Religion - Jewish Principles of Faith
Judaism affirms a
number of basic principles of faith that one is expected to uphold in
order to be said to be in consonance with the Jewish faith. However,
unlike most Christian denominations, the Jewish community has never
developed any one binding catechism.
A number of formulations of Jewish beliefs have appeared, though there
is some dispute over how many basic principles there are. Rabbi Joseph
Albo, for instance, in Sefer Ha-Ikkarim counts three principles of
faith, while Maimonides lists thirteen. While some later rabbis have
attempted to reconcile the differences, claiming that Maimonides's
principles are covered by Albo's much shorter list, the difference, and
alternate lists provided by other medieval rabbinic authorities seem to
indicate a broad level of tolerance for varying theological
perspectives.
Jewish principles of faith
Monotheism
Judaism is based on strict unitarian monotheism, the belief in one God.
The prayer par excellence in terms of defining God is the Shema Yisrael,
"Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One", also translated
as "Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is unique/alone."
God is conceived of as eternal, the creator of the universe, and the
source of morality. God has the power to intervene in the world. The
term God thus corresponds to an actual ontological reality, and is not
merely a projection of the human psyche. Maimonides describes God in
this fashion: "There is a Being, perfect in every possible way, who is
the ultimate cause of all existence. All existence depends on God and is
derived from God."
The Hebrew Bible and classical rabbinic literature affirm theism and
reject deism. However, in the writings of medieval Jewish philosophers,
influenced by neo-Aristotelian philosophy, one finds what can be termed
deistic tendencies. These views still exist in Judaism today.
God as Creator of the universe
The Torah states that God created the world in six days. While most
Haredi Jews take this literally, many Modern Orthodox, Conservative and
Reform authorities feel that the six days should be interpreted as
"stages" in the creation of the universe and the earth, and that Judaism
would not be in contradiction to the scientific model that states that
the universe is over 13 billion years old.
The Torah text does not indicate in what way God created life; it can
therefore not be derived from the text whether evolution may have been
part of the creation of life. Jewish creationism is a form of
evolutionary creationism aiming to merge the creation account with
evolutionary theory. Many Orthodox Jewish groups reject evolution as a
factor in creation, and Haredi Jews in Israel have referred to
evolutionary views as heretical.
God is One
The idea of God as a duality or trinity is heretical - it is considered
akin to polytheism. "[God], the Cause of all, is one. This does not mean
one as in one of a pair, nor one like a species (which encompasses many
individuals), nor one as in an object that is made up of many elements,
nor as a single simple object that is infinitely divisible. Rather, God
is a unity unlike any other possible unity. This is referred to in the
Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4): "Hear Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is
one." (Maimonides, 13 principles of faith Second Principle).
Interestingly, while Jews hold that such conceptions of God are
incorrect, they generally are of the opinion that gentiles that hold
such beliefs are not held culpable.
See also Divine simplicity.
God is all-powerful
Most rabbinic works present God as having the properties of omnipotence,
omniscience and omnibenevolence (being all good). This is still the
primary ways that most Orthodox and many non-Orthodox Jews view God.
The issue of theodicy was raised again, especially after the extreme
horrors of the Holocaust and several theological responses surfaced.
These are discussed in a separate entry on Holocaust theology. The
central questions they address are whether and how God is all powerful
and all good, given the existence of evil in the world, particularly the
Holocaust.
God is personal, and cares about humanity
Harold Kushner, a Conservative rabbi, writes that "God shows His love
for us by reaching down to bridge the immense gap between Him and us.
God shows His love for us by inviting us to enter into a Covenant (brit)
with Him, and by sharing with us His Torah". Hasidism seems to endorse
this view to some degree. On the other hand, Maimonides and most other
medieval Jewish philosophers rejected the idea of a personal God,
viewing, instead nature of the vehicle of providence; see Divine
Providence In Jewish thought.
Names of God
The different names of God are ways to express different aspects of
God's presence in the world.
