What is a Mitzvah?

by Rabbi Mordechai Rhine

The story of the golden calf is a story that seemed to be paved with good intentions. Like so many disasters in the history of mankind, the rationale seemed so logical. When Moshe ascended the mountain and did not return on the date that the Jews expected him, they declared, “Make us an intermediary to assist us in connecting with G-d, because we do not know what has happened to Moshe.”

The commentaries explain that at the time of the great revelation at Mount Sinai the heavens were opened to the Jewish people, and they sensed that certain images represented ways to connect with G-d. One of those images was that of an ox (representing strong physical strength which is loyal to its master), and so they fashioned a young ox, as their intermediary by which they would connect with G-d.

The question then remains: What went wrong? If their intentions were good, and there is such a thing as representing certain relationships or attributes through images as we see was done in the Mishkan, then how did their actions come to be an act of idol worship?

The Bais Haleivi commentary explains the fallout of the golden calf in a way that goes to the essence of what a mitzvah is. We often translate mitzvah as “good deed”. But this translation is inaccurate. The word “Mitzvah” actually means “Commandment.” The Bais Haleivi explains that this is the distinction between the icon of the golden calf, and any icons which the Jews were commanded to fashion in the Mishkan. If G-d commands us to make an icon as an intermediary to connect with Him, then it is a mitzvah. This explains the embroidered eagle on the curtain, and the child-like cherub images above the Aron. But if G-d did not command it, then it is not a mitzvah to create an intermediary. This is why the event of the golden calf, despite all the good intent, led the Jews on a destructive path.

If we were asked which translation of the word “Mitzvah” we prefer, I think most people would answer that a Mitzvah is a good deed. Americans in particular are very devoted and generous, but don’t particularly like to be told what to do. Volunteerism is great. But religious observance meets with a degree of reluctance. In fact I once heard it joked that if we really want people to take the Ten Statements seriously, we should stop calling them the “Ten Commandments,” and start calling them the “Ten Suggestions.”

What the Bais Haleivi is teaching us is that the concept of a Mitzvah is really not simply a “good deed,” something that strikes me as good. Rather a Mitzvah is something commanded to me by a Higher Power, who dictates what is truly good, and when. Sometimes the same action can be destructive in certain circumstances, but in the right situation can be a true act of salvation. That difference will depend on what Torah wisdom teaches us to be G-d’s command in any given situation.

Sometimes a person will find that a Mitzvah is difficult to do. That’s normal. Not every commandment is necessarily going to feel like something that you would have done willingly if not for the command. A mitzvah has the power to wake us up in the morning… or in the middle of the night if need be. A mitzvah has the power to influence us to visit a hospital ward that we would not have chosen to visit.

A mitzvah has enormous power… because a mitzvah is not volunteerism.

A mitzvah is a Higher Calling.

© 2016 by TEACH613™