Maimonides

Maimonides was born in 1135 in Spain and studied Torah under his father. Spain, at that time, was under Muslim rule and he left for Almeria, then Morocco, to avoid persecution by a fanatical Muslim sect converting Jews to Islam. In Morocco he studied at the University of Fes, then lived briefly in Jerusalem. He wrote the Mishneh Torah, which was his code of Jewish law, a guide for behavior. He was a big influence on many non Jews, Thomas Aquinas spoke highly of him. He blended the best of Jewish, Arab, Western, and Greco-Roman thought. He settled in the old city of Cairo in Egypt, where he was the doctor of the Sultan, Saladin. He died in Egypt in 1204, and was entombed in Tiberias, Israel.

Maimonides Thirteen Principles of Faith:

God exists - is the cause of all that exists and all that exists is dependent on God for its existence.
God is One - all of life is connected to one Field, everything is part of one
	     indivisible body.  
God is intangible - a boundless Spirit without color, form, or physicality
God is eternal - beyond all time, never created, never destroyed.
God should be one's first priority and the only object of worship.
God communicates with man through His Prophets.  No man appoints himself or another a prophet; 
	     God alone chooses His servant. 
The greatest of the Jewish prophets is Moses.  He was chosen and attained a great knowledge of 
	     the Blessed One; the power of desire was away from him giving him pure intellect. 
The Torah is God's Law from the mouth of the Almighty.
The Torah, transcribed from the Creator, shall not be added to, nor diminished.  
God knows the thoughts and actions of mankind and looks out for their welfare.
God gives reward to one who obeys and punishes those who violates the Law.  The greatest reward 
	     is the World to Come; the greatest punishment - you shall be blotted from The Book.
The Messiah will come. 
The dead will resurrect. 

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