20 world religions and faith practices 144

The Search for Peace in Times of Chaos—Volume commandments are still applicable today While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were claimed to be based on the written text of the Torah alone, most Jews believed in what they call the Oral Law as well Maimonides’s thirteen principles were controversial when first proposed These were ignored by much of the Jewish community for the next few centuries Over time, two poetic restatements of these principles became canonized in the Jewish prayer book Eventually, Maimonides’s Thirteen Principles of Faith became the most widely accepted statement of belief As noted, however, neither Maimonides nor his contemporaries viewed these principles as encompassing all of Jewish belief, but rather as the core theological underpinnings of the acceptance of Judaism God or Gods Fundamentally, Judaism believes that God, as the creator of time, space, energy and matter, is beyond them and cannot be born or die or have a son Every Jew must believe and know that there exists a First Being, without beginning or end, who brought all things into existence and continues to sustain them This being is God He is everywhere He has no spatial boundaries He fills the universe and beyond God is all knowing He knows all man’s thoughts and deeds in the past, present, and future     ‘†ǯ• ƒ‡ ‹• –”‡ƒ–‡† ™‹–Š ——•—ƒŽ …ƒ”‡ ‹ ‡™‹•Š –”ƒ†‹–‹‘Ǥ Š‡ †‹˜‹‡ ƒ‡ Š™Š ‹• ‡˜‡” ’”‘‘—…‡†Ǥ ”ƒ†‹–‹‘ƒŽŽ›ǡ ‡™• ”‡ƒ† –Š‡ ™‘”† †‘ƒ‹ሺ‘ˆ–‡–”ƒ•Žƒ–‡†ƒ•Dz–Š‡ ‘”†dzሻ ™Š‡‡˜‡”rea†- ‹‰ ‘†ǯ• Š‘Ž‹‡•– ƒ‡ ‹ ‘”ƒŠ ‘” ‹’”ƒ›‡”Ǥ‘™‡˜‡”ǡ†‘ƒ‹‹•‘– ‘†ǯ•ƒ‡ǤŠ‹Ž‡ —†ƒ‹•ǯ• –”ƒ†‹–‹‘ƒŽ „‡Ž‹‡ˆ• ƒ„‘—– ‘† ƒ”‡…Ž‡ƒ”ǡ  ‡™• –‘†ƒ› ˜ƒ”›  ‰”‡ƒ–Ž› ‹ –Š‡‹” „‡Ž‹‡ˆ•ƒ„‘—– ‘†Ǥ ‹† ‘† ™”‹–‡ –Š‡ ‘”ƒŠ ‘” ‹•’‹”‡ –Š‡ ‘”ƒŠǫ Šƒ– †‘‡•  ‘†™ƒ– ˆ”‘’‡‘’Ž‡ǫ‘™ …‘—Ž† ‘† Ž‡––Š‡ ‘Ž‘…ƒ—•– Šƒ’’‡n? Christ While Judaism has no special or particular view of Jesus, and very few texts in Judaism directly refer to or take note of Jesus, Judaism takes a strong stand against many views expressed by Christian theology One of the most important Jewish principles of faith is the belief in one God, and one ~ 143 ~