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  "title": "Chukim, Mishpatim, and Eidot",
  "summary": "Three classical categories of mitzvot — laws beyond reason, laws of reason, and laws of testimony.",
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    "article": {
      "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-chukim-mishpatim-and-eidot",
      "title": "Chukim, Mishpatim, and Eidot",
      "deck": "Three classical categories of mitzvot — laws beyond reason, laws of reason, and laws of testimony.",
      "summary": "Summary. Classical Jewish thought (drawing on Rashi’s commentary to Vayikra 18:4 and elaborated by the Rambam, Saadia Gaon, and the Sefer HaChinukh) divides the mitzvot into three categories: chukim (laws given without rational explanation, such as kashrut categories, shaatnez, parah adumah), mishpatim (laws whose rational basis is apparent, such as prohibitions on murder, theft, and adultery), and eidot (testimonial laws that commemorate historical events, such as Pesach, Sukkot, and tefillin). The rationalist and the mystical traditions read the categories differently — both readings are illuminating.",
      "level": "deeper",
      "sectionSlug": "going-deeper",
      "tags": [
        "mitzvot",
        "categories",
        "rationale"
      ],
      "publishedAt": "2026-07-06T02:19:03.001Z",
      "wordCount": 666,
      "readMinutes": 3
    },
    "section": {
      "slug": "torah-texts",
      "title": "Torah & Texts"
    },
    "image": null,
    "blocks": [
      {
        "type": "summary",
        "body": "Summary. Classical Jewish thought (drawing on [Rashi](/glossary.json#letter-R)’s commentary to [Vayikra 18:4](https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.18.4) and elaborated by the [Rambam](/glossary.json#letter-R) and [the Sefer HaChinukh](/glossary.json#letter-S); [Saadia Gaon](/glossary.json#letter-S), a century before Rashi, had already worked with a related two-part division into laws required by reason and laws given by revelation) divides the [mitzvot](/glossary.json#letter-M) into three categories: [chukim](/glossary.json#letter-C) (laws given without rational explanation, such as [kashrut](/glossary.json#letter-K) categories, [shaatnez](/glossary.json#letter-S), [parah adumah](/glossary.json#letter-P)), [mishpatim](/glossary.json#letter-M) (laws whose rational basis is apparent, such as prohibitions on murder, theft, and adultery), and [eidot](/glossary.json#letter-E) (testimonial laws that commemorate historical events, such as [Pesach](/glossary.json#letter-P), [Sukkot](/glossary.json#letter-S), and [tefillin](/glossary.json#letter-T)). The rationalist and the mystical traditions read the categories differently — both readings are illuminating.",
        "text": "Summary. Classical Jewish thought (drawing on Rashi’s commentary to Vayikra 18:4 and elaborated by the Rambam and the Sefer HaChinukh; Saadia Gaon, a century before Rashi, had already worked with a related two-part division into laws required by reason and laws given by revelation) divides the mitzvot into three categories: chukim (laws given without rational explanation, such as kashrut categories, shaatnez, parah adumah), mishpatim (laws whose rational basis is apparent, such as prohibitions on murder, theft, and adultery), and eidot (testimonial laws that commemorate historical events, such as Pesach, Sukkot, and tefillin). The rationalist and the mystical traditions read the categories differently — both readings are illuminating."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Chukim",
        "text": "Chukim"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The chukim are mitzvot for which no reason is given in the [Torah](/glossary.json#letter-T) and for which reason as such cannot satisfactorily account. Classical examples: the prohibition of shaatnez (mixing wool and linen, [Vayikra 19:19](https://www.sefaria.org/Leviticus.19.19), [Devarim 22:11](https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.22.11)); the parah adumah (the red heifer whose ashes purify the impure but defile the pure, [Bamidbar 19](https://www.sefaria.org/Numbers.19)); the prohibition of meat and milk together; the kashrut categories of permitted and forbidden animals (in their detail; the principles are sometimes argued to be rational, but the specific cut-offs are chukim). [Rashi (on Vayikra 18:4)](https://www.sefaria.org/Rashi_on_Leviticus.18.4) explains the chukim as “matters that the evil inclination resists and that the nations of the world challenge.”",
        "text": "The chukim are mitzvot for which no reason is given in the Torah and for which reason as such cannot satisfactorily account. Classical examples: the prohibition of shaatnez (mixing wool and linen, Vayikra 19:19, Devarim 22:11); the parah adumah (the red heifer whose ashes purify the impure but defile the pure, Bamidbar 19); the prohibition of meat and milk together; the kashrut categories of permitted and forbidden animals (in their detail; the principles are sometimes argued to be rational, but the specific cut-offs are chukim). Rashi (on Vayikra 18:4) explains the chukim as “matters that the evil inclination resists and that the nations of the world challenge.”"
