What Do Orthodox Jews Believe? Core Principles of Faith

People ask me all the time: "What do Jews actually believe?" It is a fair question. You hear a lot about what Orthodox Jews do — the kosher food, the Shabbat candles, the black hats — but the beliefs underneath all of that? Those are the engine that drives everything.

So let me walk you through Orthodox Judaism beliefs from the inside. Not as a textbook, but as someone who lives these beliefs every single day.

What Does a Jew Believe In?

A Jew believes in one G-d — indivisible, non-physical, involved with the world — who gave the Torah at Mount Sinai and made conduct the heart of religion. That is the answer I would give you at a bus stop; here is the slightly longer version. A Jew believes that G-d asks something concrete of us: the mitzvot, the commandments that turn faith into daily action — honesty in business, rest on Shabbat, charity, guarded speech, holiness inside ordinary life. A Jew believes in accountability: every choice matters, and every person answers for their deeds, in this life and after it. Righteous people of every nation have a share in the World to Come, which is why Judaism doesn't missionize. And history is going somewhere: toward Mashiach and a repaired world.

Everything below is that paragraph, unpacked — the Orthodox understanding of Jewish belief, in depth.

The Rambam's 13 Principles of Faith

If you want the foundation of Jewish belief in one place, you go to the Rambam — Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, also known as Maimonides. He was a towering Torah scholar of the twelfth century, and he distilled all of Jewish belief into thirteen principles. These are not suggestions. According to the Rambam, if you do not accept these thirteen principles, you have stepped outside the boundaries of Torah-observant Judaism.

Every Orthodox Jew knows these. We sing them, we recite them, we teach them to our children. Here they are:

1. G-d exists. He is the Creator and Leader of everything that was, is, and will ever be.
2. G-d is One. There is no unity like His. He alone is our G-d.
3. G-d has no body. No physical form, no physical properties. Nothing in the material world can be compared to Him.
4. G-d is eternal. He was first and will be last.
5. Only G-d deserves prayer. It is proper to pray to Him alone, and to no other being.
6. The words of the prophets are true.
7. Moshe Rabbeinu (Moses) was the greatest prophet. Greater than any who came before or after him.
8. The Torah we have today is the same Torah given to Moshe.
9. The Torah will never be exchanged. There will never be another Torah from G-d.
10. G-d knows all human actions and thoughts. As the Tehillim (Psalms 33:15) says: "He who fashioned the hearts of them all, who comprehends all their actions."
11. G-d rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those who transgress.
12. The Mashiach (Messiah) will come. And even though he may delay, we wait for him every single day.
13. There will be a revival of the dead at a time that pleases Hashem.

These are not abstract ideas for us. When I sing "Ani Ma'amin" — "I believe with perfect faith" — at a Shabbos table with my family, I feel the weight of generations behind those words. Jews sang Ani Ma'amin on their way to the gas chambers. That is how deeply these principles run.

Do Jews Believe in G-d?

Yes — absolutely, and without qualification. Belief in one G-d is the foundation stone of Judaism: absolute monotheism, meaning one indivisible G-d with no partners, no intermediaries, and no physical form. The clearest expression of this is the Shema, the verse from Deuteronomy 6:4 that Jews recite every morning and every evening: "Hear, Israel: the L-rd is our G-d, the L-rd is One."

But here is what makes Jewish belief different from the way many people use the word "believe." In Judaism, belief in G-d is not mainly a feeling or a declaration — it is expressed through practice. We show what we believe by how we eat, how we speak, how we do business, how we rest on Shabbat. A Jew who says a blessing before drinking a glass of water is making a tiny statement of faith: this, too, came from G-d. The rest of this page is about what that belief looks like when you actually live it.

Our Relationship with G-d

There is a song that Orthodox Jewish children learn when they are very small:

"Hashem is here, Hashem is there, Hashem is truly everywhere. Up, up, down, down, right, left and all around — here, there and everywhere, that's where He can be found."

It sounds simple, but it captures something profound. In Orthodox Judaism, G-d is not a distant concept you think about on holidays. He is the absolute reality behind every moment of every day. He is one, indivisible, incomparable — the definitive cause of every bit of existence.

We do not try to define G-d in physical terms. That is actually forbidden. The true nature of G-d is beyond human comprehension. That is also part of why we have so many different names of G-d in Judaism — each name describes a way He relates to us, never what He actually is. But what we do know is this: He created the world out of love, He listens to every prayer, and He is intimately involved in our lives.

The Shema I quoted above is one of our most important prayers precisely because of this — it is the bedrock statement of Jewish faith, and the anchor of our whole relationship with Him.

And you know what I find beautiful? The way this belief shows up in everyday conversation. Ask an Orthodox Jew how they are doing, and you will hear "Boruch Hashem" — "Thank G-d." Something good happened at work? Boruch Hashem. The baby is healthy? Boruch Hashem. It is not just a phrase. It is a reflex of gratitude that comes from genuinely believing that everything — everything — comes from G-d.

Torah from Heaven

If there is one belief that defines Orthodox Judaism more than any other, it is this: the Torah is divine. We believe that the entire Torah — every word, every letter — was given by G-d to Moshe (Moses) at Mount Sinai, in front of six hundred thousand Jewish men, plus women and children. This was not a private revelation to one person in a cave. It was a national event, witnessed by an entire people.

This is actually unique in world religious history. Of the thousands of known religions, how many claim that G-d spoke to their entire nation at once? One. Judaism.

The Sinai revelation is not just a story we tell. It is the foundation of our entire system of belief. And because the Torah is divine, it is eternal — it cannot be changed, replaced, or updated by any later prophet or movement.

