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A number of formulations of Jewish beliefs have appeared, and there is some dispute over the number of basic principles. Rabbi Joseph Albo , for instance, in Sefer Ha-Ikkarim ( c. 1425 CE ) counts three principles of faith, while Maimonides (1138–1204) lists thirteen.
At the core of Judaism is the belief in a single, omniscient, omnipotent, and benevolent God, who created the universe and continues to govern it. In 2007, the world Jewish population was estimated to be 13.2 million people—41 percent in Israel and the other 59 percent in the diaspora .
It comprises cultural values, basic human values, mythology and religious beliefs of both Judaism and Christianity [53] Literary and theatrical expressions of secular Jewish culture may be in specifically Jewish languages such as Hebrew, Yiddish, Judeo-Tat or Ladino, or it may be in the language of the surrounding cultures, such as English or ...
Judaism guides its adherents in both practice and belief, and has been called not only a religion, but also a "way of life," [184] which has made drawing a clear distinction between Judaism, Jewish culture, and Jewish identity rather difficult.
Accordingly, Jewish identity can be ethnic or cultural in nature. Jewish identity can involve ties to the Jewish community. Orthodox Judaism bases Jewishness on matrilineal descent. According to Jewish law , all those born of a Jewish mother are considered Jewish, regardless of personal beliefs or level of observance of Jewish law.
The Torah is both disagreed with and questioned. Humanistic Jews believe that the entire Jewish experience, and not only the Torah, should be studied as a source for Jewish behavior and ethical values. [24] Some Jews believe that gentiles are bound by a subset of halakha called the Seven Laws of Noah, also referred to as the Noahide Laws. They ...
Ugaritic mythology – The Levant region was inhabited by people who themselves referred to the land as "ca-na-na-um" as early as the mid-third millennium BCE; Ancient semitic religions – The term ancient Semitic religion encompasses the polytheistic religions of the Semitic speaking peoples of the ancient Near East and Northeast Africa.
According to Kabbalistic belief, early kabbalistic knowledge was transmitted orally by the Patriarchs, prophets, and sages, eventually to be "interwoven" into Jewish religious writings and culture. [18] According to this view, early kabbalah was, in around the 10th century BCE, an open knowledge practiced by over a million people in ancient Israel.