Jewish Dogmas

Q. Is it really true that Judaism has no dogmas?


A. Although some believe in what Solomon Schechter called "the great dogma of dogmalessness," there clearly are authoritative Jewish beliefs. Whether you call them "dogmas" depends on your definition of a dogma.


In the sense of a doctrine imposed by a legislative body, required to be affirmed by adherents of the particular faith to the extent that without it they lose their after-life, it

We have no theological dictators or police.

might appear not to apply to Judaism. However, Maimonides came close to a definition of this kind, and even his detractors would have agreed that there are beliefs that Judaism insists upon, such as the oneness of God.


What do I mean by saying that Judaism "insists upon" them, when we have no theological dictators or police? One view is that these beliefs are so recurrent in Judaism that they are defining characteristics.


Nonetheless, within each of our beliefs there is a process of debate and a range of emphases. Concerning the nature of God, for instance, there is a dichotomy between the intellectual and emotional approaches.


Whilst in matters of practice there is a right and a wrong way, in matters of belief there can be several right ways, provided they are within the basic parameters.


Non-Blue Tzitzit
Q. How can it be kosher to have all-white tzitzit without the thread of blue commanded by the Torah?


A. The command is in Numbers 15:38. The correct shade of blue, known as t'chelet, derived from a mollusc, the secret of which was not available for many centuries.


The Rebbe of Radzyn in Poland, Rabbi Gershon Leiner, claimed to have identified it in 1887, after non-Jewish scientists had also carried out various experiments. Other rabbis questioned the Rebbe's discovery, especially Chief Rabbi Isaac HaLevi Herzog, who devoted his doctoral research to the subject of t'chelet. Rabbi Herzog writesm concerning the Rebbe, "His identification of the t'chelet species is entirely erroneous."


The Mishnah accepts tzitzit as valid even without the thread of blue (M'nachot 4:1). There must be four threads in each of the four corners of the tzitzit (the four threads are doubled over to produce eight) and if the number of threads is correct, then the lack of either white or blue does not invalidate the tzitzit.


However, this Mishnah should not be taken as evidence that t'chelet was already impossible to obtain in those days. Rabbi Herzog proves that dye-houses for t'chelet continued in existence at least until the end of the 6th century; and it may have been the Arab conquest of the Holy Land that spelt the end of these dye-houses. (See "The Dyeing of Purple in Ancient Israel" in Judaism: Law and Ethics by Isaac Herzog, edited by Chaim Herzog, 1973.)


With One Voice
Q. Does it matter if children see their parents argue?


A. It unsettles the children and destabilises the home. If parents disagree, and there is no married couple who doesn't from time to time, then they should still try to present a united front to their children.


There is a Torah law about the stubborn and rebellious son. The parents declare, "This, our son, is stubborn and rebellious; he does not hearken to our voice." (Deuteronomy 21:10) The use of the phrase "our voice" suggested to Rabbi Judah that if the father and mother do not speak with one voice, then the law does not blame the child for being stubborn and rebellious (Sanherdrin 21a).