Q&A: Commandment Regarding Beliefs
Commandment Regarding Beliefs
Question
Hello, does the Rabbi think that Judaism does not command us regarding beliefs at all, and that no belief is binding, but rather the only thing that obligates us as Jews is observance of the commandments and nothing more (and that is what distinguishes the Orthodox / some of the Conservatives from the rest of the movements in Judaism)? Is there nevertheless some particular belief that everyone is obligated to hold in order to speak in the name of Judaism, to be considered in some sense a continuer of its path (such as belief in God, one God, Torah from Heaven)?
Answer
What is required is belief in God and commitment to Torah from Heaven. It seems to me that this is it. Maybe I missed something else, but that is the main thing.
Discussion on Answer
That there was a giving of the Torah from the Holy One, blessed be He, to the people of Israel, and that what we have in our hands is the result (expansions and interpretations) of what was given there.
And regarding the Torah we have in our hands, is there an obligation to believe that all of it, down to the very last detail, was written by Moses at the command of the Holy One, blessed be He? (I’m not speaking about the historical aspect, but in principle—whether one must relate to the text as though everything was given to Moses by the Holy One, blessed be He.) Does the Rabbi think that this too is a binding belief? As far as I know, we do not find in the Jewish tradition throughout the generations anyone who disputed this assumption. And if someone relates to part of what is said in the Torah as “nonsense” or “made up,” and so on—has he already left the “camp”? Thanks in advance, and sorry for the bother.
I think that if someone has good evidence that part of it is a later addition, there is nothing wrong with that. There were also medieval authorities who wrote this.
Yes, I have no problem with someone claiming that it is late from a historical standpoint, but even if a text is late historically, does the Rabbi still think that in principle one must relate to this text as something divine that was given to Moses even though it is late? Or if it is late, then it is not binding, and consequently it could just be nonsense? Thank you.
The assumption is that it is divine in the absence of evidence to the contrary, but if there is a good argument against that, I do not rule out the possibility of rejecting it.
What does the Rabbi include in the concept of Torah from Heaven? What is included in this belief? If the Rabbi could elaborate a bit on that, thank you.