The Nature of God
God is non-physical, non-corporeal, and eternal. A corollary belief is
that God is utterly unlike man, and can in no way be considered
anthropomorphic. All statements in the Hebrew Bible and in rabbinic
literature which use anthropomorphism are held to be linguistic conceits
or metaphors, as it would otherwise be impossible to talk about God at
all. See Divine simplicity; Negative theology; Tzimtzum.
To God alone may one offer prayer
Any belief that an intermediary between man and God could be used,
whether necessary or even optional, has traditionally been considered
heretical. Maimonides writes that "God is the only one we may serve and
praise....We may not act in this way toward anything beneath God,
whether it be an angel, a star, or one of the elements.....There are no
intermediaries between us and God. All our prayers should be directed
towards God; nothing else should even be considered." However, since the
1800s some Hasidic Orthodox Jews have begun to teach that their leaders,
called rebbes, are indeed a sort of intermediary between man and God.
Scripture
Tanakh (the Hebrew Bible), and much of the belief system formulated and
expounded upon in the Talmud, are held to be the product of divine
revelation. How revelation works, and what precisely one means when one
says that a book is "divine", has always been a matter of some dispute.
Different understandings of this subject exist among Jews.
The words of the prophets are true
This does not mean that Jews are required to read the books of the
prophets literally. The Jewish tradition has always held that prophets
used metaphors and analogies just like people today use them. As such,
there is a wide degree of interpretation for many prophetic verses.
The status of Moses
The Torah and Talmud teach that God took the descendants of Israel out
of Egypt and spoke to them at Mount Sinai. It was here that God revealed
the Torah to Moses. The Jewish tradition holds that the laws therein are
binding on all of Israel.
Orthodox and Conservative Jews hold that the prophecy of Moses is held
to be true; he is held to be the chief of all prophets, even of those
who came before and after him. This belief was expressed by Maimonides,
who wrote that "Moses was superior to all prophets, whether they
preceded him or arose afterwards. Moses attained the highest possible
human level. 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 the Torah means when God
says "Mouth to mouth, I will speak to him."
However, this does not imply that the text of the Torah should be
understood literally. The rabbinic tradition maintains that God conveyed
not only the words of the Torah, but the meaning of the Torah. God gave
rules as to how the laws were to be understood and implemented, and
these were passed down as an oral tradition. This oral law ultimately
was written down almost 2,000 years later in the Mishna and the two
Talmuds. The founders of Reform Judaism replaced this principle with the
theory of Progressive Revelation.
For Reform Jews, the prophecy of Moses was not the highest degree of
prophecy; rather it was the first in a long chain of progressive
revelations in which mankind gradually began to understand the will of
God better and better. As such, they maintain, that the laws of Moses
are no longer binding, and it is today's generation that must assess
what God wants of them. (For examples see the works of Rabbis Gunther
Plaut or Eugene Borowitz). This principle is also rejected by most
Reconstructionist Jews, but for a different reason; most posit that God
is not a being with a will; thus they maintain that no will can be
revealed.
The origin of the Torah
The Torah is composed of 5 books known by their Greek names, Genesis,
Exodous, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. They chronicle the history
of the Hebrews and also contain the commandments that Jews are to
follow.
Rabbinic Judaism holds that the Torah extant today is the same one that
was given to Moses by God on Mount 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. Many other Orthodox Jews suggest that over the millennia, some
scribal errors have crept into the Torah's text. They note that the
Masoretes (7th to 10th centuries) compared all known Torah variations in
order to create a definitive text. Some Modern Orthodox Jews hold that
there are a number of places in the Torah where gaps are seen, and
accept that part of the story in these places may have been edited out.
However, all Orthodox Jews view the Written and Oral Torah as the same
as Moses taught, for all practical purposes.
Accepting the findings of biblical scholarship, archeological and
linguistic research, most non-Orthodox Jews reject this principle.
Instead, they may accept that the core of the Oral and Written Torah
comes from Moses, but maintain that the Torah extant today has been
edited together from several documents.
