Beliefs

Praise of God involves expressing gratitude and admiration directly to Him in diverse situations and contexts. While the book of Psalms contains numerous instances of such praise, similar expressions can also be found in other books of the Bible and subsequent religious texts.

“The Four Expressions of Redemption” refers to four expressions from God’s speech to Moses in Exodus 6:6–7, in which God promises to redeem the Israelites from their enslavement in Egypt. God uses four phrases to describe the process: “I will take you out,” “I will save you,” I will redeem you,” and “I will take you.” Some consider a phrase in the following verse, “I will bring you,” to be a fifth expression of redemption.

Written as part of Rambam's Commentary on the Mishnah to the tenth chapter of tractate Sanhedrin, Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith articulate the fundamental tenets of Jewish faith. Rambam wanted to help people avoid errors of faith. The 13 Principles are first found as declarative statements of faith ("I believe with perfect faith that...") in the Venice Hagaddah of 1566 CE and most popularly known from the poem, Yigdal, from around 1300 CE.

The phrase "book of life" – also translated as "book of the living" – appears once in the Bible, in the book of Psalms. Perhaps on the basis of this verse, the Talmud describes how, on the holiday of Rosh Hashanah, three books are opened before God: one for the righteous, one for the wicked, and one for the intermediate. The righteous, the Talmud goes on to explain, are inscribed in "the book of life." This talmudic passage is reflected in much of the liturgy of the High Holidays, including in the Unetaneh Tokef prayer.

In Genesis 12, God singles out Abraham to make a covenant and later quietly expresses what the role of his nation of descendants will be. Later Jewish thinkers, across textual genres, emphasize the eternal, unconditional, and unbreakable nature of God’s election of and covenant with the Jewish people.

Commandments (mitzvot, in Hebrew) originate in the Torah and are expanded upon in rabbinic literature. They can be categorized in several ways, such as commandments that require an action or those that prohibit an action, those that are between a person and God or those that are between a person and another person, and those that are tied to the land of Israel and those that apply all over the world; these categories have been used to create different lists enumerating the commandments and to illuminate different aspects of the commandments. The reward for and importance of performing commandments, and the underlying purpose of the commandments, are topics of discussion throughout the Jewish textual tradition.

A variation of the term "evil inclination" – yetzer hara in Hebrew – is first found in the book of Genesis, as God acknowledges the evil impulse within people. In rabbinic literature, the evil inclination is often discussed in contrast to its opposite, the good inclination (yetzer hatov in Hebrew). In some sources, the force is presented as an internal drive within people, while other texts depict the yetzer hara as an external figure that can tempt people toward bad choices.

The first mention of the angel Gabriel is in the book of Daniel, where he helps to explain Daniel’s vision. He reappears throughout rabbinic literature and in the texts that accompany the bedtime recitation of the Shema. His name, which means “might of God,” explains why he often serves as an emissary of God’s strength.

Gehenna, or Gehinnom in Hebrew, is often thought of as the Jewish hell and is the term used in rabbinic literature to refer to the place where the wicked go after death. The name likely originates from a valley south of Jerusalem called Gehinnom or Gey Ben Hinnom, which the prophet Jeremiah cursed for being a site of idolatry and child sacrifice.

God is central in traditional Jewish texts. God utters the world into existence from the outset of Genesis, and Maimonides, in the opening to his halakhic masterpiece, explains that belief in God is the foundation of all foundations. Countless Jewish sources discuss God's essence, the constraints of using human language to describe a transcendent Being, and how people are to develop relationships with God.

Many Jewish texts presuppose the existence of God, while others seek to prove God’s existence through rational arguments, citation of miracles, or personal experience.

Though the Hebrew word yetzer only appears in the Bible in reference to people's evil inclinations, rabbinic sources discuss how alongside a person's evil inclination is a parallel good inclination (yetzer hatov) that has the potential to conquer or control the evil inclination. Some texts describe this good inclination developing at age 13, or bar mitzvah age.

The prohibition against worshipping other gods is the second of the Ten Commandments, and one of the seven Noahide Laws, the laws the rabbis understood to be incumbent upon all non-Jews as well. That is, ideally, all the world recognizes God as the Creator and Master of the Universe. Nevertheless, worship of other gods is central to the dramatic relationship between God and Israel throughout the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible). Defining idolatry and ensuring that one does not inadvertently worship an idol or other god is the core of the mishnaic and talmudic tractates of Avodah Zarah.

Many biblical and rabbinic sources describe God using the language of physicality, but influential rabbinic texts emphasize that denial of God's physicality is a key principle of Jewish faith. Philosophers, scholars, kabbalists, and commentators have all attempted to explain how a transcendent God can be described in human terms. A few have maintained that God does or could indeed possess a physical form, some have interpreted physical language in traditional sources metaphorically, and some have reinterpreted it in light of kabbalistic concepts.

