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A universal formulation of principles of faith, recognized across all branches of Judaism, remains undefined. There is no central authority inJudaism in existence today, although theSanhedrin, the supreme Jewish religious court, could fulfill this role for some if it were re-established. Instead,Jewish principles of faith remain debated by therabbis based on their understanding of the sacred writings, laws, and traditions, which collectively shape Jewish theological and ethical frameworks.
The most widely recognized existing version is the 13 principles outlined byMaimonides.[1] He stressed the importance of believing that there is one single,omniscient,transcendent, non-corporeal, non-compoundGod whocreated the universe and continues to interact with his creation and judge souls' reward or punishment. Other principles include the future emergence of theMessiah, theresurrection of the dead, and the principle that God revealed his laws and613 mitzvot to the Jewish people in the form of theWritten andOral Torahs.
Judaism is based on a strict, absolutemonotheism—a belief in one single, indivisible, non-compoundGod. This is illustrated in what is considered the closest to a statement of belief that Judaism has: theShema, which encapsulates the fundamentally monotheistic theology of Judaism:[2] "Hear, O Israel: The LORD is our God; the LORD is one."[3]
"Judaism emphatically rejects any concept of plurality with respect to God," according toAryeh Kaplan,[4] explicitly rejectingpolytheism,dualism, andtrinitarianism, which are "incompatible with monotheism as Judaism understands it."[2] The unity of God is noted many times in Jewish tradition, including as the second of the Maimonidean principles of faith:
This God is One, not two or more than two, but One whose unity is different from all other unities that there are. He is not one as a genus, which contains many species, is one. Nor is He one as a body, containing parts and dimensions, is one. But His is a unity that which there is no other anywhere" (Yad,Yesode Ha-Torah 1:7).[2]
In Jewish tradition, dualistic and trinitarian conceptions of God are generally referred to asshituf ("partnership"), which, though incorrect, is not synonymous withidolatry.[5]
Traditionally, Jews believe that God is thecreator of the universe, though contemporary Jewish sects differ in their interpretation of theGenesis creation narrative. For example, some strictlyOrthodox groups, such asChabad, reject thetheory of evolution and the scientific consensus on theage of Earth in favor ofyoung Earth creationism, dating creation to year 1 of theHebrew calendar.[6] Conversely, some Orthodox and most non-Orthodox Jews reject aliteral interpretation of the creation narrative, believing that Judaism does not conflict with the scientific view that the universe isbillions of years old.[7]Norbert M. Samuelson writes the "question of dating the universe has never been a problem of Jewish philosophy, ultimately because that philosophy has never taken the literal meaning of the Bible to be its revealed, true meaning".[8]
Maimonides (12th century) wrote that "by virtue of the existence of the Creator, everything exists",[9] and that "time itself is part of creation"; therefore, "when God is described as existing before the creation of the universe, the notion of time should not be understood in its normal sense".[10] The 15th-century Jewish philosopherJoseph Albo argued similarly in hisSefer ha-Ikkarim that there are two types of time: "Measured time which depends on motion, and time in the abstract", the second of which has no origin and is "the infinite space of time before the universe was created". Albo argued that "although it is difficult to conceive of God existing in such a duration, it is likewise difficult to imagine God outside space". Other Jewish writers have come to different conclusions, such as 13th-century scholarBahya ben Asher, 16th-century scholarMoses Almosnino, and the 18th-centuryHasidic teacherNahman of Bratslav, who expressed a view—similar to that expressed by theChristian Neo-Platonic writerBoethius—that God "lives in the eternal present" andtranscends or is above all time.[11]
The Jewish view is that God iseternal, with "neither beginning nor end", a principle stated in a number of biblical passages. The rabbis taught a "quite literally ... down-to-earth" view of the eternalness of God: "God is eternal, but it is not given to man to explore the full meaning of this idea." So, "one cannot, therefore, expect to find in therabbinic literature anything like a detailed examination of what is meant by divine eternity." A famous statement in theMishnah attempts to "pierce the veil" is this: "Whoever reflects on four things, it were better for him that he had not come into the world: "What is above? What is beneath? what is before? and what is after?"[12]
Various Jewish thinkers, however, have proposed a "finite God", sometimes in response to theproblem of evil and ideas aboutfree will.Louis Jacobs writes that modern Jewish thinkers such asLevi Olan, echoing some classical Jewish writers such as the 14th-century TalmudistGersonides, have "thought of God as limited by His own nature so that while He is infinite in some respects he is finite in others", referencing the idea, present in classical sources, that "there is a primal formless material co-existent with God from all eternity upon which God has to work, and that God only knows the future in a general sense, but not how individual men will exercise their choice".[13] On the topic of omniscience and free will, Jacobs writes that in the medieval period, three views were put forth: Maimonides, who wrote that God had foreknowledge and man is free; Gersonides, who wrote that man is free and consequently God does not have complete knowledge, andHasdai Crescas, who wrote inOr Adonai that God has complete foreknowledge and consequently man is not really free.[13]
