DEUT598 God represents the ultimate biblical model for character-building. … The best way for us to emulate God is to become a blessing in other people's lives.

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DEUT602 See [[EXOD63]] Exodus 3:6 hid DORFFOV 38

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DEUT604 Part of life's goal of the Jew is to imitate God, as it says in [this verse and Deuteronomy 28:9] and is explained in the Talmud (Sotah 14a). One of the qualities of God is His hiddenness. Although man is commanded to attempt to know God (Maimonides, Hilchot Yesodei Hatorah 1:1 and 1:10), there remains a part of God unknowable to man.... It is the same with man. Although we think we can know someone and someone can know us, there should be a part of each person that remains private and unknowable. Part of Jewish modesty, then, informs us that even to our closest friend or spouse, there must remain some things inside that are private and known only to us. As King David says about God (Psalms 91:1), that He sits on high shrouded in secret and "in the shade," so, too, there must be part of each person that remains forever secret and unknowable. King Solomon in Proverbs suggests that God's honor and glory is achieved through this secretiveness (Proverbs 25:2). Man, too, achieves some dignity and honor by keeping some part of his personality secret in private. This, too, is an aspect of Jewish modesty. Thus, the hiddenness of Jewish modesty consists of three different characteristics: holiness, humility, and privacy. Through these characteristics, demonstrated in all aspects of life, the Jew achieves a general level of modesty that impacts upon his or her daily life and is displayed in all the actions and thoughts of a person.

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DEUT605 See [[EXOD214]] Exodus 15:2 glorify COHON 150-1

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DEUT603 Our instincts for self-preservation run deep, as do our anxieties about having enough for ourselves, and so our hearts need to be trained to do chesed, in order that our lives reflect our higher selves more than our lower. The rabbis understood our resistance and so offer as practical guidance on how to do acts of chesed. They took as their starting point the biblical instruction to "Walk after the Eternal your God" [this verse]. ... When we imitate God's great traits in our own life, this doesn't make us more divine, it just elevates who we already are to the highest potential. Although the Torah tells us that we are made in the image God, some rabbis see this not as a statement of our present condition but of our potential.

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DEUT606 See [[LEV270]] Leviticus 19:2 holy DORFFWITO 117-8

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DEUT607 See [[DEUT205]] Deuteronomy 6:5 heart DUTIES 13-15

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DEUT608 God asks the Jewish people to "walk after the ways of God" [this verse]. What is the imperative of this verse--how can a human being possibly walk as God does, especially since God is a non--physical being? The Talmud answers that we are to imitate God's ways as demonstrated in how He relates to man. Just as God clothed the naked Adam [Genesis 3:21], so too must we give clothes to those in need. Just as God visited the sick Abraham [Genesis 18:1], so too should we visit the sick. Similarly, as God comforted the mourner [Genesis 25:11], and buried the dead [Deuteronomy 34:6], so should we. The Midrash (Midrash, Sifri, Eikev 13) echoes a similar idea, exhorting the Jew to imitate God by giving gifts, being righteous, being pious and holy. This is codified by Maimonides (Hilchot De'ot 1:6). Another way in which we can honor God is by honoring those things that God created, that is, man, animal, and the entire earth. Any artist is certainly honored when his creation is treated and spoken about with respect; we honor the Almighty by treating His creations, everything on earth, with great respect (See the chapter "Human Dignity" for an amplification of this concept).

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DEUT609 The Jew must follow in the ways of God [this verse]. The Talmud (Midrash, Sifra, Shabbat 133, Sotah 14a) says that man must imitate God's traits, and just as God is truthful, we must be truthful. This is the biblical basis for the practical laws about not gossiping or not speaking untruths about someone else (Sefer Shmirat Halashon, Introduction, Positive Commandment #14). Therefore, with all the talmudic discussions about lying, except for the case of the beautiful bride, there is no Jewish law recorded that a person is allowed to lie to keep the peace or for any other reason. There is one exception to this statement, which will prove the rule. The Talmud (Bava Metzia 23b) says that a Torah scholar is permitted to lie in three areas: in the tractate he is learning, in his sexual habits, and in his house of lodging. Thus, in order not to embarrass himself or his host, the Torah scholar can tell a lie if asked about these three areas. This is the only situation that is brought down in actual Jewish law, both by Maimonides (Hilchot Gezeilah Ve'aaveidah 14:13) and by Rabbi Karo (Shulchan Aruch, Choshen Mishpat 262:21)... Why is this so? Because while it might be technically and biblically permitted to tell half-truths in nonlegal situations, Judaism could not permit this "loophole" to be used by the common person in an everyday situation. Everyone would take advantage of it and misuse it, much the same way that people lie today in American society.... A Jew should always try to tell the truth, whether in a courtroom situation or a social situation, as we cannot hope to differentiate between a "permissible" lie and a "prohibited" life.

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DEUT610 There is one area in which Judaism is absolutely intolerant. When ideas and actions that are completely antithetical to Jewish values are found within the Jewish community, the Torah in the book of Deuteronomy warns repeatedly to get rid of this in any form, using the words, to "remove the evil from your midst." [This verse, 17:7, 17:12, 19:19, 21:21, 22:21, 22:22, 22:24, 24:7] For the same reason, Judaism does not wish that non-Jews who live a lifestyle and belief system antithetical to Judaism should be living among Jews, as they will certainly influence their Jewish neighbors negatively. Therefore, when the Torah commands Jews not to bring an abomination into their homes, the commentaries suggest that this signifies the law not to rent or sell homes to idol worshipers who want to live within the Jewish community (Deuteronomy 7:26 with Rabbeinu Bechaye commentary). One of the 613 commandments for Jews is not to imitate the ways of non-Jews, especially the ways of the Egyptians and Canaanites, whose lifestyles are so antithetical to Judaism (Leviticus 18:3). Intolerance of idol worship and non-Jewish values is so strong that if Jews build a community of idol worshipers, it is a Torah Mitzvah, a Biblical commandment, to completely destroy that community, its inhabitants, and even its contents (Deuteronomy 13:13-19).

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