Vivisecting Judaism

The Pentateuchal code includes religious as well as civil laws. In this it finds no parallels in either the ancient codification of the Near East or in modern codes. We can now gain a better understanding of the anti-Maimonidean opposition. A fundamental doctrine taught by the geonim and major Andalusian thinkers is that the Torah constitutes a two-dimensional system, one that, for lack of a better term, we may call "theological," embracing the institutions, doctrines, and commandments intended to develop the human mind and spirit. The other is the "political," embracing the institutions, doctrines, and commandments intended for the welfare of public and social life. Awareness of this two-dimensionality helped the Jews appreciate the uniqueness of their system vis-a-vis Christianity and Islam. Elie Benamozegh (1823-1900) - a rabbi that modern Jewry is in dire need of discovering - observed that the failure of Christianity and Islam rested on their inability to grasp the two-dimensionality of the Torah - that one half alone is a mutilated, dysfunctional system. Each in its own way proceeded to dismember Judaism. ( Read more... )

It follows that the current division of "religious/secular" (dati/hiloni) is contrary to the fundaments of the Torah: another instance of spiritual assimilation to non-Jewish conceptual models. The diversity of views and attitudes prevalent among Jews warrants appreciation, rather than soblanut (tolerance), because it is only through the dynamic interaction of all the members of the team that my acts gain meaning and coherence.

From One-dimensional Jew, Zero-dimensional Judaism