{
  "url": "https://staging.thenewjew.org/articles/essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim.json",
  "path": "/articles/essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim",
  "format": "json",
  "type": "article",
  "title": "The Three Pillars: Torah, Avodah, Gemilut Chasadim",
  "summary": "Shimon HaTzaddik: “The world stands on three things: Torah, Avodah (service of God), and acts of loving-kindness.”",
  "breadcrumbs": [
    {
      "title": "The New Jew",
      "href": "/index.json"
    },
    {
      "title": "Foundations of Belief",
      "href": "/sections/foundations.json"
    },
    {
      "title": "The Three Pillars: Torah, Avodah, Gemilut Chasadim",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim.json"
    }
  ],
  "alternates": {
    "html": "https://staging.thenewjew.org/articles/essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim",
    "json": "https://staging.thenewjew.org/articles/essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim.json",
    "xml": "https://staging.thenewjew.org/articles/essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim.xml"
  },
  "data": {
    "article": {
      "slug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim",
      "title": "The Three Pillars: Torah, Avodah, Gemilut Chasadim",
      "deck": "Shimon HaTzaddik: “The world stands on three things: Torah, Avodah (service of God), and acts of loving-kindness.”",
      "summary": "Summary. Pirkei Avot 1:2 records Shimon HaTzaddik’s teaching that the world stands on three things: Torah (study), Avodah (worship), and Gemilut Chasadim (acts of loving-kindness). These three are the architecture of Jewish religious life. Torah is the cultivation of the mind; Avodah, of the heart; Gemilut Chasadim, of the hand. The three are not optional add-ons to Judaism; they are Judaism. Every observance, every mitzvah, every Jewish practice falls into one or more of these categories.",
      "level": "essential",
      "sectionSlug": "essentials",
      "tags": [
        "avot",
        "ethics",
        "pillars"
      ],
      "publishedAt": "2026-07-06T02:19:03.001Z",
      "wordCount": 547,
      "readMinutes": 2
    },
    "section": {
      "slug": "foundations",
      "title": "Foundations of Belief"
    },
    "image": {
      "url": "https://pub-73c694f3dc3c4d0ea8f98f090d227a0d.r2.dev/article-images/the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim-mubrng4m-9a9b7c9f.png",
      "largeUrl": "https://pub-73c694f3dc3c4d0ea8f98f090d227a0d.r2.dev/article-images/the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim-crop-mubs4voe-4b9fa859-large.png",
      "thumbUrl": "https://pub-73c694f3dc3c4d0ea8f98f090d227a0d.r2.dev/article-images/the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim-crop-mubs4voe-4b9fa859-thumb.png",
      "title": "The Three Pillars: Torah, Avodah, Gemilut Chasadim"
    },
    "blocks": [
      {
        "type": "summary",
        "body": "Summary. [Pirkei Avot 1:2](https://www.sefaria.org/Pirkei_Avot.1.2) records [Shimon HaTzaddik](/glossary.json#letter-S)’s teaching that the world stands on three things: [Torah](/glossary.json#letter-T) (study), [Avodah](/glossary.json#letter-A) (worship), and [Gemilut Chasadim](/glossary.json#letter-G) (acts of loving-kindness). These three are the architecture of Jewish religious life. Torah is the cultivation of the mind; Avodah, of the heart; Gemilut Chasadim, of the hand. The three are not optional add-ons to Judaism; they are Judaism. Every observance, every [mitzvah](/glossary.json#letter-M), every Jewish practice falls into one or more of these categories.",
        "text": "Summary. Pirkei Avot 1:2 records Shimon HaTzaddik’s teaching that the world stands on three things: Torah (study), Avodah (worship), and Gemilut Chasadim (acts of loving-kindness). These three are the architecture of Jewish religious life. Torah is the cultivation of the mind; Avodah, of the heart; Gemilut Chasadim, of the hand. The three are not optional add-ons to Judaism; they are Judaism. Every observance, every mitzvah, every Jewish practice falls into one or more of these categories."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Torah",
        "text": "Torah"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Torah here means not only the Five Books of Moses but the entirety of Jewish learning — [Tanakh](/glossary.json#letter-T), [Mishnah](/glossary.json#letter-M), [Talmud](/glossary.json#letter-T), [Midrash](/glossary.json#letter-M), commentaries, [halachic](/glossary.json#letter-H) literature, [Mussar](/glossary.json#letter-M), [Machshava](/glossary.json#letter-M), [Kabbalah](/glossary.json#letter-K). Torah study is a mitzvah independent of any practical application; the act of learning is itself worship. The Mishnah ([Pe’ah 1:1](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishnah_Peah.1.1)) lists Talmud Torah among the mitzvot “whose fruits a person eats in this world while the principal remains for the World to Come.”",
        "text": "Torah here means not only the Five Books of Moses but the entirety of Jewish learning — Tanakh, Mishnah, Talmud, Midrash, commentaries, halachic literature, Mussar, Machshava, Kabbalah. Torah study is a mitzvah independent of any practical application; the act of learning is itself worship. The Mishnah (Pe’ah 1:1) lists Talmud Torah among the mitzvot “whose fruits a person eats in this world while the principal remains for the World to Come.”"
