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Was Missing (Jewish) Torah Study a Sin or a Mitzvah?

Was my Shabbat activities good or bad

  • Sinful because they violated every rule in the book on the use of power, driving, etc.

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Sinful because I skipped a customary religious observance

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Mixed bag (please explain on thread)

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Mitzvah because it helped with a charity

    Votes: 3 100.0%

  • Mitzvah because I visited the aging

    Votes: 3 100.0%

  • Mitzvah because I remembered old friendships and carried them forward

    Votes: 3 100.0%
  • Total voters
    3
J

JBG

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Yesterday I decided on the spur of the moment to do three things:

Run in the Terry Fox run;
Visit my 91 year old uncle in New York City that lived near the run course; and
Called one my deceased mother's close friends and found out, with the usual challenges inherent in being 88 years old, she's doing fairly well.

I am posting these here because I did them in place of my planned (almost) weekly visit to Torah study. Here's the question; we just atoned for our sins to G-d and, did I sin again immediately, or did I do a mitzvah? I provided a poll for you to decide.

I maintain it's a mitzvah. The Terry Fox run is a benefit for cancer research. During the mid-1980's Terry Fox, whose leg was amputated due to bone cancer, started a run across Canada, called the "Marathon of Hope." He started in Newfoundland, certain passages obviously being made by ferry. He made it running on his prosthetic leg as far as Thunder Bay, Ontario. For the uninitiated Thunder Bay is roughly at the same position east-westwise as Duluth, Minnesota. At that point the metastasis of the cancer to his lungs forced a sudden stop of the trip, which was slated to end in Vancouver, BC. He died less than a year later. This is an annual run to which I donate when I can't go. Purely because I believe in it.

Immediately after (well, after canceling a credit card I lost along the way) I drove 25 blocks uptown to visit my 91 year old uncle. He was doing as well as can be expected; walks hunched over with a bad back, but is mentally sharp. His sister, my mother, died of dementia at 82.

When I got home I called one of my mother's close friends, whose name came up in conversation with my uncle and whose phone number I had memorized (it was a digit off his dental office's number, which I called every year, once a year, from 1974 to his retirement in or about 2003). She was 88 and was also sharp. But facing typical health challenges of an 88 year old. Her 64 year old son is still playing tennis despite a 30 year battle with MS.

So, your opinion, were my activities mitzvah or sin?
 
JBG said:
Yesterday I decided on the spur of the moment to do three things:

Run in the Terry Fox run;
Visit my 91 year old uncle in New York City that lived near the run course; and
Called one my deceased mother's close friends and found out, with the usual challenges inherent in being 88 years old, she's doing fairly well.

I am posting these here because I did them in place of my planned (almost) weekly visit to Torah study. Here's the question; we just atoned for our sins to G-d and, did I sin again immediately, or did I do a mitzvah? I provided a poll for you to decide.

I maintain it's a mitzvah. The Terry Fox run is a benefit for cancer research. During the mid-1980's Terry Fox, whose leg was amputated due to bone cancer, started a run across Canada, called the "Marathon of Hope." He started in Newfoundland, certain passages obviously being made by ferry. He made it running on his prosthetic leg as far as Thunder Bay, Ontario. For the uninitiated Thunder Bay is roughly at the same position east-westwise as Duluth, Minnesota. At that point the metastasis of the cancer to his lungs forced a sudden stop of the trip, which was slated to end in Vancouver, BC. He died less than a year later. This is an annual run to which I donate when I can't go. Purely because I believe in it.

Immediately after (well, after canceling a credit card I lost along the way) I drove 25 blocks uptown to visit my 91 year old uncle. He was doing as well as can be expected; walks hunched over with a bad back, but is mentally sharp. His sister, my mother, died of dementia at 82.

When I got home I called one of my mother's close friends, whose name came up in conversation with my uncle and whose phone number I had memorized (it was a digit off his dental office's number, which I called every year, once a year, from 1974 to his retirement in or about 2003). She was 88 and was also sharp. But facing typical health challenges of an 88 year old. Her 64 year old son is still playing tennis despite a 30 year battle with MS.

So, your opinion, were my activities mitzvah or sin?
Click to expand...

They were just normal activities.
 
Angel said:
Normal for you, for JBG? What are you even talking about?
Click to expand...
They are not everyday activities. It has been a while since I ran in an organized race. The last visit to my uncle was about a year ago, give or take. I last called my mother's friend back in 2014 to inform her of my mother's death.
 
