In a similar vein, the ancient historian Josephus placed more emphasis on rituals and observances

than on religious ideas, equating apostasy with a disregard for halakha and holding that
circumcision and obedience to traditions were necessary for conversion to Judaism. Over the
following several centuries, Maimonides' teachings were generally disregarded[67]. Later, two
lyrical restatement of these concepts (the "Ani Ma'amin" and the "Yigdal") were included into
several Jewish liturgies, which eventually led to their nearly universal acceptance.
Judaism does not now have a centralized authority that would prescribe a strict religious dogma.
All Jewish religious traditions are, to a greater or lesser extent, founded on the ideas of the
Hebrew Bible and other commentaries like the Talmud and Midrash. As a result, many distinct
variants on the fundamental beliefs are deemed to fall under the umbrella of Judaism. [65] The
Biblical Covenant between God and the patriarch Abraham and the extra elements of the
Covenant that were revealed to Moses, who is regarded as Judaism's greatest prophet, are also
generally acknowledged in Judaism.
Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in the modern era is even more difficult, given the
number and diversity of the contemporary Jewish denominations. Even if to restrict the problem
to the most influential intellectual trends of the nineteenth and twentieth century, the matter
remains complicated. Thus for instance, Joseph Soloveitchik's (associated with the Modern
Orthodox movement) answer to modernity is constituted upon the identification of Judaism with
following the halakha whereas its ultimate goal is to bring the holiness down to the world.
The founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, Mordecai Kaplan, gives up the concept of religion in
order to associate Judaism with civilization. He then attempts to include as many Jewish faiths as
he can by using the latter word and a secular translation of the religion's basic concepts.
Conversely, the Conservative Judaism of Solomon Schechter was identical to the tradition that is
considered to be the interpretation of the Torah, which is itself the history of the ongoing
revision and adjustment of the Law carried out via creative interpretation.