[Avodah] The Main Idea of Judaism

[Jonathan Baker]

Rn Simi Peters:
 
> It seems to me that we can talk about the main idea of Judaism in terms of two things:  (1) the message of Judaism to the world (which also includes us) and (2) the main idea of Judaism in terms of what a Jew is supposed to be and do.
 
> It seems to me that the message of Judaism in the first sense is "ein od milvado".  This isn't a purely theological statement, 

I have trouble with that as a fundamental - it's too open to interpretation.
Is it the pshat in the verse, that there is no God but God [and Mussa is his
prophet]?  Or is it the reading of the Tikkunei haZohar (leit atar panui
mineih, etc.) and the Chasidim, that it's an expression of the Upper Unity,
that there is nothing but God as all physical finite reality is nullified
beside the Infinite?
 
> As far as the second main idea of Judaism (in terms of what a Jew is supposed to be and do), it seems to me that "Kedoshim tihiyu" is an explicit statement of that.  The Meshekh Hokhma's definition of this mitzva encapsulates its essential meaning: to dedicate everything to God--our time, our energies, our possessions, our relationships, etc. 

And yet this formulation is entirely God-centered in both aspects.  What about  our fellow man?  Hillel and Shimon haTzadik would disagree with an entirely
God-centered formulation, I think.  After all, the Torah is God's will for
humankind.  If that expression boils down to 'v'ahavta lereiacha kamocha' or
the negative formulation, that would seem to leave God out of the equation.

I'd use Shimon haTzadik's formulation, and perhaps Micha's Micha quote would
do for them: do justly (as Torah defines justice: learn the Torah, know the
Torah to do the Torah), love mercy (v'ahavta lereiecha kamocha), and walk
humbly with God (v'halachta bidrachav, Shema, v'ahavta, avodah).

I think it's fruitless to argue that God is more important than Man (self
and/or other) in Judaism, or that Man is more important than God - that
way lies the distinction between ethical and ritual mitzvot, and the
possibility of discarding one or the other depending on one's predi-
lections.

--
        name: jon baker              web: http://www.panix.com/~jjbaker
     address: jjbaker at panix.com     blog: http://thanbook.blogspot.com