Several Jewish writers have dealt with the issue oftheodicy: whether and how God is all-powerful and all-good, given the existence of evil in the world, particularlythe Holocaust.Jon D. Levenson argues that omnipotence doctrine fails to "give due regard to "'the formidability and resilience of the forces counteracting creation" (such as the primordial state of chaos existing before creation) and "leads to a neglect of the role of humanity in forming and stating the world order.[14]Hans Jonas proposed a "tentative myth" that "God 'chose' in the beginning to give God's self 'over to the chance and risk and endless variety of becoming, entering into the adventure of space in time". Jonas said, "God does not create the world by fiat (although God does create the world), but leads it by beckoning it into novel possibilities of becoming. Jonas, who was influenced by theHolocaust experience, believed that God is omnipresent, but not "in all respects non-temporal, impassible, immutable, and unqualified omnipotent."[14]
Traditionally, Judaism views God as apersonal god. This is shown in theJewish liturgy, such as in theAdon Olamhymn, which includes a "confident affirmation" that "He is my God, my living God...Who hears and answers".[15]Edward Kessler writes that the Hebrew Bible "portrays an encounter with a God who cares passionately and who addresses humanity in the quiet moments of its existence."[16]British chief rabbiJonathan Sacks suggests that God "is not distant in time or detached, but passionately engaged and present."[16] The predicate 'personal' as applied to God does not mean that God iscorporeal oranthropomorphic, views which Judaism has always rejected; instead, "personality" refers not to physicality, but to "inner essence, psychical, rational, and moral".[15] Although most Jews believe that "God can be experienced", it is understood that "God cannot be understood" because "God is utterly unlike humankind" (as shown in God's response toMoses when Moses asked for God's name: "I Am that I Am"); all anthropomorphic statements about God "are understood as linguistic metaphors; otherwise, it would be impossible to talk about God at all".[16]
Although the dominant strain in Judaism is that God is personal, there is an "alternate stream of tradition exemplified by ... Maimonides", who, along with several other Jewish philosophers, rejected the idea of a personal God.[16] This reflected his belief innegative theology: that God can only be described by what God is not.[16] RabbiMordecai Kaplan, who developedReconstructionist Judaism and taught at theConservativeJewish Theological Seminary of America, also rejected the idea of a personal God. Kaplan instead thought of God "as a force, likegravity, built into the very structure of the universe", believing that "since the universe is constructed to enable us to gain personal happiness and communal solidarity when we act morally, it follows that there is a moral force in the universe; this force is what the Constructionists mean by God", although some Reconstructionists do believe in a personal God.[17] According toJoseph Telushkin and Morris N. Kertzer, Kaplan's "rationalist rejection of the traditional Jewish understanding of God exerted a powerful influence" on many Conservative and Reform rabbis, influencing many to stop believing in a personal God".[18] According to the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life's 2008 U.S. Religious Landscape Survey, Americans who identify as Jewish by religion are twice as likely to favor ideas of God as "an impersonal force" over the idea that "God is a person with whom people can have a relationship".[19]
WithinJudaism, the essence of worship is deeply rooted in the belief ofmonotheism, emphasizing the exclusive devotion to the Creator. This principle dictates that worship and reverence should be directed solely towardsGod, as articulated byMaimonides' fifth principle of faith. According to this belief, no entity besides the Creator is deemed worthy of worship.[20]
TheHebrew Bible orTanakh is the Jewishscripturalcanon and central source ofJewish law. The word is anacronym formed from the initialHebrew letters of the three traditional subdivisions of the Tanakh: TheTorah ("Teaching", also known as theFive Books of Moses orPentateuch), theNevi'im ("Prophets") and theKetuvim ("Writings").[21] The Tanakh contains 24 books in all; its authoritative version is theMasoretic Text. Traditionally, the text of the Tanakh was said to have been finalized at theCouncil of Jamnia in 70 CE, although this is uncertain.[21] In Judaism, the term "Torah" refers not only to the Five Books of Moses, but also to all of the Jewish scriptures (the whole of Tanakh), and the ethical and moral instructions of the rabbis (theOral Torah).[22]
TheTorah is composed of five books, called in EnglishGenesis,Exodus,Leviticus,Numbers, andDeuteronomy. They chronicle the history of the world and theIsraelites until Moses' death and also contain the commandments that Jews are to follow.
