
Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. The tenets and history of Judaism are the major part of the foundation of other Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam. For all of these reasons, Judaism has been a major force in shaping the world. == Introduction == Judaism does not easily fit into common Western categories, such as religion, race, ethnicity, or culture. This is because Jews understand Judaism in terms of its 4,000-year history. During this time, Jews have experienced slavery, anarchism self-government, theocracy self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile; they have been in contact, and have been influenced by Ancient Egypt, Babylonian, Persian Empire, and Ancient Greece cultures, as well as modern movements such as the The Enlightenment and the rise of Nationalism. Thus, Daniel Boyarin has argued that "Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not Genealogy, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension." [[Image:Menorah7a.png|100px|right|framed|The seven-branched Menorah is an ancient symbol of Judaism. It was used in the Temple in Jerusalem.]] According to both traditional Jews and critical historical scholars, a number of qualities distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first emerged. The first characteristic is monotheism. This notion is derived directly from the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) where Names of God in Judaism makes it part of the Ten Commandments#Exodus 20/Deuteronomy 5: "...I am the Lord your God. Do not have any other gods before Me. Do not represent [such] gods by any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to [such gods] or worship them. I am God your Lord, a God who demands exclusive worship". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments#Exodus_20.2FDeuteronomy_5] The Ten Commandments#Jewish understanding of this is that: #"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt..." The belief in the existence of God, that God exists for all time, that God is the sole creator of all that exists, that God determines the course of events in this world. This is the foundation of Judaism. To turn from these beliefs is to deny God and the essence of Judaism. #"You shall have no other gods besides Me...Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above..." One is required to believe in God and God alone. This prohibits belief in or worship of any additional deities, gods, spirits or incarnations. To deny the uniqueness of God, is to deny all that is written in the Torah. It is also a prohibition against making or possessing objects that one or other may bow down to or serve such as crucifixes, and any forms of paintings or artistic representations of God. One must not bow down to or serve any being or object but God. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments#Jewish_interpretation] The significance of this idea lies in that Judaism holds that an omniscient and omnipotent God created humankind as recorded in the Book of Genesis, in the Creation according to Genesis starting with the very first verse of Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." While in Polytheism religions, the gods are limited by the preoccupation of personal desires irrelevant to humankind, by limited powers, and by the interference of other powers, in Judaism, God is unlimited and fully available to care for Creation. Second, the Torah (i.e., The Hebrew Bible) specifies a number of laws, known as the 613 mitzvot, to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a Temple in Jerusalem, Kohen, and made Korban — but these were not the sole means of worshiping God. As a matter of practical worship (in comparison to other religions) Judaism seeks to elevate everyday life to the level of the ancient Temples' worship by worshipping God through the spectrum of daily activites and actions. It has traditionally maintained that this is how the individual would merit rewards in the afterlife, called ''gan eden'' (Hebrew language: "Garden of Eden") or ''Jewish eschatology#The afterlife and olam haba (the world to come)'' ("World to Come"). ===Religious view of the development of Judaism=== According to Orthodox Judaism and most religious Jews, the Biblical patriarch Abraham was the first Jew. Rabbinic literature records that he was the first to reject idolatry and preach monotheism. As a result, God promised he would have children. His first child was Ishmael and then he had Isaac, who God said would carry on his work and inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan), after having been exiled and redeemed. God sent the patriarch Jacob and his children to Ancient Egypt; after they eventually became enslaved, God sent Moses to redeem the Israelites from slavery. After the Exodus from Egypt, God led them to Mount Sinai and gave them the Torah, and eventually brought them to the land of Israel. God set the descendants of Aaron, Moses' brother, to be a Kohen within the Israelite community. They first officiated in the tabernacle (a portable house of worship), and later their descendants were in charge of worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. Once the Jews had settled in the land of Israel, the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh (Biblical) for over 300 years during which time God provided great men, and occasionally women, to rally the nation against attacking enemies, some of which were sent by God as a punishment for the sins of the people. This is described in the Book of Joshua and the Book of Judges. