An Overview of the Basic Beliefs of Judaism

There are fundamental beliefs that characterize Judaism from Islam and Christianity. However, the similarities between the three religions cannot also be overlooked that there seems to be an overlapping between the three great religions of the world.

Judaism, the religion of Jewish people is more distinctly exemplified by its monotheistic outlook, their conviction that they have a special covenant with God as His chosen people, their belief that they Messiah would give them the promised land and their adherence to specific laws including cultural and religious practices. An important factor of Judaism is that they do not believe that Jesus Christ was the Messiah that the prophets foretold.

The religion traces its origins from Abraham’s covenant however political Judaism is closely linked with King David. Since Judaism is a theocracy, there is very little difference between the interpretation of divine and civil laws.

Although there are 5 distinct denominations of Judaism, majority of Jews widely accept and believes in all of Rambam’s thirteen principles of faith:

God is real and He exists.

There is only one unique God.

God is intangible.

God is everlasting.

People should pray to God alone.

The teachings and words of the prophets are correct.

The greatest prophet is Moses and all his prophecies are true.

God gave the Torah to Moses.

There is only one Torah and it would never be replaced.

God is always aware of the thoughts and deeds of men.

God will reward the good and punish the wicked.

The Messiah will have a second coming.

All the dead will be brought back to life.

The very embodiment of Judaism can be summed up in the words, “What is hateful to you, don’t do unto your neighbor. The rest is commentary. ”

As a monotheistic religion, the Jews firmly believe that God created the world and rules over it; that God is all powerful (omnipotent), all knowing (omniscient) and in present in all places at all times (omnipresent) and that he is fair and compassionate.

They also believe that since each individual is created in the image of God, all men are created equal. In addition, man’s likeness to God is only in the area of man’s intellectual capacity to comprehend and understand. Judaism also believes that every man has his own freewill and is accountable for all choices he makes.

When the Israelites accepted the Ten Commandments given by God to Moses at Mount Sinai, they dedicated themselves to following a set of laws regulating how they should pay homage and reverence to God and how they should treat other people.

The primary document of Judaism is the Torah, the embodiment of God’s revealed directives to the Jews. From the Torah, Jews learn everything they need to know about life and death. The Torah also contains teachings about God’s relationship with the people of Israel in addition to the 613 commandments (mitzvot), of which the Ten Commandments are considered to be of great consequence and importance.

Part of the belief of the Jews is that Israel (Eretz Yisrael) is one of the important elements of the covenant between God and the Jews at Mount Sinai such that from the time of Abraham up to the present, Israel is considered as the Jewish homeland.

They also believe that the Messiah will come as human being (as opposed to being a god) who traces his roots from the family of King David and that the Messiah will show the way to unity and peace and world peace.

Source: http://www.devorah.us

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