Editing Judaism (section)

===Core tenets===
{{Main|Jewish principles of faith}}
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| quote = 13 Principles of Faith, summarized:<ref>{{cite web |last1=Goldstein |first1=Meir |title=Foundations of Jewish Belief: Maimonides 13 Principles of Faith |url=https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/472256.9?lang=bi&with=AboutSheet&lang2=en |website=sefaria.org |access-date=8 May 2025}}</ref>
#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}}

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">{{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>{{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 [[Jewish eschatology#World to come|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>