Affirmation of Classical Judaism
Classical Judaism, for our intents and purposes, refers to the Covenant between God and Israel as recorded in the Torah and as understood by the righteous of ancient Israel who's words are preserved for us in the Hebrew Bible and in ancient rabbinic literature. Although it is true that the Covenant of Torah does not focus on dogmatic beliefs, there are certain convictions that acceptance of the Covenant is predicated upon, which those faithful to the Covenant maintain, and which those who reject these convictions tend to be unfaithful to the Covenant. These are they:
​
-
The Absolute Existence of the highest Reality, the 'Bedrock' of all existence, the Ultimate Reality upon which all other realities depend; this Ultimate Reality is the only absolute and timeless Reality, fundamentally different from all other existences. This Absolute Existence revealed itself to Israel by the name YHWH, a name which conveys Timeless Absolute Existence.
-
The Absolute Existence, YHWH, is One to the exclusion of all others; One, not chosen from a group of many, but One because there is no possibility for another; One because this One is sufficient for creating and sustaining all existence; One because this One transcends time and space and is the Creator of it - whereas plurality of being can only exist with things that are subject to time and space; if He were plural then He would, by definition, be subject to time and space, which would, by definition, mean *not* Timeless Absolute Existence. This section can also be expressed as 3 principles:
a. God's Singularity (Oneness without partner or comparison)
b. God is incorporeal, meaning the essence (reality) of God is not physical, neither a form or a body, nor a power contained in a body; nor that He will be affected by any physical occurrences, such as movement, or rest, or dwelling, or location.
c. God's existence is timeless, without beginning or end - ETERNAL.
And these 3 principles are 1, perceived as plural only due to the limitations of human speech, but all synonymous in reality. -
To worship only the Absolute Timeless Reality and pray to Him alone, without ascribing partners to Him who share receiving the worship due to YHWH alone -- the rejection of all forms of idolatry, including serving the true God in a manner contrary to what He proscribed in Torah.
-
God imparts His will and guidance to humanity through chosen prophets.
-
The primacy of the prophecy God gave through Moses our teacher -- that all of God's everlasting commandments were given to Israel through Moses, and no true prophet will claim to receive 'new revelation' adding to those everlasting commandments that God gave Moses, nor will a true prophet cancel the commandments God gave Israel through Moses.
-
The Torah, the core text of the Hebrew Bible and the constitution of the People of Israel, was divinely revealed to Moses by God and is not simply the imaginations of men.
-
The Torah is applicable, valid, and unalterable, forever, for all generations, as an everlasting Covenant between God and Israel - and the judicial and legislative system established by God in the Torah itself is inseparable from proper Torah observance.
-
God is all-knowing and oversees the universe.
-
Cause and effect - God rewards the righteous and punishes the wicked, ensuring moral order.
-
Belief in God’s omniscience (knowledge of all deeds), which like the first two, is part and parcel with His Incorporeal Oneness.
-
An anointed leader will usher in an era of peace and divine closeness as an outgrowth of world wide embracing of God's Torah and walking in God's ways -- and this anointed leader ('messiah') will not create a new religion or alter the Torah, nor make himself the central focus of people's religious devotion, HaShem yishmor.
-
the Resurrection of the Dead - that YHWH is the author of life and master over all existence -- that reviving the dead is not more difficult for God than bringing about the 'Big Bang'.