Post by angelscandle on Feb 21, 2010 7:35:42 GMT
The fundamentals of the Jewish faith are rooted in the Hebrew Bible, which consists of the Torah (first five books of the Bible), the Neviim (the Prophetical books), and the Ketuvim (the writings) and are reflected in the post-biblical rabbinic tradition. However, they were not set out in one coherent document until relatively late in Jewish history.
Due to Judaism’s interaction with other religions that claimed a common source (such as Christianity and Islam), the basics of Jewish belief were summarized in a creed by the medieval rabbinic authority Maimonides, or the Rambam as he is known in Jewish sources. It was necessary to clearly define what it is that Judaism holds as the truth, and what makes it distinct from other religions. His creed consists of thirteen affirmations of the following beliefs:
1. That God created all creatures and that He alone made, makes, and will make everything.
2. There is one God and He alone is our God for eternity. There is no other God and there is no multiplicity inside God.
3. That our God has no physical form and that there is no comparison to Him.
4. That God is the first and the last being.
5. That it is only proper to pray to God, and no other. Judaism does not believe in praying through intermediaries, a belief that is popular in other religions.
6. That all the words of the prophets recorded in the Hebrew Bible are true.
7. That the prophecy of Moses, our teacher, is true and that he is the greatest of all the prophets, both those that came before and after.
8. The Torah that was transmitted to us by Moses, our teacher, is true and unchanged to this day.
9. The Torah will not be exchanged, nor will there be another Torah from our Creator.
10. God knows all the deeds and thoughts of men. Nothing can be hidden from Him.
11. God rewards those that observe His commandments, and punishes those who violate them.
12. That the Messiah will come. Even though we have been waiting for so long, we continually await his coming.
13. That there will be a resurrection of the Dead at the end of days.
Though there have been other attempts to sum up the basic beliefs of Judaism into a “creed”, the creed of Maimonides, or the “Ani Ma'amin’s” (Hebrew for “I believe”) as they are known, remain the most authoritative. To this day, Maimonides’s thirteen principles of faith remain the core of fundamental beliefs for Orthodox Judaism. In some synagogues they are recited daily after the morning prayers, as a daily affirmation of Jewish belief. They are usually printed after the morning service in Jewish prayer books (“siddurim” in Hebrew). In addition, there are commentaries available that explain the thirteen principles of faith in depth.
Another basic idea that is prevalent in everyday Jewish life is a belief in “hashgacha pratis,” meaning God’s overseeing of everyday life down to the tiniest detail. For instance, your car breaks down and someone shows up at just the right moment to give you a boost. A religious Jew would say that God arranged for that person to be in the right place in the right time. Nothing is just “left to chance” in this worldview.
An additional belief, and one that goes along with the one we just mentioned, is that everything that happens is ultimately for the good. In the above-mentioned example of the car breaking down, the good that results from this situation may be that the person who stops to help gets a “mitzvah” (usually translated as “good deed,” but actually a commandment – and helping your neighbor in need is a biblical commandment). Or you may never know what the good is; it may be that if your car had not broken down you might have been in a six-car pileup down the highway. One person’s action or one event can set in motion a chain of circumstances whose end we cannot see, and it that end result that may have been the reason for the original event. Jewish lore is replete with stories of how the actions of grandparents and great-grandparents affected their descendants many years later.
The bottom line and unifying theme of all of these beliefs is that God is one and everything comes from Him, whether it is obviously good or ostensibly bad. That’s why the “Shema,” often called Judaism’s “watchword of faith,” is a simple declaration that the Lord is our God and the Lord is One. All of the other beliefs stem from this overarching and unifying statement. Judaism may be a complex religion with many different practices and observances, but its basic belief system is rooted in simplicity.
Due to Judaism’s interaction with other religions that claimed a common source (such as Christianity and Islam), the basics of Jewish belief were summarized in a creed by the medieval rabbinic authority Maimonides, or the Rambam as he is known in Jewish sources. It was necessary to clearly define what it is that Judaism holds as the truth, and what makes it distinct from other religions. His creed consists of thirteen affirmations of the following beliefs:
1. That God created all creatures and that He alone made, makes, and will make everything.
2. There is one God and He alone is our God for eternity. There is no other God and there is no multiplicity inside God.
3. That our God has no physical form and that there is no comparison to Him.
4. That God is the first and the last being.
5. That it is only proper to pray to God, and no other. Judaism does not believe in praying through intermediaries, a belief that is popular in other religions.
6. That all the words of the prophets recorded in the Hebrew Bible are true.
7. That the prophecy of Moses, our teacher, is true and that he is the greatest of all the prophets, both those that came before and after.
8. The Torah that was transmitted to us by Moses, our teacher, is true and unchanged to this day.
9. The Torah will not be exchanged, nor will there be another Torah from our Creator.
10. God knows all the deeds and thoughts of men. Nothing can be hidden from Him.
11. God rewards those that observe His commandments, and punishes those who violate them.
12. That the Messiah will come. Even though we have been waiting for so long, we continually await his coming.
13. That there will be a resurrection of the Dead at the end of days.
Though there have been other attempts to sum up the basic beliefs of Judaism into a “creed”, the creed of Maimonides, or the “Ani Ma'amin’s” (Hebrew for “I believe”) as they are known, remain the most authoritative. To this day, Maimonides’s thirteen principles of faith remain the core of fundamental beliefs for Orthodox Judaism. In some synagogues they are recited daily after the morning prayers, as a daily affirmation of Jewish belief. They are usually printed after the morning service in Jewish prayer books (“siddurim” in Hebrew). In addition, there are commentaries available that explain the thirteen principles of faith in depth.
Another basic idea that is prevalent in everyday Jewish life is a belief in “hashgacha pratis,” meaning God’s overseeing of everyday life down to the tiniest detail. For instance, your car breaks down and someone shows up at just the right moment to give you a boost. A religious Jew would say that God arranged for that person to be in the right place in the right time. Nothing is just “left to chance” in this worldview.
An additional belief, and one that goes along with the one we just mentioned, is that everything that happens is ultimately for the good. In the above-mentioned example of the car breaking down, the good that results from this situation may be that the person who stops to help gets a “mitzvah” (usually translated as “good deed,” but actually a commandment – and helping your neighbor in need is a biblical commandment). Or you may never know what the good is; it may be that if your car had not broken down you might have been in a six-car pileup down the highway. One person’s action or one event can set in motion a chain of circumstances whose end we cannot see, and it that end result that may have been the reason for the original event. Jewish lore is replete with stories of how the actions of grandparents and great-grandparents affected their descendants many years later.
The bottom line and unifying theme of all of these beliefs is that God is one and everything comes from Him, whether it is obviously good or ostensibly bad. That’s why the “Shema,” often called Judaism’s “watchword of faith,” is a simple declaration that the Lord is our God and the Lord is One. All of the other beliefs stem from this overarching and unifying statement. Judaism may be a complex religion with many different practices and observances, but its basic belief system is rooted in simplicity.
