**Joseph Albo**, a key Jewish delegate at the **Disputation of Tortosa (1413–1414)**, formulated the three root principles of Judaism in his work *Sefer ha-Ikkarim*, which was written following the disputation. These three fundamental beliefs, which he argued are necessary for divine law to exist, are:
* **Belief in the existence of God**
* **Belief in revelation** (that the Torah is the word of God)
* **Belief in divine retribution** (which includes the immortality of the soul)
While Albo participated in the disputation against the Christian convert **Geronimo de Santa Fe**, his specific formulation of these three roots and their derivative "branches" was developed to define the essential dogmas of Judaism distinct from other faiths.
To clarify the terminology from my previous answer, Joseph Albo's system in *Sefer ha-Ikkarim* actually has **three** hierarchical levels, like a tree:
## The 8 Derivative Principles (*Shorashim*)
These are logically necessary consequences of the three roots. Denying any of them constitutes **heresy**:
## The 6 Branches (*Anafim*)
These are obligatory dogmas of **lesser** status — denying them is a **sin**, not heresy, since the "tree" of Judaism can stand without them:
1. Creation *ex nihilo*
2. The supremacy of Moses' prophecy
3. The immutability of the Torah
4. The possibility of attaining human perfection through the performance of a single commandment
5. The resurrection of the dead
6. The coming of the Messiah
So the key distinction: the *shorashim* are indispensable to the existence of divine law itself, while the *anafim* are particular to Judaism specifically but can be "pruned" without destroying the trunk.