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle in Shiloh. The people of Israel then told Samuel the prophet that they had reached the point where they needed a permanent king like other nations had, and described in the Books of Samuel. God knew this was not best for the Jews, but acceded to this request and had Samuel appoint Saul the King, a great but very humble man, to be their king. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead. Once David was established as king, he told the prophet Nathan that he would like to build a permanent temple. As a reward for his actions, God promised David that he would allow his son to build the temple and the throne would never depart from his children. David himself was not allowed to build the temple because he had been involved in many wars, making it inappropriate for him to build a temple representing peace. As a result, it was David's son Solomon who built the Solomon's Temple according to God's will, in Jerusalem. This era is described in the Books of Kings. After Solomon's death, the kingdom was split into the two kingdoms of Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah. Israel had a number of kings, but after a few hundred years God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel and exile its people because of the rampant idolatry in the kingdom. The southern kingdom of Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem, home of the Temple, remained under the rulership of the house of David. However, as in the north, idolatry increased to the point that God allowed Babylonia to conquer it, destroy the Temple which had stood for 410 years and exile its people to Babylonia, with the promise that they would be redeemed after seventy years. These events are recorded in the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Jeremiah. After seventy years the Jews were allowed back into Israel under the leadership of Ezra, and the Temple was rebuilt, as recorded in the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah. The Second Temple stood for 420 years after which it was destroyed by the Roman Empire general (later Roman Emperor) Titus. This is the state in which it is to remain until a descendant of David arises to restore the glory of Israel (the current existence of the Islamic Dome of the Rock is not relevent to the rabbinical view.) The Torah given on Mount Sinai was summarized in the five books of Moses. Together with the books of the prophets it is called the ''Written Torah''. The details and interpretation of the law, which are called the ''Oral Torah'' or ''Oral law#Oral law in Judaism'' were originally unwritten. However as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, rabbinic tradition holds that these oral laws were recorded in the Mishnah, and the Talmud, as well as other holy books. ===Critical historical view of the development of Judaism=== Although monotheism is fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, according to many critical Bible scholars the Torah often implies that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods. However, they viewed their God as the Creator and the one that mankind was morally bound to worship alone. But by the Hellenic period most Jews had come to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths. This attitude may reflect growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths. Jews began to grapple with the tension between the particularism of their claim that only Jews were required to obey the Torah, and the universalism of their claim that the Torah contained universal truths. The result is a set of beliefs and practices concerning both identity, ethics, one's relation to nature, and one's relation to God, that privilege "difference" — the difference between Jews and non-Jews; the differences between locally variable ways of practicing Judaism; a close attention to different meanings of words when interpreting texts; attempts to encode different points of view within texts, and a relative indifference to creed and dogma. The subject of the Hebrew Bible is an account of the Israelites' (also called Hebrews) relationship with God as reflected in their history from the beginning of time until the building of the Second Temple (ca. 350 BCE). This relationship is generally portrayed as contentious, as Jews struggle between their faith in God and their attraction for other gods, and as some Jews (most notably and directly, Abraham, Jacob -- later known as Israel—and Moses) struggle with God. Modern scholars also suggest that the Torah consists of a variety of inconsistent texts that were edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts (see Documentary hypothesis). ==Religious doctrine and ''Principles of Faith''== While Judaism has always affirmed a number of Jewish principles of faith, it has never developed a fully binding "catechism". It is difficult to generalize about Jewish theology because Judaism is non-creedal; that is, there is no agreed-upon dogma (set of orthodox beliefs) that most Jews believed were required of Jews. While individual Jewish rabbis, or sometimes entire groups, at times agreed upon a firm dogma, other rabbis and groups disagreed. With no central agreed-upon authority, no one formulation of Jewish principles of faith could take precedence over any other. This approach to religious doctrine dates back at least two thousand years. For example, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and traditions rather than beliefs when he describes the characteristics of an apostate (a Jew who does not follow traditional customs) and the requirements for conversion to Judaism (circumcision, and adherence to traditional customs). Despite the above, in Orthodox Judaism some principles (e.g., the Divine origin of the Torah) are considered important