In today’s America, the idea that we are obligated to serve—that our lives are somehow to be “of service”— feels pretty counter-cultural. Unlike Israel, in this country military service has been — for several decades — optional and voluntary. So too in Jewish life many eschew the idea of chiyuv — our obligation as Jews to fulfill the mitzvot, living a life of service to God and the Jewish people. I see this most often when people translate the word mitzvah, “commandment,” as “good deed” instead. 

The Hebrew word for “service” is avodah. But avodah can also be translated as work or worship. It is the Hebrew name for the Labor Party in Israel, and also what the kohanim (priests) did in the Temple. It has the same root as eved, servant or slave. It is also the romantically-tinged term for how we related to Divine Source as God’s worshippers/servants/service-people/workers. How wonderful that the Jewish word for service has such a rich array of colors and shades of meaning.

So here is my question as we head into Memorial Day Weekend and offer tribute to those who have given their lives “in service” to our country: what does it mean to serve? 

Click here to watch a video I recorded on this topic as part of Greater MetroWest Federation’s Bit of Torah series, posted Thursday, May 23rd on social media.

To all who have served this country, thank you; and to all who have lost loved ones in this generation or in the past, we salute them. May their devoted service to a cause be a model to us all.