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  "title": "What Does Judaism Teach About God?",
  "summary": "Judaism is the world’s founding monotheism. The nature of the One God is a question on which the tradition speaks in many voices.",
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    "article": {
      "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god",
      "title": "What Does Judaism Teach About God?",
      "deck": "Judaism is the world’s founding monotheism. The nature of the One God is a question on which the tradition speaks in many voices.",
      "summary": "Summary. Judaism affirms one God, indivisible, without form, the Creator of the universe. This is the unambiguous teaching of the Shema, the first principle of Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Faith, and the foundation of every denomination. Beyond this, the tradition is remarkably various: Maimonides’ rationalist God of negative attributes, the Kabbalists’ infinite Ein Sof emanating through the ten Sefirot, the Hasidic God dwelling in every spark of creation, the Mussar God of intimate ethical relationship. The New Jew is invited into the conversation, not assigned a position.",
      "level": "essential",
      "sectionSlug": "essentials",
      "tags": [
        "God",
        "theology",
        "monotheism"
      ],
      "publishedAt": "2026-07-06T02:19:03.001Z",
      "wordCount": 705,
      "readMinutes": 3
    },
    "section": {
      "slug": "foundations",
      "title": "Foundations of Belief"
    },
    "image": {
      "url": "https://pub-73c694f3dc3c4d0ea8f98f090d227a0d.r2.dev/article-images/do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife-ms2zk361-8d4992a2.png",
      "largeUrl": "https://pub-73c694f3dc3c4d0ea8f98f090d227a0d.r2.dev/article-images/do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife-crop-ms8k1krb-8f3e64c7-large.png",
      "thumbUrl": "https://pub-73c694f3dc3c4d0ea8f98f090d227a0d.r2.dev/article-images/do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife-crop-ms8k1krb-8f3e64c7-thumb.png",
      "title": "Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?"
    },
    "blocks": [
      {
        "type": "summary",
        "body": "Summary. Judaism affirms one God, indivisible, without form, the Creator of the universe. This is the unambiguous teaching of the [Shema](/glossary.json#letter-S), the first principle of [Maimonides](/glossary.json#letter-R)’ [Thirteen Principles of Faith](/glossary.json#letter-T), and the foundation of every denomination. Beyond this, the tradition is remarkably various: Maimonides’ rationalist God of negative attributes, the Kabbalists’ infinite [Ein Sof](/glossary.json#letter-E) emanating through the ten [Sefirot](/glossary.json#letter-S), the Hasidic God dwelling in every spark of creation, the [Mussar](/glossary.json#letter-M) God of intimate ethical relationship. The New Jew is invited into the conversation, not assigned a position.",
        "text": "Summary. Judaism affirms one God, indivisible, without form, the Creator of the universe. This is the unambiguous teaching of the Shema, the first principle of Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles of Faith, and the foundation of every denomination. Beyond this, the tradition is remarkably various: Maimonides’ rationalist God of negative attributes, the Kabbalists’ infinite Ein Sof emanating through the ten Sefirot, the Hasidic God dwelling in every spark of creation, the Mussar God of intimate ethical relationship. The New Jew is invited into the conversation, not assigned a position."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The central declaration of Jewish faith is the Shema ([Devarim 6:4](https://www.sefaria.org/Deuteronomy.6.4)): Shema [Yisrael](/glossary.json#letter-Y), [Adonai](/glossary.json#letter-A) [Eloheinu](/glossary.json#letter-E), Adonai Echad — “Hear, O Israel: [Hashem](/glossary.json#letter-H) is our God, Hashem is One.” The Hebrew [echad](/glossary.json#letter-E) carries the weight of singularity, unity, and indivisibility. The Shema is recited twice daily by traditional Jews and is the first verse a Jewish child learns; it is also, by tradition, the last word on a Jew’s lips at death.",
        "text": "The central declaration of Jewish faith is the Shema (Devarim 6:4): Shema Yisrael, Adonai Eloheinu, Adonai Echad — “Hear, O Israel: Hashem is our God, Hashem is One.” The Hebrew echad carries the weight of singularity, unity, and indivisibility. The Shema is recited twice daily by traditional Jews and is the first verse a Jewish child learns; it is also, by tradition, the last word on a Jew’s lips at death."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Maimonides (Rambam, 1138–1204), the towering rationalist of the medieval period, codified the Jewish doctrine of God in the first five of his Thirteen Principles of Faith ([Commentary on Mishnah Sanhedrin, Chapter 10](https://www.sefaria.org/Rambam_on_Mishnah_Sanhedrin.10)): God exists, is one, is incorporeal, is eternal, and is the only being worthy of worship. The Rambam’s God is known principally through what cannot be said — the [via negativa](/glossary.json#letter-V), the way of negation ([Guide for the Perplexed I:50–60](https://www.sefaria.org/Guide_for_the_Perplexed,_Part_1.50)). To say God is “powerful” is to import a human attribute; we can more accurately say that God is not weak.",
