Act and belief ...

... A Commonplace Blog: Jewish sin and repentance. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)

Since Pollack was the one to bring up theology, however, it might do some good to clarify his own. In a word, his theology isconfessional. Or, to be less coy about it, his thinking is not Jewish at all, but Christian. It is the Christian who demands prior belief as a condition of performing religious acts. For the Jew, things are rather different. As Arthur A. Cohen explains, “All Jewish beliefs interpret and elaborate the mystery of acts themselves, determining finally that many, even those regarded as critical, derive their justification from no rationalization, no human logic, but merely because they are the will and ordinance of God.”

I think differentiating between belief and faith would be useful.