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Mishpatim",
        "text": "Mishpatim"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The mishpatim are mitzvot whose rational basis is so apparent that, as the [Sifra (on Vayikra 18:4)](https://www.sefaria.org/Sifra,_Acharei_Mot,_Chapter_13) observes, even if the Torah had not commanded them, reason would have demanded them. The prohibitions on murder, theft, false witness, adultery, robbery; the obligation to return lost property; the laws of damages and torts. The mishpatim are the architecture of a just society.",
        "text": "The mishpatim are mitzvot whose rational basis is so apparent that, as the Sifra (on Vayikra 18:4) observes, even if the Torah had not commanded them, reason would have demanded them. The prohibitions on murder, theft, false witness, adultery, robbery; the obligation to return lost property; the laws of damages and torts. The mishpatim are the architecture of a just society."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Eidot",
        "text": "Eidot"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The eidot are testimonial mitzvot — those that bear witness to historical events of the Jewish people. Pesach testifies to the Exodus; Sukkot to the wandering in the wilderness; [Shabbat](/glossary.json#letter-S) to creation and to redemption; tefillin (the passages they contain explicitly invoke the Exodus); the [Shema](/glossary.json#letter-S)’s commandment to teach one’s children. The eidot are the historical conscience of Judaism.",
        "text": "The eidot are testimonial mitzvot — those that bear witness to historical events of the Jewish people. Pesach testifies to the Exodus; Sukkot to the wandering in the wilderness; Shabbat to creation and to redemption; tefillin (the passages they contain explicitly invoke the Exodus); the Shema’s commandment to teach one’s children. The eidot are the historical conscience of Judaism."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "The Rationalist and Mystical Readings",
        "text": "The Rationalist and Mystical Readings"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rashi takes the chukim at the obedience-as-such reading: God commanded, and that is reason enough. The Rambam ([Moreh Nevuchim III:26](https://www.sefaria.org/Guide_for_the_Perplexed,_Part_3.26), III:33) argues that every mitzvah has a reason knowable to human reason if one searches diligently enough; the chukim are not exceptions but mitzvot whose reasons we have not yet fathomed. The [Ramban](/glossary.json#letter-R) (Nachmanides) agrees with the Rambam that the chukim have reasons, but adds that those reasons are mystical and metaphysical rather than rational. The disagreement runs through subsequent Jewish thought; both readings are within the bounds of orthodox tradition.",
        "text": "Rashi takes the chukim at the obedience-as-such reading: God commanded, and that is reason enough. The Rambam (Moreh Nevuchim III:26, III:33) argues that every mitzvah has a reason knowable to human reason if one searches diligently enough; the chukim are not exceptions but mitzvot whose reasons we have not yet fathomed. The Ramban (Nachmanides) agrees with the Rambam that the chukim have reasons, but adds that those reasons are mystical and metaphysical rather than rational. The disagreement runs through subsequent Jewish thought; both readings are within the bounds of orthodox tradition."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "The Practical Application",
        "text": "The Practical Application"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "A New Jew should know all three categories. The chukim are, in a sense, the most distinctive of Jewish mitzvot — they cannot be reduced to general ethical principles available to anyone, and they therefore most powerfully mark the Jew as set apart. The mishpatim are the universal ethical core that Judaism shares with all righteous human beings. The eidot are the historical memory that shapes the Jewish year. The fullness of a Jewish life integrates all three.",
        "text": "A New Jew should know all three categories. The chukim are, in a sense, the most distinctive of Jewish mitzvot — they cannot be reduced to general ethical principles available to anyone, and they therefore most powerfully mark the Jew as set apart. The mishpatim are the universal ethical core that Judaism shares with all righteous human beings. The eidot are the historical memory that shapes the Jewish year. The fullness of a Jewish life integrates all three."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Where Denominations Diverge",
        "text": "Where Denominations Diverge"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Orthodox](/glossary.json#letter-O) affirms all three categories as binding. Conservative likewise, with some discussion of the chukim in the modern [halachic](/glossary.json#letter-H) conversation. [Reform](/glossary.json#letter-R) classically dismissed the chukim as the “Mosaic legislation” no longer binding ([Pittsburgh Platform](/glossary.json#letter-P) 1885); current Reform has substantially recovered the chukim as opportunities for meaning, with kashrut, [tzitzit](/glossary.json#letter-T), and tefillin increasingly observed by Reform Jews. The Reform commitment to mishpatim and eidot has been unbroken.",
