Judaism

==Defining characteristics and principles of faith==
{{Further|God in Judaism}}
[[File:FULL-bodleian 32-000 kennicott-1 8a.jpg|thumb|[[Kennicott Bible]], a 1476 Spanish Tanakh]]
Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, the Hebrew God's principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V8KGDwAAQBAJ&q=Nahum++1969+Understanding+Genesis|title=Understanding Genesis|last=Sarna|first=Nahum M.|date=1966|publisher=Schocken Books|isbn=978-0-8052-0253-3|pages=9–10, 14|access-date=20 October 2020|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203455/https://books.google.com/books?id=V8KGDwAAQBAJ&q=Nahum++1969+Understanding+Genesis|url-status=live}}</ref> Judaism thus begins with [[ethical monotheism]]: the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of mankind.<ref name="google1" /> According to the Hebrew Bible, God promised [[Abraham]] to make of his offspring a great nation.<ref name="everlasting" /> Many generations later, he commanded the nation of [[Israelites|Israel]] to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate God's concern for the world.<ref name="deuteronomy" /> He also commanded the Jewish people to love one another; that is, Jews are to imitate God's love for people.<ref name="leviticus" />

Thus, although there is an esoteric tradition in Judaism in [[Kabbalah]], Rabbinic scholar [[Max Kadushin]] has characterized normative Judaism as "normal mysticism", because it involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are common to all Jews.<ref name="publishing" /> This is played out through the observance of the ''[[halakha]]'', or Jewish law, and given verbal expression in the [[List of Jewish prayers and blessings|Birkat Ha-Mizvot]], the short blessings that are spoken every time a positive commandment is to be fulfilled:
{{blockquote|The ordinary, familiar, everyday things and occurrences we have, constitute occasions for the experience of God. Such things as one's daily sustenance, the very day itself, are felt as manifestations of God's loving-kindness, calling for the ''Berakhot''. ''Kedushah'', holiness, which is nothing else than the imitation of God, is concerned with daily conduct, with being gracious and merciful, with keeping oneself from defilement by idolatry, adultery, and the shedding of blood. The ''Birkat Ha-Mitzwot'' evokes the consciousness of holiness at a rabbinic rite, but the objects employed in the majority of these rites are non-holy and of general character, while the several holy objects are [[Theurgy|non-theurgic.]] And not only do ordinary things and occurrences bring with them the experience of God. Everything that happens to a man evokes that experience, evil as well as good, for a ''Berakah'' is said also at evil tidings. Hence, although the experience of God is like none other, the ''occasions'' for experiencing Him, for having a consciousness of Him, are manifold, even if we consider only those that call for Berakot.<ref name="publishing2" />}}

Whereas [[Jewish philosophy|Jewish philosophers]] often debate whether God is [[Immanence|immanent]] or [[Transcendence (religion)|transcendent]], and whether people have free will or their lives are determined, ''halakha'' is a system through which any Jew acts to bring God into the world.

Ethical monotheism is central in all sacred or normative texts of Judaism. However, monotheism has not always been followed in practice. The Hebrew Bible (or ''Tanakh'') records and repeatedly condemns the widespread worship of other gods in [[Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy)|ancient Israel]].<ref name="mechon-mamre" /> In the Greco-Roman era, many different interpretations of monotheism existed in Judaism, including the interpretations that gave rise to Christianity.<ref name="The Jewish roots of Christological monotheism: papers from the St. Andrews conference on the historical origins of the worship of Jesus" />

Moreover, some have argued that Judaism is a non-creedal religion that does not require one to believe in God.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283487502 |title=Is There a Jewish Theology or Not?|last=Maimes|first=Steven |date=Jan 2013|via=ResearchGate|access-date=19 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/must-a-jew-believe-in-god/|title=Must a Jew Believe in God?|last=Septimus|first=Daniel|work=My Jewish Learning|access-date=19 Nov 2018|publisher=70 / Faces Media|archive-date=25 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425200432/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/must-a-jew-believe-in-god/|url-status=live}}</ref> For some, observance of ''halakha'' is more important than belief in God ''per se''.<ref name="jovanovich" /> The debate about whether one can speak of authentic or normative Judaism is not only a debate among religious Jews but also among historians.{{sfn|Langton|2011|pp=161–4}}

In [[continental Europe]], Judaism is heavily associated with and most often thought of as [[Orthodox Judaism]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Queen II |first1=Edward L. |title=The Encyclopedia of American Religious History |last2=Prothero |first2=Stephen R. |last3=Shattuck Jr. |first3=Gardiner H. |publisher=Proseworks |year=1996 |isbn=0-8160-3545-8 |volume=2 |location=New York |page=485 |author-link2=Stephen Prothero}}</ref>

===Core tenets===
{{Main|Jewish principles of faith}}
{{Quote box|width=35%|align=right|quote=13 Principles of Faith:
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the Creator and Guide of everything that has been created; He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is One, and that there is no unity in any manner like His, and that He alone is our God, who was, and is, and will be.
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, has no body, and that He is free from all the properties of matter, and that there can be no (physical) comparison to Him whatsoever.
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the first and the last.
# I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed be His Name, and to Him alone, it is right to pray, and that it is not right to pray to any being besides Him.
# I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.
# I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, [[Honorifics for the dead in Judaism#Peace be upon him/her|peace be upon him]], was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and those who followed him.
# I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.
# I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged and that there will never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts, as it is written, "Who fashioned the hearts of them all, Who comprehends all their actions" ([[Psalms]] 33:15).
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them.
# I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the [[Jewish messianism|Messiah]]; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.
# I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.|source=—[[Maimonides]]<ref name="JEarticles">{{JewishEncyclopedia|author-link1=Kaufmann Kohler |last1=Kohler |first1=Kaufmann |author-link2=Emil G. Hirsch |last2=Hirsch |first2=Emil G. |title=Articles of Faith|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1832-articles-of-faith}}</ref>}}