Conservative Jews tend to believe that much of the Oral law is divinely
inspired, while Reform and Reconstructionist 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. For more details see Richard
Elliot Friedman's "Who Wrote the Bible?" and the entry on the
documentary hypothesis.
Holy Books
The Tanakh and the Talmud are the main holy books in Judaism. The Tanakh
contains the Written Torah, the writings of the major prophets, and the
writings of the minor prophets. The Talmud contains Judaism's oral law.
Reward and punishment
The mainstream Jewish view, clearly expressed in the Bible and rabbinic
literature, is that God 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. See Free will In Jewish thought.
In contrast, philosophical rationalists such as Maimonides believed that
God did not actually mete out rewards and punishments as such. In this
view, these were beliefs that were necessary for the masses to believe
in order to maintain a structured society and to encourage the
observance of Judaism. However, once one learned Torah properly, one
could then learn the higher truths. In this view, the nature of the
reward is that if a person perfected his intellect to the highest
degree, then the part of his intellect that connected to God - the
active intellect - would be immortalized and eternally enjoying the
"Glory of the Presence" for all eternity. The punishment would simply be
that this would not happen; no part of one's intellect would be
immortalized with God.
The common understanding of this principle is accepted by most Orthodox,
Conservative and Reform Jews; it is generally rejected by the
Reconstructionists.
According to the Kabbalah (not a universally-accepted set of doctrines)
God judges who has followed His commandments and who doesn't and to what
extent. Those who do not "pass the test" go to a purifying place called
Sheol lit. gloom (sometimes referred to as Purgatory, sometimes Hell) to
"learn their lesson". There is, however, for the most part, no eternal
damnation. The vast majority of souls can only go to that reforming
place for a limited amount of time (less than one year).
The concept of "life after death" in the Jewish view is therefore fuzzy,
but whatever its nature, is a reward from God, not a punishment, and is
not guaranteed to everyone. Jews are encouraged to concentrate more on
the life they live now than on a possible afterlife, and to ritually
remember (yizkor) those loved ones who have died, as an important (and
possibly the only) form of continuation for their lives.
Israel chosen for a purpose
God chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with God; the
description of this covenant is the Torah itself. Contrary to popular
belief, Jewish people do not simply say that "God chose the Jews." This
claim, by itself, exists nowhere in the Tanakh (the Jewish Bible). Such
a claim could imply that God loves only the Jewish people, that only
Jews can be close to God, and that only Jews can have a heavenly reward.
The actual claim made is that the Jews 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 the Torah. Reconstructionist Judaism rejects
also this variant of chosenness as morally defunct.
Rabbi Lord Immanuel Jakobovits, former Chief Rabbi of the United
Synagogue of Great Britain, describes the mainstream Jewish view on this
issue: "Yes, I do believe that the chosen 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 parlimentary
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."
More on this topic is available in the entry on Jewish views of
religious pluralism.
The messianic age
There will be a Jewish Messiah known as Mashiach, and a messianic era
with the words expressing this as formulated by Maimonides: "I believe (Ani
Ma'amin) with complete faith in the coming of the Messiah, and even
though he may may delay, nevertheless I anticipate every day that he
will come" (from the Artscroll siddur, p. 181). Note that the Jewish
belief regarding the messiah has little to do with the Christian
definition of this term. Jewish views of the messiah as derived from the
Davidic line, the messianic era, and the afterlife are discussed in the
entry on Jewish eschatology.
The soul is pure at birth
Humans are born morally pure; Judaism has no concept analogous to
Original sin. Judaism affirms that people are born with a yetzer hatov (יצר
הטוב), a tendency to do good, and with a yetzer hara (יצר הרע), a
tendency to do bad. Thus, human beings have free will and can choose the
path in life that they will take. The rabbis even recognize a positive
value to the yetzer hara: without the yetzer hara there would be no
civilization or other fruits of human labor. The implication is that
yetzer hatov and yetzer hara are best understood not as moral categories
of good and evil but as selfless versus selfish orientations.