Rabbinic Judaism holds that theTorah extant today is the same one that was given to Moses by God onMount Sinai.Maimonides explains: "We do not know exactly how the Torah was transmitted to Moses. But when it was transmitted, Moses merely wrote it down like a secretary taking dictation...[Thus] every verse in the Torah is equally holy, as they all originate from God, and are all part of God's Torah, which is perfect, holy and true."
Haredi Jews generally believe that the Torah today is no different from what was received from God to Moses, with only the most minor of scribal errors. They note that theMasoretes (7th to 10th centuries) compared all known Torah variations in order to create a definitive text.
However, even according to this position that the scrolls that Jews possess today are not letter-perfect, the Torah scrolls are certainly the word-perfect textus receptus that was divinely revealed to Moses. Indeed, the general consensus of Orthodox rabbinic authority posits this belief in the word-perfect nature of the Torah scroll as a defining feature of Orthodox Judaism.[23][24]
Jews believe that God at times chooses to issueprophecy to humans, communicated by aprophet serving as an intermediary. Many such occurrences are described in theNevi'im (books of the Prophets). However, since the destruction of theFirst Temple, prophecy has ceased.
Orthodox andConservative Jews hold that the prophecy of Moses was superior in nature to the prophecy of all other prophets in history. This belief was expressed byMaimonides, who wrote that "Moses was superior to all prophets, ... Moses attained the highest possible level of human achievement. He perceived God to a degree surpassing every human that ever existed... God spoke to all other prophets through an intermediary. Moses alone did not need this; this is what theTorah means when God says: 'Mouth to mouth, I speak to him'." The great Jewish philosopherPhilo understands this type of prophecy to be an extraordinarily high level of philosophical understanding, which had been reached by Moses and which enabled him to write theTorah through his own rational deduction of natural law. Maimonides describes a similar concept of prophecy since a voice that did not originate from a body cannot exist, and Moses's understanding was based on his lofty philosophical understandings.[25]
ForReform Jews, the prophecy of Moses was not the highest degree of prophecy. Instead, it was the first in a long chain of progressive revelations in which humanity gradually began to understand thewill of God better and better. As such, they maintain that the laws of Moses are no longer binding, and today's generation must assess what God wants of them. This principle is also rejected by mostReconstructionist Jews, but for a different reason; most posit thatGod is not a being with awill; thus, they maintain that no will can be revealed.[26]
With the exception ofKaraites, Jewish tradition does not assert that the text of the Torah should be understood literally. Rather, Rabbinic tradition maintains that God conveyed the Torah's words and the Torah's meaning. God gave rules on how the laws were to be understood and implemented, which were passed down as an oral tradition. This oral law was passed down from generation to generation and ultimately written down almost 2,000 years later in theMishna and the twoTalmuds.
Pirkei Avot gives the traditional view of the transmission of the Oral Torah: "Moses received the Torah on Sinai, and transmitted it to Joshua, and Joshua to the elders, and the elders to the prophets, and the prophets transmitted it to the men of theGreat Assembly", after which the Oral Torah was transmitted to theZugot, and from them to the early rabbis of theMishnah.[27] The traditions attributed to the Oral Torah, as well as subsequent discussions and elaborations on them, are contained in works such as the Mishnah and theTalmud (which takes the form of a commentary of Mishnah). These works are both codifications andredactions of the Jewishoral traditions.[22]
Orthodox Jews view the Written and Oral Torah as the same as Moses taught, for all practical purposes.Conservative Jews tend to believe that much of the Oral law is divinely inspired, whileReform andReconstructionist Jews tend to view all of the Oral law as an entirely human creation. Traditionally, the Reform movement held that Jews were obliged to obey the ethical but not the ritual commandments of Scripture, although today many Reform Jews have adopted many traditional ritual practices.Karaite Jews traditionally consider the Written Torah to be authoritative, viewing the Oral Law as only one possible interpretation of the Written Torah.Most Modern Orthodox Jews will agree that, while certain laws within the Oral Law were given to Moses, most of the Talmudic laws were derived organically by the Rabbis of the Mishnaic and Talmudic eras.
