How to interpret, understand the mitzvot

The Weekly Mitzva by Binyamin Tabory, Maggid Books, Jerusalem; ISBN 978-1-59264-435-24 ©2015, $24.95, p. 228

By Fred Reiss, Ed.D.

Fred Reiss, Ed.D
Fred Reiss, Ed.D

WINCHESTER, California–A mitzva is a religious commandment. Traditional Judaism expects that each person will, to the best of his or her ability, fulfill in letter and spirit the 613 commandments identified in the Torah, the Five Books of Moses, together with the additional mitzvot ordained by the rabbis.

The Torah is often terse in communicating commandments, for instance: You shall love God (Deut. 6:5); Honor your father and mother (Ex. 20:12); You shall take a wife by kiddushin, the religious ceremony of marriage (Deut 24:1); and You shall make God’s name holy (Lev. 22:32) How does one go about loving God, or hallowing His name? What constitutes a marriage ceremony, and so forth?

To act in response to these and other questions relating to the mitzvot, Judaism needs decisions from prominent rabbis describing how one must proceed to fulfill them. Moving from command to practice is not a straight-forward matter: there are disagreements about rulings within the Orthodox Jewish community, as well as within and among Judaism’s other sects—Conservative, Reconstructionist, and Reform Judaism.

Rabbi Binyamin Tabory, a scholar with more than thirty years of experience teaching in yeshivas in many parts of the world and author of The Weekly Mitzva, calls on his broad Jewish knowledge to present fifty-four different mitzvot, one per week, stretching over the thirteen-month Jewish leap year, with a full discussion and analysis of each selected mitzva, including interpretation, sources of disagreements, a summary, and if appropriate, the definitive ruling.

The Book of Exodus, for example, begins with the Israelite enslavement in Egypt. A midrash, a creative interpretation, relating to this says that Israel “merited redemption from slavery in Egypt for their having retained particular mitzvot and symbols of Jewish identity;” notably speaking the holy language—Hebrew. Tabory asks and answers the question, is there a commandment requiring everyone to speak or become familiar with Hebrew?

Other examples of his far-ranging assortment include commandments relating to: be fruitful and multiply, circumcision, visiting the sick, the blessing on betrothal, annulling vows, and writing and affixing mezuzot. He also examines the question of whether or not a blind person has the duty to fulfill mitzvot and sets aside a chapter to discuss one of the Noahide obligations, those commandment-like expectations of all humanity prior to the giving of the Torah: must one’s parents be honored?

The Weekly Mitzva is a scholar’s delight, as Tabory draws on and identifies numerous original sources, examining and scrutinizing them in relation to one another. The text also permits lay persons to observe interesting, multifaceted discussions about religious practice, allowing them to understand the complexities, nuances, and perspectives of Jewish scholars on the meaning and performance of the commandments. The Weekly Mitzva is a wonderful source for mitzvot knowledge and lore; it is book to be studied as much as it is to be read.

*

Dr. Fred Reiss is a retired public and Hebrew school teacher and administrator. He is the author of The Standard Guide to the Jewish and Civil Calendars; Public Education in Camden, NJ: From Inception to Integration; Ancient Secrets of Creation: Sepher Yetzira, the Book that Started Kabbalah, Revealed; and a fiction book, Reclaiming the Messiah. The author can be reached via fred.reiss@sdjewishworld.com.