Living According to The Divine Law in Judasim

Revelations guide man to live
according to the Divine Law
through relating his activities on earth
to his ultimate goal(s) of existence,
and to face earthly challenges

The Egyptian Society for Spiritual and Cultural Research

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Living According
to The Divine Law
in Judaism

In the Old Testament, man is guided to face earthly challenges, which make him confuse the temporal objectives with the Ultimate Goal of life. Man is directed to discern between what is false and what is real. He is told that his faith in the Supreme Power helps him give everything its merit and liberates him from confusion. In the Old and New Testament, there is a continuous warning against the attraction of material wealth and power. Moses says to his people:

Lest when thou hast eaten and art full, and hast built goodly houses, and dwelt therein;
And when thy herds and thy flocks multiply, and thy silver and thy gold is multiplied, and all that thou hast is multiplied;
Then thine heart be lifted up, and thou forget the LORD thy God,".
(De:8:12-14)

Moses reminds them that the way to avoid that temptation is to handle earthly life from the right perspective: to remember their devotion to God by remembering that the wealth they have is a "means" He gave them. The "end" is that they keep His covenant by using this wealth within a righteous approach to life. Moses attracts their attention to possible confusion in which thy forget that everything is endowed by God:

And thou say in thine heart, My power and the might of mine hand hath gotten me this wealth.
But thou shalt remember the LORD thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish his covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day. (De:8:17, 18))

Moses, therefore, states that devotion to the Lord is expressed by understanding that His commandments help them not to be indulged in false goals. The commandments help them go through His ways:

Therefore thou shalt keep the commandments of the LORD thy God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him. (De:8:6)

A practical way to remember devotion to God is to practice detachment of one's self from all activities including work, every now and then:

Six days thou shalt labour, and do all thy work:
But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy manservant, …. ( De:5: 13, 14)

When man trains himself to retreat from all activities and remembers his devotion to God, his approach to life will be free from earthly control. He will get to know that earthly objectives cannot form for him absolute goals.

Devotion to God, on the other hand, requires cleanness of the heart. Man will be only able to base his orientation to life from the assigned religious teachings, if he has the proper focus. He is guided to get out of the limited self's circle and get over selfishness with all the bad traits that follow. So, when Moses guided his people to love their neighbors, he was guiding them to get over their ego at the same time. Once they did, they would follow God's Commandments.

Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD (Le:19:18).
All the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. (Ga:5:14).

Of the Ten Commandments which sum up the Mosaic Law, the last six enlighten man's way to getting over the power of "ego" with all its lust. Man is guided to put love into practice through out all his actions and relationships:

Honour thy father and thy mother
Thou shalt not kill
Neither shalt thou commit adultery
Neither shalt thou steal
Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour
Neither shalt thou desire thy neighbour's wife, neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor’s house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant,his ox, or his ass, or any thing that is thy neighbor’s. (De: 5:16-21).