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Avodah",
        "text": "Avodah"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Avodah is service of God, and in the [Beit HaMikdash](/glossary.json#letter-B) period meant primarily the sacrificial service. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Rabbis taught that prayer ([tefilla](/glossary.json#letter-T)) takes the place of sacrifice (Talmud [Berachot 26b](https://www.sefaria.org/Berakhot.26b), drawing on [Hosea 14:3](https://www.sefaria.org/Hosea.14.3)). The three daily services — [Shacharit](/glossary.json#letter-S), [Mincha](/glossary.json#letter-M), [Ma’ariv](/glossary.json#letter-M) — rest on two traditions that Berachot 26b treats as both true: that Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov each instituted one of them, and that they answer to the Temple offerings — the morning and afternoon sacrifices, with Ma’ariv corresponding to the overnight burning of the afternoon offering's limbs.",
        "text": "Avodah is service of God, and in the Beit HaMikdash period meant primarily the sacrificial service. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, the Rabbis taught that prayer (tefilla) takes the place of sacrifice (Talmud Berachot 26b, drawing on Hosea 14:3). The three daily services — Shacharit, Mincha, Ma’ariv — rest on two traditions that Berachot 26b treats as both true: that Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov each instituted one of them, and that they answer to the Temple offerings — the morning and afternoon sacrifices, with Ma’ariv corresponding to the overnight burning of the afternoon offering's limbs."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Gemilut Chasadim",
        "text": "Gemilut Chasadim"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Acts of loving-kindness are the practical, interpersonal mitzvot: visiting the sick ([bikkur cholim](/glossary.json#letter-B)), comforting mourners ([nichum aveilim](/glossary.json#letter-N)), welcoming guests ([hachnasat orchim](/glossary.json#letter-H)), dowering brides ([hachnasat kallah](/glossary.json#letter-H)), burying the dead ([kevurat hameitim](/glossary.json#letter-K)), and the wider ethical demands of the Torah. The Talmud ([Sukkah 49b](https://www.sefaria.org/Sukkah.49b)) teaches that gemilut chasadim is greater than [tzedakah](/glossary.json#letter-T) (charity) in three ways: it is performed with one’s person rather than only one’s money; it is given to the rich as well as the poor; it benefits the dead as well as the living.",
        "text": "Acts of loving-kindness are the practical, interpersonal mitzvot: visiting the sick (bikkur cholim), comforting mourners (nichum aveilim), welcoming guests (hachnasat orchim), dowering brides (hachnasat kallah), burying the dead (kevurat hameitim), and the wider ethical demands of the Torah. The Talmud (Sukkah 49b) teaches that gemilut chasadim is greater than tzedakah (charity) in three ways: it is performed with one’s person rather than only one’s money; it is given to the rich as well as the poor; it benefits the dead as well as the living."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Why Three?",
        "text": "Why Three?"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Maimonides](/glossary.json#letter-R) in his Commentary on [Avot](/glossary.json#letter-A) reads the three pillars as the three means by which a person continually refines the world: wisdom (Torah), the perfection of one’s character traits (Gemilut Chasadim), and the fulfillment of the commandments — exemplified by the sacrifices (Avodah). A life of Torah without Avodah is intellectualism; Avodah without Torah is empty ritual; Gemilut Chasadim without either becomes mere philanthropy. The three together constitute the full posture of a Jew in the world.",
        "text": "Maimonides in his Commentary on Avot reads the three pillars as the three means by which a person continually refines the world: wisdom (Torah), the perfection of one’s character traits (Gemilut Chasadim), and the fulfillment of the commandments — exemplified by the sacrifices (Avodah). A life of Torah without Avodah is intellectualism; Avodah without Torah is empty ritual; Gemilut Chasadim without either becomes mere philanthropy. The three together constitute the full posture of a Jew in the world."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Where Denominations Diverge",
        "text": "Where Denominations Diverge"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "This Mishnaic framework is universally embraced across all denominations. [Reform Judaism](/glossary.json#letter-R)’s emphasis on [tikkun olam](/glossary.json#letter-T) can be read as an elevation of gemilut chasadim; the Conservative movement’s renewed emphasis on Talmud Torah recovers the first pillar; the [Hasidic](/glossary.json#letter-H) emphasis on [kavvanah](/glossary.json#letter-K) (intention) in prayer foregrounds Avodah.",
        "text": "This Mishnaic framework is universally embraced across all denominations. Reform Judaism’s emphasis on tikkun olam can be read as an elevation of gemilut chasadim; the Conservative movement’s renewed emphasis on Talmud Torah recovers the first pillar; the Hasidic emphasis on kavvanah (intention) in prayer foregrounds Avodah."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Sources",
        "text": "Sources"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Mishnah, [Pirkei Avot](/glossary.json#letter-P) 1:2.",
