[Avodah] The Main Idea of Judaism

[Akiva Miller]

R"n Simi Peters wrote:

> 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. 

R' Jon Baker responded:

> 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.

Good points, but I think you're illustrating a problem that very basic to this whole thread. Specifically, we're trying to distill everything down to a short sound bite. Or, to use words which appear in the thread's title, we're going from the entirety of "Judaism" down to its "main idea".

Of course, this has been done before, as RJB quoted Hillel (Gemara Shabbos 31a). But, notably, it's only a partial quote. The tag line is critical: "Go and learn." And I suspect that's what led him to conclude, incorrectly, that it leaves G-d out of the equation.

It is my opinion that when Hillel said, "What you hate, don't do to others - this is the whole Torah", he did not mean to suggest that Achilas Matza is an unimportant part of Torah. I can't accept that idea. What he must have meant by "Go and learn", I think (and if my understanding of Rashi on that Gemara is correct, he too thinks), that one cannot rely on his own opinions about what is hated, but rather one must learn Torah through and through to reach a proper understanding of how to fulfil Hillel's sound bite. In other words: If one focuses on Bein Adam L'Chaveiro, and leaves G-d out of the equation, he will fail miserably at reaching Hillel's goal.

But if one fulfils Achilas Matza properly, it will effectively improve him as a person, and the result will be a more complete fulfillment of Hillel's dictum.

Thus, RnSP's cite of "Kedoshim tihiyu" is NOT G-d-centered, depending on how one understands the idea of being a Kadosh. "Dedicating everything to G-d"? - sure, but that doesn’t mean ignoring people. Rather, proper fulfillment of Adam L'Chaveiro is m'akev one's becoming a Kadosh.

I concede that it *seems* like a contradiction: One's ultimate goal may be totally G-d-centric, yet it is impossible to reach that goal without a genuine caring for and involvement with one's fellow people. But the contradiction is an illusion, created by putting too much emphasis on the sound bite, and a failure to Go And Learn.

Akiva Miller

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