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Flip to reveal answersWhy does the guide say Judaism has few formal statements of belief?
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All 10 Flashcards — Statements of belief
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Question
Why does the guide say Judaism has few formal statements of belief?
Answer
Because the emphasis of Judaism is on obedience to the Torah rather than subscribing to a set of beliefs — yet key beliefs are important.
Question
List the key Jewish beliefs the guide names.
Answer
The oneness of God in the Shema; the holiness of God and the choosing of Israel as a holy people; the love of God and the human response; the justice of God as King and Creator.
Question
Where is the Shema found in the Hebrew Bible?
Answer
Deuteronomy 6: 4–9; 11: 13–21; Numbers 15: 37–41.
Question
What is b'rit, and why is it called the Jewish expression of monotheism?
Answer
The covenant between God and Abraham, Moses and the Jewish people. Jewish monotheism is expressed through a relationship rather than as an abstract claim about number.
Question
What are Maimonides' 13 principles, and where are they met?
Answer
A formal statement of Jewish faith, expressed in the Yigdal in the synagogue service.
Question
What does the guide say about creation and free will?
Answer
On Jewish teaching God is the sole creator, gives human beings free will and requires their cooperation, struggling between good and bad inclinations, to produce a world of peace and justice for all.
Question
Define tikkun olam.
Answer
The reparation of the universe — the human task of completing an unfinished world, listed by the guide under cosmology rather than ethics.
Question
What is Olam Ha-Ba, and what precedes it?
Answer
A fundamentally new age, coming after the Messianic Age of peace and justice for humankind. Judaism emphasizes observance in this life rather than elaborating on the hereafter.
Question
What do Orthodox Jews believe about the Mashiach?
Answer
That an individual Messiah, a human being anointed by God, will usher in the Messianic Age.
Question
How does the guide frame the Holocaust under statements of belief?
Answer
As a challenge to this faith posed by the death of six million Jews — a question put to the tradition, to which Jewish thinkers have given profoundly different answers.
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Topic 5.3 hub
Doctrines and beliefs
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