... Thirteen Principals of Faith ...

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Maimonides compiles what he refers to as the Shloshah-Asar Ikkarim, the Thirteen Articles of Faith.
These are compiled from Judaism's 613 commandments found in the Torah.
The Thirteen Articles of Jewish faith are as follows:

  1. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is the Creator and Ruler of all things. He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.

  2. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is One. There is no unity that is in any way like His. He alone is our G-d He was, He is, and He will be.

  3. I believe with perfect faith that G-d does not have a body. physical concepts do not apply to Him. There is nothing whatsoever that resembles Him at all.

  4. I believe with perfect faith that G-d is first and last.

  5. I believe with perfect faith that it is only proper to pray to G-d. One may not pray to anyone or anything else.

  6. I believe with prefect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.

  7. I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses is absolutely true. He was the chief of all prophets, both before and after Him.

  8. I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that we now have is that which was given to Moses.

  9. I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be changed, and that there will never be another given by G-d.

  10. I believe with perfect faith that G-d knows all of man's deeds and thoughts. It is thus written (Psalm 33:15), "He has molded every heart together, He understands what each one does."

  11. I believe with perfect faith that G-d rewards those who keep His commandments, and punishes those who transgress Him.

  12. I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah. How long it takes, I will await His coming every day.

  13. I believe with perfect faith that the dead will be brought back to life when G-d wills it to happen.

The following famous story from the Talmud best summarizes the essence of Judaism. A non-Jew asked Rabbi Hillel to teach him all about the Torah while standing on one foot. Rabbi Hillel said: "What is hateful to you, don't do unto your neighbor. The rest is commentary. Now, go and study."


A QUICKIE LESSON ON THE NUMBER 613
For more information, you too can visit Wikipedia

The 613 Mitzvot (Hebrew: Taryag Mitzvot, "613 commandments") are statements and principles of law and ethics contained in the Torah or Five Books of Moses. These principles of Biblical law are sometimes called commandments (mitzvot) or collectively as the "Law of Moses" (Torat Moshe, "the Law" (though these terms are ambiguous and also applied to the Torah itself).

Although there have been many attempts to codify and enumerate the commandments contained in the Torah, the traditional view is based on Maimonides' enumeration. The 613 commandments are either "positive commandments" to perform an act (mitzvot aseh) or "negative commandments" to abstain from certain acts (mitzvot lo taaseh). Regarding 613, there are 365 negative commandments, corresponding to the number of days in a solar year, and 248 positive commandments, ascribed to the number of bones and significant organs in the human body. Though the number 613 is mentioned in the Talmud, its real significance increased in later medieval rabbinic literature, including many works listing or arranged by the mitzvot.

Many of the mitzvot cannot be observed following the destruction of the Second Temple, though they still retain religious significance. According to one standard reckoning, there are 77 negative and 194 positive commandments that can be observed today. There are 26 commands that apply only within the Land of Israel. Furthermore, there are some time-based commandments from which women are exempt (examples include shofar, sukkah, lulav, tzitzit and tefillin). Some depend on the special status of a person in Judaism (such as kohanim), while others apply only to men and others only to women.


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