Hiddur Mitzvah

Do you like mitzvot? I mean, sure, you do mitzvot. Whatever your level of religious observance, you do mitzvot. Some mitzvot are hard for everyone (who really wants to give away their hard earned money?), some are hard for some people and easy for others (some people are so nice they enjoy helping others, others would rather have root canal than work in a soup kitchen) and some mitzvot are fun for everyone (Purim comes to mind). But do you like mitzvot? Are you looking forward to performing them and try to find ways to do them better? To show the world, yourself, G-d, just how much you like doing mitzvot?

Judaism, which has an answer for everything, has a concept called "Hiddur Mitzvah". It means taking a mitzvah, say "Dwelling in a Succah" and fulfilling it in such a wonderful way that you and everyone around you can't wait for it, enjoy it to the max and want to do it again (kind of like chocolate, isn't it?). In the case of the Succah, you decorate it to within an inch of its life and then hold as many parties in it as you can squeeze into one week. If you ever tried it that way, you know what I'm talking about and your kids love you.

This week's parasha (really 2 parashot combined) opens with what is probably the most important mitzvah in Judaism: Shabbat. The parasha then goes on to describe how the Israelite set about buliding the Mishkan and its tools and the clothes for the priests and everything else that was detailed in the few previous parashot. We discussed it already. Everything was to be made of gold, silver, rich clothes, best materials, best everything.

So fine, these were the instructions, you say. It's not as if they were told to use wood and used silver. They were told to use gold so they used gold. Where's the Hiddur Mitzvah? 

Ah.

In Exodus 36:3-7, we read how the Israelite brought so much stuff for the Mishkan's work that the builders asked Moshe to tell everyone to stop bringing things. There was too much. in Exodus 35:25-26 there is a description of women weaving exquisite cloths for the Mishkan. When we read this week's parasha, the description of the materials donated for the Mishkan, the description of the hard work all the artists had put into it and the final description of what it looked like is so opulent, so rich and glowing that one is almost blinded just by the reading. The Israelite made the Mishkan as beautiful as they possibly could, they loved it so much.

We no longer have a Mishkan (I think we sort of lost the right to it somewhere along the way), but the Shabbat had guarded us for many generations. And we guard it. However, says this week's parasha, 'doing' is all good and well, but what about 'loving'? How do we show how much we love the mitzvah of Shabbat? 

By using the best table linen and dishes for Shabbat meal. By wearing our nicest clothes on Shabbat. By setting aside the best of everything: food, clothes, activities, whatever, and dedicating them to be used only on Shabbat.

And, in my family, by having dessert. And making it pretty, too. Preferably golden.

             Golden Shabbat cake

 FOR CAKE

1 cup sugar
1 whole egg
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 3/4 cups cake flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon grated orange rind

Combine ingredients in order given. Butter and flour a round 9 inch cake pan, tapping out excess flour. 

Pour cake batter into prepared pan. 

Bake in a preheated 350°F oven until cake tests done in center (about 45-50 minutes).

FOR SYRUP

1 cup orange juice

2 tbsp sugar

While the cake is baking, make the syrup by bringing orange juice and sugar gently to a boil, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Simmer for 3 minutes.

When the cake is ready, put it on a rack and place rack on a large platter or tray (to catch drips).

Using a skewer, pierce holes in the cake while it is still warm and pour the syrup over it.
Spoon the syrup over the cake until it is all soaked up.

Let cake cool completely.