Develop Theological Understandings of Judaism that Affirm Its Distinctive Integrity

Rather than being neatly divided, sometimes 'things that are God's' make their demands upon 'the things that are Caesar's' – that belong to the state.  The vitally critical character of the Land of Israel and of the earthly Jerusalem for Judaism is integrally related to its love affair with the law, the deed, ethics and responsibility, social justice and the profound nobility of 'works.' But it is all about works engaged in the midst of the marketplace and in the contentious and complicated center of every other life context; in the thicket and thorns of this earthly hour just as we find it, this way and that, in its variegated variety.

Thus, without history – without the framework of the nation-state; not as end in and of itself, but as the necessary framework to live a life together that includes and affirms every dimension of the human experience ~ without history there is no possibility of genuine spirituality's striving to be realized. The sacred and the profane are mixed in interaction,  seeking their true destiny in the transforming encounter with one another.  Not as the sacred in and of itself, but as the only means by which our ideals can be applied and tested, tried out through being 'translated' into all the aspects, all the problems and possibilities that present themselves to human beings in their all too human mortal encounters with every life situation that comprise a human life.

Such a thoroughgoing participation in history, nation, country/land will adherently & inevitably result in many mistakes & failings ~ small, medium &  large.

But the people continue to try and 'get it right' – try to make things more right, more just – via regular ongoing soul-searching, self-criticism and the criticism of friends. There is no perfect, completely righteous person on earth that does not miss-the-bull’s-eye – does not err. (First Kings 8:46 & Ecclesiastes 7:20) There is no perfect, completely righteous society/nation that does not miss-the-target, does not err.