Mashiach (the Messiah) — literally "anointed one" — generally refers to a savior or liberator figure believed to be a future redeemer of Jews, who ushers in the messianic era. Generations of Jewish texts debate what the messianic era entails, as well as the role that belief in the Messiah should play in Jewish practice. In the Bible, the word mashiach is used to refer to kings or high priests, selected by God and anointed with oil.

Metatron is an angel mentioned several times throughout apocryphal, rabbinic, and kabbalistic literature. He is occasionally presented as a heavenly scribe. In two of the three instances in which he appears in the Talmud, his character prompts questions from heretics who question whether Metatron is a god. In some sources, Metatron is associated with the biblical character Enoch.

Midrash is a form of literature that interprets and elaborates upon biblical texts, mostly compiled from the 5th century CE through the medieval period. Books in this category generally share common methods of interpretation, like filling in gaps in biblical stories. Sections of midrash appear frequently throughout the Talmud.

Miracles feature throughout the Jewish textual tradition. Supernatural events appear throughout the Bible, including the ten plagues, the splitting of the sea, and when the walls of Jericho fell, among others. Miracles feature in later rabbinic texts as well, and ancient through contemporary works analyze the nature and significance of miracles.

In Judaism, priests are believed to be the descendants of Aaron. In the Bible, they are charged with doing the ritual work in the Mishkan and later the Temples, under the leadership of a high priest. In Temple times, priests were also entitled to certain gifts and portions of sacrifices. Today, some people of priestly descent recite a special blessing in the synagogue and are careful to avoid contact with corpses, among other responsibilities and restrictions. The Hebrew word for priest is kohen.

Prophecy features throughout in Jewish literature, most prominently with prophets who appear throughout the Bible. The Talmud counts 55 people recorded in the Bible who prophesied on behalf of Israel, and notes that there were many additional prophets whose prophecies may not have been recorded.

Traditional Jewish sources describe how 48 prophets and seven prophetesses prophesied on behalf of the people of Israel. Many of their teachings are recorded in the Prophets section of the Bible, which consists of collections of prophetic speeches and narrative accounts of history attributed to prophets. These prophets covered the period from the people of Israel's entrance into the land of Israel through the beginning of the Second Temple. In the Torah, Abraham and Moses are also called prophets, and the Torah warns against listening to a false prophet.

The concept of souls being reborn in other bodies or things after death is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible or in classical rabbinic texts like the Mishnah and Talmud but is discussed in later kabbalistic texts and works of Jewish thought. Some of these texts debate the existence of reincarnation, while others explain the purpose of reincarnation, how some biblical figures were reincarnations of other biblical figures, and how certain commandments in the Torah help facilitate the process of reincarnation.

Samael is an angel mentioned in second-Temple works of Apocrypha, rabbinic literature, and kabbalistic sources. He is generally presented as an agent of evil—occasionally identified as Satan—serving as an adversary, seducer, or destroyer.

The word Shekhinah is from the Hebrew root for “dwell” and refers to God’s imminent presence. In rabbinic literature, the Shekhinah represents a protective presence that can rest among the people; in Lurianic Kabbalah, “Shekhinah” refers to the feminine aspect of God and carries particular significance in unifying God’s presence in the world. In both rabbinic and kabbalistic literature, the Shekhinah joins the people of Israel in exile, and humans have a role in bringing the presence of God closer or pushing God’s presence further away.

Sitra Achra (literally "other side") is a kabbalistic term refering to the realm of evil or impure forces, in opposition to the Sitra D’Kedushah, the side of holiness.

Neshama

Belief in the coming of the Messiah and the messianic era has been a principle of faith for the Jewish people throughout the Jewish textual tradition. Liturgy includes yearning for the messianic era, and prophets and later commentaries and texts explore what that era will look like. Some describe the era as cosmic in nature with supernatural elements, while others view it as more limited in scope and focus on rational outcomes. In all of these, however, exists a hope for a better future.

The Hebrew letters ‘yud,’ ‘hey,’ ‘vav,’ and ‘hey’ (in English, YHVH) form what is known as the Tetragrammaton, or God’s four-letter name. Given the longstanding Jewish prohibition against speaking God’s name aloud, the word’s original pronunciation is unclear, and it is traditionally not pronounced as written. Instead, a variety of substitutes are used - like “Adonai” (“My Lord”) and “Hashem” (“The Name”) - depending on the context.

Olam Haba–"the world to come" in English–is a phrase used to describe the afterlife, understood by some as the place where individual souls go upon death and by others as the place where bodies go, together with their souls, in a future time known as techiyat hametim (revival of the dead). The world to come is not explicitly mentioned in the Bible, but later sources understand it as a place where divine justice is executed.