Judaism recognizes two classes of "sin": offenses against other people,
and offenses against God. Offenses against God may be understood as
violation of a contract (the covenant between God and the Children of
Israel). In a post-Temple world, Jews believe that right action (as
opposed to right belief) is the way for a person to atone for one's
sins. (See Jewish views of sin.)
A classical rabbinic work, Avoth de-Rabbi Natan, states: "One time, when
Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was walking in Jerusalem with Rabbi Yehosua,
they arrived at where the Temple in Jerusalem now stood in ruins. "Woe
to us," cried Rabbi Yehosua, "for this house where atonement was made
for Israel's sins now lies in ruins!" Answered Rabban Yochanan, "We have
another, equally important source of atonement, the practice of gemiluth
ḥasadim (loving kindness), as it is stated: "I desire loving kindness
and not sacrifice" (Hosea 6:6). Also, the Babylonian Talmud teaches that
"Rabbi Yochanan and Rabbi Eleazar both explain that as long as the
Temple stood, the altar atoned for Israel, but now, one's table atones
[when the poor are invited as guests]" (Talmud, tractate Berachoth 55a).
Similarly, the liturgy of the Days of Awe (the High Holy Days; i.e. Rosh
HaShanah and Yom Kippur) states that prayer, repentance and tzedakah
atone for sin.
History and development
No formal text canonized
The prime reason why no one text was formalized as "the" Jewish
principles of belief is the lack of an authoritative sanction from a
supreme ecclesiastical body. This is why no one formulation of Jewish
principles of faith is recognized as universally binding force.
Though to a certain extent incorporated in the liturgy and utilized for
purposes of instruction, these formulations of the cardinal tenets of
Judaism carried no greater weight than that imparted to them by the fame
and scholarship of their respective authors. None of them had a
character analogous to that given in the Church to its three great
formulas (the so-called Apostles Creed, the Nicene or Constantopolitan,
and the Athanasian), or even to the Kalimat As-Shahadat of the Muslims.
None of the many summaries from the pens of Jewish philosophers and
rabbis has been invested with similar importance.
Gaining converts
Originally nationality and religion were the same. Birth, not
profession, admitted a person to a religio-national fellowship. As long
as internal dissension or external attack did not necessitate for
purposes of defense the formulation of specific doctrines, the thought
of fixing the contents of the religious consciousness did not insinuate
itself into the mind of even the most faithful. Missionary or
proselytizing religions are driven to the definite declaration of their
teachings. The admission of the neophyte hinges upon the profession and
the acceptance of his part of the belief, and that there may be no
uncertainty about what is essential and what non-essential, it is
incumbent on the proper authorities to determine and promulgate the
cardinal tenets in a form that will facilitate repetition and
memorizing. And the same necessity arises when the Church or religious
fellowship is torn by internal heresies. Under the necessity of
combating heresies of various degrees of perilousness and of stubborn
insistence, the Church and Islam, were forced to define and officially
limit their respective ) theological concepts.
Both of these provocations to creed-building were less intense in
Judaism.
The proselytizing zeal, though during certain periods more active than
at others, was neutralized, partly by disinclination and partly by force
of circumstances. Righteousness, according - to Jewish belief - was not
conditioned of the acceptance of the Jewish religion. And the righteous
among the nations that carried into practice the seven fundamental laws
of the covenant with Noah and his descendants were declared to be
participants in the felicity of the hereafter. This interpretation of
the status of non-Jews precluded the development of a missionary
attitude. Moreover, the regulations for the reception of proselytes, as
developed in course of time, prove the eminently practical, that is, the
non-creedal character of Judaism. Compliance with certain rites -
immersion in a mikveh (ritual bath), brit milah (circumcision), and the
acceptance of the mitzvot (Commandments of Torah) as binding - is the
test of the would-be convert's faith. He or she is instructed in the
main points of Jewish law, while the profession of faith demanded is
limited to the acknowledgement of the unity of God and the rejection of
idolatry. Judah ha-Levi (Kuzari 1:115) puts the whole matter very
strikingly when he says:
We are not putting on an equality with us a person entering our religion
through confession alone. We require deeds, including in that term
self-restraint, purity, study of the Law, circumcision, and the
performance of other duties demanded by the Torah.
