Today: Don’t shame anyone. Explanation: When you make someone feel painfully self-conscious, you destroy a little piece of the world — and not only for them. Your own soul / psyche / personality suffers as well. In today’s hyperpartisan social…
Tag: Minute Mitzvah
Being, Jewishly: one moment at a time.
Minute Mitzvah: Put It Back
Today: Return lost items. Explanation: The Talmud tells us that an item is only and truly “lost” when its owner despairs of its return. Your job is to not let that happen. Granted, this is one of those mitzvot which…
Minute Mitzvah: Stuff & Nonsense
Today: Don’t crave someone else’s stuff. Explanation: One of modern life’s biggest distractions is feeling materially inadequate, especially in a gotta-have-it society like our own. Why dwell on your deficiencies? As Pirkei Avot says, “Who is rich? One who is…
Aside
SO: INYOURHAND.ORG WAS THIS PROJECT I started when I was all hopped up on Prednisone following my 2002 cancer surgery/Grave’s disease bout. Inyourhand.org (along with the tagline “Be, Jewishly“) was devoted to teaching people about the mitzvot, the sacred obligations which bind Jews together and to that-which-some-people-call-God, or at least to Jewish tradition. I even made a T-shirt that had the inyourhand.org URL emblazoned on the back (along with the tagline “Be, Jewishly“), but I then went through a poor period where I could no longer afford to pay for hosting inyourhand.org. Thus, I never wore the inyourhand.org T-shirt (along with the tagline “Be, Jewishly“).
Minute Mitzvah: Saying the Shema
Today: Say the Shema. Explanation: The Shema (“Listen, Israel: יהוה our G?d! יהוה One!”), from Deuteronomy 6:4, is the statement of Jewish faith-commitment. It’s the first prayer we learn after birth and, if we time it right, the last prayer…
Minute Mitzvah: Mind That Credenza
And now, it’s time for another Monday Mitzvah. Today: Safeguard your home from accidents. IN ITS SIMPLE VERSION, THIS mitzvah calls for a roof-edge parapet to keep people from falling off. As those living outside a Mediterranean building-climate likely have…
Minute Mitzvah: Praise Wow
And now, another Monday Mitzvah with a side of motivation. Today: Hold God in awe. THIS ONE’S TRICKY FOR ATHEISTS, so in the interests of universality, let’s assume we’re not talking about the Cranky Old Man raining smites and frights…
Minute Mitzvah: Free At Last
FOR THOSE INTERESTED, WE AT Metaphorager.Net present another Monday Mitzvah (and its backstory). Today: Tell the Exodus story on Passover. “Remember that you were slaves in the Land of Egypt” is Torah’s most-repeated commandment. But if we get hung up…
Minute Mitzvah: You Are How You Eat
TUESDAY’S NOT TOO LATE FOR a Monday Mitzvah, unless you’d rather read something else. Today: Don’t eat what’s not kosher (literally, “proper, fit”). Let’s correct two misconceptions: 1. Kosher is hygenic. 2. Kosher is rational. The basic rules from Leviticus…
Minute Mitzvah: Watch Your Tongue
It’s Monday Mitzvah! If you’re not hip to Jewish ethnospirituality, feel free to pass. Today: Don’t oppress anyone with words. Like many of the mannerly mitzvot, this one seems easy — until you begin to ponder the meaning of “oppress.”…
Minute Mitzvah: Divine Assumption
And now, another Monday Mitzvah! If you’re not hip to things eth(n)ospiritual, feel free to skip. Today: Know, if even arguendo, that God is. TO A THEIST, THE IDEA of a Universe without God is a no-brainer; to an atheist,…
Minute Mitzvah: Take Saturday Off
Welcome to another Monday Mitzvah! If you’re not hip to things eth(n)ospiritual, feel free to skip this post. Today: Rest on Shabbat. For most of the past 166,400-odd weeks, Jews have celebrated Shabbat as part of the fabric of Creation.…