Mitzvot: At the heart of halakhah is the unchangeable 613 mitzvot that G-d gave to the Jewish people in the Torah (the first five books of the Bible). The word "mitzvah" means "commandment." In its strictest sense, it refers only to commandments instituted in the Torah; however, the word is commonly used in a more generic sense to include all of the laws, practices and customs of halakhah, and is often used in an even more loose way to refer to any good deed.
Over the last couple of weeks, I have not been well. The chemotherapy finally caught up with me and when it did it kicked my ass. Repeatedly. I ended up having my chemotherapy suspended while my body regains the high ground and I am up to another round. They will be changing my program to something I should tolerate better, but for now a reprieve.
During this time, my friends have been out in force, making sure that if I needed anything, they were there to jump in. I thanked one of my friends one evening for her kindness and she said that in fact she should be thanking me for allowing her to help. She mentioned the concept of mitzvot which I wasn't totally familiar with. I looked it up and found the definition listed above. I was surprised, not because of the philosophy, but in that it so closely mirrored my own concept of what it means to be a good person. Many times in my life people have prevented me from helping them or offering support because they kept their troubles from me. In some cases, they even kept their happiness from me and didn't allow me to celebrate it with them. In every case I felt injured. Their reasons were usually noble; "I didn't want you to worry" or "I didn't want you to feel sad" or other reasons, but I still felt robbed of the opportunity to be of service. Since then, I have tried to make sure that my friends are all given the opportunity to help me in any way they can. It is for them as much as for me. This was not exactly how I was raised. We were taught to be self sufficient and to look at offers of help as somehow being suspect; "What do they want in return". No sense being a pawn about it, but if someone I trust wants to help me in some way, I would be a poor friend if I would not allow it.
Miztvot: I may be more Jewish than I suspect.
3 comments:
Aren't we all? (M-J-T-We-T)
Maybe I'm not... I had a boyfriend from Israel who told me that I was the consummate shiksa. ;) Ah, Ori...
You guys'll have those chocolates for Christmas. Rest up and take care, Richard. I'm thinking of you and your family. Squeeze your wife and daughter for me (squeeze your son too, if he's into it).
Mitzovt: though I'll likely never come near to keeping (or attempting to keep) the 613 "laws," I will always view kindness as a commandment, and be grateful when I am able to fulfill it. Thank you for letting those who love you help you - it means a lot to THEM (US) to be allowed to be good to YOU.
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