For the preparation of the convert, therefore, no other method of
instruction was employed than for the training of one born a Jew. The
aim of teaching was to convey a knowledge of halakha (Jewish law),
obedience to which manifested the acceptance of the underlying religious
principes; namely, the existence of God and the holiness of Israel as
the people of God's covenant.
Is faith necessary?
The controversy whether Judaism demands belief in dogma or inculcates
obedience to practical laws alone, has been discussed by many scholars.
Moses Mendelssohn, in his "Jerusalem," defended the non-dogmatic nature
of Judaism, while Rabbi Judah Low ben Bezalel (Maharal), among others,
took the opposite side. Low argued that Mendelssohn's 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 first to make the attempt to formulate Jewish principles of faith
was Philo of Alexandria. 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.
Belief in the Oral Law
Many 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. Only in a general way
the Mishnah (Tractate Sanhedrin xi. 1) excludes from the world to come
the Epicureans and those who deny belief in resurrection or in the
divine origin of the Torah. Rabbi Akiba would also regard as heretical
the readers of Sefarim Hetsonim - certain extraneous writings that were
not canonized - as well such persons that would heal through whispered
formulas of magic. Abba Saul designated as under suspicion of infidelity
those that pronounce the ineffable name of the Deity. By implication,
the contrary doctrine and attitude may thus be regarded as having been
proclaimed as orthodox. On the other hand, Akiba himself declares that
the command to love one's neighbor the fundamental the principle of the
Law; while Ben Asa assigns this distinction to the Biblical verse, "This
is the book of the generations of man".
The definition of Hillel the Elder in his interview with a would-be
convert (Talmud, tractate Shabbat 31a), embodies in the golden rule the
one fundamental article of faith. A teacher of the 3rd century, Rabbi
Simlai, traces the development of Jewish religious principles from Moses
with his 613 mitzvot of prohibition and injunction, through David, who,
according to this rabbi, enumerates eleven; through Isaiah, with six;
Micah, with three; to Habakkuk who simply but impressively sums up all
religious faith in the single phrase, "The pious lives in his faith"
(Talmud, Mak., toward end). As Jewish law enjoins that one should prefer
death to an act of idolatry, incest, unchastity, or murder, the
inference is plain that the corresponding positive principles were held
to be fundamental articles of Judaism.
Belief in the Medieval era
Detailed constructions of articles of faith did not find favor in
Judaism before 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. Saadia Gaon's "Emunot ve-Deot" is an exposition
of the main tenets of Judaism. They are listed as : The world was
created by God; God is one and incorporeal; belief in revelation
(including the divine origin of tradition; man is called to
righteousness and endowed with all necessary qualities of mind and soul
to avoid sin; belief in reward and punishment; the soul is created pure;
after death it leaves the body; belief in resurrection; Messianic
expectation, retribution, and final judgment.
Judah Halevi endeavored, in his Kuzari to determine the fundamentals of
Judaism on another basis. He rejects all appeal to speculative reason,
repudiating the method of the Motekallamin. The miracles and traditions
are, in their natural character, both the source and the evidence of the
true faith. With them Judaism stands and falls.
Maimonides's 13 Principles of Faith
The 13 Principles of Faith were formulated by Rabbi Moses ben Maimon,
better known as Maimonides (1135-1204 CE), in his commentary on the
Mishna (tractace Sanhedrin, chapter 10). These principles were
controversial when first proposed, evoking criticism by Crescas and
Joseph Albo, and they were ignored by much of the Jewish community for
the next few centuries. ["Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought", Menachem
Kellner]. Over time two poetic restatements of these principles (Ani
Ma'amin and Yigdal) became canonized in the siddur (Jewish prayer book),
and these principles eventually became widely held.
Today most of Orthodox Judaism holds these beliefs to be obligatory, and
that anyone who doesn't fully accept each one of them may be a heretic.
