100 MITZVOT FOR BETH TFILOH’S 100TH ANNIVERSARY Beth Tfiloh has been a spiritual home for our community for 100 years. In celebration of our special centennial year, we offer you 100 mitzvot—good deeds—to help enhance your spiritual life and bring holiness to your home. Perform the mitzvot that you are able to do and hold onto this list as a reference for years to come. More information on each mitzvah can be found on the page numbers from the Koren Sacks siddur listed in parentheses. May the next 100 years at Beth Tfiloh be filled with good deeds and immense spiritual growth for all of us!
DAILY JEWISH LIVING
1. Say the one sentence of the Modeh Ani every morning (p. 5) 2. Put a mezuzah not only on your front door but on every door throughout the house (p. 999) 3. Check your mezuzah. If you got it as a gift from your bank, you can be sure it’s not kosher 4. Do the ritual hand-washing in the morning upon arising (p. 5) 5. Wear a tallit (p. 13) 6. Put on tefillin (p. 17) 7. Wear a kippah every once in a while, even if you’re not in shul or at Levinson’s 8. Extend loans to others 9. Give ma’aser (tithes)—10% of your earnings—to tzedakah
BLESSINGS
10. Recite a blessing before eating food (p. 975, 995) 11. Recite a blessing after eating food (p. 995-997) 12. Recite Birkat Hamazon (Grace After Meals) after eating bread (p. 979) 13. Recite a blessing upon smelling aromatic spices (p. 1001) 14. Recite the Asher Yatzar blessing after relieving yourself (p. 5) 15. Recite blessings in the morning on learning Torah for the day (p. 9) 16. Recite the morning blessings (p. 27-31) 17. Recite the appropriate blessing upon seeing lightning (p. 1001) 18. Recite the appropriate blessing upon hearing thunder (p. 1001) 19. Recite the appropriate blessing upon seeing a rainbow (p. 1003) 20. Recite Kiddush Levana—the blessing on the new moon (p. 715)
PRAYER
21. Read Rabbi Jonathan Sack’s wonderful introduction to the Siddur (xv-xlvii) 22. Work on praying with more devotion 23. Do not talk in shul 24. Say the Shema before sleep at night (p. 295) 25. Pray for others who are sick (informally, or on p. 1045, 1242) 26. Read Tehillim (Psalms for special occasions can be found on p. 1242) 27. Recite Kaddish (p. 1067) 28. Complete a shiva minyan
12 BETH TFILOH BULLETIN
TORAH 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42.
Learn one of the 24 books of Tanach Learn the laws of Shabbat and/or Kashrut Read Maimonides’ 13 Principles of Jewish Faith (p. 203) Try learning the Daf Yomi - a page of Talmud a day Find a good Torah podcast and listen to it Come to shul and hear the Torah reading Purchase and read a Jewish book Read Pirkei Avot—Ethics of the Fathers (p. 641) Learn a halacha a day for a month (laws for daily learning can be found on p. 1211-1236) Learn about the different kashrut certification symbols Learn how to read from the Torah Learn how to read the Haftarah Learn a mussar work—a Jewish book on self-improvement Learn the weekly Torah portion
SHABBAT 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54.
Help prepare the house for Shabbat Purchase a special tallit for Shabbat Refrain from speaking about business on Shabbat Bake challah for Shabbat Leave off your cell phone on Shabbat Light the Shabbat candles (p. 307) Sing Shalom Aleichem on Friday night (p. 375) Sing Eshet Chayil on Friday night (p. 379) Bless your children/grandchildren on Friday night (p. 373) Recite Friday evening Kiddush (p. 383) Prepare a dvar Torah for the Friday night meal Sing Shabbat songs—zemirot—during Shabbat meals (p. 385, 583, 687) 55. Recite the Shabbat morning kiddush (p. 581) 56. Eat Seudah Shelishit, the third meal, on Shabbat afternoon (p. 685) 57. Do Havdallah (p. 725)
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2021 A TISHREI-CHESHVAN 5782