        "text": "Mishnah, Pirkei Avot 1:2."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Mishnah, Pe’ah 1:1.",
        "text": "Mishnah, Pe’ah 1:1."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Talmud Bavli](/glossary.json#letter-T), Berachot 26b; Sukkah 49b.",
        "text": "Talmud Bavli, Berachot 26b; Sukkah 49b."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Hosea 14:3.",
        "text": "Hosea 14:3."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rambam, [Commentary on Avot 1:2](https://www.sefaria.org/Rambam_on_Pirkei_Avot.1.2).",
        "text": "Rambam, Commentary on Avot 1:2."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Why Do Jews Pray Three Times a Day?](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3169553/jewish/Why-Do-Jews-Pray-Three-Times-a-Day.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "Why Do Jews Pray Three Times a Day? — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Daily Prayer: Shacharit, Mincha and Maariv](https://aish.com/14-the-daily-prayer-services-2/) — Aish.",
        "text": "Daily Prayer: Shacharit, Mincha and Maariv — Aish."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Three Pillars for a Meaningful Life - Ethics of the Fathers 1:2](https://aish.com/48891662/) — Aish.",
        "text": "Three Pillars for a Meaningful Life - Ethics of the Fathers 1:2 — Aish."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Further Reading",
        "text": "Further Reading"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz](/glossary.json#letter-A), A Guide to Jewish Prayer.",
        "text": "Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz, A Guide to Jewish Prayer."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, A Code of Jewish Ethics (vols. 1–2).",
        "text": "Rabbi Joseph Telushkin, A Code of Jewish Ethics (vols. 1–2)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks](/glossary.json#letter-J), To Heal a Fractured World.",
        "text": "Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, To Heal a Fractured World."
      }
    ],
    "related": [
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew",
        "title": "Who is a Jew?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god",
        "title": "What Does Judaism Teach About God?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife",
        "title": "Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus",
        "title": "Why Do Jews Not Believe in Jesus?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus.json"
      }
    ],
    "goDeeper": [
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world",
        "title": "Why Did God Create the World?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam",
        "title": "What Is Tikkun Olam?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar",
        "title": "What Is Mussar?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar.json"
      }
    ],
    "glossary": {
      "adin-steinsaltz": {
        "term": "Adin Steinsaltz",
        "hebrew": "עדין שטיינזלץ",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz (1937–2020) produced a monumental Hebrew translation and commentary on the entire Babylonian Talmud, later rendered into English, opening the Talmud to a generation of learners without a yeshiva background.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "avodah": {
        "term": "Avodah",
        "hebrew": "עֲבוֹדָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally 'service' or 'work' — the worship of God, especially prayer, and one of the three pillars on which, Pirkei Avot teaches, the world stands. It also names the Yom Kippur liturgy recalling the High Priest's Temple service.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim"
      },
      "avot": {
        "term": "Avot",
        "hebrew": "אָבוֹת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'Fathers' — the Patriarchs Avraham, Yitzchak, and Yaakov, and the name of the first blessing of the Amidah, which invokes them. Pirkei Avot, the Mishnah's tractate of ethical teachings, shares the name.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "beit-hamikdash": {
        "term": "Beit HaMikdash",
        "hebrew": "בֵּית הַמִּקְדָּשׁ",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Holy Temple in Jerusalem — the First destroyed in 586 BCE, the Second in 70 CE. Much of Jewish prayer and practice remembers it and looks toward its restoration.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "gemilut-chasadim": {
        "term": "Gemilut Chasadim",
        "hebrew": "גְּמִילוּת חֲסָדִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Acts of loving-kindness — visiting the sick, welcoming guests, comforting mourners — one of the three pillars on which, Pirkei Avot teaches, the world stands.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-three-pillars-torah-avodah-gemilut-chasadim"
      },
      "halacha": {
        "term": "Halacha",
        "hebrew": "הֲלָכָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Jewish law — literally \"the way one walks\" — the legal system that develops from the Torah's mitzvot through the Mishnah, Talmud, and the great codes; the movements differ on how binding it is, not on its centrality to the tradition.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "hasidism": {
        "term": "Hasidism",
