Judaism as a System of Mitzvot

Deed and Creed

What is the essence of Conservative Judaism? What is the message that we want to convey to our constituents and to all those who are seeking an answer as to what it means to be a Jew in this time and place? These are the questions that constantly concern us as leaders of our movement.

Lately we have also been debating the question of whether we are truly a halakhic movement.¹ It is clear that if being halakhic means telling people that they must follow the entire halakhah or else they are sinners, we do not qualify. Personally I cannot recall the last time I heard or heard of a Masorti/Conservative rabbi on any continent who spoke in those terms. We take halakhah seriously in all matters, but we tend to emphasize the necessity of observing ethical norms and we insist on halakhic observance in issues involving personal status. In matters of ritual we are inclined to be more flexible and perhaps that is as it should be. If that is 'post-halakhic', so be it.

Nevertheless halakhah remains very much a part of our concern, but in the more literal meaning of the term: it is the path, the way of living, the guide that tradition provides for human conduct, one might even say that it is our way of 'walking with God.' The product of that guide is what we should be selling—and I use the term advisedly—and that product is mitzvot, for the life of mitzvot is the essence of Judaism. While Orthodoxy prides itself upon being "Torah-true Judaism," emphasizing its belief in the Torah as literally divinely dictated, something we cannot accept in its fundamentalist meaning, we emphasize "Mitzvah-true Judaism," for it is in the life of mitzvot that we find the message of our tradition.

As complex as religions are, there is usually one core concept that emerges as the central pillar upon which all else rests. In Judaism that concept is mitzvah. One might go so far as to say that Judaism is a system of mitzvot and depends for its very existence upon the performance of mitzvot. That by no means diminished the importance of specific beliefs, even dogmas, the prime example being monotheism, but whereas Christianity sets a particular belief at the very center of its being, for Judaism the center is performance of deeds—mitzvot. That is why Heschel could teach that for Jews what is needed is not a leap of faith or thought but a leap of action. "The essence of Judaism is a demand rather than a creed. It emphasizes the centrality of the act. The act of studying is more important than the possession of knowledge. There is more reflection about the deed than contemplation about the dogma."²

This leap of action is found at the very beginning of the origins of Judaism. Abram is not told "Believe in Me" but is given a command "Leave your land . . ." (Genesis 12:1). Later when the bond with God is sealed into a covenant, he is required to perform a mitzvah—a deed—circumcision, even though the term 'mitzvah' has not yet been coined (Genesis 17:9ff).

This approach is followed throughout the history of Israel. The liberation from Egypt has not even taken place when the Israelites are commanded to observe certain actions—mitzvot—and given mitzvot to observe throughout all time to commemorate the event (Exodus 12). It is clear that mitzvot were not invented in order to keep Judaism alive in the Diaspora, but were an integral part of the religion of Israel from the very beginning because of their intrinsic value, as we shall discuss below.

This helps us to understand why there has never been an officially accepted creed in Judaism. The closest that we have ever come to that is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith, but, as is well known, from the very beginning there was strong opposition even to them. Aside from the formula "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One," it is hard [End...