In the strict sense, in Judaism, unlike Christianity and Islam, there are no fixed universally binding articles of faith, due to their incorporation into the liturgy.<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=217–18|loc="Dogma"}} Scholars throughout [[Jewish history]] have proposed numerous formulations of Judaism's core tenets, all of which have met with criticism.<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=}}<ref name="montpelier" /> The most popular formulation is [[Maimonides]]' [[13 principles of faith|thirteen principles of faith]], developed in the 12th century.<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=}} According to Maimonides, any Jew who rejects even one of these principles would be considered an apostate and a heretic.<ref name="mesora" /><ref name="Maimonides, 13 Principles of Faith" /> Jewish scholars have held points of view diverging in various ways from Maimonides' principles.<ref name="learning" /><ref name="The JPS guide to Jewish traditions" /> Thus, within [[Reform Judaism]] only the first five principles are endorsed.{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}

In Maimonides' time, his list of tenets was criticized by [[Hasdai Crescas]] and [[Joseph Albo]]. Albo and [[Abraham ben David|the Raavad]] argued that Maimonides' principles contained too many items that, while true, were not fundamentals of the faith<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=}}

Along these lines, the ancient historian [[Josephus]] emphasized practices and observances rather than religious beliefs, associating [[apostasy]] with a failure to observe ''halakha'' and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included [[circumcision]] and adherence to traditional customs. Maimonides' principles were largely ignored over the next few centuries.<ref name="medieval" /> Later, two poetic restatements of these principles ("''[[Ani Ma'amin]]''" and "''[[Yigdal]]''") became integrated into many Jewish liturgies,<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}<ref name="The Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith" /> leading to their eventual near-universal acceptance.<ref name="What Do Jews Believe?" /><ref name="traditions" />

The oldest non-Rabbinic instance of articles of faith were formulated, under Islamic influence, by the 12th century [[Karaite Judaism|Karaite]] figure [[Judah Hadassi|Judah ben Elijah Hadassi]]:
{{blockquote|(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.|sign=[[Judah Hadassi|Judah ben Elijah Hadassi]]|source=''Eshkol ha-Kofer''<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=217–18|loc="Dogma"}}}}

In modern times, Judaism lacks a centralized authority that would dictate an exact religious dogma. Because of this, many different variations on the basic beliefs are considered within the scope of Judaism.<ref name="learning" /> Even so, all [[Jewish religious movements]] are, to a greater or lesser extent, based on the principles of the Hebrew Bible or various commentaries such as the Talmud and [[Midrash]]. Judaism also universally recognizes the Biblical [[Covenant (biblical)|Covenant]] between God and the [[Patriarchs (Bible)|Patriarch]] Abraham as well as the additional aspects of the Covenant revealed to [[Moses]], who is considered Judaism's greatest [[prophet]].<ref name="learning" /><ref name="ontario" /><ref name="How Do You Know the Exodus Really Happened?" /> In the [[Mishnah]], a core text of [[Rabbinic Judaism]], acceptance of the Divine origins of this covenant is considered an essential aspect of Judaism and those who reject the Covenant forfeit their share in the [[World to Come]].<ref name="sacred-texts" />

Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in the modern era is even more difficult, given the number and diversity of the contemporary [[Jewish religious movements|Jewish denominations]]. Even if to restrict the problem to the most influential intellectual trends of the nineteenth and twentieth century, the matter remains complicated. Thus, for instance, [[Joseph B. Soloveitchik|Joseph Soloveitchik's]] (associated with the [[Modern Orthodox Judaism|Modern Orthodox movement]]) answer to modernity is constituted upon the identification of Judaism with following the ''halakha'' whereas its ultimate goal is to bring the holiness down to the world. [[Mordecai Kaplan]], the founder of the [[Reconstructionist Judaism]], abandons the idea of religion for the sake of identifying Judaism with [[civilization]] and by means of the latter term and secular translation of the core ideas, he tries to embrace as many Jewish denominations as possible. In turn, [[Solomon Schechter]]'s [[Conservative Judaism]] was identical with the tradition understood as the interpretation of Torah, in itself being the history of the constant updates and adjustment of the Law performed by means of the creative interpretation. Finally, [[David Philipson]] draws the outlines of the Reform movement in Judaism by opposing it to the strict and traditional rabbinical approach and thus comes to the conclusions similar to that of the Conservative movement.{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/15006583 |chapter=Some Remarks on the Self-Images of the Modern Judaism. Textual Analysis |last=Kosior |first=Wojciech |title=Filozofia kultury |year=2015 |location=Kraków |pages=91–106 |editor= Piotr Mróz | publisher= Uniwersytet Jagielloński |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817034301/https://www.academia.edu/15006583 |url-status=live }}</ref>