Here we are, erev Shabat and very close to Rosh haShanna, and I have the chutzpah to challenge the rabbis who insist I - we - practice all 613 mitzvoth.
Even a kohen gadol who is one of the 36 tzdekim can't practice all 613 mitzvoth.
Not because of lack of desire.
Not because of lack of piety.
Because it simply is not possible for any one person to do them all.
If I can manage 60 or 70 in my lifetime I will consider myself to have done "pretty good."
But 613.
Impossible.
Let's take our kohen gadol.
He can't offer first fruits since he's not a farmer.
He cannot attend to the dead (with one exception).
He cannot perform pidyon haben, although he can participate in his kohen role.
By the way, take pity on the kohen gadol.
If he makes a mistake in the holy of holies, he's dead - that's why there is a rope tied to his leg; to pull him out if he dies inside.
And just to make matters worse, mothers of accidental murderers are praying for his death.
Heavy load.
Since there's a mosque sitting where the Temple belongs - may HaShem rectify that soon - we can't bring korbanote - sacrifices and by extension, we can't perform the associated mitzvoth. Not the sinner and not the kohen receiving the offering.
Unless you live in Israel - even Occupied Israel - you don't bring first fruits from your trees.
There ARE many mitzvoth we can do.
Keep a kosher stomach.
Honor Shabat.
Observe the haggim even if we can't "go up to Jerusalem" three times a year
Pray with a congregation.
Light Shabat candles (even men if there are no women in the household).
Don tallit and tefillin. I don't advise that for women eleven though Rashi's daughter allegedly did this; consider Rashi's grandson, Ta"m, who often ruled the opposite of his father - which is why some people wear two sets of tefillin and why some mezuzot are like this | and some like this \
(Rashi held like this | and Ta"m held like this — so Ashkenazim compromised to this \ .)
It should be easy enough to comply with The Big Ten, but that leaves 603 to consider.
By the way, lighting the hanukiah (Hanukah menorah) is not one of the "613." Hanukah is post-Torah. The rabbis tell us to light the lights, but it still doesn't make the Torah's 613 list.
We can attend to the dead if only by going to the cemetery - unless you're a kohen.
We also can "attend the dead" in an indirect way by being part of a minyan so that mourners can recite kaddish; even a kohen gadol could do this.
We can educate our children - by example and, usually, by hiring a person who loves what he or she teaches. We need to educate our children in Torah AND to make an honest living.
We can hear the shofar at least two days a year (assuming one day of Rosh HaShanna falls on Shabat).
We can keep the Passover - hopefully for the duration, not just one "kosher style" meal.
We can spend some time in a sukkah; maybe not much time, but we can at least sit for a while in someone's sukkah, maybe eat a cookie (the blessing is "mezonote" and drink something ("shay-ha-kol").
There are many mitzvoth we CAN perform - or avoid doing; there are positive (Do This) and negative (Don't do this) commandments - but we just can't do them all.
So, the next time you hear a rabbi or other pious person tell you to perform 613 mitzvoth, nod politely and know that this person really doesn't know his (or her) mitzvoth.
