What is a Commandment (Mitzvah)?

In order to begin the walk towards the proper observance of a commandment, we should first be aware of its characteristics. The need for this, stems from the lack of a straightforward and clear definition of "commandment" in the bible. On the other hand, there exists a list of 613 divine orders, which the Jewish religion determined as  commandments.

Commandment's characteristic points

• The commandment is first and foremost a divine decree, similar to divine decrees termed statute, law.

• According to the bible, the commandments are meant to acted out. It is therefore clear to us that every commandment must include an activity, which comprises content as well as a goal.

• Which type of activity will be performed and in which area of man's life will the commandment operate? In order to respond to these questions, I searched the Pentateuch for a direct link between the word "commandment" and the type of activity and its area; namely, finding the type of activity which is expressly termed "commandment" ("Mitzvah").

I was able to discover only three such declarations, these being:

Commandment name	Essence of activity	Location in the Bible
Love of God	Loving God and man	Deuteronomy 11: 13
Walk in God's ways	Walking in God's ways	Deuteronomy 8: 6
Walk in God's paths and love Him	Walking in God's ways and loving Him	Deuteronomy 11: 22

In effect, these three declarations contain two fundamental things: Love and positive creation
According to what has been detailed thus far, we can determine that the commandment shall only involve acts of creative love or creative activities that realize true Good in every domain of our lives.

Further details regarding the proper observance of commandments Comprehending the commandment's essence
It was noted in this chapter's beginning that understanding a content's essence is crucial to its proper and efficient execution, especially a content as important as a divine one is. Awakening the forces of love and creativity, occurs within a person once he understands its essence. When he is convinced this activity comes to actualize Good and decides to do it of his own free will, these forces will be activated and will perform this activity in a wise and proper manner. In return, he will receive the remuneration, frequently referred to by God in the bible.

Crossing from a divine decree to a commandment:
Comprehending an activity and all that it involves, as elucidated above, may turn a divine decree into a commandment. Namely, it may transform a mechanical performance, due to an external motive – which is a decree, into a creative performance of Good, due to an internal motivation – which is a commandment. As the external motive is replaced with an internal one, love appears naturally, bringing with it a desire to carry out Good, awakening those spiritual forces that are suitable to the commandment's performance and consequently, leading to the reward's attainment. This is why God talks about keeping and observing commandments and not about keeping and observing decrees. It can be said, with almost complete certainty, that in order for it to be possible to observe a commandment, we must initially transform the external motive into an internal one.

Observing a commandment cannot be commanded
It is impossible to perform a creative act of love on command. The same holds true regarding the performance of a divine decree, since the command, even though its source is the highest intelligence in the universe, contains an element of coercion, which may minimize or even terminate the appearance of the powers of creativity and love, which man needs so badly for this activity; making it difficult to creatively express true Good, and certainly the commandment itself. The religious expression "burden of commandments" confirms that the religious person's outlook comprises an element of coercion as regards the observance of a commandment, with all the accompanying negativity that such a coercion entails.

 
Performing the commandment at any time
Due to its being an expression of love, the commandment has to be such that a person could perform it frequently - namely, whenever he needs to. Having established such criteria, we have at our disposal a reliable means of determining what a commandment is:

A commandment is a consciously recurring, creative expression of the doing of Good, at increasingly high levels, activated by a person's free will and desire, with God's encouragement.
It can be therefore determined that it is through the proper observance of this commandment that man realizes his purpose.       

How many commandments are involved?

It has already been noted in the previous pages that properly carrying out a commandment is a conscious and creative act of love, or as we also know, a conscious and creative performance of true Good, in which love is the means of bringing Good into expression. Therefore, each commandment has to contain a significant component of love.

Could it be that we are talking about the performance of just one wise meta-commandment, that is love, and the commandments God bestowed on us are a certain collection from the sum of all possible acts of love? This, until man develops and realizes this meta-quality, which whose actualization man will complete the performance of the remaining expressions of Good or acts of love.

 It seems there is a basis for these suppositions. Let us examine, according to the Pentateuch, whether by observing the commandment of love, we will have observed all the commandments.

