What gives you a sense of Jewish unity, community and knowledge of who you are and how far back you have come?
Mitzvahs are one way for me to feel an essence of good by helping someone out in need. Yesterday at the Squirrel Hill library in Pittsburgh, I spent parts of the later afternoon reading to a three year old boy for a non-profit book organization. It was entirely voluntary. Jewish life is all about values evolving around family and children and since my immediate family is in Israel, I try and find ways to help children. I constantly remind myself that this is my special weekly renewal of light.
Like Ruth’s divine providence, a mitzvah is an act of committing to a holy thought. Reading a story is in essence an act of kindness of “hesed shel emet.” It’s nice to be able to share the gift of reading with other families who are in need. The young mother holding her 11 month old child explained to me that she really wanted her son to hear some stories and just didn’t have the time to read to him. I really could understand her need to preserve a thirty minute reading period for her son. Even reading for an uninterrupted thirty minute period is super holy for the modern times that we live in.