        "hebrew": "חֲסִידוּת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The mystical revival movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov in 18th-century Eastern Europe, teaching that God can be served with joy in every act and every person. Its communities, each led by a Rebbe, remain a major force in Jewish life.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-hasidism-vs-mitnagdism"
      },
      "jonathan-sacks": {
        "term": "Jonathan Sacks",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks (1948–2020) served as Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom and became one of the most widely read Jewish thinkers of his generation; his commentary anchors the Koren Shalem Siddur, the Field Guide's recommended first siddur for most New Jews.",
        "moreSlug": "where-to-start-your-first-siddur"
      },
      "kabbalah": {
        "term": "Kabbalah",
        "hebrew": "קַבָּלָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Jewish mystical tradition — literally \"that which is received\" — whose central text is the Zohar and whose distinctive teachings include the ten Sefirot and the infinite Ein Sof.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-kabbalah"
      },
      "maariv": {
        "term": "Ma'ariv",
        "hebrew": "מַעֲרִיב",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The evening prayer service — the third of the three daily services, built around the Shema and the Amidah.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-prayers-the-three-daily-services"
      },
      "machshava": {
        "term": "Machshava",
        "hebrew": "מַחְשָׁבָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Jewish thought — the tradition's philosophy and theology, from the medieval rationalists through Hasidic masters to modern thinkers.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "midrash": {
        "term": "Midrash",
        "hebrew": "מִדְרָשׁ",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally 'inquiry' — the rabbinic genre of creative biblical interpretation, filling gaps in the text, drawing out moral lessons, and reading Scripture in surprising directions.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-midrash"
      },
      "mincha": {
        "term": "Mincha",
        "hebrew": "מִנְחָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The afternoon prayer service, the shortest of the three daily services; its name recalls the afternoon grain offering brought in the Temple.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-prayers-the-three-daily-services"
      },
      "mishnah": {
        "term": "Mishnah",
        "hebrew": "מִשְׁנָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The first great written compilation of the Oral Torah, organized by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi around 200 CE into six orders; together with the Gemara it forms the Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "mussar": {
        "term": "Mussar",
        "hebrew": "מוּסָר",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Jewish discipline of character refinement — the tradition of examining and training one's middot (traits), formalized as a movement in 19th-century Lithuania by Rabbi Yisrael Salanter.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar"
      },
      "pirkei-avot": {
        "term": "Pirkei Avot",
        "hebrew": "פִּרְקֵי אָבוֹת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'Chapters of the Fathers' — the Mishnah's tractate of ethical wisdom, traditionally studied on the Shabbat afternoons between Pesach and Shavuot.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-pirkei-avot"
      },
      "rambam": {
        "term": "Rambam",
        "hebrew": "רמב״ם",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1138–1204), known by the acronym Rambam and in the Latin West as Maimonides, was the towering rationalist codifier and philosopher of medieval Judaism — author of the legal code Mishneh Torah and the philosophical Guide for the Perplexed. His formulation of God's unity and incorporeality remains foundational to Jewish theology across denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "reform-judaism": {
        "term": "Reform Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Reform Judaism treats Halacha as a source of values and meaning rather than binding law, emphasizing individual autonomy, ethical monotheism, and tikkun olam; it was the first movement to fully recognize patrilineal descent and ordain women as rabbis.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "shacharit": {
        "term": "Shacharit",
        "hebrew": "שַׁחֲרִית",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The morning prayer service — the longest of the three daily services, built around the Shema and the Amidah.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-prayers-the-three-daily-services"
      },
      "shimon-hatzaddik": {
        "term": "Shimon HaTzaddik",
        "hebrew": "שמעון הצדיק",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Simon the Just, a Second Temple-era High Priest and one of the last members of the Men of the Great Assembly, remembered for the Pirkei Avot teaching that 'the world stands on three things: Torah, divine service, and acts of loving-kindness.'",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-pirkei-avot"
      },
      "talmud": {
        "term": "Talmud",
