Shelah - The Heschel School

a blessing, before baking the bread, as a way to ensure that we not lose awareness of the
potential for national life in the land of Israel as a people. Of course, this applies to all
bread, not just to the bread wew happened to call, “Challah.” I suspect we call bread,
“Challah,” since it is the nicest, freshest bread we associatie with Shabbat and holidays.
(ii) attaching tzitzit to a four-cornered garment. The negative commandment is (i) not to
act only according to the desires of your heart and mind. This is a most interesting
mitzvah. Obviously, it applies every second of our lives; it suggests that the Torah
requires and provides boundaries and limitations to our actions, and that we are to live
within those boundaries, lest we act without boundaries and self-control. Of course,
boundaries are the only vehicle we have to create a safe society and a supportive world.
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* Sefer ha-Chinuch ספר החינוך)‏ Hebrew: "Book of Education") is a work which systematically discusses the 613 commandments of
the Torah. It was published anonymously in 13th Century Spain. The work enumerates the commandments (Hebrew: Mitzvot ; sing.
mitzvah) according to their appearance in the Weekly Torah portion. Some scholars ascribe the authorship of Sefer ha-Chinuch to
Rabbi Aharon HaLevi of Barcelona (1235-c. 1290), a Talmudic scholar and halakhist but others disagree, as the views of the Chinuch
contradict opinions held by HaLevi in other works. This has led to the conclusion that the true author to Sefer HaChinuch was a
different Reb Aharon Halevi, a student of the Rashba, rather than his colleague.
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