These principles deal with the following 13 subjects: The existence of
God; God's unity; God's spirituality; God's eternity; God alone should
be the object of worship; Revelation through God's prophets; the
preeminence of Moses among the Prophets; God's law given on Mount Sinai;
the immutability of the Torah as God's Law; God's foreknowledge of men's
actions; retribution; the coming of the Jewish Messiah; and the
resurrection of the dead.
Several scholars (both Orthodox and non-Orthodox) have claimed that some
of the beliefs that people popularly attribute to Maimonides were, in
fact, the opposite of what he held to be true. (See the works of
Professor Menachem Kellner on this topic.)
Maimonides's 13 principles never received formal official approval;
until recently Jewish law has never required Jews to accept them in
full. In the last two centuries however, large segments of the Orthodox
Jewish community have begun to demand strict adherence to Maimonides'
principles. Others reject this view, noting that his views were never
considered the last word in Jewish theology.
Principles of faith after Maimonides
The successors of Maimonides, from the thirteenth to the fifteeneth
century -- Nahmanides, Abba Mari ben Moses, Simon ben Zemah Duran, Albo,
Isaac Arama, and Joseph Jaabez -- reduced his thirteen articles to
three: Belief in God; in Creation (or revelation); and in providence (or
retribution).
Others, like Crescas and David ben Samuel Estella, spoke of seven
fundamental articles, laying stress on free-will. On the other hand,
David ben Yom-Tob ibn Bilia, in his "Yesodot ha- Maskil" (Fundamentals
of the Thinking Man), adds to the thirteen of Maimonides thirteen of his
own -- a number which a contemporary of Albo also chose for his
fundamentals; while Jedaiah Penini, in the last chapter of his "Behinat
ha-Dat," enumerated no less than thirty-five cardinal principles.
In the fourteenth century Asher ben Jehiel of Toledo raised his voice
against the Maimonidean articles of faith, declaring them to be only
temporary, and suggested that another be added to recognize that the
Exile is a punishment for the sins of Israel. Isaac Abravanel, his "Rosh
Amanah," took the same attitude towards Maimonides' creed. While
defending Maimonides against Hasdai and Albo, he refused to accept
dogmatic articles for Judaism, holding, with all the kabbalists, that
the 613 mitzvot are all tantamount to Articles of Faith.
The Enlightenment
In the late 18th century Europe was swept by a group of intellectual,
social and political movements, together known as The Enlightenment.
These movements promoted scientific thinking, free thought, and 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 it was 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 this would bring much
to Judaism. Others, however, believed that this might call into question
some previously held dogmas about Judaism; if a few beliefs were found
to be incorrect, where would one draw the line?
In response to these issues, Jews developed different denominations. The
entry on Haredi Judaism discusses in more detail how and why the
enlightenment led to the development of the modern Jewish denominations.
Holocaust theology
On account of the magnitude of the Holocaust, many people have
re-examined the classical theological views on God's goodness and
actions in the world. Some people ask whether people can still have any
faith after the Holocaust, and some of the theological responses to
these questions are explored in Holocaust theology.
Dogma in Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism is a loosely linked set of traditionalist movements
that have consciously resisted many philosophical influences of the
Enlightenment.
Since there is no one unifying body in Orthodox Judaism, there is no one
official statement of principles. Rather, each Orthodox group claims
heir to the received tradition of Jewish theology, usually affirming a
literal acceptance of Maimonides's 13 principles as the only acceptable
position. Some within Modern Orthodoxy take the position that these
principles only represent one particular formulation of Jewish faith,
and that others are possible.
Dogma in Conservative Judaism
Conservative Judaism developed in Europe and the United States in the
late 1800s, as Jews reacted to the changes brought about by the
enlightenment and emancipation. In many ways it was a reaction to what
were seen as the excesses of the Reform 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 the Union for Traditional Judaism.
