(The book's ISBNs are: ISBN9780060539184 and ISBN 10: 00605391860)
As with most things PBS, there was a pitch for donations to keep similar programs on the air. That's OK; I get it. PBS has fewer commercials than most tv stations - but contrary to what PBS claims, it DOES have commercials.
In any event, during a house ad - that's a commercial for the "house" - one of two Jewish co-hostesses said that a mitzvah is a "good deed."
She needs to go back to Hebrew school.
A mitzvah is a commandment.
Hebrew is a verb-based language - as are most, it seems.
The root, the "shoresh," for מצווה is צו. (In English, the root for commandment is command.)
So "mitzvah" is NOT "good deed" no matter how many times some ignoramus says it; a "mitzvah" is a commandment, and in most cases, it is not to be ignored. There are, as we all know, 613 mitzvoth (commandments) but no one, no matter HOW religious - not even the most haredi in Beni Brak or Mea Sharim (100 Gates) - can perform all of the commandments. Many apply only to certain classes (kohanim, levim), some apply only to certain jobs (farmers, merchants), some are determined by - dare I write it? - the person's sex. I'm only considering the commandments from Torah Biktav, the written Torah, a/k/a the "Five Books of Moses."
Mitzvah = "good deed" is almost as aggravating as tzdekah = "charity."
The shoresh for צדקה is not (Neil) Sedaka, but צדק.
צדק is defined in my 501 Hebrew Verbs as be right, be just. (Neil may well be descended from righteous people, ergo the transliterated צדקה to Sedaka.)
In only one of its four forms does it carry a connotation other than vindicate/justify. The one exception to the rule is הצטדק = "apologize."
As long as ignorant Jews insist that "mitzvah" is a "good deed" and that "tzdekah" means "charity" they can ignore the negative commandments and feel good about themselves when they drop a dime in the charity box, never being concerned about justice - to their fellow Jews, to their fellow humans, even to animals.
That is not to suggest that these ignoramuses will commit any serious "negative" social commandments, i.e., murder, theft, etc. or that they might knowingly allow a criminal to remain free while an innocent person languishes in gaol.
But ignoring the true meaning of the words can lead to an averah, a sin.
The Jewish talking heads on tv don't need to know Hebrew to the level of Eliezer Ben-Yehuda or even Abba Eban, but they SHOULD know the meaning such common words as mitzvah and tzdekah.
