Beyond Orthodox Conversion to Judaism

"Rabbi Yosi said, 'Let your friends property be as precious to you as your own; give yourself  to the study of Torah, for it does not come to you by inheritance; and let all your deeds be done in the name of heaven'"

The first part of the Mishna explains that we have to be careful with someone else's property. This seems pretty obvious from the outset but the Mishna here teaches us a valuable lesson. If we look at our friends property as something very precious even like our own property, then we will be much more careful not to cause them damage.

Wouldn't we be careful with our own property and how we treat our personal possessions? So too we should be careful with the property of our friends. With that type of mentality, we will not come to cause damage to someone else's property.

The next part of the Mishna explains the importance of Torah learning. Even though we understand it to be the very life of the Jewish people, nonetheless each person has the ability to acquire their own knowledge of it regardless of their pedigree.

Even if a person's father was a rabbi and his father was a rabbi, does not mean that this person will be a rabbi. The reason is precisely as the Mishna explains: the Torah is not an inheritance. Each person has the ability to acquire Torah themselves regardless of the lineage of their family. There are no guarantees in life regardless of where we may have come from.

We have to carve out our own lives and reach our own personal spiritual goals. This is why the Torah is not considered an inheritance because each of us has our own unique path in life. This teaches that even if a person did not have religious parents does not mean they cannot go in the footsteps of their ancestors.

The last part of the Mishna tells us that everything we do should be for the sake of heaven. If we are specifically speaking about spiritual endeavors, keeping Torah and doing mitzvos this would easily be understood. After all, we make blessings praising G-d, keep Shabbos and the holidays. If we are not doing it for the sake of heaven, then why bother?

We could say that maybe we do the mitzvos because we don't want to be punished for not keeping them. At the same time, fear of punishment will not keep someone on the straight and narrow path. That doesn't bode well for being able to pass Judaism down to the next generation.

If the last part of the Mishna is talking about our physical lives, then this is a novelty. The reason is that whatever I do whether eating or drinking, it should be done for the sake of heaven. What does this mean?

A person is not allowed to be a glutton or drink a lot. The purpose of food is to give us strength so we can continue to serve G-d properly, not just to satisfy our appetites. We can even take the most mundane things in the physical world and sanctify G-d's name.

For example, we could eat an apple, say a clear blessings and accomplish two things. One is that we are not allowed to eat something without making a blessing and we praise G-d for what He has given us. At the same time, we satisfy our hunger by giving our body nutrients to be able to continue to function properly and serve G-d better!