“When god presented the covenant to the Israelites on Mount Sinai, God wasn’t just asking them to believe that God existed, God was asking them to act in a certain way, to enter into a covenantal partnership and follow a set of laws. As Rabbi Joshua Heschel puts it, “a Jew is asked to take a leap of action rather than a leap of faith”. We do not have faith in deeds, we attain faith through deeds. This emphasis on action based faith is also reflected in another Jewish concept: Tikkun Olam, which means repair of the world. While this expression has had many meanings over the centuries, the most well known stems from a version of the creationist story developed by a group of Kabbalists, the Jewish mystics, back in 16th century. In the beginning, the Kabbalists claimed, God was the Ein Sof (endlessness), and it’s exactly what is sounds like, boundless, infinite, taking all the space there is. When god created the universe, god had to contract to make room for it (the universe) – a process known as tzimtzum. God then attempted to inject God’s essence into the universe by sending down vessels filled with Divine light, but this divine light content was too powerful for the vessels to contain and they shattered, scattering sparks of divine light throughout the universe. It is our task as human beings to gather up these divine sparks and return to their source. We do this by following the laws God laid out in the Tora.”
Yehudi, the word. The word “Yehuda” (יְהוּדָה) and the word “lehodot” (לְהוֹדוֹת) are related through their common Hebrew root letters, which are י-ה-ד (Y-H-D). In Hebrew, roots consist of three consonants and provide the basis for the formation of words with related meanings. The root י-ה-ד (Y-H-D) conveys the concept of giving thanks or praise. From this root, various words can be derived with related meanings. “Lehodot” (לְהוֹדוֹת) is one such word and specifically means “to thank” or “to praise” in Hebrew.The word “Yehuda” (יְהוּדָה) is a proper noun and is typically associated with the Hebrew name Judah. However, it also has a connection to the root י-ה-ד (Y-H-D) as it contains those three root letters. The name “Yehuda” is often interpreted as meaning “to give thanks” or “to praise” in a broader sense.
Concepts: Hitbodebut, ritual vs ethical mitzvot, Geneivat da’at (theft of mind), Mussar and Middot, Tzedakah, Dayenu.