Jewish tradition mostlyemphasizes free will, and most Jewish thinkers rejectdeterminism, on the basis that free will and the exercise of free choice have been considered a precondition of moral life.[28] "Moral indeterminacy seems to be assumed both by the Bible, which bids man to choose between good and evil, and by the rabbis, who hold the decision for following the good inclination, rather than the evil, rests with every individual."[28] Maimonides asserted the compatibility of free will with foreknowledge of God.[29][28] Only a handful of Jewish thinkers have expressed deterministic views. This group includes the medieval Jewish philosopherHasdai Crescas and the 19th-century Hasidic rabbiMordechai Yosef Leiner of Izbica.[30][31]
All is necessary for God because He is perfect but for mankind all is possible by virtue of choice; the two types of view are true with knowing about the prophet who is inDevekut with God to be wise and to performmiracle for Him.[32]
Judaism affirms that people are born with both ayetzer ha-tov (יצר הטוב), an inclination or impulse to do good, and with ayetzer hara (יצר הרע), an inclination or impulse to do evil. These phrases reflect the concept that "within each person, there are opposing natures continually in conflict" and are referenced many times in the rabbinic tradition.[33] The rabbis even recognize a positive value to theyetzer ha-ra: without theyetzer ha-ra there would be no civilization or other fruits of human labor.Midrash states: "Without the evil inclination, no one would father a child, build a house, or make a career."[34] The implication is thatyetzer ha-tov andyetzer ha-ra are best understood not only as moral categories of good and evil, but as the inherent conflict within man between selfless and selfish orientations.
Judaism recognizes two classes of "sin": offenses against other people, and offenses against God. Offenses against God may be understood as the violation of a contract (thecovenant between God and theChildren of Israel). Once a person has sinned, there are various means by which they may obtain atonement (seeAtonement in Judaism).
Judaism rejects the belief in "original sin". Both ancient and modern Judaism teaches that every person is responsible for his own actions. The existence of some "innate sinfulness on each human being was discussed" in both biblical (Genesis 8:21,Psalms 51.5) and post-biblical sources;[35] however, in the biblical verses this is brought as an argument for divine mercy, as humans cannot be blamed for the nature they were created with. Someapocrypha andpseudepigraphic sources express pessimism about human nature ("A grain of evil seed was sown in Adam's heart from the beginning"), and the Talmud (b.Avodah Zarah 22b) has an unusual passage whichEdward Kessler describes as "theserpent seducedEve inparadise and impregnated her with spiritual-physical 'dirt' which was inherited through the generations", but the revelation atSinai and the reception of the Torah cleansed Israel.[35] Kessler states that "although it is clear that belief in some form of original sin did exist in Judaism, it did not become mainstream teaching, nor dogmatically fixed", but remained at the margins of Judaism.[35]
The mainstream Jewish view is thatGod will reward those who observe His commandments and punish those who intentionally transgress them. Examples of rewards and punishments are described throughout the Bible, and throughout classical rabbinic literature. The common understanding of this principle is accepted by most Orthodox and Conservative and many Reform Jews; it is generally rejected by the Reconstructionists.[36]
The rewards and punishments described by Jewish texts occur both in this life (e.g. health, wealth, offspring as rewards; suffering, poverty, death as punishments) and in the afterlife. According to theTalmud, after death Jewish sinners go to a purifying place (sometimes referred to asGehinnom, i. e., Hell, but more analogous to the ChristianPurgatory) to "learn their lesson". There is, however, for the most part, no eternal damnation. The vast majority of souls only go to that reforming place for a limited amount of time (less than one year). Certain categories of sinners are spoken of as having "no part in theworld to come", but this appears to mean annihilation rather than an eternity of torment. In the rationalist conception ofMaimonides, if one perfected his intellect through Torah study, then the part of his intellect that connected to God – theactive intellect – would be immortalized and enjoy the "Glory of the Presence" for all eternity. Punishment in the afterlife would simply be that this would not happen; no part of one's intellect would be immortalized with God.
TheKabbalah (mystical tradition in Judaism) contains further elaborations, though some Jews do not consider these authoritative. For example, it admits the possibility ofreincarnation, which is generally rejected by non-mystical Jewish theologians and philosophers. It also believes in a triple soul, of which the lowest level (nefesh or animal life) dissolves into the elements, the middle layer (ruach or intellect) goes toGan Eden (Paradise) while the highest level (neshamah or spirit) seeks union with God.
God chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with God; the description of this covenant is theTorah itself.[37]God further declared in theTorah through prophecy toMoses that his "firstborn" is the Israelites. However, closeness and being chosen does not imply exclusivity, as anyone can join andconvert. Included in the idea of being chosen is thatJews were chosen for a specific mission, a duty: to be a light unto the nations, and to have a covenant with God as described in theTorah.
Rabbi LordImmanuel Jakobovits, former Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogue ofGreat Britain, describes the mainstream Jewish view on this issue: "Yes, I do believe that thechosen people concept as affirmed by Judaism in its holy writ, its prayers, and its millennial tradition. In fact, I believe that every people—and indeed, in a more limited way, every individual—is 'chosen' or destined for some distinct purpose in advancing the designs of Providence. Only, some fulfill their mission and others do not. Maybe the Greeks were chosen for their unique contributions to art and philosophy, the Romans for their pioneering services in law and government, the British for bringing parliamentary rule into the world, and the Americans for piloting democracy in a pluralistic society. The Jews were chosen by God to be 'peculiar unto Me' as the pioneers of religion and morality; that was and is their national purpose."