From Deuteronomy 11:13, we are familiar with the following quotation: "And it shall come to pass, if ye shall hearken diligently unto my Commandments which I command you this day, to love the LORD your God". This quote shows that God considers the observance of the commandment to love God, not as the observance of a single one, but as the observance of the lion's share of the commandments, or even of them all.

In the chapter titled "Loving God" , it is proved that loving God is equal to 'serving God', yet 'service of God' contains the observance of all the commandments. Hence, this conclusion also proves the truth of my supposition.

I suppose that if we search the Pentateuch carefully, we shall locate additional, similar quotations.

In summary, it can be said that we have to accept the principle that we are talking about the observance of a single basic commandment, which is the Commandment of love.
 

The symbolic act, as an impressive means of improving the observance of the wise commandment

The matter at hand comes to remind us of the essence and to bring to its observance. The frequency of its performance can be maximized by fitting the symbol. In repeating the symbolic action, we may find ourselves performing the commandment automatically.

     In order for the symbolic action to achieve the desired effect, three conditions must be satisfied, these being: familiarity with the symbol, familiarity with the "essence" and the existence of an associative link between the two. The Pentateuch makes frequent use of this type of activity. The "Tzizith" commandment defines the principle of such an activity, by means of the following quote: " And it (the Tzizith) shall be unto you for a fringe, that ye may look upon it, and remember all the commandments of the LORD, and do them" (Numbers 15:39).

Before you are some symbols and their essence:

 

The symbol	The essence and its observance
The Sabbath	Elevating man's self-worth
Man's sanctifying of the Sabbath	Entering an atmosphere of sanctity
Tefillin and Mezuzah	Loving God and man
Tzizith	Observing all the commandments at a defined pace

 

I am unsurprised at the Pentateuch's use of symbolic actions, especially for the improvement and expression of love,     which on the one hand is a quality whose expression is difficult, yet on the other hand, holds the key to the realization of man's purpose.

 Unfortunately, the Jewish religion furnished man with neither the essence of the wise commandment, nor with the associative connection between the commandment and the symbol. This way, for example, the laying of the Tefillin, the glancing at the Mezuzah and the covering with the Tzizith, were all turned into meaningless and purposeless activity.

An additional view on the proper observance of a wise commandment

It is indeed clear to us, how we ought to act in order to properly observe such a commandment, yet I cannot refrain from presenting you with a wonderful story that will clarify its proper performance, from the emotional aspect as well.

 I heard this story from Rabbi Zaltzberg, one of Tel-Aviv's well known Rabbis, at the time of a young man's celebration of his coming of age (Bar-Mitzvah the time in which he is ripe for the duty of carrying out the commandments).

The Rabbi told that in a certain city, a father strolled with his son. The son met a needy man asking for charity, and donated him a certain sum, of his own desire to do so and continued on his way. Suddenly, the youth remembered something, returned to the pauper and again, gave more charity. When his father enquired why he made two contributions, the boy responded: The first time I contributed due to an inner need of doing so, the second time I did it because God ordered it.

 This story encapsulates an important truth, and I feel a renewed excitement, whenever I recall it. Each of us would do well to dedicate some thought to this wonderful example and to turn this attitude into a sacred principle of moral behavior. We see the first act of charity as a distinctive and genuine expression of love towards the other, whereas the second act of charity constitutes a distinctive and genuine act of love towards the divine as gratitude and appreciation for the encouragement received for performing this good deed.

 We see another aspect of this genuine expression - namely, it cannot be that a person will express sincere love towards the other, without also expressing, in parallel, love towards his Creator, and vice-versa. It could be said that the first act of charity is that which brought about a recollection of the Creator, which in turn, awakened love towards Him and its subsequent action.

At this opportunity, I have to point out an additional, significant gift that will be presented to man, subsequent to properly observing the commandment. We see that its proper performance, naturally brings about a recollection of the divine, and thereby His Grace grants His blessing to man, as per His declaration that wherever man mentions His name, He will come and bless him

 A person ought to act in a similar fashion, as regards anything requested by God. The action will be performed, approximately this way: Initially, to comprehend, then to perform, to enjoy the reward this action bestows, and only following that, to thank and express love towards Him for what He ordered and encouraged us to perform. For it would be neither sincere, nor proper, to bless, sanctify and show gratitude towards God and express love towards Him, for the miserable life  a person experiences in his status of a "sinner".