In 1988, the leadership 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 have hold
certain beliefs. However, the Conservative rabbinate also notes that the
Jewish community never developed any one binding catechism. 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, and polytheism are
all ruled out. All forms of relativism, and also of literalism and
fundamentalism are also rejected. It teaches that Jewish 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.
Dogma in Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism has had a number of official platforms, but in contrast
to rabbinic Judaism, rejects the view that Jews must have any beliefs,
other than rejecting Christianity. The first Reform Jewish platform was
the 1885 Declaration of Principles, the Pittsburgh Platform. The next
platform was in 1937, "The Guiding Principles of Reform Judaism". The
Central Conference of American Rabbis (CCAR) rewrote its principles in
1976 with its "Centenary Perspective" and rewrote them again in the 1999
"A Statement of Principles for Reform Judaism" (3 pages). 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 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.
Reform Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut writes "there is no such thing as a Jewish
theological principle, policy, or doctrine." This is because 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.]
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."
Dogma in Reconstructionist Judaism
Reconstructionist Judaism is a very small American denomination that has
a naturalist theology; this theology is a variant of the naturalism of
John Dewey. Dewey's naturalism combined atheist beliefs with religious
terminology in order to construct a religiously satisfying philosophy
for those who had lost faith in traditional religion. Reconstructionism
denies that God is either personal or supernatural. Rather, God is said
to be the sum of all natural processes that allow man to become
self-fulfilled. Rabbi Mordecai 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."
Most Reconstructionist Jews reject theism, and instead define themselves
as naturalists or humanists. These views have been criticized on the
grounds that they are actually atheism, 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 that
halakha 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:
* Judaism is the result of natural human development. There is no such
thing as divine intervention.
* Judaism is an evolving religious civilization.
* Zionism and aliyah (immigration to Israel) are encouraged.
* The laity can make decisions, not just rabbis.
* The Torah was not inspired by God; it only comes from the social and
historical development of Jewish people.
* All classical views of God are rejected. God is redefined as the sum
of natural powers or processes that allows mankind to gain
self-fulfillment and moral improvement.
* The idea that God chose the Jewish people for any purpose, in any way,
is "morally untenable", because anyone who has such beliefs "implies the
superiority of the elect community and the rejection of others". This
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.
References
* Blech, Benjamin Understanding Judaism: The Basics of Deed and Creed
Jason Aronson; 1992, ISBN 0-876682-91-3.
* Shmuel Boteach Wisdom, Understanding, and Knowledge: Basic Concepts of
Hasidic Thought Jason Aronson; 1995. Paperback. ISBN 0-876685-57-2
* Elliot N. Dorff and Louis E. Newman (eds.) Contemporary Jewish
Theology: A Reader Oxford Univ Press; 1998. ISBN 0-195114-67-1.
* Elliot N. Dorff Conservative Judaism: Our Ancestors to Our Descendants
(Revised edition) United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, 1996
* Platform on Reconstructionism FRC Newsletter, Sept. 1986
* Marvin Fox Interpreting Maimonides, Univ. of Chicago Press. 1990
* Robert Gordis (Ed.) Emet Ve-Emunah: Statement of Principles of
Conservative Judaism JTS, Rabbinical Assembly, and the United Synagogue
of Conservative Judaism, 1988
* Julius Guttman, Philosophies of Judaism Translated by David Silverman,
JPS, 1964
* Maimonides' Principles: The Fundamentals of Jewish Faith, in "The
Aryeh Kaplan Anthology, Volume I", Mesorah Publications 1994
* Mordecai M. Kaplan Judaism as a Civilization Reconstructionist Press,
New York. 1934. Jewish Publication Society; 1994
* Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought, Menachem Kellner, Oxford University
press, 1986
* Simeon J. Maslin, Melvin Merians and Alexander M. Schindler, What We
Believe...What We Do...: A Pocket Guide for Reform Jews UAHC Press, 1998
* Maimonides Thirteen Principles: The Last Word in Jewish Theology?
Marc. B. Shapiro, The Torah U-Maddah Journal, Vol. 4, 1993, Yeshiva
University
From:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_principles_of_faith
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