        "text": "Maimonides (Rambam, 1138–1204), the towering rationalist of the medieval period, codified the Jewish doctrine of God in the first five of his Thirteen Principles of Faith (Commentary on Mishnah Sanhedrin, Chapter 10): God exists, is one, is incorporeal, is eternal, and is the only being worthy of worship. The Rambam’s God is known principally through what cannot be said — the via negativa, the way of negation (Guide for the Perplexed I:50–60). To say God is “powerful” is to import a human attribute; we can more accurately say that God is not weak."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "The Kabbalistic tradition, developed in twelfth-century Provence and Spain and brought to its full systematic form by [Rabbi Isaac Luria](/glossary.json#letter-T) (the Arizal, 1534–1572) in sixteenth-century Safed, speaks of God in two registers. There is the Ein Sof — the “without end,” the unknowable infinite — and the ten Sefirot, the divine attributes through which the Ein Sof becomes knowable and through which the world is created and sustained. The Sefirot are not separate gods; they are the modes through which the One acts.",
        "text": "The Kabbalistic tradition, developed in twelfth-century Provence and Spain and brought to its full systematic form by Rabbi Isaac Luria (the Arizal, 1534–1572) in sixteenth-century Safed, speaks of God in two registers. There is the Ein Sof — the “without end,” the unknowable infinite — and the ten Sefirot, the divine attributes through which the Ein Sof becomes knowable and through which the world is created and sustained. The Sefirot are not separate gods; they are the modes through which the One acts."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Hasidism](/glossary.json#letter-H), founded by [the Baal Shem Tov](/glossary.json#letter-B) (c. 1698–1760), brought this Kabbalistic God into the lived practice of every Jew. The Baal Shem Tov taught that the divine spark dwells in every person, in every blade of grass, in every act of daily life; the work of the Jew is to elevate the sparks back to their Source through joyful worship, ethical conduct, and mindful presence.",
        "text": "Hasidism, founded by the Baal Shem Tov (c. 1698–1760), brought this Kabbalistic God into the lived practice of every Jew. The Baal Shem Tov taught that the divine spark dwells in every person, in every blade of grass, in every act of daily life; the work of the Jew is to elevate the sparks back to their Source through joyful worship, ethical conduct, and mindful presence."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Modern Jewish thinkers have continued the conversation. [Martin Buber](/glossary.json#letter-M) (1878–1965) framed the encounter with God as the I-Thou relation: God is the eternal Thou whom we meet in genuine encounter with another person. [Abraham Joshua Heschel](/glossary.json#letter-A) (1907–1972) wrote of God in search of man, of the radical amazement that is the proper religious posture, of divine pathos. [Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik](/glossary.json#letter-J) (1903–1993) framed the Jew as simultaneously [Adam I](/glossary.json#letter-A) (the dignified master of nature) and Adam II (the humble covenantal partner with God).",
        "text": "Modern Jewish thinkers have continued the conversation. Martin Buber (1878–1965) framed the encounter with God as the I-Thou relation: God is the eternal Thou whom we meet in genuine encounter with another person. Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972) wrote of God in search of man, of the radical amazement that is the proper religious posture, of divine pathos. Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik (1903–1993) framed the Jew as simultaneously Adam I (the dignified master of nature) and Adam II (the humble covenantal partner with God)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "A New Jew need not pick a school. The conversation itself is the inheritance.",
        "text": "A New Jew need not pick a school. The conversation itself is the inheritance."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Where Denominations Diverge",