        "text": "Orthodox affirms all three categories as binding. Conservative likewise, with some discussion of the chukim in the modern halachic conversation. Reform classically dismissed the chukim as the “Mosaic legislation” no longer binding (Pittsburgh Platform 1885); current Reform has substantially recovered the chukim as opportunities for meaning, with kashrut, tzitzit, and tefillin increasingly observed by Reform Jews. The Reform commitment to mishpatim and eidot has been unbroken."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Sources",
        "text": "Sources"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Vayikra](/glossary.json#letter-V) 18:4 and Rashi ad loc.",
        "text": "Vayikra 18:4 and Rashi ad loc."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Sifra](/glossary.json#letter-S) on Vayikra 18:4.",
        "text": "Sifra on Vayikra 18:4."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rambam, [Moreh Nevuchim III:26, III:33](https://www.sefaria.org/Guide_for_the_Perplexed,_Part_3.33).",
        "text": "Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim III:26, III:33."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Ramban, Commentary on [Devarim](/glossary.json#letter-D) 22:11.",
        "text": "Ramban, Commentary on Devarim 22:11."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Sefer HaChinukh, Mitzvah 551](https://www.sefaria.org/Sefer_HaChinukh.551) (shaatnez).",
        "text": "Sefer HaChinukh, Mitzvah 551 (shaatnez)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Editor’s article on Shaatnez (reformatted in this Field Guide).",
        "text": "Editor’s article on Shaatnez (reformatted in this Field Guide)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[The Logic of the Mitzvot](https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/2797/jewish/The-Logic-of-the-Mitzvot.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "The Logic of the Mitzvot — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Mitzvot of the Third Kind](https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/1297/jewish/Mitzvot-of-the-Third-Kind.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "Mitzvot of the Third Kind — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Reasons for Commandments](https://aish.com/reasons_for_commandments/) — Aish.",
        "text": "Reasons for Commandments — Aish."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Declaration of Principles](https://www.ccarnet.org/rabbinic-voice/platforms/article-declaration-principles/) — CCAR.",
        "text": "Declaration of Principles — CCAR."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Further Reading",
        "text": "Further Reading"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Judaism, Human Values, and the Jewish State.",
        "text": "Yeshayahu Leibowitz, Judaism, Human Values, and the Jewish State."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Joseph Soloveitchik](/glossary.json#letter-J), The Halakhic Mind.",
        "text": "Joseph Soloveitchik, The Halakhic Mind."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Eliezer Berkovits, Not in Heaven.",
        "text": "Eliezer Berkovits, Not in Heaven."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "III. Deeper Reading",
        "text": "III. Deeper Reading"
      }
    ],
    "related": [
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world",
        "title": "Why Did God Create the World?",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar",
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        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-kabbalah.json"
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    ],
    "goDeeper": [],
    "glossary": {
      "devarim": {
        "term": "Devarim",
        "hebrew": "דְּבָרִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The fifth book of the Torah — Deuteronomy — consisting of Moshe's farewell addresses. The name means 'words.'",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "halacha": {
        "term": "Halacha",
        "hebrew": "הֲלָכָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Jewish law — literally \"the way one walks\" — the legal system that develops from the Torah's mitzvot through the Mishnah, Talmud, and the great codes; the movements differ on how binding it is, not on its centrality to the tradition.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha"
      },
      "joseph-soloveitchik": {
        "term": "Joseph Soloveitchik",
        "hebrew": "יוסף דב הלוי סולובייצ'יק",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903–1993), known to his students as \"the Rav,\" was the towering figure of 20th-century Modern Orthodoxy; his framing of the Jew as both dignified \"Adam I\" and covenantal \"Adam II\" remains a touchstone of Modern Orthodox thought.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "kashrut": {
