It’s possible to describe what happened this month in technical terms: The Israeli singer-songwriter Ishay Ribo broke a record when he appeared in Madison Square Garden in New York. His two performances there, attracting thousands, were sold out.
But it’s also possible to describe what happened on a spiritual level: It’s the month of Elul in the Diaspora and Jews there are eager for contact with an emissary from the land of Israel. It’s a time of drawing closer to G-d, of gaining clarity, of renewed Jewish pride and identification with Israel, a time of joy, of prayer, of unity.
At these huge gatherings there were not only songs but also words of inspiration from Ribo regarding our present challenges: “I believe – and I think everyone else believes in their heart – that everything the nation of Israel is going through now is not in vain. The pain and the tears that have fallen without end will cause redemption to grow and a new world to flourish. When this happens – soon, with G-d’s help – we cannot imagine how much good there will be.” These words, too, and not only Ribo’s famous hit songs, were applauded by thousands of Jews. Amen.
Making The Connection
74 mitzvot!
Last Shabbat we read Parashat Ki Teitze which is the parasha in the Torah that contains the largest number of mitzvot: 74 out of a total of taryag (613) mitzvot.
Let’s stop for a moment and think about this, especially now in the month of Elul. The list of mitzvot in this parasha is not a long shopping list of items to “check off” when completed.
The word mitzvah is not only derived from the root word, “tzivui”- commandment, it is also closely related to the Aramaic word, “tzavta” – together, which is connected to the Hebrew word, “tzevet,” – staff, a group of people who work together. When a person fulfills a mitzvah, he or she is connecting to G-d and becoming His partner. This connection in itself is the greatest reward and the most incredible source of joy! Through mitzvot, a person is doing the right thing, and in this way, he is making the world right too.
The mitzvot enable us to take the most basic things of all: our bodies, our possessions, our most physical parts, and to sanctify them. For example, we can take our hard-earned money–and give it to tzedakah, to someone in need. We can find a lost item and return it to its owner; we can take tefillin straps and wrap them around our arms; we can knead dough and make the blessing of hafrashat challah (separating challah).
It is through these physical actions that we mere humans are able to bring into our world holy sparks of the eternal Light.
At the end of each year, as we stand on the cusp of the year to come, it is the custom for us to take on a new mitzvah, a practical action, which will bring us more of a “tzavta” – connection to G-d – and thus bring more holiness into our lives.
Translated by Yehoshua Siskin and Janine Muller Sherr.