Just as a fun tangent: I was reading about this new deli that has opened up in the ritzy Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. It's apparently doing very well, with lines going out half a block every morning of people waiting for their fresh bagels and coffee. It's called "Call Your Mother", and is described as a "Jew-ish deli", because one of the owners' parents is Jewish. I thought it's a hilarious poke at the sort of feeling of guilt Jewish moms like to give their kids sometimes.

So you're being a good boy by doing all those things. Now eat! Eat!
 
ataraxia said:
Just as a fun tangent: I was reading about this new deli that has opened up in the ritzy Georgetown neighborhood of Washington DC. It's apparently doing very well, with lines going out half a block every morning of people waiting for their fresh bagels and coffee. It's called "Call Your Mother", and is described as a "Jew-ish deli", because one of the owners' parents is Jewish. I thought it's a hilarious poke at the sort of feeling of guilt Jewish moms like to give their kids sometimes.

So you're being a good boy by doing all those things. Now eat! Eat!
Click to expand...
Nice story.
 
JBG said:
They are not everyday activities. It has been a while since I ran in an organized race. The last visit to my uncle was about a year ago, give or take. I last called my mother's friend back in 2014 to inform her of my mother's death.
Click to expand...
To my mind, the concept of mitzvah ranks at the very top of religious concepts.
 
If Judaism has any core substantive meaning it's this: do the right thing because it is the right thing. (After all, didn't an alleged Jew called Jesus basically tell people to stop being such dicks to each other?)



Some who focuses unbendingly on literal text puts form over substance, and is wrong in doing so for any number of reasons but mainly because people wrote that text.
 
Mr Person said:
If Judaism has any core substantive meaning it's this: do the right thing because it is the right thing. (After all, didn't an alleged Jew called Jesus basically tell people to stop being such dicks to each other?)



Some who focuses unbendingly on literal text puts form over substance, and is wrong in doing so for any number of reasons but mainly because people wrote that text.
Click to expand...

Hmmm.... interesting. It reminds me of this (the Jewish version of the Golden Rule. All religions, after all, have some version of this):

"That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah; the rest is commentary, go and learn it."
 
JBG said:
Yesterday I decided on the spur of the moment to do three things:

Run in the Terry Fox run;
Visit my 91 year old uncle in New York City that lived near the run course; and
Called one my deceased mother's close friends and found out, with the usual challenges inherent in being 88 years old, she's doing fairly well.

I am posting these here because I did them in place of my planned (almost) weekly visit to Torah study. Here's the question; we just atoned for our sins to G-d and, did I sin again immediately, or did I do a mitzvah? I provided a poll for you to decide.

I maintain it's a mitzvah. The Terry Fox run is a benefit for cancer research. During the mid-1980's Terry Fox, whose leg was amputated due to bone cancer, started a run across Canada, called the "Marathon of Hope." He started in Newfoundland, certain passages obviously being made by ferry. He made it running on his prosthetic leg as far as Thunder Bay, Ontario. For the uninitiated Thunder Bay is roughly at the same position east-westwise as Duluth, Minnesota. At that point the metastasis of the cancer to his lungs forced a sudden stop of the trip, which was slated to end in Vancouver, BC. He died less than a year later. This is an annual run to which I donate when I can't go. Purely because I believe in it.

Immediately after (well, after canceling a credit card I lost along the way) I drove 25 blocks uptown to visit my 91 year old uncle. He was doing as well as can be expected; walks hunched over with a bad back, but is mentally sharp. His sister, my mother, died of dementia at 82.

When I got home I called one of my mother's close friends, whose name came up in conversation with my uncle and whose phone number I had memorized (it was a digit off his dental office's number, which I called every year, once a year, from 1974 to his retirement in or about 2003). She was 88 and was also sharp. But facing typical health challenges of an 88 year old. Her 64 year old son is still playing tennis despite a 30 year battle with MS.

So, your opinion, were my activities mitzvah or sin?
Click to expand...

This is a fine illustration of why I have so many issues with organized religion.

The fact that you question if you might have done something wrong is staggering to me.

It's truly sad.
 
Dragonfly said:
Sorry, forgot to ask in previous post.

Why did you type "G-d"?

Why not type the complete word "God"?
Click to expand...

It's an orthodox Jewish idiosyncrasy. From tradition, when the name of god is written out, or printed out, the paper has to be handle special to dispose of it. When it gets typed electronically, there is the possibility that it could be printed out, and therefore there is the tradition of using g-d instead of god, so someone might not inadvertently transgress the law of how the written materials with the name of God on it be treated.
 