enough that public rebellion against them can put one in the category of "apikoros" (heretic). Over the centuries, a number of clear formulations of Jewish principles of faith have appeared; most of them have much in common, yet they differ in certain details. A comparison of them demonstrates a wide array of tolerance for varying theological perspectives. Generally, however, the thirteen principles of faith expressed by Maimonides are considered authorative descriptions of Jewish beliefs: * God is one - Judaism is based on strict unitarian monotheism, the belief in one God, the eternal creator of the universe and the source of morality. The idea of God as a dualism or trinity is heretical for Jews to hold; it is considered akin to polytheism. * God is all powerful (omnipotent), as well as all knowing (omniscient). The different names of God are ways to express different aspects of God's presence in the world. See the entry on Names of God in Judaism. * God is non-physical, non-corporeal, and eternal. All statements in the Tanakh and in rabbinic literature which use anthropomorphism are held to be linguistic conceits or metaphors, as it would otherwise be impossible to talk about God. * To God alone may one offer prayer. Any belief that an intermediary between man and God could be used, whether necessary or even optional, has traditionally been considered heretical. * The Hebrew Bible, and much of the beliefs described in the Mishnah and Talmud, are held to be the product of divine revelation. How revelation works, and what precisely one means when one says that a book is "divine", has always been a matter of some dispute. Different understandings of this subject exist among Jews. * The words of the prophets are true. * Moses was the chief of all prophets. * The Torah (five books of Moses) is the primary text of Judaism. * God will reward those who observe His commandments, and punish those who violate them. * Names of God in Judaism chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with Him; see Jews as a chosen people. * The messianic age: There will be a Jewish eschatology (Jewish Messiah), or perhaps a messianic era. * The soul is pure at birth. People are born with a ''yetzer ha'tov'', a tendency to do good, and with a ''yetzer ha'ra'', a tendency to do bad. Thus, human beings have free will and can choose the path in life that they will take. * People can atone for sins through words and deeds, and without intermediaries. The liturgy of the Days of Awe (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) states that prayer, repentance and ''tzedakah'' (dutiful giving of charity) atone for sin. Atonement is deemed only meaningful if accompanied by sincere decision to cease unacceptable actions, and then only if appropriate amends to others are honestly undertaken. It covers wrongdoings by which a person has fallen short of divine wishes in his daily life, and thus there is always a "way back" to God. In Judaism, sin is more considered in terms of a wrongful action, contravening divine commandment to live a holy life, than wrongful thought. A more detailed discussion of the Jewish view of sin is available in the entry on sin. ==The traditional Jewish bookshelf== Jews are often called the "People of the Book," and Judaism has an age-old intellectual tradition focusing on text-based Torah study. The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought. For more detail, see Rabbinic literature. *The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Jewish bible study, which include: **Mesorah **Targum **Jewish Biblical exegesis (also see Midrash below) *Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature) **The Mishnah and its commentaries. **The Tosefta and the minor tractates. **The Talmud: ***The Jerusalem Talmud and its commentaries. ***The Babylonian Talmud and its commentaries. **Midrash: ***Halakhic Midrash ***Aggadic Midrash *Halakhic literature **The Major Codes of Halakha ***The Mishneh Torah and its commentaries. ***The Arba'ah Turim and its commentaries. ***The Shulhan Arukh and its commentaries. **Other books on Jewish Law and Custom **The Responsa literature *Jewish Thought and Ethics **Jewish philosophy **Kabbalah **Hasidic Judaism works **Jewish ethics and the Mussar Movement *The Siddur and Jewish liturgy *''Piyyut'' (Classical Jewish poetry) Related Topics *Torah databases (electronic versions of the Traditional Jewish Bookshelf) *List of Jewish Prayers and Blessings ==Jewish Law and interpretation== The basis of Jewish law and tradition ("halakha") is the Torah (the five books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition there are 613 mitzvot commandments in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the Kohen and Leviyim (members of the tribe of Levi), some only to those who practice farming within the land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and fewer than 300 of these commandments are still applicable today. While there have been Jewish groups which claimed to be based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees, and the Karaism), most Jews believed in what they call the oral law. These oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee sect of ancient Judaism, and were latter recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis. Rabbinic Judaism has always held that the books of the Tanakh (called the written law) have always been transmitted in parallel with an Oral law. To justify this viewpoint, Jews point to the text of the Torah, where many words are left undefined, and many procedures mentioned without explanation or instructions; this, they argue, means that the reader is assumed to be familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources. This