“The so-called ‘belief in the existence of God,’ as ancient and modern theologians generally express this idea, differs widely from that which underlies this fundamental doctrine of Judaism. The truth which affords me the foundation of a Jewish life is not the belief that there is a God, or that there is only one God, but the conviction that this One, Only, and true God is my God; that He has created and formed me, has placed me here, and given me certain duties; that He constantly makes and forms me, preserves, protects, directs, and guides me; not the belief that I, an accidental product of the Universe whose First Cause He was millions of years ago, am through a chain of thousands of intervening beings related to Him, but the belief that every moment of my existence is a direct personal gift from the Almighty and All-good, and that every moment of my life ought to be spent in His service; not the knowledge that there is a God, but the recognition of God as my God, as the sole Cause of my fate, and my sole Guide in all that I do, gives me the foundation for my religious life. The response to the exhortation, ‘I shall be thy God,’ is ‘Thou art my God.’” Note 4.—The importance attached to the Decalogue may be gathered from the various attempts made, on the one hand, to classify the Divine laws according to the Ten Commandments, showing that the latter contain all the 613 precepts; and, on the other hand, to find in such important passages as the Shema and Leviticus xix. a parallel for each of the Ten Commandments. (Jerus. Talm. Ber., chap. i.; Rabboth, Vayyikra ad locum.) II. GENERAL MORAL PRINCIPLES. The Ten Commandments, flowing as it were from the one source, “I am the Lord thy God,” branch off in all directions, and penetrate all man’s relations, guide him in his conduct towards God, towards his fellow-men and towards himself, and teach him how to rule his thought, his speech, and his actions. When the Almighty proclaims to us, “I am the Lord thy God,” we willingly respond, “Thou art my God.” But this declaration involves also duties on our part, the fulfilment of which is the natural consequence and the verification of our response. If our words, “Thou art my God,” come from our hearts, and are not empty sounds, uttered merely by the lips, we must be conscious of the duties they impose on us. These are:— A. Duties towards God, as our Master, Creator, and Father. B. Duties towards our fellow-men, as children of one God. C. Duties towards ourselves, as the object of God’s Providence. A. DUTIES TOWARDS GOD. (a.) Duties of the Heart.