RAMOSS said:
It's an orthodox Jewish idiosyncrasy. From tradition, when the name of god is written out, or printed out, the paper has to be handle special to dispose of it. When it gets typed electronically, there is the possibility that it could be printed out, and therefore there is the tradition of using g-d instead of god, so someone might not inadvertently transgress the law of how the written materials with the name of God on it be treated.
Click to expand...

To me, that still sounds just like a silly superstition.

Not mention the fact that god and g-d represent the exact same thing.

Human superstition and nonsense.
 
Dragonfly said:
To me, that still sounds just like a silly superstition.

Not mention the fact that god and g-d represent the exact same thing.

Human superstition and nonsense.
Click to expand...

Well, that's your opinion. I think it's overdoing it myself, but it's tradition, and starts with a different set of axioms than you have.
 
Dragonfly said:
To me, that still sounds just like a silly superstition.

Not mention the fact that god and g-d represent the exact same thing.

Human superstition and nonsense.
Click to expand...

You got it...

The Encyclopaedia Judaica says that “the avoidance of pronouncing the name YHWH . . . was caused by a misunderstanding of the Third Commandment.” The third of the Ten Commandments given by God to the Israelites states: “You must not take up the name of Jehovah your God in a worthless way, for Jehovah will not leave the one unpunished who takes up his name in a worthless way.” (Exodus 20:7) Hence, God’s decree against the improper use of his name was twisted into a superstition.

Surely, no one today claims that God would have someone burned at the stake for pronouncing the divine name! Yet, Jewish superstitions regarding God’s personal name still survive. Many continue to refer to the Tetragrammaton as the “Ineffable Name” and the “Unutterable Name.” In some circles all references to God are intentionally mispronounced to avoid violating the tradition. For example, Jah, or Yah, an abbreviation for God’s personal name, is pronounced Kah. Hallelujah is pronounced Hallelukah. Some even avoid writing out the term “God,” substituting a dash for one or more letters. For instance, when they wish to write the English word “God,” they actually write “G-d.”
Click to expand...

The Fight Against God’s Name — Watchtower ONLINE LIBRARY
 
RAMOSS said:
Well, that's your opinion. I think it's overdoing it myself, but it's tradition, and starts with a different set of axioms than you have.
Click to expand...

Well yeah, but it's still stupid.

I'm safe if I type g-d, but not safe if I type god.

Just because something is a tradition doesn't mean it's not stupid. Religious or not.
 
Dragonfly said:
Well yeah, but it's still stupid.

I'm safe if I type g-d, but not safe if I type god.

Just because something is a tradition doesn't mean it's not stupid. Religious or not.
Click to expand...
i
Yet, out of all the idiosyncrasies I can point out for various religions, this one is like, totally harmless. Yes, it's ritualistic, but hey, it's not intruding on your rights. I am much more concerned about when people make laws to enforce their religious beliefs

They aren't telling YOU not to do it. They are doing it for themselves.
 
Dragonfly said:
This is a fine illustration of why I have so many issues with organized religion.

The fact that you question if you might have done something wrong is staggering to me.

It's truly sad.
Click to expand...
There's always a fine balance between ritual and substance. In this case I balanced in favor of substance. Weighing in the other direction was that the lay leader of Torah Study last Saturday welcomed me to Torah Study in the first place in November 2009, when I more or less made the return to my synagogue of my childhood. And he has been a solid friend and ally ever since. The Rabbi at the synagogue I joined for my son's Bar Mitzvah publicly, in so many words. called me a moron. First of all my IQ is 79, slightly above moron level. Second of all it wasn't very hospitable. I became friendly with that Rabbi shortly after my resignation from his synagogue.

RAMOSS said:
It's an orthodox Jewish idiosyncrasy. From tradition, when the name of god is written out, or printed out, the paper has to be handle special to dispose of it. When it gets typed electronically, there is the possibility that it could be printed out, and therefore there is the tradition of using g-d instead of god, so someone might not inadvertently transgress the law of how the written materials with the name of God on it be treated.
Click to expand...
I am a Reform, not Orthodox Jew. It's universally done that way at my synagogue.
 
Dragonfly said:
Well yeah, but it's still stupid.

I'm safe if I type g-d, but not safe if I type god.

Just because something is a tradition doesn't mean it's not stupid. Religious or not.
Click to expand...
Just as because something is posted on the internet doesn't mean it's not stupid. Atheistic or not.
 
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