mitzvah

English

Etymology

Borrowed from Hebrew מצווה (mitsvá, “commandment”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪts.və/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

Noun

mitzvah (plural mitzvahs or mitzvot or mitzvoth or mitzvos)

2. (Judaism) Any of the 613 commandments of Jewish law.
   • 1988 September 2, Florence Hamlish Levinsohn, “A Special Connection With God”, in Chicago Reader‎^[1]:

     She called Penansky regularly to remind her to observe the mitzvahs.

3. (Judaism) An act of kindness, a good deed.
   • 2013, Thomas Pynchon, Bleeding Edge, Vintage, published 2014, page 17:

     ‘You heard about them pulling my license. That was indirectly Joel. Who, without meaning to, did me such a mitzvah.’

4. (event planning industry, metonymic, usually only with the plural mitzvahs) A Jewish celebration, but particularly a clipping of bar mitzvah and/or bat mitzvah.
   • 2016 August, “Glenview Mansion”, in City of Rockville, Maryland - Official Website‎^[2], archived from the original on 17 August 2016:

     Glenview Mansion is an elegant 1926 home included on the National Register of Historic Places. Located in the 153-acre Rockville Civic Center Park, it is the perfect location for weddings, private parties, mitzvahs, conferences, and many other special occasions. Every rental includes a customized set-up to support the unique needs of your event.

Related terms

• bark mitzvah
• bar mitzvah
• bas mitzvah
• bat mitzvah
• met mitzvah
• milchemet mitzvah
• seudat mitzvah

Translations

any of the 613 commandments of Jewish law

• Catalan: mitsvà f
• Esperanto: micvo
• French: mitzvah (fr) f
• German: Mitzwa (de) f
• Polish: micwa f

an act of kindness

• French: mitzvah (fr) f
• German: Mitzwa (de) f
• Polish: micwa f
• Turkish: sevap (tr)