power of what they call “walking the walk” is so much more than symbolic. It shows that we not only speak our truth, we live our truth.
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