Judaism's Original Texts 4: Faith and Practice — 13 Principles & Kosher

Thank you for visiting. This article is the fourth installment in a series explaining the original texts of Judaism.

So far, I have looked at the contents of Judaism’s scriptures (the Tanakh and the Talmud). This time, changing the viewpoint, I look at the world of faith and practice — “what Jews actually believe, and how they live.”

For an overview map of Judaism’s original texts as a whole, please see this summary article.

Judaism's Original Texts: A Complete Guide to the Tanakh and Talmuden.senkohome.com/myths-religions-origins-judaism/

Maimonides’ 13 Principles

Judaism long had no official article of faith like Christianity’s “Apostles’ Creed.” In Judaism, which values practice (keeping the Law), there was little need to define doctrine strictly.

In such a setting, the 12th-century great scholar “Maimonides” gathered the things a Jew should believe into 13 items. These are the “13 Principles,” which have become the most widely accepted summary of faith to this day.

What I want to note here is the last item, “the Messiah will surely come.” The decisive difference from Christianity appears in the point that it is “will come (has not yet come),” not “has come.” I touch on this again in the latter half of the article.

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The Shema — the Center of a Day’s Faith

If the 13 Principles are a scholar’s summary, the core of faith that Jews recite every day is the “Shema.” This is a verse of Deuteronomy, beginning thus.

Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one (Shema Yisrael)

This short verse declares the thoroughgoing monotheism that is the foundation of Judaism. God is one alone, neither plural nor divisible.

In fact, because of this purity of monotheism, Judaism does not accept Christianity’s “Trinity (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit as one God),” as dividing God into three. On the other hand, it resonates deeply, on this point, with Islam’s “tawhid (the oneness of God),” which likewise holds to strict monotheism. How to think of God’s “oneness” is one axis that divides the three religions.

The Sabbath (Shabbat) — the Sacred Day of Doing Nothing

One of the most famous in Jewish practice is the once-weekly Sabbath, “Shabbat.”

This derives from the statement (and the Ten Commandments) that God rested on the seventh day of the creation. From sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday, Jews rest from all “work,” spend time with family, pray, and study. The work meant here includes even acts like lighting a fire, spending money, driving a car, and flipping a light switch, and the more devout the household, the more strictly it is kept.

That the three great monotheisms each make a different day of the week sacred is an interesting contrast.

The Dietary Rules (Kosher)

What greatly characterizes the life of Jews is the dietary rules “kosher (kashrut).” “Kosher” means “fit (good to eat).”

• Pork may not be eaten (the most famous taboo)
• Crustaceans and shellfish such as shrimp, crab, and clams (aquatic animals without fins and scales) may not be eaten
• Meat and dairy may not be eaten together (cheeseburgers and the like are not allowed; cooking utensils are also kept separate)
• Meat for food must be processed by the prescribed manner (shechita)

The point of forbidding pork closely resembles Islam’s dietary rules “halal” (Islam too was influenced by Judaism). On the other hand, Christianity basically sets no dietary taboos. This is because Christianity, at an early stage of its formation, held that “it is not what enters the mouth that defiles a person,” and departed from the dietary law. Whether the law reaches even to the daily table is also a great difference among the three religions.

Rites of Passage — Circumcision and the Bar Mitzvah

A Jew’s life has rites of passage that mark its turning points.

A boy receives circumcision (brit milah) on the eighth day after birth. This is the sign of the Abrahamic covenant seen in the previous Article 2, and the first ritual of entering the covenant with God.

And on reaching 13 years old (12 for girls), one celebrates the “Bar Mitzvah (Bat Mitzvah for girls).” This means “one who bears the commandments,” and is an important ritual corresponding to a coming-of-age ceremony, in which one is held, from this day, to bear the responsibility of keeping the Law oneself as a full Jew.

The Major Festivals

The Jewish year is colored by many festivals derived from the Bible. Let us look at the representative ones.

Among them, Passover is the most important festival, retracing each year the people’s foundational experience of the Exodus. Note that Christianity’s “Last Supper” is in fact held to have been this Passover meal, and here too it can be glimpsed that Judaism is the womb of Christianity.

Daily Prayer, and the Articles That Support Faith

Judaism’s faith is supported not only by festivals a few times a year, but by the prayer and habits of day after day. A devout Jew offers three daily prayers in the morning, midday, and evening, at the center of which is placed the confession of faith “Shema” (“Hear, O Israel: the LORD is our God, the LORD is one” = Deuteronomy chapter 6).

And what supports that prayer as something tangible is distinctive articles derived from the Torah’s commands.

These all literally practice a verse of Deuteronomy: “Bind these words on your hand, fix them on your forehead, and write them on the doorposts of your house.” Living by binding God’s teaching not only to memory in the head, but to every corner of the body and life — here too appears Judaism’s thoroughgoing stance of grasping faith as “practice.”

Awaiting the Messiah (the Savior)

Finally, let me touch on what can be called the core of Judaism’s faith, the “awaiting of the Messiah (the savior).”

Jews believe that one day an ideal leader sent by God, the “Messiah,” will appear, save Israel, and bring peace to the world. What is important is that this Messiah has not yet appeared, and is still awaited.

Here lies the greatest and most decisive difference from Christianity. Christianity believes that “Jesus was that Messiah (Christ).” But Judaism did not acknowledge Jesus as the Messiah. The Greek word meaning “Messiah” is “Christ.” That is, the single point of “whether Jesus is the Messiah or not” divided Judaism and Christianity 2,000 years ago. I compare this greatest issue in still more detail in the next Article 5.

To Learn More

Here are some related books. Reading them alongside this series lets you savor this world even more deeply.

World Mythology for Beginners (illustrated)View on Amazon → The Origins of Religion: Why We Needed a ‘God’View on Amazon →

Conclusion

In this article, I explained in detail the faith and daily practice of Jews. How was it?

Judaism’s faith is summarized in Maimonides’ 13 Principles, and declares the one God in the “Shema” recited every day. And through concrete practice — the Sabbath, kosher, circumcision, and many festivals — it tries to fulfill the way of life of the covenant people.

At its base is the hope of awaiting the Messiah who will surely come one day. This stance of “has not yet come” was the very dividing point from Christianity, which says “has already come.”

In the next Article 5 (the final installment), I will at last compare the three great monotheisms — Judaism, Christianity, and Islam — head-on, and together explain the branches within Judaism and Kabbalah.

Judaism's Original Texts: A Complete Guide to the Tanakh and Talmuden.senkohome.com/myths-religions-origins-judaism/

I hope you’ll read the next article too.