The basis of the Jewish character has two related qualities.
The first is clinging to God, and the second is repulsion from any form of idolatry.
Clinging to God is expressed in the first of the Ten Commandments,
“I am the Lord your God.”
And repulsion from idolatry is expressed in the second commandment: “You shall not have any other gods.”
These two commandments comprise more than the distillation of the Torah.
They are the essence of the soul of every Jew.
–Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz