DEUT192 Let us analyze this. It is already written (Exodus 19:15): "Be ready by the third day; do not come near a woman." Why, then, need it be further stated [after the receiving of the Law]: "Return to your tents"] [i.e., to your wives]? We are hereby taught that anything instituted by consensus needs a corresponding consensus to abrogate it [the "consensus" in this case being that of the Lord himself] (Beitzah 5b)

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DEUT193 See [[1641]] Deuteronomy 30:20 life AHAVCH 156

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DEUT194 In the Hebrew Bible there is no polarity between love and fear in the service of God. Equal emphasis is placed on both. The author of the 119th Psalm surely loved God and His Torah. Yet he says, "My flesh trembleth for fear of Thee; and I am afraid of Thy judgments" (v. 120). Preceding the injunction "And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might" (this verse), is the statement [Deuteronomy 6:1-2). And following it is the admonition, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God ..." (Deut. 6:13). Hence, while the Biblical-Rabbinic tradition knows the difference between love of God and fear of God, and the rabbinic tradition inclined towards setting love above fear, serving God out of fear is not disparaged. (Thus Maimonides explains Abraham's reaction to God's command to sacrifice Isaac as being due to "his fear of Him, who should be exalted, and because of his love to carry out His command…" (Guide, pt. 3:24, pp. 500-501). It all depends on what one fears and what one loves. Yohanan ben Zakai's fear of meeting his Creator was not due to fear of being physically hurt. It was rooted in a sense of his own inadequacy to fulfill what he believed God had the right to expect of him. He was a lover who feared to disappoint his beloved, a fear that sprang from and was permeated by love.

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DEUT195 See [[EXOD354]] Exodus 20:2 other DUTIES 63-7

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DEUT196 Judaism's basic belief is in one God (Maimonides, Principles of Faith #1, #2, #5.) There can be no other ultimate forces in the world besides God (Exodus 20:3, the second of the Ten Commandments). This is the essence of the Shema prayer, the prayer recited three times daily and before a Jew dies [this verse and found in the siddur in the morning and evening services and in the prayer recited before retiring at night]. In addition to believing in a God concept, Christianity also believes in the concept of Satan as the origin of evil and a force equal and opposite of God. According to some, the belief in the Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) violates the concept of "Oneness," but others disagree, since the three are essentially one. Judaism is specific about this belief, that what we call evil originates with God and not another force. The verse states that "God is the creator of peace and of evil" (Isaiah 45:7). The Talmud (Megillah 25a) tells the Jew that when tragedy strikes, the proper Jewish reaction is to pronounce a blessing acknowledging God as the true judge. Thus, the Jewish reaction to apparent evil is to attribute it to God and not to any other force (and to proclaim we do not really understand it).

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DEUT197 See [[EXOD354]] Exodus 20:2 other DUTIES 63-7

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DEUT198 Believe that Hashem is One. This idea is the most fundamental principle of the truth faith. It is the fixed pillar upon which the hearts of all sensible people rely. Our Sages teach (Berachos 61a) that each of us must be ready to give up his life for this principle--that Hashem is the One and unique God--for all who do not acknowledge this truth are considered as having denied the Jewish faith’s central principle. This is so because Hashem's rule over the universe is perfect and complete only by virtue of His Absolute Oneness. That is, His sovereignty is complete only because He alone creates and gives everything its existence, without any other power acting as His partner. If someone does not believe in this truth, he nullifies a positive commandment of the Torah. And so doing, he transgresses the entire Torah, for all of its commandments are dependent upon belief in the One and Unique God. Such a person denies the root principle of our faith and is not reckoned as a member of the Jewish People. He is considered a heretic. Conversely, he who fulfills this mitzvah, for he believes and trusts in the One God, is elevated to supreme heights. This mitzvah is one of the Torah’s six “constant” commandments. We are obligated to fulfill this precept at all times, without any interruption. [See Mishnah Berurah, Siman 1 in the Biur Halachah, s.v. Hu klal.]

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DEUT199 See [[EXOD727]] Exodus 22:26 hear OXFORD 88

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DEUT201 It is a positive commandment to know the unity of the blessed God, to believe with complete faith that He is one, without any partner or associate as Scripture states, Hear, O Israel: Hashem our God, Hashem is One [this verse]. This is a main principle of our faith; after the first knowledge that there is a God in existence it is necessary to believe with complete faith that He is simply, utterly one in the utmost degree of unity; He is not a physical being; no concepts about a physical being can apply to Him; nothing that can affect a physical being can affect Him; there is none second [like] to Him; and without Him there is no God. We are duty-bound to bear this belief in mind every occasion and moment ...

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DEUT202 The need for Unity with Diversity. Rabbinic sources demonstrate the necessity and legitimacy of vigorous disagreement within a unified, coherent community. It is, of course, not easy to balance the twin needs for unity and diversity; each of us must discover and examine the grounds for our own beliefs and practices, stretching to see the reasons why others believe and act as they do; and each community must determine the limits of dissent that it can tolerate and still remain cohesive. Modern theories attempt to do this in a much more diversified setting than talmudic and medieval rabbis ever contemplated, one characterized not only by physical dispersion but also by widely varying forms of being Jewish. In such circumstances, it is not surprising that the theories I have considered differ significantly in the extent to which they validate the beliefs and practices of others, but the very attempt to articulate such theories bespeaks the strongly felt need to retain unity within our diversity. According to the Talmud, just as Jews put on phylacteries (tefillin-- the leather straps worn on the arm and head during daily morning prayer), so too does God. The phylacteries that Jews wear bear the verse, “Here, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one.” (Deuteronomy 6:4). God's phylacteries bear the verse, “Who is like Your people Israel, one nation in the world.” (I Chronicles 17:21; B. Berachot 6a). Neither unity has been sufficiently achieved. Three times each day in the Aleinu prayer, Jews pray that God's unity might be acknowledged by all people. The unity of the people is real, with its vigorous diversity intact, must also be the object of our work and prayers, just as it is on the mind of God.

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