Judaism acknowledges anafterlife, but does not have a single or systemic way of thinking about the afterlife. Judaism places its overwhelming stress onOlam HaZeh (this world) rather thanOlam haba (theWorld to Come), and "speculations about the World to Come are peripheral to mainstream Judaism".[38] InPirkei Avot, it is said that "One hour of penitence and good deeds in this world is better than all the life of the world to come; but one hour of spiritual repose in the world to come is better than all the life of this world", reflecting both a view of the significance of life on Earth and the spiritual repose granted to the righteous in the next world.[38]
Jews reject theidea that Jesus of Nazareth was the messiah and agree that themessiah has not yet come. Throughout Jewish history there have been a number ofJewish Messiah claimants considered false by Jews, including most notablySimon bar Kokhba andSabbatai Zevi; followers of the latter were known asSabbateans.[39]
The twelfth ofMaimonides' 13 principles of faith was: "I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the messiah (mashiach), and though he may tarry, still I await him every day." Orthodox Jews believes that a future Jewish messiah (theMashiach, "anointed one") will be a king who will rule the Jewish people independently and according to Jewish law. In a traditional view, the Messiah was understood to be a human descendant ofKing David (that is, of theDavidic line).[39]
Liberal, or Reform Judaism does not believe in the arrival of a personal Messiah who will ingather the exiles in theLand of Israel and cause the physicalresurrection of the dead. Rather, Reform Jews focus on a future age in which there is a perfected world of justice and mercy.[39]
A number of formulations of Jewish beliefs have appeared over the centuries, and there is some dispute over the number of basic principles. Though they were incorporated in theliturgy to a limited extent and utilized for purposes of instruction, these formulations carried no weight other than that imparted to them by the fame and scholarship of their respective authors. None of them had an authoritative character analogous to that given byChristianity to its three great formulas (theApostles' Creed, theNicene, and theAthanasian), or to theMuslimShahada. Of the Jewish formulations, the most widely accepted is that ofMaimonides.
The first to attempt to formulate Jewish principles of faith wasPhilo ofAlexandria in the 1st century CE. He enumerated five articles: God is and rules; God is one; the world was created by God; Creation is one, and God's providence rules Creation.[40]
Many early rabbis were drawn into controversies with both Jews and non-Jews, and had to fortify their faith against the attacks of contemporaneous philosophy as well as against rising Christianity. TheMishnah (c. 200 CE) excludes from the world to come theEpicureans and those who deny belief inresurrection or in the divine origin of theTorah.[41]Rabbi Akiva (died 135 CE) labeled as heretical the readers of "external books" (sefarim hitsonim) – certain theological writings that rabbinic tradition did not canonize – as well as individuals who used magical incantations for healing.Abba Saul designated as suspected heretics those that pronounce the ineffable name of God.[42]
Some early rabbis attempted to summarize Judaism via a small number of guiding principles. RabbiSimlai (3rd century) traces the development of Jewish religious principles fromMoses with his613 commandments, throughDavid, who (according to Simlai) enumerates eleven; throughIsaiah, with six;Micah, with three; toHabakkuk who sums up all religion in the single phrase, "The pious lives in his faith".[43] Akiva himself declares that the command to love one's neighbor is the fundamental principle of the Torah (kelal gadol batorah); whileBen Azzai assigns this distinction to the Biblical verse "This is the book of the generations of man".[44]Hillel the Elder declared to a would-be convert, "That which you find hateful, do not do to others, the rest is commentary."[45]
Detailed constructions of articles of faith did not find favor in Judaism until the medieval era, when Jews were forced to defend their faith from both Islamic and Christian inquisitions, disputations, and polemics. The necessity of defending their religion against the attacks of other philosophies induced many Jewish leaders to define and formulate their beliefs. A number of Jewish scholars formulated such lists of principles of faith. By this time, centers of Jewish learning and law were dispersed geographically, and no central authority existed that might bestow official approval on any particular list.
Saadia Gaon'sEmunot ve-Deot (c. 933 CE) is an exposition of the main tenets ofJudaism. Saadia lists these as: The world was created by God; God is one and incorporeal; belief inrevelation (including the divine origin of tradition); man is called to righteousness, and endowed with all necessary qualities of mind and soul to avoidsin; belief in reward and punishment; thesoul is created pure; after death, it leaves the body; belief inresurrection;Messianic expectation, retribution, and final judgement.
Judah Halevi endeavored, in hisKuzari, to determine the fundamentals of Judaism on another basis. He rejects all appeal to speculative reason, repudiating the method of the IslamicMotekallamin. The miracles and traditions are, in their natural character, both the source and the evidence of the true faith. In this view, speculative reason is considered fallible due to the inherent impossibility of objectivity in investigations with moral implications.
