Judaism- Key Moral Principles

Question 1

Mitzvot

Answer 1

Commandments give by g-d to human biengs
Offers guidance on how to worhsip him and how to liveo ur lives
According ti orthodox hudaism- 613 mitxvot in total
Obedience to these brings happiness, joy and fulfullmet in life as comes from g-d the creator

Question 2

Best known mitzvot

Answer 2

10 commandments- exodus 20:1-15
Inc. vairty of positive and negative commandments , some ethical and some ritual

Question 3

Aseh

Answer 3

Positive commandments
Instructions on something which mystr eb done or followed ‘love the lord your g-d’
248 of these

Question 4

Ta’aseh

Answer 4

Negative commandments- prohibitions
Saying what must not be done
Eg ‘thou shalt not murder’ 365 of them

Question 5

Why mixture of aseh and ta’aseh

Answer 5

Humans respond best to positive commandments
But g-d’s authoruity must clearly prohibit what’s worng- idolatrym myder and stealing
G-d letting his people dowb if he did not make these commandments clear enough for them to be able to be obeyed

Question 6

Chukim

Answer 6

Mitzvot humans cannot understand
Many kashrut food laws- kosher

Question 7

Mishpatim

Answer 7

Mitzvot humans can understand
10 c

Question 8

Orthodox on chukim and mishpatim

Answer 8

Chukim=mishpatim
G-d Gave commmandments so should be followed

Question 9

Reform chukim and mishpatim

Answer 9

May prioritize mishpatim over chukim

Question 10

6 contant mitzvot

Answer 10

Rules/laws should always be in the minds of jews
-know there is a g-d
-dont believe in other g-ds
Know g-d is one
Love g-d
Fear g
Dont be misled by your disires- may be hard to follow- stay focused

Question 11

Free will and mitzvot

Answer 11

Problem with free will and all knowing and all powerful g-d
Presumably g-d knows all along if obefdient in time
‘Free choice’ to be obedient or disoedient is predetermines
But just because g-d knows something in advance doesnt mean he preordained it- otheriwse g-d responsible for all human evil

Question 12

Where did beliefs on free will come from

Answer 12

Jewish tradition
G-d complete soverignty over human beliefs
Torah- makes clearm obedient to mitzvot is a choice
Deutromony 30:19- ‘therefore choose life, that thou mayst live’

Question 13

Covenant and free will

Answer 13

Abraham, jacob and moses chose to form moses- people choose to remain faithful to covenant
Most jews believe freedom to choose is fundemental to god’s relationship with human belief
Hard to see why g-d would need to command observance if his law unless one had a chouice NOT to

Question 14

Ritual mitzvot

Answer 14

Rabbanic interpretation
-purpose is to create a relationship between hman beings and g-d- positive coveneant
Most are aseh- top 4/10 commmandments most important
Worship and festivals
‘Seventh day is a savvath, unto the lord thy g-d’ ‘shalt not do any manner of work’ exodus 20:2-17

Question 15

Ethical mitzvot

Answer 15

Create relationship between humans in order to create nation of israel= moses led israelites out of egypt and had been slaves for generations
Egyptions tried to deprive of their identityu as a nation and monotheism- shown how isrealites returned tyo isolation of goldern calf at mt sinai
Deliveer torah to moses- g-d called srael into being as a nation-f ree people under rule of g-d
In order to work- isralis soverienty of g-d and no other- made free ethical choices in their relatoinshops with one anothegr
Most ta’aseh- negative 10c- ‘thou shalt not muder’

Question 16

Example of symbolic mitzvot

Answer 16

Numbers 15:37-41
‘Find fringes on the corners of their garments’ ‘ye mayu look upon it’ ‘remember all the commandments of the lord’- tassel s on garments

Question 17

Quoytes on teaching mitzvot

Answer 17

‘Ye shall teach them your children’ deutronomy 11:18-21

Question 18

Orthodox beliefs on ethical and rital mitzvot

Answer 18

Accord equal importance to ethical and ritual mitzvot- aboid heiracy apart from pikuach nefesh
Should be observed together0 argue 613 embody guidence for complete human life in accordance wuth his aim for his chosen people

Question 19

Conservative and reform belief on ethical and ritual mitzvot

Answer 19

Ethical mitzvot most important- tanakh- esp in books of prohpets- emphaisise g-d’s will for his people should behave justly to each other

Question 20

Reform on ethical and ritual mitxvot

Answer 20

Ritual observed for cultural reasons rather than become embody divine will
Significance of ritual- disticnction as idengity to jewish people

Question 21

Issues relating to the mitzvot

Answer 21

Diff lists of mitzvot compiled by jewish scholars over time
How mitzvot delivered to ancient society should be obeyed in the modern world
How applied to new ethical challenges
Conflict each other
Limits of interpretatio

Question 22

Diff lists of mitzvit compoiled by jewish scholars over time

Answer 22

Orthodox rrecoghnise 613
Not even complete agreement over how to divide 10c
Torah- not clear when commmandments delivered
Talmud- relied on fo rdefinite list of mitzvto and best way to observe them
However as ancient text- not always clear how should be obsevred in modern day life

Question 23

How mitzvote delivered toancient society should be observed in mdoern world

Answer 23

Major for orthodox= observing mitzvot central to their judaism- eg.Question fo light switches flicked on shbbat- decided equivalent to ;kindling fire’ so forbidden

Reform thing less important

Question 24

How mitzviot applied to new ethical challenges

Answer 24

To new technologies not mentioned in torah, tanakh oe talmud
Eg. Same sex marriage

Question 25

Mitzvoit conflict each other

Answer 25

Problem with absolute prescription of ethical systems00- list of commandments given divine w/ one another
Eg. Acceptable to give false testimony to save a life
Problem of hierachy of mitzvit apart frmo pn

Question 26

Limits of interpretation of. Mitzvoitr

Answer 26

Ancient hewish tradition interepreted mitzvot for diff time and circumstances, worship over tiome but when does it change the essence of mitzvot
Critcizm of reform by orthodox

Question 27

Orthodox attitude tomitzvot generally

Answer 27

Observance 613 heart of oj
Defines gtem
But cant obey laws relating to temple as now longer exists
Less willing to q why- must follow them
As may be trying to hard to understand g-d who’s incomprehenisble in his nature
Hasidic- v serios mitzvot dress and garments
Others may be more flexible on this

Question 28

Conservative and reform views on mitzvtot overall

Answer 28

Not wedded to idea that there must be 613
Greater emphasis on ethical than ritual
We should try to understand why
Dont need to follow all- out of date- from culture and time of another era

-torah contains mitzvot- eg. Ppurpose to underpin and stress interpersonal relationships withi jewish communities to strebgthen identuity

Question 29

Reform beliefs on mitzvot overall

Answer 29

Argue may be more mitzvot than just 613
If exclusively 613- blindng to ;larger ethical obligations
Heirachy of mitzvot- 10c at top
Eg. Kosher may be observed for cultural rather than divine will reasons