Mitzvah

[Jonathan Gordon <jbgordon...>]

To further Sam's perceptive remarks about the ever-loosening use of the word
mitzvah. Mitzvah has become any kind deed or even substituted for the word
m'tsiah. I think that in addition to the obvious eroding of traditional
education in the Jewish people at large, there is a religious cosmology
beneath the change. I refer to the idea that religious commandments are
perceived as elective or a life style choice. Thus a mitzvah, which once was
a command from our higher power, now is a guideline or an opportunity, or
just one of a host of possible actions, seemingly without substantial impact
or witness. Once being a maskil was bold rebellion.  Now it is a banal
shrug.
jonathan gordon

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