13 principles of faith, summarized:[46]
- There is a God
- There is one God
- God has no physical body
- God is eternal
- Only God may be worshipped
- Prophecy: God communicates with humans
- Moses was the greatest of the prophets
- Torah comes from God
- The Torah is the authentic word of God and may not be changed
- God is aware of all our deeds
- God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked
- The Messiah will come
- The dead will be resurrected
Maimonides (1135–1204 CE) formulated 13 principles of faith, which appear in his commentary on theMishnah.[47]
Some modern Orthodox scholars have pointed out apparent inconsistencies in Maimonides's writings with respect to the 13 principles of faith.[48][49] Maimonides himself, while enumerating his principles, added the following caveat:
"There is no difference between [the Biblical statement] 'his wife was Mehithabel' [Genesis 10,6] on the one hand [i. e., an "unimportant" verse], and 'Hear, O Israel' on the other [i. e., an "important" verse]... anyone who denies even such verses thereby denies God and shows contempt for his teachings more than any other skeptic, because he holds that the Torah can be divided into essential and non-essential parts..."
Eventually, Maimonides' 13 principles of faith became the most widely accepted Jewish statement of belief, even "canonized" in certain periods, though disputed in others.[1] Two poetic restatements of Maimonides' principles (Ani Ma'amin andYigdal) became standard parts of theJewish prayerbook.
Despite the popular acceptance of Maimonides' principles, "even a cursory examination of Jewish literature shows that Maimonides' principles were never regarded as the last word in Jewish theology".[50] The 13 principles are simultaneously understood as rooted in legitimate Talmudic scholarship and Jewish tradition, and also remain somewhat controversial as scholars who both preceded and succeeded Maimonides (and Maimonides himself, in one case[51]) offered different views.[51][50] Nevertheless, in most cases the divergence from Maimonides' principles was relatively minor.[52]
Some successors ofMaimonides, from the 13th to the 15th centuries—Nahmanides,Abba Mari ben Moses,Simon ben Zemah Duran,Joseph Albo,Isaac Arama, andJoseph Jaabez—narrowed his 13 articles to three core beliefs: belief in God; in creation (or revelation); and inprovidence (or retribution).
Others, likeHasdai Crescas andDavid ben Samuel Estella, spoke of seven fundamental articles, laying stress on free-will. On the other hand,David ben Yom Tov ibn Bilia adds to the 13 of Maimonides 13 of his own[53]—a number which a contemporary of Albo also chose for his fundamentals; whileJedaiah Penini (c. 1270 – c. 1340) enumerated no fewer than 35 cardinal principles.[54]
Isaac Abarbanel argued that while Maimonides' 13 principles are necessary, they are not sufficient as really the truth of every belief or narrative in the Torah should be an article of faith.[55][50]
For Maimonides, the uniqueness of the 13 beliefs was that even a rejection out of ignorance placed one outside Judaism, whereas the rejection of the rest of Torah must be a conscious act for a person to be classified as a heretic. Others, such as Rabbi Joseph Albo andthe Raavad, criticized Maimonides' list as containing items that, while true, in their opinion did not place those who rejected them out of ignorance in the category of heretics. Many others criticized any such formulation as minimizing acceptance of the entire Torah. As noted, however, neither Maimonides nor his contemporaries viewed these principles as encompassing all of Jewish belief, but rather as the core theological underpinnings of the acceptance of Judaism.
Some scholars have debated whether the practice ofmitzvot inJudaism is inherently connected to Judaism's principles of faith.Moses Mendelssohn, in hisJerusalem (1783), defended the non-dogmatic nature of the practice of Judaism. Rather, he asserted, the beliefs of Judaism, although revealed by God in Judaism, consist of universal truths applicable to all mankind. RabbiLeopold Löw (1811–1875), among others, took the opposite view, and considered that the Mendelssohnian theory had been carried beyond its legitimate bounds. Underlying the practice of the Law was assuredly the recognition of certain fundamental principles, he asserted, culminating in the belief in God and revelation, and likewise in the doctrine of divine justice.
