9/20/2011

I have just hammered out a bunch of work and am off to bake a zuchinni bread for a shiva at a friends house.  Bringing baked goods is a tradition, but baking is even better.  In searching on shiva baking mitzvah, found someone else with a similar blog idea (of course) who is already written a book as well.
http://1000mitzvahs.org/2011/02/24/mitzvahs-arent-fun/
In her case, she had a quantitative target of 1,000 and a reason, mourning the passing of her father.  It took her two and  a half years and each mitzvah was turned into a story.  Of course, in my less patient view of this you could easily whip out 50 mitzvahs a day particularly if you start blessing everything (the bread, the wine, the food, the toilet (really there is a blessing for after going to the bathroom))  so at that hyper mitzvahed rate you could reach the goal in 20 days!  Of course documentation would be challenging, takes longer to write about then do some of these.  As with so many things in Judiasim, there is room for interpretation.  If you ritualize mitzvot, does it cease to be special and just become rote (like blessings)? 

 As for upping my personal mitzvah count, I worked hard at stopping at four way stops and saying hello to everyone on my morning count.  These small kindnesses could add up, but then felt like I blew it all away by honking at a vehicle that decided to just stop at in the middle of a green light at a busy intersection; that plus driving by the grizzled guy with the homeless sign outside the target parking lot, it was harshing my good vibes (to pull a phrase from the 70s).  It seems every day brings myriad opportunities to send checks or volunteers, each one poses potential for good doing.  But now at least I am trying to think about these events, not just view them as annoyances.  I researched the Walter Hoving home, and based on what I learned passed on writing a check.  I read the thank-you letter carefully from Planned Parenthood trying to remember if I already gave them money.  I had, but they had cleverly thought of asking for more with the thank-you.  And when my  husband "stole" the front page while I was getting a hot cup of tea, I kept my annoyance to myself.     I really did not expect or wasn't cognizant of how many opportunities to extend kindness or contribute to the greater good there were sitting on my doorstep, in my mailbox, email or phone machine each and every day.  So maybe this isn't just about doing more..it is about making choices that begin to deepen my own understanding of what I care about it and how I want to live my life.  Something to think about while I'm sifting flour.