Eastern Bluebird : Form and Function

This is an Eastern Bluebird. But as much as the bird, focus for a moment on the fence. The fence is old, weathered, and a bit beaten up. But it’s functional. It is serving its purpose of defining limits, demarcating space on one side from the other. The Bluebird attracts the eye. It’s both shadowed and shining. The light in its eye, the extra sparkle, strikes me as less a random reflection and more like a conscious placement of a beacon to notice.

Judaism’s mitzvot are often translated as “commandments” or even “obligations.” While literally true, these translations omit the essential element of joy that infuses the mitzvot’s observance. The Sages teach that performing the mitzvot should be embellished and beautified whenever possible. Loving artistry is devoted to the mezuzah cases on our doorposts, the spice boxes for Havdalah, and the yad pointers we use to read Torah. These are just three examples of how joy and beauty blend together to enliven our “obligatory” actions.

The fence by itself is purely functional, at best. It certainly doesn’t possess that special something that would catch a photographer’s eye. And the Bluebird, too, seen in isolation would be pretty but less meaningful. The fence is a literal support, and it casts the shadow that highlights even as it obscures. Living the mitzvot, we integrate both the “form” and the “function.” Like appreciating the Bluebird situated on the fence, we maximize mitzvot’s meaning in our lives through recognizing the Wholeness from which it comes.