Day 58
All You Need Is Love: Does It Matter What Jews Believe or Just What They Do?
“May the lessons of the past help improve understanding now and in the future.” Peter & Jacqui Zinkin
One responsibility in my first rabbinic position was to administer a bar/bat mitzvah test. It encouraged young adults to cover a sylla- bus of basic Jewish knowledge prior to their “big day.” I wrote the test myself and after some predictable questions such as “when is Pesach?” and “who was married to Abraham?” I posed one that was met with surprise by every examinee: “does Judaism have beliefs and not just rules?”
With hindsight, it was a poor question, but it was intended to challenge adolescents to start thinking about belief and action in their lives. It is well known that Judaism includes both a detailed code of practice and a sophisticated belief system, although the relationship between them is often little understood.
For many modern, thinking Jews, successfully navigating the tensions between belief and action will determine our commitment to Torah observance and pursuit of Jewish aspirations for ourselves and our families. How important is it to believe in core principles (e.g., existence of God, historical truth of the Sinaitic revelation), or is it only observance that counts? Put succinctly, does it matter what Jews believe or just what they do?
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Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski
Rabbi Dr Harvey Belovski is the Rabbi of Golders Green Synagogue, London and principal of Rimon Jewish Primary School. He teaches at LSJS in London, is the rabbinic consultant to University Jewish Chaplaincy and is a guest lecturer at King’s College, London. He is an author and a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 2.