        "term": "Kashrut",
        "hebrew": "כַּשְׁרוּת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The system of Jewish dietary law — which foods may be eaten, how animals must be slaughtered, and the strict separation of meat and dairy.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-kashrut-the-basics"
      },
      "orthodox-judaism": {
        "term": "Orthodox Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Orthodox Judaism holds Halacha as fully binding and the Shulchan Aruch as its canonical code; it spans Haredi and Hasidic communities as well as Modern Orthodoxy, and is the starting point from which this Field Guide is written, even as it engages seriously with other denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "pesach": {
        "term": "Pesach",
        "hebrew": "פֶּסַח",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Passover — the spring festival commemorating the Exodus from Egypt, observed with the seder meal, matzah, and the removal of chametz from the home.",
        "moreSlug": "holidays-shalosh-regalim-pesach"
      },
      "pittsburgh-platform": {
        "term": "Pittsburgh Platform",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Adopted by American Reform rabbis in 1885, the Pittsburgh Platform dismissed most ritual mitzvot as outdated \"Mosaic legislation\"; a second Pittsburgh Platform in 1999 reversed course, restoring the language of mitzvah as a serious religious category within Reform Judaism.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-613-mitzvot"
      },
      "rambam": {
        "term": "Rambam",
        "hebrew": "רמב״ם",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1138–1204), known by the acronym Rambam and in the Latin West as Maimonides, was the towering rationalist codifier and philosopher of medieval Judaism — author of the legal code Mishneh Torah and the philosophical Guide for the Perplexed. His formulation of God's unity and incorporeality remains foundational to Jewish theology across denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "ramban": {
        "term": "Ramban",
        "hebrew": "רמב״ן",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe ben Nachman (1194–1270), also called Nachmanides — a leading halachist and Torah commentator of medieval Spain who was also a trained Kabbalist, and whose guarded mystical readings (marked 'al derekh ha-emet') helped bring Kabbalah from the margins into the rabbinic mainstream.",
        "moreSlug": "gilgul-neshamot-the-journey-of-the-soul-gilgul-neshamot-in-jewish-thought"
      },
      "rashi": {
        "term": "Rashi",
        "hebrew": "רש״י",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (1040–1105) of Troyes, France, is the single most influential commentator on the Tanakh and the Talmud; his terse, page-anchoring commentary appears alongside almost every printed edition of both. A New Jew encounters Rashi constantly — in every Chumash, on every page of Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-judaica-mezuzah"
      },
      "reform-judaism": {
        "term": "Reform Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Reform Judaism treats Halacha as a source of values and meaning rather than binding law, emphasizing individual autonomy, ethical monotheism, and tikkun olam; it was the first movement to fully recognize patrilineal descent and ordain women as rabbis.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "saadia-gaon": {
        "term": "Saadia Gaon",
        "hebrew": "סעדיה גאון",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Saadia Gaon (882–942), head of the Babylonian academy of Sura, considered the first systematic Jewish philosopher, harmonizing revelation and reason in his Emunot v'Deot; he stands at the head of the rationalist tradition that would later include the Rambam.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife"
      },
      "sefer-hachinukh": {
        "term": "Sefer HaChinukh",
        "hebrew": "ספר החינוך",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "This anonymous medieval work walks through all 613 mitzvot in the order the Torah presents them, giving each its biblical source, its Halachic detail, and a suggested rationale — making it a favorite teaching text for beginners.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-613-mitzvot"
      },
      "shabbat": {
        "term": "Shabbat",
        "hebrew": "שַׁבָּת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The seventh day — the weekly day of rest from Friday sunset to Saturday nightfall, marked by candle lighting, kiddush, festive meals, and rest from creative work.",
        "moreSlug": "where-to-start-your-first-shabbat"
      },
      "shema": {
        "term": "Shema",
        "hebrew": "שְׁמַע",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The central declaration of Jewish faith — 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One' — recited with its Torah paragraphs every morning and evening.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-prayers-the-shema"
