SD: Rabbi Rank,
Midway Jewish Center has just inspired 640 people to do one mitzvah on June 13,
Mitzvah Day. How does that make you
feel?
RR: Like a
million dollars!
SD: Has the synagogue
ever done anything like this before?
RR: I don’t
think so.
SD: The synagogue
wanted 613 people to do one mitzvah on a single day. Was that a reasonable goal?
RR: It was
ridiculous!
SD: But in the
end, you actually exceeded expectations.
RR: We did
indeed.
SD: What was
the most popular mitzvah?
RR: Well, 69
people recited the Shema; 81 people lit Shabbat candles; and 99 people gave a
buck for tzdakkah.
SD: So if 99
people gave a buck for tzdakkah, this Mitzvah Day campaign generated 100 bucks.
RR: Not
exactly. Many people wrote to me that
they were giving $18 or $36 there or even $180 to some worthy
organization. I did not want this to be
a contest between big givers and small givers.
Instead, the very wonderful mitzvah of tzdakkah was simply listed as
that—A Buck for Tzdakkah
SD: Which
mitzvah was the hardest one to fulfill?
RR: I think
forgiving someone was the most challenging.
But we had 10 people committing to that.
SD: Some have
said that a few of these mitzvot were not really mitzvot, as for example—telling
someone that you love him/her?
RR: Love your
neighbor as yourself—Leviticus 19:18.
SD: But aren’t
there 100 ways to love one’s neighbor?
RR: There may
be a thousand ways to love one’s neighbor, one’s fellow human being. However you choose to do it—by offering
advice, encouragement, money, time, etc.—will ultimately be the fulfillment of
that mitzvah.
SD: But wait—what
about saying Barukh HaShem? That certainly
cannot count as a mitzvah.
RR: Why
not? It’s a prayer albeit a very simple
prayer. Barukh HaShem—Praise God—that’s
a prayer.
SD: That’s a
prayer?
RR: Uhm—are you
Jewish?
SD: Yes.
RR: Oh, well,
that explains it. You think every prayer
is 15 minutes long and a full service is three hours plus change.
SD: You mean Jews
can say Barukh HaShem and feel as if they have prayed?
RR: If they say
Barukh HaShem with sincerity, over something that truly deserves an expression
of gratitude to God, not only have they prayed, but they will feel as if they prayed
fully. Twenty-two people committed to
saying Barukh HaShem. That calls for a
Barukh HaShem!
SD: This sounds
rather unorthodox.
RR: We’re
Conservative.
SD: No, I mean
in the sense of… would other rabbis define mitzvah as broadly as you do?
RR: Some rabbis
would and some would not. If all rabbis
were of the same opinion, that would not be a mitzvah, but it would be a
miracle.
SD: So what is
a mitzvah?
RR: It is an
act which serves as a sacred connection, connecting us to our history, our
bible, our past, present and future, our fellow Jews around the world, the
community of humankind, our responsibilities to the earth, to each other, and
most importantly, it connects us to God.
SD: Traditionally,
a mitzvah was thought to be a command from God, but your definition seems to
avoid any reference to a commanding God.
RR: I think God
knows that moderns don’t like to be commanded, but are open to be guided, as
long as that guidance is loving, reasonable, and life-affirming. It all works like the solar system. God is like the sun and we are like the
planets. Like the sun, God exerts this
power over us which keeps us in orbit.
Unlike the planets which are captured by the sun’s gravitational pull,
we can defy God’s pull and travel another path.
But it won’t be a path that is loving or reasonable or
life-affirming. We know how many people
get off track—even clergy, sad to say—when God is no longer their sun, their
gravitational force pulling them back into the orbit of life. That’s when things get dicey, hairy,
scary.
SD: Did you
ever think you weren’t going to make your 613 Mitzvah Makers?
RR: Everyday.
SD: What kept
you working at this?
RR: Midway is a
wonderful community and I had these angels in the congregation who got out and
encouraged others to do a mitzvah—Debbie Kolodny, Jeff Lambert, Ilene Schlank, Beth
Weinstein, just to name a few.
SD: You weren’t
discouraged?
RR: Optimism is
a mitzvah.
SD: You’re
joking.
RR: Choose Life—Deuteronomy
30:19
SD: But rabbi,
can someone do a mitzvah without being aware that it is a mitzvah?
RR: Yes, but it’s
better to do the mitzvah with awareness or mindfulness. This is in part what Mitzvah Day was all
about: becoming aware of the mitzvot we naturally do.
SD: Were some
people uncomfortable signing up for a mitzvah that they would be doing anyway,
like keeping kosher?
RR: Yes—some even
felt guilty about it.
SD: That can’t
be good.
RR: No, that
was terrific—feeling guilty for a perceived wrong is a mitzvah.
SD: I’m afraid
to ask if you are serious.
RR: Of course,
I’m serious. “…when [a person] realizes
guilt in any of these matters, he shall confess that wherein he has sinned” (Leviticus
5:5). I ended up hearing confession from
a couple of people.
SD: Did that
make you feel uncomfortable?
RR: No—it was
marvelous. The seriousness with which
the community took this project was breath-taking. I had thoughtful exchanges with a number of
people about whether the mitzvah they were thinking about was legitimate. Many people who recruited their whole family
to do a mitzvah. I know of friends who
got together to do a mitzvah. It was a
beautiful thing to see.
SD: What is the
most important thing you want people to take away from Mitzvah Day, June 13?
RR: Just do a
mitzvah a day. And should you find the spiritual
energy to place God at the center, everything you do will be a mitzvah. We always say “It’s hard to be a Jew…” It really isn’t.