parallel set of material was originally transmitted orally, and came to be known as "the oral law". By the time of Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi (200 CE), after the destruction of Jerusalem, much of this material was edited together into the Mishnah. Over the next four centuries this law underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and Babylon), and the commentaries on the Mishnah from each of these communities eventually came to be edited together into compilations known as the two Talmud. These have been expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages. Halakha, the rabbinic Jewish way of life, then, is based on a combined reading of the Torah, and the oral tradition - the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrash, the Talmud and its commentaries. The Halakha has developed slowly, through a precedent-based system. The literature of questions to rabbis, and their considered answers, is referred to as responsa (in Hebrew language, ''Sheelot U-Teshuvot''.) Over time, as practices develop, codes of Jewish law are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the Shulkhan Arukh, largely determines Jewish religious practice up to today. ===What makes a person Jewish?=== According to Jewish law, someone is considered to be a Jew if he or she was born of a Jewish mother or converted in accord with Jewish Law. (Recently, the American Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism movements have included those born of Jewish fathers and gentile mothers, if the children are raised practicing Judaism only.) All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts. A Jew who ceases to practice Judaism is still considered a Jew, as is a Jew who does not accept Jewish principles of faith and becomes an agnostic or an atheist; so too with a Jew who converts to another religion. However, in the latter case, the person loses standing as a member of the Jewish community and becomes known as an apostate. In the past, family and friends were said to often formally mourn for the person, though this is rarely done today. The question of what determines Jewish identity was given new impetus when, in the 1950s, David ben Gurion requested opinions on ''mihu Yehudi'' ("who is a Jew") from Jewish religious authorities and intellectuals worldwide. The question is far from settled and occasionally resurfaces in Politics of Israel. ===Jewish philosophy=== Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. Early Jewish philosophy was influenced by the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, and Islamic philosophy. Major Jewish philosophers include Solomon ibn Gabirol, Saadia Gaon, Maimonides, and Gersonides. Major changes occurred in response to The Enlightenment (late 1700s to early 1800s) leading to the post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers, and then modern Jewish philosophers such as Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Will Herberg, Emmanuel Levinas, Richard Rubenstein, Emil Fackenheim, and Joseph Soloveitchik. ==Jewish denominations== Over the past two centuries the Jewish community has divided into a number of Jewish denominations; each has a different understanding of what principles of belief a Jew should hold, and how one should live as a Jew. Unlike Christian denominations, these doctrinal differences have not fundamentally split Jewish denominations, which continue to overlap on many issues. It would not be unusual for a Conservative Jew to attend either an Orthodox or Reform synagogue, for example. *Orthodox Judaism holds that the Torah was written by God and dictated to Moses, and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally consider a 16th century CE law code, the Shulkhan Arukh, to be the definitive codification of Jewish law, and assert a continuity between pre-Enlightenment Judaism and modern-day Orthodox Judaism. Orthodox Judaism consists of Modern Orthodox Judaism and Haredi Judaism. Hasidic Judaism is a sub-set of Haredi Judaism. Most of Orthodox Judaism holds to one particular form of Jewish theology, based on Maimonides' 13 principles of Jewish faith. *Reform Judaism (outside of the United States also known as Progressive Judaism, and in the UK as Liberal Judaism) originally formed in Germany in response to the Enlightenment. Reform Judaism initially defined Judaism as a religion, rather than as a race or culture; rejected the ritual prescriptions and proscriptions of the Torah; and emphasized the ethical call of the Neviim. Reform Judaism developed a prayer service in the vernacular and emphasized decorum during services. Today, many Reform congregations have returned to Hebrew prayers and encourage some degree of legal observance. *Conservative Judaism. Outside of the United States it is known as Masorti (Hebrew language for "Traditional") Judaism. "Masorti" is its official title in the State of Israel as well, although most Israelis use the word in a more general sense (see below). Conservative Judaism formed in the United States in the late 1800s through the fusion of two distinct groups: former Reform Jews who were alienated by that movement's emphatic rejection of Jewish law, and former Orthodox Jews who had rejected belief in the "oral law" (which claims continuity between God's revelation at Sinai and Jewish law as codified in the ''Shulkhan Arukh'') in favor of the critical study of Jewish texts and history. Conservative Jews emphasize that Jews constitute a nation as well as a religion. Conservative scholars emphasize their identification with the Amoraim, the sages of the Talmud, who embraced open debates over interpretations (and reinterpretations) of