Question: Why does the Jewish faith not believe in the Holy Spirit?

Answer: Judaism does believe that God’s Spirit (or Presence) is Holy. Judaism does not, however, believe in a separate manifestation of God referred to as the “Holy Spirit”.

The words “Ruach HaKodesh” (i.e. “The Holy Spirit”) never appear in the Hebrew Scriptures.

There are three times in the Scriptures where there is mention, however, of God’s Holy Spirit:

Psalm 51:13 – Ruach Kadshecha – Your holy spirit;
Isaiah 63:10 – Ruach Kadsho – His holy spirit;
Isaiah 63:11 – Ruach Kadsho – His holy spirit

There are only these three occurrences of the term “Holy Spirit”—hardly enough to create a doctrine, and definitely not indicating anything that we did not already understand about God. Because all three of these passages are lacking the definite article (i.e. the word “the”), the term in those three instances is understood to simply refer to God’s Spirit being Holy.

In later Jewish literature, the “Holy Spirit” is connected to a spirit of Prophecy. But either way, there is no reason to make the assumption that, somehow, this Holy spirit of G-d is a separate entity. There is no support for the concept of the trinity in the Hebrew Scriptures.

Respectfully,

Rabbi Azriel Schreiber