Hiddur Mitzvah
I just finished reading through the first five books of the Old Testament over a several month period of time. The focus in that reading is the law of God. The Ten Commandments are front and center, of course, but there are other laws, restrictions, and requirements that God places upon His people. And the Pentateuch states and restates them. So I have been thinking a lot about the laws of God.
A Hebrew scholar, Lois Tverberg, once gave me an insight into the fact that the Hebrew word for command is mitzvah and, in the Jewish culture, its meaning is positive, not negative. Instead of being a burden, a command is “an opportunity to do something good that God told you to do . . The word is always used in a positive way, suggesting that doing what God has asked is a joy and a spiritual opportunity, not a burden.”
The Hebrew concept goes even further with the expression of hiddur mitzvah which means beautifying the command. Again in Lois’ words, “. . . if God tells us to do something, we shouldn’t just do the minimum, but to perform it in the best way possible, sparing no expense or trouble.”
So, as I have meditated on God’s laws, particularly on the Ten Commandments in recent weeks, I have tried to put the concept of hiddur mitzvah to work. Instead of thinking of the commands as negatives, “Thou shalt not . . .”, I have been thinking of the flip side. If I don’t take God’s name in vain, for example, how can I beautify the command by glorifying God’s name? If I don’t covet anything that belongs to my neighbor, how can I beautify the command by giving something of value to my neighbor? If I don’t murder, how can I beautify the command by savoring and sharing the gift of life that God has granted me?
See what I mean? If you have ideas on how to beautify the commands, share your ideas. I would love to hear what meditating on the commands in this new way brings to your mind.