A belief in God thus provides a person with a reason to act properly even when society isn’t looking.
Monotheism and its implications are presented in the dichotomy of the Ten Commandments, which distinguish between a first set of rules, “bein adam l’Makom” (between man and the Omnipresent), and a second set, which are “bein adam l’chaveroh” (between man and his friend).
The Torah mentions two distinct signs or proofs between God and the Jewish people. The first is God’s creation of the universe. The idea of creation is significant because there are two possible views of the universe’s origin. The first is that the universe was created at a definite point in time, as the Big Bang theory and the fact that the universe is expanding at an increasing, not decreasing, pace suggest. The alternative is that the universe, as Aristotle believed, was always here and always will be, which fails to explain how “existence” could exist at all.
Creation implies that there was a force greater than everything in the universe to create that universe – i.e., God. (As Descartes states in his Meditations on First Philosophy, “the stone that is not yet in existence, . . . only commence[s] to be, . . . [if] produced by that . . . which contains in itself the same properties that are in the stone, or others superior to them).
The Torah, by opening with Bereishit, presents Creation as a proof for God’s existence and a basis for Judaism. It therefore commands the Jewish people, in the fourth of the Ten Commandments, to keep Shabbat in order to memorialize this central point of Judaism.
The second sign is the Exodus from Egypt. The Exodus is a symbol of God’s interaction with the Jewish people. Not only is God the master of the universe, He is our master, as we swear in the Shema, God is both “one” and “our God.” The first of the Ten Commandments thus states, “I am Hashem, your God, who took you out of the land of Egypt” (20:2).
The second and third Commandments further protect the monotheistic idea by prohibiting worship of other gods, and prohibiting the use of God’s name in vain which would lessen God’s sanctity in our own minds (as if to say, “that’s my name, don’t wear it out”).
The fifth Commandment, to honor one’s parents, seems to apply to human relations, but this too relates to God. This is because the person who loves and respects his parents will more often love, respect, and therefore preserve his parents’ traditions, culture and beliefs. This is how the belief systems of any culture are preserved from generation to generation. The person who does not respect his parents, however, is more likely to reject their belief system. Thus, the fifth Commandment is important not only as a guide for family life, but as a guard for the preservation of the national culture of the Jewish people and their belief in the One God.
The next five commandments, “between man and his friend,” contain the basics of civilization – prohibitions against killing, stealing, coveting another person’s belongings, committing adultery, and giving false testimony (which lies at the heart of any judicial system). But it was only after belief in the Holy Leviathan of God was secured in the initial Commandments that these could follow.
Belief in God as the reason to keep the Commandments is the foundation upon which the basics of civilization rest.
The Ten Commandments thus present not only a legal code but a political and social philosophy that lies at the base of Western civilization. The Commandments are a microcosm of Judaism’s philosophy, reminding us that its genius should not be underestimated or disregarded.