Have you ever heard of a bar mitzvah? I am sure you have. A bar mitzvah or bat mitzvah (for a girl) happens in the Jewish culture when a young man or woman is old enough to ‘think for themselves’ and choose to follow the Word of God. It is a celebration of ‘being the age of accountability’ where a young person is thought mature enough to take responsibility for their own choices. The 13th birthday is by no means understood as a magical day where all of a sudden, good decisions can be made. After all, the ‘teenage’ brain doesn’t stop growing and changing until about age 26 and between us I am sure we have many examples of some ‘not so good’ life decisions that have been made after the age of 13! But a bar mitzvah is a milestone recognized and celebrated within the Jewish culture.
What I didn’t know was that any good deed is considered a mitzvot (mitzvah is the plural). In fact, the word itself means ‘ceremony’ and is translated or understood to be ‘a good deed.’ It comes from the root word tzavta which means connection. During Passover and other times young people are encouraged to do ‘mitzvah’ for others. It may be taking someone a meal, babysitting their child, or praying for a person. The coolest aspect of this for me is the opposite—a mitzvah, or blessing, by NOT doing. It took a bit for my Jewish friend to explain this to me, but we are to do mitzvah by ‘not doing’ as well. Here is an example. You are driving in your car and someone butts in front of you and pushes their way into the merge lane instead of waiting their turn. You can make this a mitzvah by NOT getting upset and NOT saying the negative comment that was on the edge of your tongue. Instead, you take the negative action and turn it into a blessing by ‘letting it freely go.’ It doesn’t just mean choosing to let it go, however. It means choosing to turn it into a blessing by really letting it not bother you. You choose to turn the offence into a blessing and bless the other person.
Wow. Love in unexpected places. I would never have thought of letting these little challenges of life become ‘my mitzvah’ to others. I had the opportunity to put this into practise last week. On the way upstairs, I saw my daughter’s stir fry bowl (from dinner the previous night) sitting on the bookshelf—with food still in it! At first I thought, ‘I am going to wake her up to come and get that.’ But instead, I decided to turn it into a mitzvah and took the bowl upstairs myself. I emptied it into the garbage and thought, ‘I will tell her what I did and not to do that again.’ Clearly I wasn’t understanding the concept of a true mitzvah. God niggled my mind and eventually I washed the bowl, put it away and thought, ‘That was nice. I got to bless her by taking care of the bowl and mess and she won’t even know it because I choose to bless her in this way.’ It was so cool, because after I did the deed, I felt great for ‘letting it go.’ And when I saw her later that day, in my heart I smiled knowing I had a secret blessing I had bestowed on her. It became a true mitzvah.
Mitzvah by the ‘don’ts is so much more fun than just ‘blessing’ others with our words and actions. Look for love in unexpected ways today. Look for the mitzvah you can do by ‘not doing; not complaining; not nagging; not being impatient.’ It isn’t easy and old habits are hard to break. But it is fun! So, I say to you, happy mitzvah!
Galatians 6:9,10 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have the opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.
Our song for today is Walk with Love by Consumed by Fire.
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