What is Torah Judaism (in 500 Words or Less) #4
May 4th, 2009 - Guest Contributor
1- It is the nature of good to have a recipient
2- We were created to receive good
3- The ultimate good is the Image of G-d
4- Therefore we can’t just receive, Hashem gave us an opportunity to finish the job, to imitate the Creator
5- Thus, we must perfect our relationship with Him, and our relationship with others — to both receive and to give
6- Which in turn requires perfecting ourselves, the sole part of the relationship we can change
7- Halakhah is a tool for doing so
8- Because of the above, halakhah is produced in partnership between G-d and man
9- History is a process from Adam to the messiah
10- Perfecting the world requires cooperation, and thus one can’t be a Jew without being part of the community
Originally posted in the comments in this post
May 4th, 2009 11:45
Dear Rabbi Berger,
By my count, you are 388 words under the limit. Could you spend some of those elaborating on #8; I’m not quite sure what you mean by it.
May 4th, 2009 14:04
What Rabbi Micha Berger said sounds like a highly condensed version of The Handbook of Jewish Thought by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan.
May 5th, 2009 11:04
This is kind of poetic, not surprising if you know Micha Berger, but it it is probably too esoteric for the majority of people. It also seems to be make some statements that are either not obviously factual or that are based on unstated premises. I suppose they are all true, but for my part I don’t understand #3.
May 5th, 2009 11:33
On some of Micha’s items, if you don’t already know the supporting details, the short version can mean almost anything.