Shalom Kitat Dov! שלום כיתת דוב!
Continuing our discussion about Rambam, please read his Thirteen Principles of Faith on pages 17 and 18 of the source book. Please pick one (or two) that you most identify with and explain why in the comment section below. תודה רבה!
"I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, rewards with good those who observe His commandments, and punishes those who violate His commandments." I most identify with this principle, because while I don't think you will be punished for breaking commandments, I do think that God has good things in store for people who do good in this world. I also think that bad things will eventually happen to people who break laws or are bad people. For example, if you help the homeless, or serve in a soup kitchen, I believe that you will be in some way rewarded for your actions.
ReplyDeleteI think I most identify with the principle of faith that states: "I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His name is unique, and there is no uniqueness like His in any way, and that He alone is our God, Who was, Who is, and Who is always will be. " I can identify with this principle the most because for me, the God that I pray to and relate to seems to be the same God that made the heaven and earth in 7 days and that gave Moses the Torah on Mount Sinai. I consider God to be permanent and omnipotent. I also believe that there is no other God like the one powerful God.
ReplyDeleteI do not feel that I strongly identify with any of these principles of faith, but if I had to choose one I would choose "I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His name, is not physical and is not affected by physical phenomena, and that there is no comparison whatsoever to Him." I do not believe that God is a person, and I'm not even sure if God exists, but I do like to believe in some sort of higher power, who is obviously not human. So yes, there is nothing like God because it is people believing in a non human higher power that you cannot see or prove- there is no way to compare that to anything else.
ReplyDeleteI chose Principle #3: "I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, is not physical and is not affected by physical phenomena and that there is not comparison whatsoever to him." I most identify with this one because my view of God is most similar to this statement. I feel like God (if God even exists) would be some force of nature beyond our comprehension, sort of like a karmic force.
ReplyDeleteEven though I do not believe strongly in these faith, I chose Principle #9, "I believe with complete faith that this Torah will not be exchanged nor will there be another Torah from the Creator, Blessed his Name." The reason why I do not strongly agree with these Principles is because it's very religious and strict. It's almost saying if you do not believe in these Principles, your not a real Jew. I choose 9 because I do believe that the Torah should only be the Jewish one book; no other.
ReplyDeleteI agree with a lot of the other comments because I personally find a lot of the principles to be very stationary. Out of the thirteen, I would have to choose number 3 to be the one I agree with most. "I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is not physical and is not affected by physical phenomena, and that there is no comparison whatsoever to Him." I personally have no idea what my opinion is when comes to God. As someone who is still trying to figure out if I even believe in God, I definitely don't think that God takes a physical form. I also think that the idea of God itself cannot be made into a tangible concept comparable to physical aspects of the world.
ReplyDeleteI mostly identify with the the 9th principle of faith. This principle says "I believe with complete faith that this Torah will not be exchanged nor will there be another Torah from the Creator, blessed is his name". I believe this principle is completely true for us as Jewish people. The Torah is one of the most important parts of Judaism today. However, this might not be true for other religions considering the fact that the Bible and Karan came after the Torah was given.
ReplyDeleteI do not personally agree or identify with any of the principles, but if I had to choose one it would be number 3 "I believe in complete faith that the created, blessed is His name, is not physical and is not affected by physical phenomena, and that there is no comparison whatsoever to him. Having to choose one of these was hard, because I do not know yet if I believe in a God, however I feel confident that if there is a God he does not take a physical form. I believe that God is a state of mind that people have, a form of comfort that they turn towards. God is in our minds and can constantly change depending on what we need in the moment that we are praying to him.
ReplyDeleteI most identified with the the 11th principle of faith. This pillar states that those who do good dears will be rewarded and those who do bad will be punished. This is one of the aspects of religion I really agree with and support. I think it is good that Judaism supports doing good deeds, even if this is by threatening those who do bad. This principle relates a lot to karma, which interests me a lot. I don't believe there is an entity punishing and rewarding us but I do believe what goes around comes around, which is what this principle shows. This idea of encouraging good behavior is one of the great things about religion.
ReplyDeleteThe third principle of faith is the one that resonates with me the most. It states that got is not physical, is not physically affected by things, and can not be compared to anything. I agree with this because I have a non-existent, or at least loose, concept of god. So for me it is very meaningful that I don't have to compare god to anything or need to try to personify this being.
ReplyDelete"I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name- to Him alone it is proper to pray and it is not proper to pray to any other." I resonate with this principle as I feel that, at least for me, it is important to be loyal to my Judaism. Of course, I enjoy learning about other faiths and becoming more educated and less close-minded. However, I feel most comfortable with Judaism, and I would not want to ruin this bond that I have by immersing myself in a different culture. In my opinion, there is a large difference between being educated about something and taking part in a culture. Thus, I feel that this principle is fair. Hannah Hirsch
ReplyDeleteOne of the principals of faith that struck me was "I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His name, is not physical and is not affected by physical phenomena, and that there is no comparison whatsoever to Him." When I think of God or associate any kind of holy presence in my life, I don't picture some kind of condemning hand that can control the physical actions we make, or be the cause behind a natural or man made disaster. The spiritual presence I feel, is more a connection between people, or a relationship with God in being a moral person. I'm not sure of the extent that I believe in God or the abilities entailed in his being, but I do think that all moral or spiritual associations are within one higher power, and there is none like it.
ReplyDeleteMaimonides and I see Judaism very differently; his thirteen principles of faith directly conflict with my observance of Judaism. As a religious, tradition loving Jew, I practice an atheistic Judaism. While most of the principles are theocentric, the ninth one can be isolated to a more tangible idea. I believe that the Torah will always be the main "Jewish book" and it won't be replaced by any other text.
ReplyDeleteThe principle of faith that stuck out to me was number 13, "I believe with complete faith that the Creator, Blessed is His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and their thoughts, as it is said 'He fashions their hearts all together, He comprehends all their deeds'" because I truly believe that not all good things that you do need to be talked about because something greater than us already knows. Not gloating about it, and just doing deeds brings people together, or as the text says, fashions our hearts together. I also believe that G-d really does hear all of our prayers even if they aren't said aloud, but remain in our thoughts.
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