Deeply embedded in Judaism is the concept of “mitzvahs” (or “mitzvot” in the Hebrew plural form). Translated, this means “commandments.” In popular Jewish culture, mitzvot have also taken on the meaning of any “good deed,” as when I was told as a teenager, “visiting your sick bubbe (grandmother) and washing her kitchen floor is a real mitzvah.”

But I want to argue that the concept of a mitzvah goes well beyond good deeds and, given current circumstances, has come to encompass some very ugly deeds. How and whether Jews observe these obligations are intricately bound up in one’s sense of what it means to be a Jew. And in fact, as the tragedy in Gaza and the West Bank intensifies, no less than the soul of Judaism is at stake.

The great Hebrew sage Moses Ben Maimon (commonly known as Maimonides, 1138–1204) suggested there were 613 mitzvot. According to Maimonides, Jews should live their Jewish identity by practicing as many of these mitzvot as possible. One may not be able or willing to follow all of them; but one should strive to do what one can.

Even minimally-observant Jews like myself are aware of the concept of mitzvot. I am captivated by the idea of so many and so much choice. And I admire the suggestion of human frailty, flexibility, and constant striving inherent in the idea of multiple mitzvot.

Some traditional mitzvot pertain to the Jewish religion and God and some pertain to one’s relationship with the world. Examples of religious mitzvot include saying the daily prayers, observing the Sabbath, not eating leavened bread products on Passover, and not tattooing the skin. Examples of outward-looking mitzvot include not standing idly by if someone’s (Jewish or non-Jewish) life is in danger, not insulting or harming anybody with words, ensuring your scales and weights are accurate in matters of trade, and not demanding collateral from a widow.

Some of the traditional mitzvot are archaic, like those concerning the high priests in the temple with its burnt offerings. And sadly, at least among the Orthodox, patriarchy is common as Jewish women are almost ignored.

Even nowadays, most Jews, even the most unobservant, follow some traditional mitzvot. For example, we may fast on Yom Kippur, or attend a Passover seder, or say the Mourner’s Kaddish for deceased relatives. Some Jews try to emulate what they insist are “universal values,” like charity, fair play, and the scholar Hillel the Elder’s (died 10 CE) famous summation of Jewish law in one sentence: “That which is hateful to you, do not do unto your fellow. That is the whole Torah; the rest is the explanation.”

But Hillel’s edict has been increasingly abandoned since the advent of the State of Israel, and its capability to punish on a large scale with its powerful army and modern weapons. It has changed especially since Israel became central to many Jewish lives, in fact since we Jews started practicing Israelism, as well as, or often instead of, Judaism. A new set of unofficial ‘commandments’ appears to have been prescribed and unfortunately followed by many of those wanting to express their Jewish identity.

I do want to stress the concept of free choice. Jews are free to decide how to manifest their Jewishness. To suggest otherwise is to engage in essentialism, or the idea that a group of people has inalienable and intrinsic traits attached to them. Essentialism is at the heart of racism or bigotry, or in the case of Jews, antisemitism. Indeed, establishment Jewish organizations who claim to represent Jews are engaging in a perverse type of antisemitism by suggesting that all Jews act or think alike, for example on the question of Palestine and Israel. Especially in these fraught times, Jewishness means choice more than ever.

Some of these ‘new mitzvot,’ which have mostly been adopted by young progressive Jewish critics of Israel, are admittedly noble. Like the ones I imagine to say: “You shall not allow genocide to be committed in your name” or “You shall protest when your brethren perform cruel deeds against other people.”

Witness the hundreds of Jews who have demonstrated at train stations, parliaments and in the streets, including against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visits to the United States. And there are those thousands flocking to join organizations like Independent Jewish Voices Canada (IJV), the US-based Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP), and similar groups around the world, many of whom met recently in London, England under the umbrella of the International Jewish Collective for Justice in Palestine (IJCJP). They are finding new ways to be Jewish. Many of the young Jews around the world who are rejecting Israelism and appear in the new movie by that name, are of this type. It does my heart good to behold.

Rabbi David Mivasair of Hamilton, a member of IJV, has been following a new mitzvah that could read: “You shall do your utmost to help Palestinian families in Gaza under threat from the Israeli genocide.” A recent article in the Walrus magazine is entitled “How a Canadian Rabbi Became a Lifeline for Gaza Residents: David Mivasair is raising tens of thousands of dollars to help Palestinian families affected by war.”

