Nugget #5

Intent is the motive behind a desire and action.  We touched on this in the last Nugget and learned that a proper intent is what gives redeeming qualities to all desires and actions even if they are not entirely corrected.  It should be obvious that intentions correct or starts the correction of desires.  We must ask.  What is the proper intention?  What is the improper intention?

The 613 commands are actually communal in nature.  They are not dealing with individual as much as it is dealing with community, and communal cooperation and peace.  One of the most pivotal commands is “love your neighbor as yourself”, meaning that our neighbor is to be treated as we would treat ourselves.  There should be very little difference between our neighbor and us for instance.  Thus it is not a big stretch to say, the proper intent is to be altruistic by including others into our thinking and improper intent is to disregard, minimizing, indifference, or neglecting of our neighbor.  Essentially we are to change our nature from receiving to giving.  We can cover this in more detail in the future.

Ask yourself: How do we transition our desires and actions into a benefit for mankind in general?  Does intention come before Torah observance?