The procedure of conversion suggests the relative priority placed by Judaism on observance versus belief.[citation needed] Converts to Judaism must accept themitzvot (commandments of the Torah) as binding, while the profession of faith demanded is limited to the acknowledgment of the unity ofGod and the rejection of idolatry.[citation needed] The aim of teaching during the conversion process is to convey a knowledge ofhalakha (Jewish law), obedience to which manifests the acceptance of the underlying religious principles; namely, the existence ofGod and the mission ofJews as the people of God's covenant.[citation needed]
Judah ha-Levi (Kuzari 1:115,c. 1140 CE) states:
According to Jewish belief, righteousness is not restricted to Jews, and "Righteous people of all nations have a share in the world to come".[56] This "righteousness" is measured by observance of theSeven Laws of Noah. For Maimonides, non-Jews are rewarded for keeping the Seven Laws only if they accept them due to them having been given by God to Moses (i.e. an acceptance of Jewish principles of faith), and not if they arrived at these laws by use of reason.[57] According toSteven Schwarzschild, "many of the most outstanding spokesmen of Judaism themselves dissented sharply from" this position, which is "individual and certainly somewhat eccentric" in comparison to other Jewish thinkers.[58] Rather, according to the other thinkers, observance of the Seven Laws is rewarded even if not accompanied by belief in their origin with Moses.
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In the late-18th centuryEurope was swept by a group of intellectual, social and political movements, together known asthe Enlightenment. These movements promoted scientific thinking and free thought; they allowed people to question previously unshaken religious dogmas. Like Christianity, Judaism developed several responses to this unprecedented phenomenon. One response saw the Enlightenment as positive, while another saw it as negative. The Enlightenment meant equality and freedom for many Jews in many countries, so some felt that it should be warmly welcomed.Scientific study of religious texts would allow people to study the history of Judaism. Some Jews felt that Judaism should accept modern secular thought and change in response to these ideas. Others, however, believed that the divine nature of Judaism precluded changing any fundamental beliefs.
Orthodox Jewish rabbis such asSamson Raphael Hirsch (1808–1888), who were open to the changing times, nevertheless rejected any doubt in the traditional theological foundation of Judaism. Historical-critical methods of research and new philosophy led to the formation of various non-Orthodox denominations, as well as ofJewish secular movements.
A contemporary of Maimonides, the 12th-centuryKaraite scholar and liturgistJudah Hadassi, formulated non-Rabbinic articles of faith:
(1) God is the Creator of all created beings; (2) He is premundane and has no peer or associate; (3) the whole universe is created; (4) God called Moses and the other Prophets of the Biblical canon; (5) the Law of Moses alone is true; (6) to know the language of the Bible is a religious duty; (7) the Temple at Jerusalem is the palace of the world's Ruler; (8) belief in Resurrection contemporaneous with the advent of the Messiah; (9) final judgment; (10) retribution.
— Judah ben Elijah Hadassi,Eshkol ha-Kofer[59]
Orthodox Judaism continuously maintained the historical rabbinic Judaism. Therefore, as above, it accepts philosophic speculation and statements of dogma only to the extent that they exist within, and are compatible with, the system of written and oral Torah. As a matter of practice, Orthodox Judaism lays stress on the performance of the actual commandments. Dogma is considered to be the self-understood underpinning of the practice of the Mitzvot.[60]
Owing to this, there is no one official statement of principles. Rather, all formulations by accepted early Torah leaders are considered to have possible validity. Maimonides' 13 principles have been cited by adherents as the most influential: They are often printed in prayer books, and in some congregations, a hymn (Yigdal) incorporating them is sung on Friday nights or even every morning in some communities.
Conservative Judaism developed in Europe and the United States in the late 1800s, as Jews reacted to the changes brought about by theJewish Enlightenment andJewish emancipation. In many ways, it was a reaction to what were seen as the excesses of theReform movement. For much of the movement's history, Conservative Judaism deliberately avoided publishing systematic explications of theology and belief; this was a conscious attempt to hold together a wide coalition. This concern became a non-issue after the left-wing of the movement seceded in 1968 to form the Reconstructionist movement, and after the right-wing seceded in 1985 to form theUnion for Traditional Judaism.
In 1988, theLeadership Council of Conservative Judaism finally issued an official statement of belief, "Emet Ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism". It noted that a Jew must hold certain beliefs. However, the Conservative rabbinate also notes that the Jewish community never developed any one bindingcatechism. Thus, Emet Ve-Emunah affirms belief in God and in God's revelation of Torah to the Jews. However, it also affirms the legitimacy of multiple interpretations of these issues.Atheism,Trinitarian views of God, andpolytheism are all ruled out. All forms ofrelativism, and also ofliteralism andfundamentalism, are also rejected. It teaches thatJewish law is both still valid and indispensable, but also holds to a more open and flexible view of how law has, and should, develop than the Orthodox view.
Reform Judaism has had a number of official platforms, especially in the United States. The first platform was the 1885Declaration of Principles ("The Pittsburgh Platform")[61] – the adopted statement of a meeting of reform rabbis from across the United States November 16–19, 1885.
The next platform –The Guiding Principles of Reform Judaism ("The Columbus Platform")[62] – was published by theCentral Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) in 1937.
