Upon observation of ‘Deuteronomy 6:1, 4-6’ references to love of God are immediately evident, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart”. This quote is significant as it represents one of the key fundamental aspects of Judaism, love of God. This emphasis on love of God is enhanced further in that observant Jews consider the ‘Shema’ prayer to be the most important part of the prayer service in Judaism, serving as a centerpiece of the morning and …show more content…
This stems from the Torah, (also known as the Pentateuch) which are the first 5 book of the Tanakh. The two main elements of this ‘halakha’ ethical system are the contact between individuals with God, and between the people. This allows for an ethical and just society, in the least among Jewish people, this demonstrating the ethical systems affect on the Jewish people’s way of life. This is further augmented through the ‘prophetic vision’ which relates to the fact that prophets will frequently remind people that by forgetting covenant they are disobeying God. Although this will not keep them from wrong intent, as actions may be punishable but intent, not so. All of these intrinsic ethics stem from the ‘613 Mitzvot’. These are based on the 10 commandments which were given to the Israelites at Sinai, documented in the book of Exodus. Both Exodus and Leviticus arguably having the most weight in the lives of adherents. Through the halakhah, commandments and the prophetic vision …show more content…
As foretold in the Book of Genesis the Jewish people believe that God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh. The sages say that on that day, God created ‘menuchah’, (rest) without which sustained creativity would be impossible. As such, Shabbat was established necessary to the Jewish people in order to follow 39 of the 613 commandments. This practice is seen by some to be obtrusive and as such, Reform Jews are affected less by Shabbat, as they follow it less strictly, however, it has an enormous impact on all sects of Judaism, that by no means can be