- I believe in full faith that the Creator, whose name is blessed, creates and rules all creatures, and only He created, creates and will create everything that exists.
- I believe with full faith that the Creator, whose name is blessed, unique and there is nowhere else like him; and only He alone is our God: he was, is and will be.
- I believe with full faith that the Creator, whose name is blessed, incorporeal, and that the properties of matter are not related to Him, and that He has no image.
- I believe in full faith that the Creator, whose name is blessed, is the first and the last.
- I believe in full faith that the Creator, whose name is blessed, and only He needs to pray, and it is forbidden to pray to anyone except Him.
- I believe in full faith that everything that is said by the prophets is the truth.
- I believe in full faith that the prophecy of Moshe , our teacher, may he rest in peace! - was true, and that he is the peak of the prophets who preceded him and followed him.
- I believe with full faith that the whole Torah, which is now in our hands, is the one that was given to Moshe-rabein - may he rest in peace.
- I believe with full faith that this Torah will not be changed and there will be no other Torah from the Creator, whose name is blessed.
- I believe with full faith that the Creator, whose name is blessed, knows all the affairs of people and all their thoughts, as it is said: "He who creates all their hearts understands all their affairs."
- I believe with full faith that the Creator, whose name is blessed, pays good obedience to His commandments and punishes those who violate His commandments.
- I believe in complete faith in the coming of Mashiach , and despite the fact that he is delayed, I will still wait every day for him to come.
- I believe in full faith that there will be a revival of the dead at a time when the will of the Creator, whose name is blessed, and His memory will be lifted up forever and forever.
The 13 principles of faith are the basic tenets of Judaism formulated by Rambam (Maimonides) in the preface to the Helek chapter of the Sanhedrin treatise in his commentary on the Mishnah . Since the commentary was written in Arabic, it was repeatedly translated into Hebrew, and also retold, including in poetic form by Immanuel of Rome . Subsequently, retellings entered almost all siddurs (Jewish prayer books).
In the “Message on the Resurrection from the Dead” [1] Maimonides mentions that he met people who were knowledgeable in the Talmud and practicing the commandments, but who did not know whether God had a body. Some were even sure that there was a body, while others even considered heretics to be those who believed that God did not have a body. From the point of view of Rambam himself, the idea that God has a body is itself at the level of idolatry. Thus, Maimonides became convinced that the study of the Talmud does not provide man with the correct philosophical foundations, and it is necessary to compile a list of universally binding dogmas, which he did in the commentary on the Mishnah [2] . There are only thirteen such foundations and they can be divided into three groups: about God (1–5), about the authority of the Torah (6–9), and about retribution (10–13).
In the XIV century, these principles were stated in poetic form by Immanuel of Rome [3] and entered the daily ritual of many Jewish communities, except for Ashkenazi . Subsequently, they were accepted by all Jewish communities.
Content
Contents
These principles summarize what the Jew believes in. The number 13 itself is not accidental - according to Jewish tradition, this is the number of properties of the Most High, His 13 attributes of mercy . With these postulates, Rambam says: the Jew believes that the Almighty has certain qualities: the One, the Only, the Almighty, the Eternal, the All-Merciful, the Torah , etc. In many translations, the postulates begin with the words "I believe in full faith ...", although the original does not require to believe, and to know with evidence that shows the absoluteness and independence of the provisions from external conditions.
Other postulate systems in Judaism
Subsequent thinkers pointed out that already in the Talmud one can find views that contradict the foundations in the formulation of Maimonides and, accordingly, revised the list. In addition to the "13 principles", in Judaism there are other systems of postulates, although they do not enjoy the same influence. Examples of such systems may be the views expressed by p. Hasdas Kreskas in the work “The Light of the Lord” (1410) and his 6 basic tenets, or views expressed by p. Yosef Albo in his book The Book of Principles (1425) and his 3 postulates. If the basis of Rambam’s postulates is the idea of knowing the truth, the idea of the true meaning of the words of the Torah, as an answer to questions of philosophy, then the basis of the system is p. Kreskas is an attempt to exclude a philosophical worldview and the development of the tenets of faith as a direct perception of divine revelation. RASHBATS (Shimon ben Zemah Duran) worked on the basics of faith and reduced the list to only three (the existence of God, Thor - from heaven, the world is governable), although in other places he argued that it is possible to derive all the basics from one thing - faith in the Creation of the world .
RASHBATS influenced R. Yosef Albo, who also singled out only 3 basic principles from which the rest follows: the existence of God, the deity of the Torah and the observation of the Most High over His creatures, punishing or rewarding them for their behavior. [4] . Don Yitzhak Abrabanel and Hatam Sofer were also involved in the basics. The latter stated that one provision is enough: faith in the Torah from heaven [2] .
The Jewish philosopher Moses Mendelssohn argued that Judaism is a system of laws and denied the meaning of dogma.
Notes
- ↑ I. Sheilat, 1995 , pp. 341-342.
- ↑ 1 2 M. Halbertal, 2009 , pp. 119-122.
- ↑ http://www.eleven.co.il/article/11785 Immanuel of Rome. EEE.
- ↑ Introduction to the “Book of Fundamentals” p. Josef Albo // Eliezer Schwaid
Links
- principles of faith - article from the Electronic Jewish Encyclopedia
- 13 principles of Judaism with commentary
Literature
- Halbertal, Moshe. Rambam = Heb. הרמב ם . - Jerusalem: Merkaz Zalman Shazar letoldot Israel, 2009 .-- ISBN 978-965-227-254-6 . (Hebrew)
- Maimonides. Edition I. Sheilat. The Messages of Maimonides. Complete and revised manuscript edition = Heb. איגרות הרמב ם . - Maale-Adumim - Jerusalem : Sheilat Publishing House, 1995. - T. 1. (Hebrew)
- Maimonides. Edition I. Sheilat. The Messages of Maimonides. Complete and revised manuscript edition = Heb. איגרות הרמב ם . - Maale Adumim - Jerusalem : Maaliet at the Yeshiva Birkat Moshe, 1993. - T. 2. (Hebrew)