Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon —known in Hebrew by his acronym “Rambam,” and in English as “Maimonides” —was the Jewish star of the twelfth 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 thirteen 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’ thirteen principles: 1: G-d exists. G-d is the essence of perfection and the Primary Cause of all existence. 2: G-d is One. He is not a composite or divisible, but the most absolute and unparalleled unity. 3: G-d is non-corporeal. He has no body or parts, and all references to G-d couched in the terms of human experience —such as movement, rest, seeing, and speaking—are metaphors. 4: G-d is eternal. This also means that nothing pre-existed G-d or brought G-d into being. That precludes worshipping any entity or force that G-d created or that we have imagined. It takes hard work to become spiritually fit for prophecy, and even then, communication is entirely G-d’s choice and initiative. 7: The prophecy of Moses is supreme. G-d chose him from all humanity, for all of time, to receive the highest degree of prophetic experience. 8: The Torah is of divine origin. The Torah scroll’s every word, along with the explanations that Moses delivered to us orally, is all from G-d’s mouth. 9: The Torah is not susceptible to change. It was delivered by G-d in deliberate form, and never can or will be amended in any way. 10: G-d knows everything. This includes G-d’s active attention to each individual, at every moment. 11: G-d rewards and penalizes. G-d communicated His expectations and gave us the ability to choose. He assures that our choices bear consequences. 12: 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. 13: There will be a resurrection of the dead. At some point, G-d 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 G-d as the Primary Cause of existence, and conclude with a perfected world. Our ancient sages revealed that the reason that G-d created all that exists is for us to actively build the perfected world of the Messianic era.
