Focus on a Mitzvot

As we are in the Days of Awe and approaching Yom Kippur we should be examining ourselves finding what we need to refine and realizing who we are. Today I want to present an Idea about how to do this.

The Apostolic Fathers in English §1 The Way of Life

1.1 There are two ways, one of life and one of death, and there is a great difference between the two ways. 2 Therefore the way of life is this: first, to love the God who made you; second, your neighbor as yourself; ⌊and whatever⌋ you would wish not to happen to you, then you do not do this to others.

This idea is a basic understanding in our faith. The idea that we have a choice between good and evil is something we all understand. We choose how we behave and what we believe. We see good in the hand of our father and we see evil when we look away from him. Moshe established this in

Complete Jewish Bible Chapter 30

15 “Look! I am presenting you today with, on the one hand, life and good; and on the other, death and evil—16 in that I am ordering you today to love ADONAI your God, to follow his ways, and to obey his mitzvot, regulations and rulings; for if you do, you will live and increase your numbers; and ADONAI your God will bless you in the land you are entering in order to take possession of it

Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version Chapter 30

15“See, I have set before you today life and good, and death and evil. 16What I am commanding you today is to love ADONAI your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His mitzvot, statutes and ordinances. Then you will live and multiply, and ADONAI your God will bless you in the land you are going in to possess.

It seems simple when one first reads it. We look at this and it is like we are ordering off of a menu. Yet we know through our experience it is not very easy to do. Yeshua acknowledges the difficulty we may experience. We can read what he says in

It seems simple when one first reads it. We look at this and it can come across almost like we are ordering off of a menu. Yet we know through our experience it is not very easy to do. Yeshua acknowledges the difficulty we may experience. We can read what he says in

Holy Scriptures: Tree of Life Version Chapter 7

13“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. 14How narrow is the gate and difficult the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few.”

So what do we do? How can we choose life and good and enter through the narrow gate? I want to present a practical way can try to choose life by keeping the Mitzvot.

The idea I will present is not the only way it is just a way. You may already have a method you are working on to be more observant or to be more pursuant of Torah. As well this method is not one that I created but is a creation of Nachman of Breslov.

Just a little bit of background on Nachman. Rebbe Nachman revived the Hasidic movement. He is still very influential today especially within the Hasidic traditions. Rebbe Nachman's religious philosophy revolved around closeness to God and speaking to God in normal conversation "as you would with a best friend."

Rebbe Nachman advised his followers not to be "fanatics". Rather, they should choose one personal mitzvah to be very strict about, and do the others with the normal amount of care. I read this and this does seem like something doable.

Many of us are familiar with the concept of breaking things down in to smaller pieces to make it easier to complete a project. If we where to build a pergola for the backyard to be used as a Sukkah; might seem intimidating. If we break it down into smaller steps it becomes easier. 1st maybe we start with clearing the space. Well that seems easy. 2nd we measure the area. 3rd we go purchase the wood and screws. 4th unload all the materials. 5th measure and cut the pieces to fit. 6th we assemble a box. 7th we place the box on the posts and attach them. 8th and finally add the rest of the slats. If we look at any of these individual 8 steps we could easily do that 1 step but when put them together it can be quite intimidating.

Applying that same line of thinking to keeping Torah can also be helpful. Let us face it we are all at different points of observance. We all are also working on things. Compartmentalizing in this manner can be helpful for keeping Torah. To be clear this is not encouragement to abandon the Torah that seems hard but it is to focus on what you can do today.

So for instance maybe one wants to be better at keeping Shabbat. While they are still keeping as much of the Torah as the are able to they really focus on keeping Shabbat. This person might work through out the week to make sure they have food prepared and ready for Shabbat. As they go through the week they purchase stuff specifically for Shabbat. As it approaches they make sure they have completed their works assignments and did not wait to the last minute. They have made arrangements with friends and family to know what they are doing and what to expect. They prepare their home for rest and have everything ready for kiddish and Havdalah. During the week they might even study some traditional Kiddish prayers and practices. They have these things printed or prepared to be read and performed. If they are musically inclined they might have some songs picked out to perform and play.

Another might want to focus on daily prayer. So they concentrate their efforts on this. They might set an alarm or use an app to remind them of the times to pray and what to pray. They might study and find traditional prayers or choose to use a siddur to pray from. Perhaps they research and read about the different traditions with prayer. The person who wanted to do this might even start a prayer journal and just start writing news prayers they want to say. One might even want to concentrate on praying at a specific time every day. Perhaps they want to start the habit of shakarit morning prayers specifically. They may put a lot of effort in to establishing this habit and work in to the other daily prayers later. Regardless of what specifically about prayer they want to pursue they make that the focus of their efforts for a time in regards to keeping Torah.

I would encourage each of us in focusing on a particular Mitzvah to do better about. I am not saying we ignore the others far from it. The advice is we should keep those but focus one to keep better. This will help us to do better with all of them as a whole.

The apostles also wrote something similar to this idea in the Didache 6:2

Rick Brannan, trans., The Apostolic Fathers in English (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012).

Think about a Mitzvah, maybe it is one you have been convicted about, or it could be one you are just curious about. Study it, try to read about it daily, and research it. Look in to how other philosophies have approached that Mitzvah. See if there is a way you can keep it every day. Do something to promote it everyday. Write about it and if you are brave enough talk about it with others. Let them know what you have found and how it has impacted you.

As we do this hopefully it will impact you in a positive way. Hopefully you will have a better understanding of the scriptures and find how you fit in to them or rather how they fit in to you. Then when we see that divide of life and death, of good and evil, of the narrow gate and the wide gate, then we will be able to see it is possible to accomplish good and to choose the path of life.

I want to end with encouragement. If you have looked at the choice that is before you of life and good or death and evil or if you have ever approached the commandments and Torah observance and it made you feel so far from Adonai; I would offer this quote from Rebbe Nachman. "When a person realizes that he is on a very low level and far from God, this itself is a reason to feel encouraged. Before this, he was so far from God that he did not even know it. Now at least he knows it, and this itself is a sign that he is drawing closer."

The Apostolic Fathers in English §6 Do What You Are Able

2 For if you are able to bear the whole yoke of the Lord, you will be perfect. But if you are not able, whatever you are able, this you must do.

Think about a Mitzvah, maybe it is one you have been convicted about, or it could be one you are just curious about. Study it, try to read about it daily, and research it. Look in to how other philosophies have approached that Mitzvah. See if there is a way you can keep it every day. Do something to promote it everyday. Write about it and if you are brave enough talk about it with others. Let them know what you have found and how it has impacted you.

As we do this hopefully it will impact you in a positive way. Hopefully you will have a better understanding of the scriptures and find how you fit in to them or rather how they fit in to you. Then when we see that divide of life and death, of good and evil, of the narrow gate and the wide gate, then we will be able to see it is possible to accomplish good and to choose the path of life.

I want to end with encouragement. If you have looked at the choice that is before you of life and good or death and evil or if you have ever approached the commandments and Torah observance and it made you feel so far from Adonai; I would offer this quote from Rebbe Nachman. "When a person realizes that he is on a very low level and far from God, this itself is a reason to feel encouraged. Before this, he was so far from God that he did not even know it. Now at least he knows it, and this itself is a sign that he is drawing closer."