While the name of this week’s Torah portion – Tzav– might not be immediately recognizable, if you just added a Memto the front of it and a Heyto the end of it you would know exactly what it is about. Tzav, meaning commanded, is from the same Hebrew root as mitzvah, one of the most familiar words in the modern Jewish lexicon.
Mitzvah, often translated as “good deed,” really is more akin to something like duty. It is about the obligations between individuals and society. In our religious school, performing mitzvotis one of the central values we pass on to our students, a process that is culminating with the celebration of a Baror Bat Mitzvah. Often youngsters have a difficult time getting their head around such a complex idea, one that, even I, on occasion struggle to understand. Therefore I was delighted by Gideon Curran’s thoughtful explanation at his Bar Mitzvah this past Shabbat.
Here is what he told the community: “I have always admired Stan Lee and the characters in Marvel comics. I used to pray that I’d wake up and have superpowers. Well, I have come to realize that while I may never develop actual superpowers, part of becoming an adult is realizing that my ‘superpowers’ may not be the ability to fly or see through walls, but being kind to the people around you and flashing people a smile every once a in a while and telling people that it’s going to be ok. Everyone has their own superpower, whether that be creating the first IPhone or being the first person to stand on the moon. Superpowers don’t have to outrageous, they have to be real. Real superpowers come from within. All you have to do is discover them.”
Mazel Tov to Gideon and thank you for teaching the real meaning of mitzvah.
Shabbat Shalom,Rabbi Alex
Last Updated on 04/09/2019 by wpadm