        "text": "Where Denominations Diverge"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Orthodox](/glossary.json#letter-O) affirms Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles as foundational. [Conservative Judaism](/glossary.json#letter-C), while affirming a personal God, is hospitable to a wider range of theological positions including process theology and divine limitation. [Reform Judaism](/glossary.json#letter-R) has historically been theologically pluralistic, with classical Reform’s rationalist deism, current Reform’s renewed openness to [Kabbalah](/glossary.json#letter-K) and Hasidism, and a Reform Judaism that finds room for naturalist and humanist Jews. [Reconstructionist Judaism](/glossary.json#letter-R), following [Mordecai Kaplan](/glossary.json#letter-M), often speaks of God as the “power that makes for salvation,” a non-supernatural reading. [Renewal Judaism](/glossary.json#letter-R) is deeply Hasidic and Kabbalistic in flavor, with strong feminist and ecological dimensions.",
        "text": "Orthodox affirms Maimonides’ Thirteen Principles as foundational. Conservative Judaism, while affirming a personal God, is hospitable to a wider range of theological positions including process theology and divine limitation. Reform Judaism has historically been theologically pluralistic, with classical Reform’s rationalist deism, current Reform’s renewed openness to Kabbalah and Hasidism, and a Reform Judaism that finds room for naturalist and humanist Jews. Reconstructionist Judaism, following Mordecai Kaplan, often speaks of God as the “power that makes for salvation,” a non-supernatural reading. Renewal Judaism is deeply Hasidic and Kabbalistic in flavor, with strong feminist and ecological dimensions."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Sources",
        "text": "Sources"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Torah](/glossary.json#letter-T): [Devarim](/glossary.json#letter-D) 6:4 (the Shema).",
        "text": "Torah: Devarim 6:4 (the Shema)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rambam, [Mishneh Torah](/glossary.json#letter-M), [Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1–4](https://www.sefaria.org/Mishneh_Torah,_Foundations_of_the_Torah.1-4).",
        "text": "Rambam, Mishneh Torah, Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 1–4."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rambam, [Moreh Nevuchim](/glossary.json#letter-G) (Guide for the Perplexed) I:50–60.",
        "text": "Rambam, Moreh Nevuchim (Guide for the Perplexed) I:50–60."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rambam, Commentary on [Mishnah](/glossary.json#letter-M) [Sanhedrin](/glossary.json#letter-S) 10 — Thirteen Principles.",
        "text": "Rambam, Commentary on Mishnah Sanhedrin 10 — Thirteen Principles."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rabbi Isaac Luria, [Etz Chaim](https://www.sefaria.org/Sefer_Etz_Chaim) (via [Rabbi Chaim Vital](/glossary.json#letter-C)).",
        "text": "Rabbi Isaac Luria, Etz Chaim (via Rabbi Chaim Vital)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Martin Buber, [I and Thou](/glossary.json#letter-I) (1923).",
        "text": "Martin Buber, I and Thou (1923)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Abraham](/glossary.json#letter-A) Joshua Heschel, [God in Search of Man](/glossary.json#letter-S) (1955).",
        "text": "Abraham Joshua Heschel, God in Search of Man (1955)."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[The Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/332555/jewish/Maimonides-13-Principles-of-Faith.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "The Thirteen Principles of Jewish Faith — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[13 Principles of Faith](https://www.sefaria.org/topics/13-principles-of-faith) — Sefaria.",
        "text": "13 Principles of Faith — Sefaria."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[The Sefirot](https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/361885/jewish/The-Sefirot.htm) — Chabad.org.",
        "text": "The Sefirot — Chabad.org."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "[Kabbalah: The Ten Sefirot of the Kabbalah](https://jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-ten-sefirot-of-the-kabbalah) — Jewish Virtual Library.",
        "text": "Kabbalah: The Ten Sefirot of the Kabbalah — Jewish Virtual Library."
      },
      {
        "type": "heading",
        "body": "Further Reading",
        "text": "Further Reading"
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Rifat Sonsino and Daniel B. Syme, Finding God: Selected Responses.",
        "text": "Rifat Sonsino and Daniel B. Syme, Finding God: Selected Responses."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Arthur Green, [Ehyeh](/glossary.json#letter-E): A Kabbalah for Tomorrow.",
        "text": "Arthur Green, Ehyeh: A Kabbalah for Tomorrow."
      },
      {
        "type": "paragraph",
        "body": "Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy — for a chapter-length introduction.",
        "text": "Joseph Telushkin, Jewish Literacy — for a chapter-length introduction."
