Judaism can be best understood if we think, figuratively, of it as a great structure made up of three great pillars. These pillars are: God, the Torah and the People of Israel. None stands out more than the other, the three are interdependent and the emphasis given to each has varied over time. God is the Creator, the One who is only One, the one who gave us the golden rule. For its part, the Torah represents the intellectual creation of Judaism, focused on studying, understanding and interpreting the sacred texts. Finally, Israel is the history of the culture and civilization of the Jewish people.

Conceiving Judaism as a monotheistic system, a literary tradition and a historical culture, presents us with three concepts full of meaning and open to a very wide range of interpretations, which inevitably causes some Jews to emphasize one concept more than another. The concept of God as the origin of universal ethics is interpreted as the force that moves people to act and gives meaning to each person’s life. It is what drives them to seek the good of the family, the community, humanity, the dispossessed and leads them to seek a better world. These are those who admire the wonder of Creation. It is in Reform Judaism where this pillar is most emphasized.

Others dedicate their efforts to studying the Torah and observing its commandments, since they consider it a privilege to be able to do so. They accept that ultimately it is difficult to understand God’s ways and the only thing left is to obey His law and the interpretations that the wise have made of it, without questioning His motives. Their spirit rejoices in fulfilling His precepts as best as possible. It is the Orthodox groups that give greater importance to this second pillar.

A third group fills their hearts with love for the Jewish people, for Israel. They admire their achievements and learn from their problems and difficulties. They suffer its hardships and rejoice in its blessings. They fulfill their desires by working for the good of their people and understand that Judaism is not something static but something that has evolved and will continue to evolve throughout history. It is the Conservative movement within Judaism that is most attached to this pillar.

Louis Jacobs tells us: “The rabbis in the Talmud teach us that just as no two human beings have the same physical characteristics, so too people are different in what they think and what they feel. So we should not be surprised by the differences and the emphasis that each Jew places on his Judaism. Each person, said a Hasidic sage, must discover his own path in Judaism and live it sincerely.”

One can be particularly inclined to one of the pillars of Judaism, but what cannot be accepted is that the other two are totally or partially excluded. A Judaism without God is not Judaism, a Judaism without the Torah is not Judaism, a Judaism without the People of Israel is not Judaism. It is the three pillars together that give value to its structure.

By Marcos Gojman

Bibliography: The Book of Jewish Belief, by Louis Jacobs; God, Torah, and Israel, by Abraham Joshua Hescheml and other sources.