E. Mitzvot in Your Synagogue
1. And let them make Me a sanctuary that I may dwell among them. (Ex. 25:8)
Help in building, repairing, or beautifying something in the synagogue.
2. You shall keep my Sabbath and venerate My sanctuary: I am the Lord. (Lev. 19:30)
Attend Shabbat services regularly.
3. Gather the people – men, women, children, and the strangers in your communities — that they may hear and so learn to revere the Lord your God and to observe faithfully every word of this Teaching. Their children, too, who have not had the experienced shall hear and learn to revere the Lord your God as long as they live in the land that you are about to cross the Jordan to possess. (Deut. 31:12-13)
Participate in some special synagogue activity (High Holy Day services, Torah reading, Junior
Congregation, etc.).
4. Bind them as a sign on your hand and let them serve as a symbol on your forehead. (Deut. 6:8)
Attend the weekday morning minyan regularly, wearing t’fillin.
5. Then you shall sound the horn loud; in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month — the Day of Atonement – you shall have the horn sounded throughout your land. (Lev. 25:9)
Learn to blow the shofar and perform this ritual at one of the High Holy Day services in the synagogue.
6. And there you are to bring your burnt offerings and other sacrifices, your tithes| and contributions, your votive and freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and flocks. (Deut. 12:6)
Attend Festival (not High Holy Day) services on a day when it requires your staying out of school.
7. On the first day vou shall take the product of hadar trees. branches of palm trees, boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook, and you shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days. (Lev. 23:40)
Buy a lulav and etrog for Sukkot, and use them during services.
8. You shall also give him the first fruits of your new grain and wine and oil, and the first shearings of your sheep. (Deut. 18:4)
Help out in the religious school, the synagogue library, or the synagogue office.
9. You shall not put off the skimming of the first yield of your vats. You shall hive Me the first- born among your sons. (Ex. 22:23)
Organize and direct a special project as a member of your synagogue youth group.
10. If you lend money to My people, to the poor among you, do not act towards them as a creditor: exact no interest from them. (Ex. 22:24)
Lend something of yours without any compensation.
11. Keep far from false charge; do not bring death on those who are innocent and in the right, for I will not acquit the wrongdoer. (Ex 23:7)
You shall not render an unfair decision: do not favor the poor or show deference to the rich; judge your kinsman fairly. (Lev. 19:15)
Maintain your faith in someone’s innocence though circumstantial evidence is against him/her.
12. You shall not insult the deaf, or place a stumbling block before the blind. You shall fear your God: I am the Lord (Lev. 19:14)
Put an end to malicious gossip about someone.
Convince someone, who is prejudiced against Israel, of the wrongness of his/her attitude.
13. Do not deal basely with your countrymen. Do not profit by the blood of your fellow: I am the Lord (Lev. 19:16)
Come to the aid of someone who is being harmed.
14. You shall not hate your kinsfolk in your heart. Reprove your kinsman but incur no guilt because of him. (Lev. 19:17)
Tutor a friend, helping him/her to improve his/her grades or ability.
15. If you see your fellow’s ox or sheep gone astray, do not ignore it: you must take it back to your fellow. (Deut. 22:1)
Return a lost article to its owner at some inconvenience and without accepting an award.
16. You too must befriend the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. (Deut. 10:19)
You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless; you shall not take a widow’s garment in your pawn. (Deut. 24:17) .
Treat a stranger (visitor) with special kindness and helpfulness.
17. You must return the pledge to him at sundown, that he may sleep in his cloth and bless you; and it will be to your merit before the Lord your God. (Deut. 24:13)
Go out of your way to pay a bill promptly or to return library books as early as possible so others can
use them.
18. You have affirmed this day that the Lord is your God, that you will walk in His ways, that you will observe His laws and commandments and rules, and that you will obey him. (Deut. 26:17)
Visit a friend regularly who is sick, either at home or in the hospital.