      }
    ],
    "related": [
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew",
        "title": "Who is a Jew?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife",
        "title": "Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus",
        "title": "Why Do Jews Not Believe in Jesus?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha",
        "title": "What Is Halacha?",
        "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha.json"
      }
    ],
    "goDeeper": [
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world",
        "title": "Why Did God Create the World?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam",
        "title": "What Is Tikkun Olam?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam.json"
      },
      {
        "slug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar",
        "title": "What Is Mussar?",
        "level": "deeper",
        "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar.json"
      }
    ],
    "glossary": {
      "god-in-search-of-man": {
        "term": "God in Search of Man",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Abraham Joshua Heschel's 1955 work reverses the usual religious question, arguing that the deeper truth of faith is not humanity searching for God but God in search of humanity — a summons answered through \"radical amazement\" at the ordinary.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "abraham-joshua-heschel": {
        "term": "Abraham Joshua Heschel",
        "hebrew": "אברהם יהושע השל",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Abraham Joshua Heschel (1907–1972), a descendant of Hasidic dynasties who became a leading voice of 20th-century American Judaism, wrote of a God \"in search of man\" and of Shabbat as \"a palace in time\"; his sense of radical amazement at the ordinary shaped a generation of Jewish theology and interfaith dialogue.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "adam-i-and-adam-ii": {
        "term": "Adam I and Adam II",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Joseph Soloveitchik's paired archetypes, from his essay \"The Lonely Man of Faith\": Adam I is the confident, dignified conqueror of nature, while Adam II is the lonely, humble covenantal partner who stands before God. Soloveitchik argued that a full religious life must hold both together.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "adonai": {
        "term": "Adonai",
        "hebrew": "אֲדֹנָי",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally 'my Lord' — the name of God traditionally spoken in prayer and Torah reading in place of the four-letter divine name, which is never pronounced.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "avraham": {
        "term": "Avraham",
        "hebrew": "אברהם",
        "translit": "Abraham",
        "definition": "Avraham, the first patriarch, is revered in Jewish tradition as the founder of ethical monotheism and is honored as the spiritual father of every convert to Judaism; a new Jew by choice traditionally takes the Hebrew name \"ben\" or \"bat Avraham.\"",
        "moreSlug": "community-conversion-to-judaism"
      },
      "baal-shem-tov": {
        "term": "Baal Shem Tov",
        "hebrew": "בעל שם טוב",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (c. 1698–1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov (\"Master of the Good Name\"), founded Hasidism among the villages of Ukraine, teaching that a divine spark dwells in every person and every blade of grass and can be elevated through joyful worship and everyday deeds.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "chaim-vital": {
        "term": "Chaim Vital",
        "hebrew": "חיים ויטאל",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Chaim Vital (1543–1620) was the primary disciple of the Arizal and the compiler of Etz Chaim, the systematic written record of his teacher's oral Kabbalistic teachings, without which Lurianic Kabbalah might not have survived in its detailed form.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "conservative-judaism": {
        "term": "Conservative Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Conservative Judaism holds Halacha as binding while empowering its Committee on Jewish Law and Standards to adapt Jewish law to modern circumstances through rabbinic enactments (takkanot) — a deliberate middle path between Orthodox and Reform approaches to Jewish law.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "devarim": {
        "term": "Devarim",
        "hebrew": "דְּבָרִים",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The fifth book of the Torah — Deuteronomy — consisting of Moshe's farewell addresses. The name means 'words.'",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "ehyeh": {
        "term": "Ehyeh",
        "hebrew": "אֶהְיֶה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The name by which God answers Moshe at the burning bush — 'Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh,' 'I Will Be What I Will Be' (Shemot 3:14) — a name that is a promise of presence rather than a definition.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "ein-sof": {
        "term": "Ein Sof",
        "hebrew": "אֵין סוֹף",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'Without end' — Kabbalah's name for God as the Infinite, beyond all attributes and description, from whom the ten Sefirot emanate.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "eloheinu": {
        "term": "Eloheinu",
        "hebrew": "אֱלֹהֵינוּ",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'Our God' — the possessive form of Elohim, familiar from the Shema and from the opening of nearly every blessing: 'Adonai Eloheinu, King of the universe.'",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "guide-for-the-perplexed": {