The Oral Torah

Here is something that often surprises people: Orthodox Jews believe the Written Torah is not complete on its own. When G-d gave Moshe the Torah at Sinai, He also gave him an oral explanation — the Torah Sheb'al Peh (Oral Torah). This oral tradition explains how to understand and apply the written text.

Think of it this way: the Written Torah says to bind "signs" upon your hand and between your eyes. But what are those signs? What do they look like? How do you make them? The Oral Torah provides those answers. Without it, the Written Torah would be incomplete.

This Oral Torah was passed down from teacher to student for generations, until eventually it was written down in the Mishnah and expanded in the Talmud. Believing in the Written Torah while rejecting the Oral Torah is considered a fundamental error in Orthodox Judaism.

What Is the Book of the Jewish Religion?

The book of the Jewish religion is the Torah — the Five Books of Moses, Genesis through Deuteronomy, which we believe G-d gave at Sinai. The Torah is the first and holiest part of a larger collection called the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible, which also includes the Prophets (Nevi'im) and the Writings (Ketuvim) — books like Isaiah, Psalms, and Esther. And alongside the written books stands the Talmud, the vast written record of the Oral Torah I just described: the discussions, explanations, and legal rulings that show how the Torah's words are actually lived.

So if you want the one-word answer: the Torah. If you want the honest answer: Judaism is a library, not a single book — and an Orthodox home has shelves bending under all of it. I give a full tour of these books, what each one contains, and how they fit together in my guide to Jewish religious texts.

The Afterlife

Many people are curious about what Jews believe happens after death. Let me be honest: the afterlife is not some minor footnote in Judaism. It is central to how we live.

The Talmud describes this world as a corridor leading to a palace. This life is the corridor — the world to come is the palace. Everything we do here is preparation for what comes next. Every mitzvah, every act of kindness, every moment of Torah study is an investment in eternity.

In the world to come, there is Gan Eden (Paradise) and Gehinom (a place of spiritual cleansing — not the fire-and-brimstone "hell" of popular imagination). If a person's good deeds outweigh their sins, they go to Gan Eden. If not, they may need to spend time in Gehinom to purify their soul before entering Gan Eden. The maximum time in Gehinom, according to our tradition, is twelve months. Kabbalistic and Chassidic teaching adds another layer — gilgul, the idea that a soul can return to this world in a new lifetime to complete unfinished work; I take that question up in reincarnation in Judaism.

We teach this to our children from the time they are small. Not to scare them, but to give them perspective. The choices you make matter — not just today, but forever.

What Jews Believe About Death

In Judaism, death is not the end. It is a transition to a new and better existence. When someone passes away, of course the family mourns. We sit shiva, we say Kaddish, we grieve deeply. But underneath that grief is a quiet comfort: the neshama (soul) of our loved one is now in a better, brighter place.

This is why Judaism has such detailed laws about honoring the dead. The body is treated with the utmost respect — it is washed, dressed in simple white shrouds, and buried as soon as possible. Desecrating a grave is strictly prohibited. Every person, created in G-d's image, deserves dignity even after death.

What About Jesus?

I get this question more than you might think, so let me be direct: Orthodox Jews do not believe in Jesus. This is not a gray area.

We believe that G-d is One — absolutely, indivisibly One. No human characteristics or physical forms can be attributed to Him. The greatest prophet was Moshe, and no later prophet can come and change his words. The Mashiach has not yet come.

The various "Jews for Jesus" movements are deeply troubling to the Orthodox Jewish community. Many organizations actively work to counter these missionary activities, because they fundamentally contradict the core beliefs of Judaism. I go deeper into all of this — the theology, and how it connects to the 13 Principles above — in do Orthodox Jews believe in Jesus.

The Chosen People

One more belief that matters deeply: we believe the Jewish people are the "chosen nation." But chosen for what? Not for privilege — for responsibility.

The Jewish people are meant to be a light to the nations. When a Jew behaves immorally, it is considered a desecration of G-d's name — a chillul Hashem — because the world looks at us and draws conclusions about the G-d we serve. This is taken extremely seriously. Being chosen means holding yourself to a higher standard, not claiming superiority.

And if you are wondering who actually belongs to this nation — born Jews, converts, children of Jewish fathers — that is a whole topic of its own, and I cover it in who is a Jew.

Living These Beliefs

What I want you to understand is that these are not ideas that sit on a shelf. They shape how I wake up in the morning (with a prayer of thanks on my lips), how I eat (with brachos before and after), how I speak (careful not to gossip), and how I go to sleep (with the Shema on my lips again).

Judaism is not just a religion of belief — it is a religion of action. But the beliefs are what give the actions their meaning. When I light Shabbos candles on Friday night, I am not just following a ritual. I am affirming that G-d created the world, that He gave us the Torah, and that He asked us to sanctify time.

That is what Orthodox Jews believe. And honestly? After all these years, it only gets deeper.

Common Questions

Do Orthodox Jews believe in heaven and hell? Jewish theology includes concepts of an afterlife — Olam Haba (the World to Come) and Gehinnom (a purification process). However, Judaism focuses more on this world and ethical behavior than on detailed afterlife descriptions.

What are the 613 commandments? The Torah contains 613 mitzvot (commandments) covering every aspect of life — from prayer and Shabbat to kosher laws, business ethics, family relations, and agricultural practices. Many apply only when the Temple stands.

Do Jews believe in original sin? No. Judaism does not have the concept of original sin. Every person is born with a clean slate. The soul is pure, and people have free will to choose between good and evil.

Is Judaism a race or a religion? Honestly, neither word fits: Judaism is a peoplehood — a nation bound by a covenant with G-d, which anyone can join through conversion and which includes Jews of every skin color. I unpack the full question in who counts as Jewish.