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Aftermarket Rabbi: 365 types of Jewish brake pads

One of the most common parts that we sell in the aftermarket are brake pads, together with their counterparts, the brake rotors, often accompanied by their literal, physical matchmaker, the brake caliper, which when a driver pushes down on the brake pedal, forces the brake pad onto the rotor. The friction caused by those two materials slows down and eventually stops the rotation of the tires, allowing the vehicle to stop.

Eventually, the material of the brake pad wears out, leading to that often-disturbing screeching sound you will hear from the tires, which means you’ve gone too long without replacing your brake pad. While you’re at it, you should probably check all the brakes, and you may want to replace the rotors as well. Don’t forget to check the calipers too (hey, I’m always going to try to upsell when it makes sense).

P.S. unsponsored comment – Brembo has got to have among the best in the business. This was reinforced by a recent visit to their headquarters in Milan, Italy, during Nexus’ Board of Director meeting – wow! A must see for anyone in our industry.

Now what, you may ask, is the connection between brake pads and my assertion in the title of this post that Judaism has 365 types?

To answer that, we need to delve a bit into Jewish law and the idea of commandments, known in Hebrew as a Mitzvah (in the singular, the plural form is Mitzvot, or Mitzvos if you’re of Eastern European descent).

In Jewish tradition there’s the idea that God gave the Jews commandments (Mitzvot). Not only the famous Ten Commandments (which are important), but a lot of commandments. 613 commandments to be precise. If you read through the Five Books of Moses, also known in Hebrew as the Torah, you will come across commandments interspersed between the narrative parts of the text.

While the long list of commandments can be broken down into various categories, there’s a simple two-part division of what can be termed Positive Commandments and Prohibitions.

Positive Commandments meaning commandments where you are obligated to do something, like eating Matza (unleavened bread) on Passover or circumcising your son on the eighth day after he’s born.

Prohibitions, as the word implies are things that you are forbidden from doing such as working on the Sabbath, eating non-Kosher food, stealing and much, much more.

Tradition has it that there are 248 Positive Commandments and if you do your math correctly, you’ll discover that there remain 365 Prohibitions.

My thesis is that the 365 Prohibitions of the Torah, are 365 Jewish brake pads for the soul.

Why does the soul need brake pads, you might ask?

I think that unrestrained, unguided, untethered humans have the capacity to cause much damage to ourselves and our surroundings. The Torah says, “hold on.” You can’t just drive through life without stopping, without slowing down, without braking at those dangerous curves or intersections on the road.

The Torah provides guidance and restraints on a plethora of human activities: eating, commerce, personal relations, judiciary, ritual, environment, construction, farming and much more. It recognizes the human need for structure, for guidance, for restraint, for a braking system to protect ourselves and others from the worst of unrestrained human will and desire.

Feel free to be in touch regarding your thoughts on the Jewish brake pad.