But many of these new mitzvot are ugly: cynical, cruel, selfish, violent, spiteful, uncaring, and vindictive; so chutzpadik (bold and impudent) that they take one’s breath away. This Zionist variant of Jewish expression is shocking.

What are some of the new mitzvot, distinct as they are from Maimonides’ ancient list of unconditional obligations and prohibitions?

How about the following, the performance of which some Jews seem to believe defines their identity:

• You shall re-define antisemitism to include practically all criticism of the State of Israel and you shall use that definition, as some mainstream Jewish organizations, like the Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs and B’nai Brith Canada have done, as a club to beat over the head those who disagree with, or even mildly criticize Israel.
• Though the vast majority of pro-Palestine rallies and demonstrations are peaceful and participants carefully avoid confusing Israel with Jews, you shall call for the complete banning of these gatherings, as Toronto City Councillor James Pasternak has done. If the rallies pass by any building associated with Jews, like Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, you shall insist that they are deliberately targeting Jews, as Dr. David Jacobs, an ardent supporter of Israel, and some establishment Jewish organizations have done.
• If someone with whom you work or play or study wears a button or item of clothing suggesting sympathy for the Palestinian cause, you shall throw a tantrum until the bearer is asked to remove the item for the sake of peace in the group.
• If you claim to represent the Jewish community, you shall attack relentlessly and without reserve any politician who speaks out against Israeli actions harmful to Palestinians, even calling for a ceasefire. And even if those politicians succumb to your attack and abjectly apologize, you shall hound them doubly.
• If a public or private institution hosts a movie or a speaker critical of Israel, you shall attempt to get that event cancelled through spurious accusations of antisemitism.
• If you are justifiably fired from your job for racist utterings, as was BC cabinet minister Selena Robinson, you shall claim that you were subject to antisemitism.
• Even if Jews are highly observant but are critical of Israel, you shall condemn them. But if other Jews follow not one mitzvah, and yet support Israel, they shall be extolled and exalted.
• You shall go way over the top and condemn a politician, like Ontario NDP leader Marit Stiles, for posting even an innocuous note about “beautiful Palestinian embroidery,” insisting that her remark “represents the erasure of Israel and its Jewish people” as the Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Centre recently did.
• If you have a lot of money and wish to contribute to a university, you shall use it to reward those who support Israeli killing of Palestinians and punish those who don’t. And if that means ensuring that the first Black woman president of Harvard is compelled to resign (even though she generally supports Israel, but not enough to your liking) then so be it. And if you are successful at using money this way, you shall boast openly about it.
• When you falsely attack critics of Israel for antisemitism, you shall especially target racialized people.
• If you have professional standing and influence, as in law or medicine, you shall use it to punish law students or medical students or humanitarian practitioners who sign petitions or write open letters expressing sympathy for Palestinians or who try to save lives.
• If you have influence over a university’s hiring process, you shall use that influence, as tax court judge David Spiro did at the University of Toronto Faculty of Law in 2020, to ensure that the hiring of even a world-renowned scholar is revoked because they have written articles on Palestine.
• When you hear the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” you shall insist that the word “free,” rather than calling for human rights, refers to killing Jews, and call for the speaker to be charged with a hate crime.
• And if you cannot bring yourself to applaud Israel and punish her critics, then for God’s sake, you shall just keep quiet.

At some rallies I have attended and at which I or other Jews have spoken, the hosts have introduced us as following “true Jewish values.” Many Jews, in fact, say that their opposition to Israel stems from “Jewish values.”

I must beg to disagree. Opposition to Israel’s current genocide stems from some Jewish values; embracing the genocide or merely sitting back and not mentioning it emerges from other Jewish values.

Like any other religious, ethnic or racial group, Jews are not unique or exceptional. Some Jews choose to adhere to the noble new values and other Jews choose to adhere to ugly new values.

They are both doing what they think Jews must do to be Jewish. And the struggle goes on as another people perishes in our name.

Larry Haiven is Professor Emeritus at Saint Mary’s University in Halifax and a founding member of Independent Jewish Voices Canada.