What is the Jewish profession of faith?

Answer 1

You are probably referring to the prayer known as the Shema, which is recited twice daily by observant Jews to declare their faith in G-d. It can be read in English at http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/706162/jewish/Translation.htm and in Hebrew at http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/706163/jewish/In-Hebrew.htm

Answer 2

You're probably referring to the Shema Yisrael, a declaration of belief in God which religious Jews make during their prayers twice each day. See Deuteronomy 6: 4.

Answer 3

There are two candidates for this honor: First, the Shema, Deuteronomy 6:4, "Hear oh Israel, the Lord Your God, the Lord is One." Observant Jews repeat this in their prayers twice daily, but it is pretty minimalist, nothing like the various creeds that Christians use as professions of faith. In the middle ages, Rabbi Moses ben Maimon, known by the Latinized name Maimonides composed something comparable to Christian professions of Faith, Maimonides' 13 Principles of Faith. In brief, these are that: God alone created everything, God is, was and will be one and indivisible, God is incorporeal, God is the first and the last, God is the only object of prayer, that the Torah is the word of God, that the Torah will not change or be replaced, that God knows man's thoughts, that God rewards the righteous and punishes the sinner, that the Messiah will come and finally that the Dead will be resurrected. While Maimonides principles have been boiled down into a popular hymn, Yigdal, they do not have the central place in the Jewish world that the various creeds do in the Christian world.