- StumbleUpon. What Do Jews Believe? / Torah 101 / Mechon Mamre. Level: Basic This is a far more difficult question than you might expect.
Torah has no dogma, no formal set of beliefs that one must hold to be a Jew. In Torah, actions are far more important than beliefs, although there is certainly a place for belief within Torah. An atheist mom goes to the Supreme Court - and wins. Imagine that you are a religious minority sending your child to public school, only to find out that the school has implemented a "voluntary" program of religious instruction that reaffirms the doctrines and creeds of the largely Christian community. Like most people, you don't want to make waves by challenging the views of the majority, so you allow your child to participate in this program, hoping that it will emphasize education , not indoctrination. Your child soon comes home with artwork and other materials, however, that indicate that the program is little more than a Christian Sunday school, having nothing to do with objective education and everything to do with instilling Christian beliefs.
Fed up with the blatant proselytizing, you advise the school that you do not want your child to participate in the "voluntary" program. The above facts, unfortunately, are not fictional.
Comics - Sayings of the Buddha.