Recently in Torah study, someone said that engaging with commandments is like engaging with someone on the sidewalk. Sometimes, we know the person, we feel comfortable. Sometimes, the commandments feel strange or make us feel a certain way so the natural inclination is to cross the street and avoid the uncomfortable conversation.
For a long time, Reform Judaism has had an almost hedonistic relationship with the commandments where only the commandments that feel good are worth and those that don’t can be avoided or cast away entirely. I believe this is changing. Not only in the ivory tower of Hebrew Union College, but in reform synagogues all over the country, looking for opportunities to grow and learn.
This week, the phrase “asher tzivah Adonai et-Moshe—just as God commanded Moses” appears after each step of the priestly ordination ritual, describing following the commandments in terms of ideals. In an attempt to bridge the gap between a hedonistic relationship with commandments and the most perfect observance, let’s try to engage with commandments in three categories: the commands we already do and may not even realize it, the commandments that pique our interests and urge us to go deeper, and the commandments that, while they make us uncomfortable, we can approach them with cautious optimism and say: perhaps, not yet.