The CCAR rewrote its principles in 1976 with itsReform Judaism: A Centenary Perspective[63] and rewrote them again in 1999'sA Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism.[64] While original drafts of the 1999 statement called for Reform Jews to consider re-adopting some traditional practices on a voluntary basis, later drafts removed most of these suggestions. The final version is thus similar to the 1976 statement.
According to the CCAR, personal autonomy still has precedence over these platforms; lay people need not accept all, or even any, of the beliefs stated in these platforms. Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) President Rabbi Simeon J. Maslin wrote a pamphlet about Reform Judaism, entitled "What We Believe... What We Do...". It states that, "If anyone were to attempt to answer these two questions authoritatively for all Reform Jews, that person's answers would have to be false. Why? Because one of the guiding principles of Reform Judaism is the autonomy of the individual. A Reform Jew has the right to decide whether to subscribe to this particular belief or to that particular practice." Reform Judaism affirms "the fundamental principle of Liberalism: that the individual will approach this body of mitzvot and minhagim in the spirit of freedom and choice. Traditionally, Israel started with harut, the commandment engraved upon the Tablets, which then became freedom. The Reform Jew starts with herut, the freedom to decide what will be harut – engraved upon the personal Tablets of his life." [Bernard Martin, Ed., Contemporary Reform Jewish Thought, Quadrangle Books 1968.] In addition to those, there were the 42 Affirmations ofLiberal Judaism in Britain from 1992, and the older Richtlinien zu einem Programm für das liberale Judentum (1912) in Germany, as well as others, all stressing personal autonomy and ongoing revelation.
Reconstructionist Judaism is an American denomination that has a naturalist theology as developed by RabbiMordecai Kaplan.[65] Reconstructionism posits thatGod is neither personal nor supernatural. Rather, God is said to be the sum of all natural processes that allow man to become self-fulfilled. Rabbi Kaplan wrote that "to believe in God means to take for granted that it is man's destiny to rise above the brute and to eliminate all forms of violence and exploitation from human society".
Many Reconstructionist Jews reject theism, and instead define themselves asreligious naturalists. These views have been criticized on the grounds that they are actually atheists, which has only been made palatable to Jews by rewriting the dictionary. A significant minority of Reconstructionists have refused to accept Kaplan's theology, and instead affirm a theistic view of God.
As in Reform Judaism, Reconstructionist Judaism holds that personal autonomy has precedence over Jewish law and theology. It does not ask that its adherents hold to any particular beliefs, nor does it ask thathalakha be accepted as normative. In 1986, the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association (RRA) and the Federation of Reconstructionist Congregations (FRC) passed the official "Platform on Reconstructionism" (2 pages). It is not a mandatory statement of principles, but rather a consensus of current beliefs. [FRC Newsletter, Sept. 1986, pages D, E.] Major points of the platform state that:
This platform puts Reconstructionist Jews at odds with all other Jews, as it seems to accuse all other Jews of being racist. Jews outside of the Reconstructionist movement strenuously reject this charge.
Although Reconstructionist Judaism does not require its membership to subscribe to any particular dogma, the Reconstructionist movement actively rejects or marginalizes certain beliefs held by other branches of Judaism, including many (if not all) of the 13 Principles. For example, Rabbi Kaplan "rejected traditional Jewish understandings of messianism. His God did not have the ability to suspend the natural order, and could thus not send a divine agent from the house of David who would bring about a miraculous redemption."[66] Rather, in keeping with Reconstructionist naturalist principles, "Kaplan believed strongly that ultimately, the world will be perfected, but only as a result of the combined efforts of humanity over generations." (Id. at 57) Similarly, Reconstructionism rejects the 13th principle of resurrection of the dead, which Kaplan believed "belonged to a supernatural worldview rejected by moderns". (Id. at 58.) Thus, the Reconstructionist Sabbath Prayer Book erases all references to a messianic figure, and the daily 'Amidah replaces the traditional blessing of reviving the dead with one that blesses God "who in love remembers Thy creatures unto life". (Id. at 57-59.)
Second, Orthodox Jews are presumed to feel allegiance to some interpretation of the traditional concept of divine revelation of Jewish law, torah mi sinai, a belief that the complex, prescriptive codes of rabbinic law derive from God's articulated instructions to the Jewish people. A very broad interpretive gamut is reflected as Orthodox Jews of various shades and stripes formulate what torah mi sinai means to them. However, no matter how liberal an individual Orthodox person's interpretation of divine revelation, daily life is influenced by a group of observances that are precisely dictated by written texts.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Kohler, Kaufmann;Hirsch, Emil G. (1901–1906)."Articles of Faith". InSinger, Isidore; et al. (eds.).The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.{{cite encyclopedia}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| History | |||
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