Mitzvah goreret mitzvah, goreret mitzvah, avarah goreret avarah. Lhiyot tzadki, ze tov. One mitzvah leads to another. One sin leads to another. To be rigtheous is to be good. This week’s portion is all about mitzvot, commandments. Sometimes mitzvah is translated as good deed. I used to bristle at that but in fact that is the Yiddish translation. Today’s portion has 74 of the 613 commandments. They are a moral compass. 

Often, I hear that Judaism is hard. It is filled with Thou Shall Nots and no one wants to be told what to do. I understand that. But as I often say about the prayers, Ahava Rabbah and Ahavat Olam, G-d is like a loving parent setting limits for us.  

 In fact, of the 613 commandments, there are 365 negative ones and 248 positive ones corresponding to the number of the bones in the body—at least according to the Talmud (Makot 23a and b) 

A commandment is more than a suggestion, or a recommendation. It is something we are required to do, a sacred obligation. It has the force of law. We could argue about who is doing the commanding but for now let’s just agree that the text tells us that it is G-d. 

Today, we are not obligated to all 613 of them. Many of them have to do with the sacrificial system in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. So really there are only 77 positive and 194 negative commandments that can be observed today, of which there are 26 commandments that apply only in the land of Israel.  

This week’s portion, with its list of seemingly disconnected ideas of how to be good, has led to a whole discipline within Judaism.  Ta’amei Hamitzvot.  

The birth of this discipline came from Ramban, with an n, also known as Nachmanidies, on the commentary on one of these very verses today: 

IF A BIRD’S NEST CHANCE TO BE BEFORE THEE. This also is an explanatory commandment, of the prohibition Ye shall not kill it [the dam] and its young both in one day, because the reason for both [commandments] is that we should not have a cruel heart and be discompassionate, or it may be that Scripture does not permit us to destroy a species altogether, although it  permits slaughter [for food] within that group. Now, he who kills the dam and the young in one day or takes them when they are free to fly [it is regarded] as though he cut off that species. 

Note, Ramban has no problem giving two different explanations for the prohibition on taking the mother together with her chicks. Remember how I often say two Jews three opinions and I have all three.. Ramban is trying to answer the question, “What is G-d’s purpose in giving us this mitzvah?”  

There is a long discussion in Ramban about the reasons for this commandment, 

https://www.etzion.org.il/en/philosophy/great-thinkers/ramban/taamei-hamitzvot-reasons-commandments    

In fact, in that argument, all commandments that could be summed up in just as G-d is merciful and compassionate, you too should be merciful and compassionate. These are of course part of the 13 Attributes of the Divine, so central to how we approach the teshuva of the High Holy Days. Just as G-d is merciful and compassionate, full of lovingkindness, we too should emulate G-d. We should be like G-d. We should be menschen. Hillel said in Pirke Avot “In a place where there are no men, strive to be a man, a mensch.” L’hiyot tzadki, ze tov. 

But it is not easy to be righteous, to be a good person, to be a mensch. So these commandments come as a way to build good habits. One commandment, one good deed leads to another and another and another. There is a science behind habit building. Programs like Weight Watchers and Noom understand that.  

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/brain-wise/201904/the-science-habits  

 
We used to say that it took 60 days to create a habit. Or perhaps you heard it takes 21 days. But if we understand the emerging science correctly, it may take even less time.  

Let’s dig in. The best way to change an existing habit is to create a new one to replace it. That’s why if you smoke, experts will recommend that you find something else to do with your hands—or they recommend gum chewing to replace the sensation of smoking.  

Psychology Today used an example of coming home at the end of the workday, grapping a soda (OK here in Illinois it would be a pop), sitting on the couch and turning on the TV. Soon a hour has gone by and you haven’t gotten any exercise or started dinner.  

But what if you create a new habit? What if you interrupt the stimulus/response cycle and replace the current response with a different response? I think that is part of what the whole High Holy Day preparation cycle is about. What are the things you want to change for the New Year about your own behavior. 

So, continuing with our example from Psychology Today: 

The current stimulus is walk in the door. It results in the response, grab pop, turn on TV and sit on the couch. Sitting on the couch is what I’m doing as I write this.  

So to change this, we need to decide what we want to replace the stimulus with. Maybe, if you want to go for a walk before you get home, put your walking shoes and a change of clothes right by the door to remind you. Then, for a few days, “purposefully and consciously” as Psychology Today said, that’s our kavanah, intention, grab the clothes and the shoes, change and go right out the door before even sitting down! 

Withing seven days you will have built in going for a walk before sitting down.  

Seven days, just seven days. We are back to creation. You have created a new habit. These mitzvot, the very ones that when we stood at Sinai we all said we will do and we will hear, even if we don’t always understand the whys, are here to help us create good habits, to help us be like G-d, merciful and compassionate. 

Table Topics: 

Lab at Home: 

For the next seven days, choose a habit that you would like to change. Perhaps it is the example of going for a walk. Or not going through a fast food drive through. Or doing your homework before playing video games. Follow these steps: 

Song: 

Mitzvah Goreret Mitzvah 

Act of Kindness: 

Call up a friend and go for a walk. Perhaps that friend is also trying to build a new habit.