Scorecard

Scorecard

"I wear a tallit, keep Kosher, and try to observe Shabbat. What more do I lack?"

Well, that's an easy one. “Keep the commandments.” Don't ask which ones! (I say this tongue in cheek).

Mattit'yahu 19:16-21
¹⁶Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”^{17So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No
one is good but One, that is, God. But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
^{18He said to Him, “Which ones?”

Yeshua said, “‘You
shall not murder; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal;
you shall not bear false witness against your fellow ’^{Sh’mot
20:13;} ¹⁹‘Honor your father and your mother,’ ^D’varim^5:16and, ‘You shall love your
fellow as
yourself.’” ^{Vayikra 19:18}
^{20The young man said to Him, “All these things I
have kept from my youth. What do I still lack?”
^{21Yeshua said to him, “If you
want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have
treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”}}}}

There are 248 positive commandments and 365 negative commandments. Keeping Kosher is only about a half-dozen commandments. The tallit and Shabbat are about another three or so. All told, you're up to about 15. Keep up the good work! Keeping commandments is easy ... you keep them one at a time.

No one has to tell you not to murder or commit adultery. Unless, of course, we deal with the problem of emotionally breaking the commandments. In which case: Do not commit murder, do not commit adultery!

There's more to Torah than just Kashrut, Holy Days, the tallit and Shabbat. There's also charity to the poor, there's rules of conduct, there's Tefillin and Mezuzah, there's respect for the elderly (how about that one, Americans?). It's easy to get involved in the candy and not eat the important things...Like the first two commandments! Love HASHEM your God with all your heart! Love your neighbor as yourself!

The real problem a lot of the time, is that we love ourselves more than we love God. We need to conform ourselves to the word of God, and not pick and choose what we'd like. I'd like to be clean-shaven, myself. And there's nothing more subjugating than wearing a box on your head in the morning. I'd like to eat bacon, and not have to worry about what's in my food.

Sh’mot 19:3-6
³Moses ascended to God, and HASHEM called to him from the mountain, saying, “So shall you say to the House of Jacob and relate to the Children of Israel, ⁴‘You have seen what I did to Egypt, and that I have borne you on the wings of eagles and brought you unto Me. ⁵And now, if you hearken well to Me and observe My covenant¹, you shall be to Me the most beloved treasure of all peoples, for Mine is the entire world. ⁶You shall be to Me a kingdom of ministers² and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you shall speak to the Children of Israel.”

Fortunately, there's that. So I'll grow a beard, and wear the locks on my temples longer than normal, and put boxes on my head and arm, attach boxes on my doorpost, speak of the commandments at all times, watch what I eat, be respectful to the aged, keep the seventh day holy, observe appointed feasts and then some, obey Mashiach as my King, wear a tallit, give to charity, etc.

Baruch HASHEM !

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¹ Sh’mot 19:5. Although the Creator, Who had delivered Israel from slavery, had the right to demand that they accept the Torah, such was not the Divine plan. As the familiar narrative of the Sages teaches (Sifrie, Vezos Haberachah): God offered the Torah to other nations but they refused it. Esau's offspring would not tolerate a law that prohibited murder; Ishmael's could not live with a law that banned thievery; and Lot's would not accept a ban on adultery. Now it was Israel's turn. That Israel was willing to accept the Torah without even inquiring as to its contents was because it had inherited the spiritual sublimity of the Patriarchs that its cousins had rejected.

² Sh’mot 19:6. A kingdom of ministers... Although usually translated as priests, the word כהנים in the context of this verse means that the entire nation is to be dedicated to leading the world toward an understanding and acceptance of God's mission.