      },
      "sifra": {
        "term": "Sifra",
        "hebrew": "ספרא",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Tannaitic Midrash Halacha on the book of Vayikra, deriving legal rulings through close reading of its verses; it is also the classical source for dividing the mitzvot into chukim, mishpatim, and eidot.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-midrash"
      },
      "sukkot": {
        "term": "Sukkot",
        "hebrew": "סוכות",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The autumn Festival of Booths, one of the three pilgrimage festivals — seven days of dwelling in the sukkah and waving the four species, in 'the season of our joy.'",
        "moreSlug": "holidays-shalosh-regalim-sukkot"
      },
      "torah": {
        "term": "Torah",
        "hebrew": "תּוֹרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Five Books of Moses — the scroll at the center of Jewish life — and, more broadly, the whole of Jewish teaching. 'Learning Torah' can mean anything from Chumash to Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "vayikra": {
        "term": "Vayikra",
        "hebrew": "ויקרא",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Book of Leviticus, third of the Five Books of the Torah, named for its opening word, 'And He called'; its concerns are the sanctuary, the offerings, and holiness.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "chukim": {
        "term": "chukim",
        "hebrew": "חֻקִּים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Mitzvot given without stated reasons — such as the categories of kashrut or the red heifer — accepted as divine decree (singular: chok). They are classically contrasted with mishpatim, laws whose reasons are evident.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-chukim-mishpatim-and-eidot"
      },
      "eidot": {
        "term": "eidot",
        "hebrew": "עֵדוֹת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Testimonial mitzvot — commandments that commemorate events or truths, such as Pesach, Sukkot, and tefillin. One of the three classical categories of mitzvot, alongside chukim and mishpatim.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-chukim-mishpatim-and-eidot"
      },
      "mishpatim": {
        "term": "mishpatim",
        "hebrew": "מִשְׁפָּטִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Commandments whose moral logic is evident, such as the prohibitions of murder and theft — one of the three classical categories of mitzvot, alongside chukim and eidot.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-facts-chukim-mishpatim-and-eidot"
      },
      "mitzvah": {
        "term": "mitzvah",
        "hebrew": "מִצְוָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "A commandment — one of the Torah's 613 divine instructions, and by extension any religious duty or good deed. The plural is mitzvot.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-613-mitzvot"
      },
      "parah-adumah": {
        "term": "parah adumah",
        "hebrew": "פָּרָה אֲדֻמָּה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The red heifer, whose ashes purified those who had contact with the dead — the Torah's classic example of a chok, a law observed without an evident reason.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "shaatnez": {
        "term": "shaatnez",
        "hebrew": "שַׁעַטְנֵז",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Torah's prohibition on wearing cloth that mixes wool and linen — a classic chok, a law observed without an evident reason.",
        "moreSlug": "editors-desk-halacha-shaatnez-wool-and-linen"
      },
      "tefillin": {
        "term": "tefillin",
        "hebrew": "תפילין",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Two small leather boxes containing Torah passages, bound with straps on the arm and head during weekday morning prayer, fulfilling the command to bind God's words 'as a sign upon your hand.'",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-judaica-tefillin"
      },
      "tzitzit": {
        "term": "tzitzit",
        "hebrew": "ציצית",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The knotted fringes tied to the four corners of the tallit (and tallit katan), commanded in the Torah as a visible reminder of all the mitzvot.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-judaica-tallit-and-tzitzit"
      }
    }
  },
  "links": [
    {
      "rel": "parent",
      "title": "Torah & Texts",
      "href": "/sections/torah-texts.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Why Did God Create the World?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "What Is Mussar?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Hasidism vs. Mitnagdism",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-hasidism-vs-mitnagdism.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "What Is Kabbalah?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-kabbalah.json"
    }
  ]
}
