Mitzvot as spiritual practices

the long version

The practice of mitzvot (sacred actions) has a special role to play in awakening and transforming the soul. This book uses the mystical teachings of Judaism and the rich, spiritual potential of mitzvot as techniques to help the reader become more self aware, confront unwanted personality characteristics, and replace them with positive qualities for greater personal harmony. Based on Esther Chasin's popular La'asot ("to do") courses on the same topic, this book suggests that by living with intense consciousness rather than by habit, one can identify undesirable traits that result in malaise and unsatisfying relationships, as well as desirable characteristics that lead to joy. Once inappropriate qualities are detected, they can be turned around so that negative effects are transformed into positive ones. Each chapter is structured according to the teaching in Pirke Avot (The Ethics of the Fathers) that knowledge is fulfilled through ma'aseh, action. Chasin adds hitbodedut (meditation) to this recipe, thereby developing a path to self-fulfillment that is both traditional and thoroughly modern, encompassing mind, body, and soul.