The Anatomy Of A Mitzvah

When I last worked in Rhode Island, about twelve years ago, I took on the task of serving as the Jewish chaplain at the ACI (Rhode Island's prison system). It was a volunteer job that lasted for about two years until I no longer worked in Rhode Island and, at that same time, a Rabbi, new to the area, really wanted the position. One of the responsibilities that came with the job of counseling prisoners about to be released was to help them find employment outside the prison walls. One day, on one of my regular visits to minimum security, one of the inmates said," I'll be out of here in about three weeks and if you can get me a job, it'll be a Mitzvah". I replied, "I'll do what I can, but that's not a Mitzvah".
Judaism makes a clear distinction between good, kind, loving actions and Mitzvot. We all do-or think we're doing-kind deeds and favors for other people, and you know when you're doing it. A special sense of delight, gladness and joy seems to prevail. You feel proud of yourself. We all had the experience of someone asking us for a favor: "pick up a few things for me at the store" or "drop me off at the dentist". Helping an old or blind person cross the street also is an example, but these are not Mitzvot.

A Mitzvah is something different. Mitzvot are-if properly performed-bona fide spiritual practices. Every culture that ever existed had practices which enabled them to commune with the Divine: the Sun Dance of the American Indian, the Tea Ceremony of the Japanese and so on.  Mitzvot, the Jewish route, provide not only a conduit to G-d, they also enhance the power to transform and to heal. If you are as skeptical as I am, then you will want some evidence, some assurance that you are performing tasks that have purpose.
In as much as the system of Mitzvot date back to pre-antiquity or to the Revelation at Sinai depending on your slant in the matter, they seem obscure on one hand but analyzable on the other in the light of modern transpersonal psychology. Most Rabbis will tell you that there are only two kinds of Mitzvot: mishpatim, those commandments that are clear to the intelligent mind, and chukim, the vast majority, whose meaning can't be conceived through rational thought.

The Jewish mystical literature, on the other hand, provides us with a technology that explains how Mitzvot work. Mitzvot are actions that we do here on earth that effect the heavenly spheres. We don't know which ones have what effects, so, in order to leave no stones unturned, we do them all, all six hundred and thirteen of them. We can influence the heavens with our Mitzvot and with our prayer. One distinct feature is that Mitzvot consist of positive and negative commandments: shoulds and should nots, male energy and female. An ordered universe demands justice to balance what has gone askew. We delicately offset the negativity with our Mitzvot to sustain joyous living.

What's most important and most often overlooked is that these holy actions need to be performed with kavannah, a Hebrew term meaning both attention and intention. This is a focusing of our awareness, a complete concentration on the perfomance of the Mitzvah, and on its intended purpose. On Yom Kippur we observe its particular Mitzvot and we intend to influence the future by nullifying the past. Directed thought actually restructures spiritual energy towards its intended purpose; the Talmud is quite clear on kavannah by emphasizing the expression 'if he directed his heart' (Berachot 13a).

I know this all sounds rather esoteric and you may ask "what does this all have to do with my life?" The answer is everything!  Kabbalah, Jewish metaphysics, is deeply concerned with life, yours and mine, and teaches that our destiny emanates from the heavenly spheres; how we effect the spiritual energy with our Mitzvot determines how our lives emerge. I share my thoughts, my feelings and my understanding of Torah with you because that too is a Mitzvah.