📜 A relationship, not a rulebook
Jews see the mitzvot as the Jewish side of the covenant. Keeping them is a way of saying yes to the Almighty, much as keeping promises shows loyalty in a friendship.
Jewish Beliefs about Life and Death » Keeping the Law: Salvation and the Purpose of Life in Judaism
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 2.2 (Judaism)
- Why Jews believe the purpose of life is to serve the Almighty by keeping the covenant and the mitzvot
- Why Judaism has no original sin to be saved from, and how repentance, prayer and charity lead back after sin
- The part played by the individual and by the Jewish community
- The hope of redemption, and how Orthodox and Progressive Jews see the law
🔒 Unlock Full Course Content
Sign up to access the complete lesson and track your progress!
Unlock This CourseSalvation in Judaism: what is it?
In What Is Life For? Meaning, Purpose, Salvation and Liberation you met salvation as being saved or brought to a goal. Many religions picture it as being rescued from sin. Judaism does not. Jews do not teach original sin (see Yetzer Hatov and Yetzer Hara: Sin in Judaism), so no one is born needing rescue. The Jewish idea is closer to living in the right relationship with the Almighty and helping to bring the world nearer to how it should be.
For Jews the purpose of life is to serve the Almighty. The way to do that is to keep the law.
Key terms:
- Covenant: a binding agreement. Jews believe the Almighty made a covenant with Abraham (Genesis 17) and with the whole Jewish people at Mount Sinai (Exodus 19-24). The people promise to follow the Torah, and the Almighty promises to stay faithful to them.
- The 613 mitzvot: the traditional count of the commandments in the Torah. Some are ethical (about how to treat people, such as being honest and caring for the poor). Some are ritual (about worship and holy days, such as keeping Shabbat).
- Tefillah: prayer.
- Redemption: being set free and put right, in particular the hope that one day the world will be perfected.
Keeping the covenant and the mitzvot
⚖️ Ethical and ritual
Both kinds matter. Treating a neighbour fairly and keeping Shabbat are both ways to serve the Almighty, and many Jews feel that daily life becomes holy when it is lived by the mitzvot.
The prophet Micah sums up what the Almighty asks: to act justly, to love kindness and to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8). Many Jews use this verse to show that the law is about character as well as ritual.
Coming back after sin
Everyone makes mistakes, so Judaism teaches that the way back is always open. As you saw in Free Will and Its Limits in Judaism, repentance, prayer and charity can soften a harsh outcome. Here they are as the way back after sin. You have already met teshuvah (turning back, or repentance), which Jewish teaching joins with two other things:
- Repentance (teshuvah): admitting the wrong, feeling regret, putting it right and choosing not to repeat it.
- Prayer (tefillah): asking the Almighty for forgiveness and for help to change.
- Charity (tzedakah): giving to those in need, which turns regret into action.
Because there is no original sin, the person has not lost their place with the Almighty. They have strayed from the path and can return to it. Wrongs against another person must first be put right with that person, and only then can the Almighty forgive.
The individual and the community
👤 The individual
Each person is responsible for their own actions. Because people have free will (see Free Will and Its Limits in Judaism), each must choose to keep the mitzvot, and no one else can do it for them.
👥 The community
The covenant was made with the whole people. A saying from the Talmud (the rabbis' great collection of teaching) is that all Jews are responsible for one another. Jews help the needy, visit the sick and pray together, so that no one is left alone.
This is why many mitzvot are done as a group, such as praying with a minyan (a group of ten Jewish adults; Orthodox synagogues count only men, Progressive ones count women too) in the synagogue. It also shows why charity is so central: the community shares in the covenant, so it shares in the duty to care.
Hope for the future
Judaism looks forward as well as back. The hope of redemption is for a time when the world will be at peace, the vision of peace you met in Yetzer Hatov and Yetzer Hara: Sin in Judaism. Orthodox Jews hope for a personal Messiah who will bring this about. Progressive Jews tend to look instead for a Messianic age, brought about by people working with the Almighty. Both groups believe Jews can help now by keeping the mitzvot and working to make the world better.
Jewish teaching also says that the righteous of all nations have a share in the world to come, as you saw in Resurrection and the World to Come in Judaism. So salvation is not limited to Jews. A good person of any background is valued by the Almighty. (The laws for non-Jews come in a later lesson.)
Orthodox and Progressive views
🏛️ Orthodox Jews
Orthodox Jews believe the Torah, written and oral, comes from the Almighty and the whole law stays binding. They aim to keep all the mitzvot, ritual and ethical, as a duty owed to the Almighty.
📖 Progressive (Reform and Liberal) Jews
Progressive Jews value the Torah but believe it was written by humans inspired by the Almighty, in a particular time. Many see the ethical mitzvot as binding and treat ritual mitzvot as something each person chooses for themselves after learning about them.
Both agree that serving the Almighty and caring for others is at the heart of Jewish life. They disagree about how much of the law is binding today.
Common mistakes
- Saying Jews are saved from original sin. Judaism has no original sin, and action matters most.
- Saying Jews keep the law to earn a place in the world to come. They keep it to serve the Almighty and keep the covenant.
- Forgetting the community. The covenant belongs to the whole people.
- Saying all Jews keep all 613 mitzvot in the same way. Orthodox and Progressive Jews differ.
Exam-style question
(a) Identify three Jewish ideas about how people can put things right after sin. [3 marks]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two ways in which keeping the law is linked to the purpose of life in this religion. [4 marks]
(c) Explain why there are different attitudes among Jews to how far the law should be kept. [6 marks]
(d) 'The community is more important than the individual in reaching salvation.' Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks]
Model answer
(a) 1. Repentance, or teshuvah (1). 2. Prayer (1). 3. Charity, or tzedakah (1).
(b) Judaism: The purpose of life is to serve the Almighty (1), and Jews do this by keeping the mitzvot (1). Keeping the mitzvot is also a way of keeping the covenant made at Sinai (1), which shows loyalty to the Almighty and the Jewish people (1).
(c) Orthodox Jews believe the Torah comes from the Almighty, so they think all the mitzvot, ritual and ethical, stay binding on every Jew. Keeping them is a duty owed to the Almighty. Progressive Jews believe the Torah was written by people inspired by the Almighty, so they see the ethical mitzvot as binding but leave ritual ones to personal choice. These differences exist because Jews disagree about where the law's authority comes from and how far it should change with the times. Both groups still agree that serving the Almighty and caring for others matter most.
(d) Plan. For: the covenant was made with the whole people; all Jews are responsible for one another; many mitzvot, like prayer with a minyan and giving to charity, are done together. Against: each person is responsible for their own actions and must choose to repent; no one can keep the mitzvot for someone else; humanists say individuals find purpose through their own choices and relationships. Conclusion: in Judaism both matter, but the community supports and shapes the individual, who still has to choose to act. So the community is very important, though not more important than the individual's own responsibility.
Exam tip
In a 12-mark question, use the key words of the statement (here, 'community' and 'individual') in your conclusion and say which side wins and why.