What are the central beliefs and doctrines in Judaism?

BlackJack: What are the central beliefs and doctrines in Judaism?
I’ve heard they don’t have much doctrines regarding the afterlife, and of course many of the practices that you read about in the old testament are longer in place, so what is Judaism all about these days? Are they still waiting for a messiah?

Answers and Views:

Answer by johnno
You will find everything you need to know in the Old Testament of most Bibles

read

Answer by HUMANIST
No I can’t say because I have already received 3 violations today

Answer by Terry
Way too much to write. Some are waiting, some are not.

check out www.jewfaq.org

Answer by Justin Ross
The closest that anyone has ever come to creating a widely-accepted list of Jewish beliefs is Rambam’s thirteen principles of faith. Rambam’s thirteen principles of faith, which he thought were the minimum requirements of Jewish belief, are:

G-d exists
G-d is one and unique
G-d is incorporeal
G-d is eternal
Prayer is to be directed to G-d alone and to no other
The words of the prophets are true
Moses’ prophecies are true, and Moses was the greatest of the prophets
The Written Torah (first 5 books of the Bible) and Oral Torah (teachings now contained in the Talmud and other writings) were given to Moses
There will be no other Torah
G-d knows the thoughts and deeds of men
G-d will reward the good and punish the wicked
The Messiah will come
The dead will be resurrected
As you can see, these are very basic and general principles. Yet as basic as these principles are, the necessity of believing each one of these has been disputed at one time or another, and the liberal movements of Judaism dispute many of these principles

Unlike many other religions, Judaism does not focus much on abstract cosmological concepts. Although Jews have certainly considered the nature of G-d, man, the universe, life and the afterlife at great length (see Kabbalah and Jewish Mysticism), there is no mandated, official, definitive belief on these subjects, outside of the very general concepts discussed above. There is substantial room for personal opinion on all of these matters, because as I said before, Judaism is more concerned about actions than beliefs.

Answer by Jerico
we are still waiting for a messiah.

Answer by DS M
As Terry said, check out

Judaism 101 which says,

***It is important to note that being a Jew has nothing to do with what you believe or what you do….a person born to a Jewish mother who is an atheist and never practices the Jewish religion is still a Jew, even in the eyes of the ultra-Orthodox.*** https://www.jewfaq.org/whoisjew.htm

So there are no central beliefs and doctrines in Judaism as Atheist Jews, Reform Jews, Scriptural Jews, Orthodox Jews, and Conservative Jews can agree.

Take the scriptures for example. Atheist Jews will not believe they are from God. Cher was here JPA, a Reform Jew give this explanation in one of her answers,

***I don’t feel comfortable following commandments in the intense Orthodox way because it doesn’t match my sense of what’s true in the world. When I mix in observations from science, I see Orthodoxy as very complete in & of itself… but doesn’t incorporation the questions I have. I see Torah as a mixture of stories, an amazing set of conclusions coming out of them, but people written (unsure on the God inspired or the inspiration was in how it was held & used.) And other things like this.***

Rabbis don’t believe the Great Shepherd of Israel leads His people in the making of day to day decisions.
Prophets lead the Chosen People daily…whether the people would listen was the question.

Rabbis don’t know what the Creator of the Universe made them to do.
Prophets did and did it.

Rabbis believe in Maimonides’ 13
Scripture doesn’t

Examples:

Principle III. The denial of physicality in connection with God: ***This is the third pillar and is attested to by the verse, “For you saw no image” meaning that you did not see an image or any form when you stood at Sinai because as we have just said, He has no body, nor power of the body.*** https://www.mesora.org/13principles.html

Scripture:

Genesis 18:***1 “And HaShem appeared unto him by the terebinths of Mamre,”
Genesis 18:***9 And they said unto him: ‘Where is Sarah thy wife?’ And he said: ‘Behold, in the tent.’ 10 And He said: ‘I will certainly return unto thee when the season cometh round; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son.’ And Sarah heard in the tent door, which was behind him.– 11 Now Abraham and Sarah were old, and well stricken in age; it had ceased to be with Sarah after the manner of women.–12 And Sarah laughed within herself, saying: ‘After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?’ 13 And HaShem said unto Abraham: ‘Wherefore did Sarah laugh, saying: Shall I of a surety bear a child, who am old? https://www.hareidi.org/bible/Genesis18.htm

Ex 24: ***9 Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel;
10 and they saw the G-d of Israel; https://www.hareidi.org/bible/Exodus24.htm#1

Principle VI. Prophecy ***And this is that it is known to man that this (prophet) is a type of man who are created beings of great stature and perfection of the character traits. Who have tremendous knowledge until a different intelligence attaches to them when the intelligence of the person clings to the intelligence of God and it rests upon him.***

Scripture

1 Sam 16:***14 Now the spirit of HaShem had departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from HaShem terrified him. *** https://www.hareidi.org/bible/1_Samuel16.htm#14

1 Sam 19:***And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. And Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied. 22 Then went he also to Ramah, and came to the great cistern that is in Secu; and he asked and said: ‘Where are Samuel and David?’ And one said: ‘Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.’ 23 And he went thither to Naioth in Ramah; and the spirit of G-d came upon him also, and he went on, and prophesied, until he came to Naioth in Ramah.*** https://www.hareidi.org/bible/1_Samuel19.htm

Temple:

***Modern Jews, on the other hand, reject the idea of rebuilding the Temple and resuming sacrifices. They call their houses of prayer “temples,” believing that such houses of worship are the only temples we need, the only temples we will ever have, and are equivalent to the Temple in Jerusalem. This idea is very offensive to some traditional Jews, which is why you should be very careful when using the word Temple to describe a Jewish place of worship.*** https://www.jewfaq.org/shul.htm

And this list goes on

Hope this helps