        "hebrew": "תלמוד",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The vast rabbinic work — the Mishnah together with the Gemara's discussion of it — that develops the Oral Torah into Jewish law and thought. It is the central text of Jewish study after the Bible itself.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "talmud-bavli": {
        "term": "Talmud Bavli",
        "hebrew": "תלמוד בבלי",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Babylonian Talmud, completed around 500 CE in the academies of Babylonia — the more extensive of the two Talmuds and the authoritative one for Jewish law.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "tanakh": {
        "term": "Tanakh",
        "hebrew": "תנ״ך",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Hebrew Bible, named for the initials of its three sections: Torah (the Five Books), Nevi'im (Prophets), and Ketuvim (Writings) — twenty-four books in the traditional count.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-tanakh-in-one-article"
      },
      "torah": {
        "term": "Torah",
        "hebrew": "תּוֹרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Five Books of Moses — the scroll at the center of Jewish life — and, more broadly, the whole of Jewish teaching. 'Learning Torah' can mean anything from Chumash to Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "bikkur-cholim": {
        "term": "bikkur cholim",
        "hebrew": "בִּקּוּר חוֹלִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The mitzvah of visiting the sick — a core act of gemilut chasadim (loving-kindness) that many communities organize through dedicated societies.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "hachnasat-kallah": {
        "term": "hachnasat kallah",
        "hebrew": "הַכְנָסַת כַּלָּה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally \"bringing in the bride\" — the mitzvah of helping a couple to marry and rejoicing with them, counted among the classic acts of loving-kindness.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "hachnasat-orchim": {
        "term": "hachnasat orchim",
        "hebrew": "הַכְנָסַת אוֹרְחִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The mitzvah of hospitality — welcoming guests warmly into one's home, modeled on Avraham's welcome of three strangers to his tent.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "kavanah": {
        "term": "kavanah",
        "hebrew": "כַּוָּנָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Intention or inner focus — praying or performing a mitzvah with the heart engaged rather than by rote; in Kabbalah, kavvanot are specific meditative intentions attached to the prayers.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "kevurat-hameitim": {
        "term": "kevurat hameitim",
        "hebrew": "קְבוּרַת הַמֵּתִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The mitzvah of burying the dead with dignity — a kindness the tradition calls chesed shel emet, \"true kindness,\" because it can never be repaid.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "mitzvah": {
        "term": "mitzvah",
        "hebrew": "מִצְוָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A commandment — one of the Torah's 613 divine instructions, and by extension any religious duty or good deed. The plural is mitzvot.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-613-mitzvot"
      },
      "nichum-aveilim": {
        "term": "nichum aveilim",
        "hebrew": "נִחוּם אֲבֵלִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Comforting mourners — the mitzvah of visiting and consoling the bereaved, classically during the week of shiva.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "tefillah": {
        "term": "tefillah",
        "hebrew": "תפילה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Prayer — the general Hebrew word for it, and in rabbinic usage often the Amidah specifically. The root suggests self-examination: to pray is also to take stock of oneself.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "tikkun-olam": {
        "term": "tikkun olam",
        "hebrew": "תיקון עולם",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'Repair of the world.' The phrase begins in rabbinic enactments made 'for the sake of an ordered world,' deepens in Kabbalah into cosmic mending, and in modern usage names the Jewish commitment to social repair.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam"
      },
      "tzedakah": {
        "term": "tzedakah",
        "hebrew": "צדקה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Charitable giving — from the root tzedek, 'justice': in Jewish thought, giving to those in need is not optional generosity but an obligation of justice.",
        "moreSlug": null
      }
    }
  },
  "links": [
    {
      "rel": "parent",
      "title": "Foundations of Belief",
      "href": "/sections/foundations.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Who is a Jew?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "What Does Judaism Teach About God?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Why Do Jews Not Believe in Jesus?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Why Did God Create the World?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "What Is Tikkun Olam?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "What Is Mussar?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar.json"
    }
  ]
}