What It Means To Be A Devout Jew?
Growing up in a loving and God fearing family and following God's holy words and the Ten Commandments besides various laws and values laid down in the Bible and Talmud and Torah is what forms the basic foundation of Judaism. It is a well known fact that the Ten Commandments were presented to Moses on Mount Sinai and this forms the very basis of how all Jews are expected to live and conduct their lives from birth to death. Deviation for these Ten Commandments is tantamount to committing a sin.
These commandments of God were first recorded in the Book of Exodus and were given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and were supposed to be a guide to how Jews should live their lives fruitfully, spiritually and morally in the way God expected. No Jew should willfully break these laws which were inscribed on tablets of stone and presented by God to the one man Moses, who led the Jews out of slavery and bondage into the Promised Land.
Four of the Ten Commandments deal with man's relationship with God and the balance six Commandments deals with man's relationship with man and how to live in the world honestly, with compassion, consideration, tolerance and respect. These laws though originally for Jews need not necessarily apply only to them and should be followed by every human being to make the world in which we live a better place. How to live and work in the world along with your fellow human beings in harmony and concord according to God's holy law is expected of every human being Jewish or otherwise.
Though God laid down these laws, clerics and priests knew it was impossible for human beings to perfectly follow these principles. Hence it is permitted by God's holy laws for all Jews to ask for forgiveness of sins or atone for sins committed through weakness, ignorance or deliberate fault. In the early days, atonement for sins would entail a sacrifice. A young unblemished lamb would be offered as sacrifice on a stone pyre to absolve a person from not keeping the Ten Commandments or breaking the laws. Today, an annual Jewish festival known as 'Yom Kippur' is a day set apart to atone for sin and cleanse you of all transgressions. It is a day specifically made holy to communicate with God to guide and help people of the Jewish faith to be strong, to resist future temptations of the flesh and mind and to make a promise to set aside all temptations and follow the correct way of life.
These Commandments are ingrained in the minds of every Jew by elders of the family as well as teachers from the time he or she can understand and read the Bible, Torah and Talmud. Keeping the commandments and keeping your mind and body pure in thought, word and deed is what goes into the very basis of being a devout Jew and a God fearing human being. Once these values are taught to us, we should consciously follow them, being strong enough to brush aside all temptations that may naturally come in our path during our day to day lives.