One
of the most famous sayings of the Lubavitcher Rebbe: “Action is
the main thing”. Doing must come before understanding. To this
aim we have included here a brief digest of the Rebbe’s ten
point mitzvah campaign. The campaign focuses on ten specific
mitzvot through the fulfillment of which the individual and the
family will come to a greater appreciation of their Jewish
heritage.
..................................................................................................................
1.Torah
Torah
is the medium of communication through which G–d enables man to
know and serve Him. The campaign for Torah study encourages
every individual to set fixed times for Torah study every day so
that our spiritual growth and development can be systematic and
directed. Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi explained that Torah
study should be fixed not only in time but also in soul. It
should be the vortex around which the entire spectrum of our
day-to-day experience revolves.
2.Tefillin
Men
(age 13 and up) are encouraged to wear the Tefillin every
morning excluding Shabbat and Festivals. Tefillin are black
leather boxes containing small parchment scrolls of selected
portions from the Torah, in which the fundamentals of the Jewish
faith are inscribed.
3.A Home Filled with Holy
Books
Furnish your home with
as many holy books as possible. At the very least, get a hold of
a Chumash (Bible), Psalms, and a Prayer Book.
4.Kashrut
Eating
Kosher food enables us to identify with our Jewishness on a very
basic and fundamental level. As long as our Jewish involvement
is limited to prayer, study, or even specific ritual acts, it is
spiritual, above our normal day to day reality. When you eat
differently because you are Jewish your commitment is not only
metaphysical, but part and parcel of your very being.
The observance of Kashrut
consists of eating only Kosher foods both at home and away from
home. It also entails not eating dairy and meat foods together
and maintaining separate dishes, cutlery, and utensils for meat
and dairy.
5.Light Shabbat Candles
Shabbat
is a day of light; a day with a different pattern and value
orientation from our ordinary weekdays. Every Shabbat is a
foretaste of the era of Mashiach. The lighting of the Shabbat
candles 18 minutes before sunset ushers in and inspires this
state of awareness. The responsibility for lighting the candles
and inducing this change of perspective is the woman’s. It is
she who welcomes the Shabbat Queen into the home. Young girls
from the age of three are also encouraged to light their own
candle so that they too can have a share in creating this
environment.
6.Message on a Doorpost - Mezuzah
Every
Jewish home should have a mezuzah on its doorposts. The mezuzah
contains the Shema and is a sign that the home is sanctified for
G-d and enjoys His protection.
7.Tzedakah
Give
charity daily. When you give to the needy, you are serving as
G-d's emissary to provide for His creatures. The home is a
classroom, and keeping a "pushkah" (charity box) inyour home --
and contributing a coin to it every day -- will teach you and
your children the noble value of regular giving.
8.Education
The
campaign for Torah education seeks to involve any and every
Jewish child in an educational program that will teach him or
her what it means to live as a Jew. Education is not only for
children. Adults are encouraged to enroll in study groups and
seminars commensurate with their background and knowledge.
9.Love Your Fellow Jew
"Love
your fellow as yourself," said the great Jewish sage Rabbi Akiva,
is a most basic principle in the Torah. Reaching out to your
fellow Jew with patience, love, concern and unity is among the
greatest mitzvot a Jew can do.
10.Observe Family Purity
Taharat
Hamishpachah – the attitudes and practices the Torah prescribes
for married life – help to develop genuine communication and
love between husband and wife and bring to the world healthy and
loving children. Couples from all walks of life have adopted
this mitzvah as a means to enhance and enrich their married
life. A rabbi should be consulted as to the details of these
laws.
The
10-point Campaign
Inreach
The
Mitzvah Tanks