        "term": "Guide for the Perplexed",
        "hebrew": "מורה נבוכים",
        "translit": "Moreh Nevuchim",
        "definition": "The Rambam's philosophical masterwork argues that God can be described only through negation — saying what God is not rather than what God is — and works to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with Torah faith for readers troubled by any apparent conflict between the two.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "hashem": {
        "term": "Hashem",
        "hebrew": "הַשֵּׁם",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Literally \"the Name\" — the everyday reverent way Jews refer to God outside of prayer, avoiding casual use of the divine names.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "hasidism": {
        "term": "Hasidism",
        "hebrew": "חֲסִידוּת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The mystical revival movement founded by the Baal Shem Tov in 18th-century Eastern Europe, teaching that God can be served with joy in every act and every person. Its communities, each led by a Rebbe, remain a major force in Jewish life.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-hasidism-vs-mitnagdism"
      },
      "i-and-thou": {
        "term": "I and Thou",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Martin Buber's 1923 philosophical work distinguishes the \"I-Thou\" relation — a genuine, mutual encounter — from the \"I-It\" relation of using or analyzing an object, and applies this distinction to describe the human encounter with God.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "joseph-soloveitchik": {
        "term": "Joseph Soloveitchik",
        "hebrew": "יוסף דב הלוי סולובייצ'יק",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik (1903–1993), known to his students as \"the Rav,\" was the towering figure of 20th-century Modern Orthodoxy; his framing of the Jew as both dignified \"Adam I\" and covenantal \"Adam II\" remains a touchstone of Modern Orthodox thought.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "kabbalah": {
        "term": "Kabbalah",
        "hebrew": "קַבָּלָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Jewish mystical tradition — literally \"that which is received\" — whose central text is the Zohar and whose distinctive teachings include the ten Sefirot and the infinite Ein Sof.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-kabbalah"
      },
      "martin-buber": {
        "term": "Martin Buber",
        "hebrew": "מרטין בובר",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Martin Buber (1878–1965), the Austrian-born Jewish philosopher, framed the encounter with God as an \"I-Thou\" relation — a genuine, mutual meeting rather than an object to be known about — in his enormously influential 1923 book I and Thou.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "mishnah": {
        "term": "Mishnah",
        "hebrew": "מִשְׁנָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The first great written compilation of the Oral Torah, organized by Rabbi Yehudah HaNasi around 200 CE into six orders; together with the Gemara it forms the Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-facts-the-talmud-in-one-article"
      },
      "mishneh-torah": {
        "term": "Mishneh Torah",
        "hebrew": "מִשְׁנֵה תּוֹרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Rambam's monumental 12th-century code of Jewish law — the first work to organize the whole of Halacha systematically, from prayer to Temple service.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "mordecai-kaplan": {
        "term": "Mordecai Kaplan",
        "hebrew": "מרדכי קפלן",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Mordecai Kaplan (1881–1983), an American rabbi and theologian, founded Reconstructionist Judaism and reconceived Jewish peoplehood and God in naturalistic terms — describing God, in one formulation, as \"the power that makes for salvation\" rather than a supernatural being.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "mussar": {
        "term": "Mussar",
        "hebrew": "מוּסָר",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Jewish discipline of character refinement — the tradition of examining and training one's middot (traits), formalized as a movement in 19th-century Lithuania by Rabbi Yisrael Salanter.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar"
      },
      "orthodox-judaism": {
        "term": "Orthodox Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Orthodox Judaism holds Halacha as fully binding and the Shulchan Aruch as its canonical code; it spans Haredi and Hasidic communities as well as Modern Orthodoxy, and is the starting point from which this Field Guide is written, even as it engages seriously with other denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "rambam": {
        "term": "Rambam",
        "hebrew": "רמב״ם",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon (1138–1204), known by the acronym Rambam and in the Latin West as Maimonides, was the towering rationalist codifier and philosopher of medieval Judaism — author of the legal code Mishneh Torah and the philosophical Guide for the Perplexed. His formulation of God's unity and incorporeality remains foundational to Jewish theology across denominations.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-what-does-judaism-teach-about-god"
      },
      "reconstructionist-judaism": {
