This story highlights what should have been obvious to the baker: our tradition serves to inform us and uplift us, not uplift itself. The care and honor that the baker showed to the challot should have been bestowed upon his wife.

Righteousness means doing the right thing whether anyone is watching or not (and knowing that there actually is One who is watching all the time), and lining up inwardly with the outward act. Public righteousness should reflect private rightness with Hashem.

Often when we speak of the righteousness of God we conjure up images of perfection. After all, God directed Moses, “Speak to the entire assembly of Israel and say to them: You shall be holy, for holy am I, Hashem your God” (Vayikra 19:2). Unfortunately our efforts often fall short of God’s highest standards and can leave us feeling inadequate.

In the volume, Sefer haMiddot, Rebbe Nachman of Breslov taught that one should give charity (tzedakah) before praying as well as bind oneself to the righteous (tzaddikim) of the generation. In other words, there is a connection between giving charity and cleaving to the righteous, and an interconnection between the performance and reception of righteousness.

It could be asked why Torah study serves as a part of daily davening. Are not learning (Torah) and davening (Avodah) different? Furthermore, aren’t the deeds mentioned in Shabbat 127a more related to acts of loving-kindness (Gemilut Chasidim)?

There is no doubt that Rabbi Salanter was scrupulous in his performance of mitzvot. We read countless stories where he was concerned about the status of the food that he ate, knowing that it would break down, nourish his body, and give him the ability to perform the commandments. He wanted to be fueled with only the best for the sake of Heaven.

If we are working for a world to espouse a greater love and service to Hashem, it can only come about through those who are alive: alive in spirit and alive in the flesh. If we crush those around us in an uncaring manner that is strict and so halachically stringent, then we have surely missed the point of observance.

Yeshua tells us, "Unless your righteousness exceeds the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:20). He goes on to show how righteousness, or justice—for tzedek can be translated as either—is defined in Scripture, and revealed in how we treat and think about and respond to those around us.

For the authors of the ketuvim sh’lichim (Apostolic Writings), righteousness is tied up with the mitzvah of love. Love, for all its repetition in Scripture, is a concept connected to righteousness, which we must keep kindled in our hearts and minds. The prayer of Rav Shaul for the Philippians is paradigmatic:

Righteousness in Hebrew is tzedakah, a word many of us learned at an early age when we were taught to put some money in a pushke to share with those in need. I remember my Shabbat school teacher when I was eight or ten telling us that tzedakah didn’t mean charity, but righteousness or justice.

Rabbi Salanter was washing his hands before a meal when the rabbis he was with noticed he was not immersing his whole hands in water in the ritual manner preferred by Jewish law. When questioned about this practice, Rabbi Salanter responded…