13 Principles of Jewish Faith, Explained

Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, known in Hebrew by his acronym, Rambam, and in English as Maimonides, was the Jewish star of the 12th century and a luminary for humanity. One of the greatest codifiers of Torah law and a giant of Jewish philosophy, he formulated a list of the 13 principles of Jewish faith, or as he described them, Judaism's fundamental truths and very foundation. To this day, Jewish communities worldwide recite or sing summarized versions of Maimonides' 13 principles. One, God exists. God is the essence of perfection and the primary cause of all existence. Two, God is one. He is not a composite or divisible, but the most absolute and unparalleled unity. Three, God is non-corporeal. He has no body or part, and all references to God couched in the terms of human experience, such as movement, rest, seeing, and speaking, are metaphors. Four, God is eternal. This also means that nothing pre-existed God or brought God into being. Five, we must serve God exclusively. That precludes worshiping any entity or force that God created or that we have imagined. Six, God communicates through prophecy. It takes hard work to become spiritually fit for prophecy, and even then, communication is entirely God's choice and initiative. Seven, the prophecy of Moses is supreme. God chose him from all humanity for all of time to receive the highest degree of prophetic experience. Eight, the Torah is of divine origin. The Torah scrolls every word, along with the explanations that Moses delivered to us orally is all from God's mouth. Nine, the Torah is not susceptible to change. It was delivered by God in deliberate form and never can or will be amended in any way. Ten, God knows everything. This includes God's active attention to each individual at every moment. Eleven, God rewards and penalizes. God communicated His expectations and gave us the ability to choose. He assures that our choices bear consequences. Twelve, there will be a Messiah and a messianic era. A time will come in which the Torah will be fulfilled in entirety, and we will fully benefit from the blessings that will ensue as a result. The messianic era will be conducted by a mortal Messiah, a descendant of King David, who will become an unparalleled global leader. We must constantly anticipate his arrival. Thirteen, there will be a resurrection of the dead. At some point, God will restore the departed souls of the righteous from heaven and recreate their bodies to participate in and benefit from a perfected world. These principles begin with God as the primary cause of existence and conclude with a perfected world. Our ancient sages revealed that the reason that God created all that exists is for us to actively build the perfected world of the messianic era.