        "term": "Reconstructionist Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Founded by Mordecai Kaplan, Reconstructionist Judaism understands Judaism as an evolving religious civilization rather than a fixed set of supernatural commandments, and was an early adopter of patrilineal descent and full gender egalitarianism.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "reform-judaism": {
        "term": "Reform Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Reform Judaism treats Halacha as a source of values and meaning rather than binding law, emphasizing individual autonomy, ethical monotheism, and tikkun olam; it was the first movement to fully recognize patrilineal descent and ordain women as rabbis.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "renewal-judaism": {
        "term": "Renewal Judaism",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Jewish Renewal is a small but influential movement drawing deeply on Hasidism and Kabbalah, combined with feminist and ecological commitments and an experimental, often neo-Hasidic approach to prayer and spirituality.",
        "moreSlug": "how-to-use-this-field-guide"
      },
      "sanhedrin": {
        "term": "Sanhedrin",
        "hebrew": "סַנְהֶדְרִין",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The great court of ancient Israel — seventy-one sages who served as the supreme authority in Jewish law during the Second Temple period and after.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "sefirot": {
        "term": "Sefirot",
        "hebrew": "סְפִירוֹת",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "In Kabbalah, the ten emanations or attributes — such as chesed (love) and gevurah (strength) — through which the infinite God relates to creation.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-kabbalah"
      },
      "shema": {
        "term": "Shema",
        "hebrew": "שְׁמַע",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The central declaration of Jewish faith — 'Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One' — recited with its Torah paragraphs every morning and evening.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-prayers-the-shema"
      },
      "arizal": {
        "term": "The Arizal",
        "hebrew": "האר\"י ז\"ל",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Rabbi Isaac Luria (1534-1572), the towering kabbalist of 16th-century Safed whose teachings -- including tzimtzum, shevirat hakelim, and tikkun -- reshaped Jewish mysticism; he wrote almost nothing himself, and his system survives through the writings of his student Rabbi Chaim Vital.",
        "moreSlug": "going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-kabbalah"
      },
      "thirteen-principles-of-faith": {
        "term": "Thirteen Principles of Faith",
        "hebrew": "שלושה עשר עיקרים",
        "translit": "Shloshah Asar Ikkarim",
        "definition": "Maimonides' enumeration of Judaism's core beliefs — God's existence, unity, and incorporeality, revelation, reward, the Messiah, and resurrection among them — later condensed into the Ani Ma'amin and Yigdal of the siddur.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "torah": {
        "term": "Torah",
        "hebrew": "תּוֹרָה",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The Five Books of Moses — the scroll at the center of Jewish life — and, more broadly, the whole of Jewish teaching. 'Learning Torah' can mean anything from Chumash to Talmud.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "yisrael-the-name": {
        "term": "Yisrael",
        "hebrew": "ישראל",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "Yisrael, the name given to the patriarch Yaakov after he wrestled with a divine being (Bereshit 32:29), means roughly \"one who wrestles with God\" and became the name of the Jewish people as a whole — a people defined, on this reading, by struggle and engagement rather than easy certainty.",
        "moreSlug": "essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew"
      },
      "echad": {
        "term": "echad",
        "hebrew": "אֶחָד",
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "'One' — the final word of the Shema's first line, declaring God's absolute oneness. Saying it with full intention is the heart of the verse.",
        "moreSlug": null
      },
      "via-negativa": {
        "term": "via negativa",
        "hebrew": null,
        "translit": null,
        "definition": "The 'negative way' of speaking about God — describing what God is not rather than what God is. Maimonides made it central to Jewish theology: God's essence exceeds every positive description.",
        "moreSlug": null
      }
    }
  },
  "links": [
    {
      "rel": "parent",
      "title": "Foundations of Belief",
      "href": "/sections/foundations.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Who is a Jew?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-who-is-a-jew.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Do Jews Believe in an Afterlife?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-do-jews-believe-in-an-afterlife.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Why Do Jews Not Believe in Jesus?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-why-do-jews-not-believe-in-jesus.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "What Is Halacha?",
      "href": "/articles/essentials-essential-questions-what-is-halacha.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "Why Did God Create the World?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-why-did-god-create-the-world.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "What Is Tikkun Olam?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-tikkun-olam.json"
    },
    {
      "rel": "related",
      "title": "What Is Mussar?",
      "href": "/articles/going-deeper-deeper-questions-what-is-mussar.json"
    }
  ]
}