Jewish law. *Reconstructionist Judaism started as a stream of philosophy by a rabbi within Conservative Judaism, and later became an independent movement emphasizing reinterpreting Judaism for modern times. Many religious Jews do not look at one's denomination as a valid way of designating Jews; instead they view Jews by the level of their religious observance. According to most Orthodox Jews, Jewish people who do not keep the laws of Shabbat and Yom Tov (the holidays), Kashrut, and family purity are considered non-religious. Any Jew who keeps at least those laws would be considered observant and religious). ===Jewish denominations in Israel=== Even though all of these denominations exist in Israel, Israelis tend to classify Jewish identity in ways that are different than diaspora Jewry. Most Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "secular" (''hiloni''), "traditional" (''masorti''), "religious" (''dati'') or ''Haredi''. The term "secular" is more popular as a self-description among Israeli families of western (European) origin, whose Jewish identity may be a very powerful force in their lives, but who see it as largely independent of traditional religious belief and practice. This portion of the population largely ignores organized religious life, be it of the official Israeli rabbinate (Orthodox) or of the liberal movements common to diaspora Judaism (Reform, Conservative). The term "traditional" (''masorti'') is most common as a self-description among Israeli families of "eastern" origin (i.e., the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa). This term, as commonly used, has nothing to do with the official Masorti (Conservative) movement. There is a great deal of ambiguity in the ways "secular" and "traditional" are used in Israel. They often overlap, and they cover an extremely wide range in terms of ideology and religious observance. The term "Orthodox" (''Ortodoxi'') is unpopular in Israeli discourse (among both "secular" and "religious" alike). Nevertheless, the spectrum covered by "Orthodox" in the diaspora exists in Israel, again with some important variations. The "Orthodox" spectrum in Israel is a far greater percentage of the Jewish population in Israel than in the diaspora, though ''how much'' greater is hotly debated. Various ways of measuring this percentage, each with its pros and cons, include the proportion of religiously observant Knesset members, the proportion of Jewish children enrolled in religious schools, and statistical studies on "identity". What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called ''dati'' (religious) or ''haredi'' (ultra-Orthodox) in Israel. The former term includes what is called "Religious Zionism" or the "National Religious" community, as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as ''haredi-leumi'' (nationalist ''haredi''), which combines a largely ''haredi'' lifestyle with nationalist ideology. ''Haredi'' applies to a populace that can be roughly divided into three separate groups along both ethnic and ideological lines: (1) "Lithuanian" (non-hasidic) ''haredim'' of Ashkenazic origin; (2) Hasidic ''haredim'' of Ashkenazic origin; and (3) Sephardic ''haredim''. The third group is the largest, and has been the most politically active since the early 1990s. ===Karaism=== Unlike the above denominations, which were ideological reactions that resulted from the exposure of traditional rabbinic Judaism to the radical changes of modern times, Karaite_Judaism did not begin as a modern Jewish movement. The followers of Karaism believe they are the remnants of the non-Rabbinic Jewish sects of the Second Temple period, such as the Saducees, though others contend they are a sect started in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Karaites, or "Scripturalists," accept only the Hebrew Bible and what they view as the Peshat: "Plain or Simple Meaning"; and do not accept non-biblical writings as authoritative. Some European Karaites do not see themselves as part of the Jewish community, while most do. It is interesting to note that the Nazis did not consider Karaites as Jews, and therefore Karaite communities were spared in WWII and exist to this day even in places such as Lithuania where Jewish communities were completely deveastated. The ''main article'' Jewish views of religious pluralism describes how Judaism views other religions; it also describes how members of each of the Jewish religious denominations view the other denominations. ==Jewish prayer and practice== ===Prayers=== There are three main daily prayer services, named ''Shacharit'', ''Mincha'' (literally: "flour-offering") and ''Maariv'' or ''Arvit''. All services include a number of benedictions called the ''Amidah'' or the ''Shemonah Esrei'' ("eighteen"), which on weekdays consists of nineteen blessings (one was added in the time of the ''Mishna'', but the name remains). Another key prayer in many services is the declaration of faith, the ''Shema'' which is recited at ''shacharit'' and ''maariv''. Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service can be said in solitary prayer, but ''Kaddish'' and ''Kedusha'' require a group of ten adult men (or men and women in some branches of Judaism) called a minyan (prayer quorum). There are also prayers and benedictions recited throughout the day, such as those before eating or drinking. There are a number of common Jewish religious objects used in prayer. The tallit is a Jewish prayer shawl. A kippah or yarmulke (skullcap) is a head covering worn during prayer by most Jews, and at all times by more orthodox Jews — especially Ashkenazim. Phylacteries or tefillin, boxes containing the portions of the Torah mandating them, are also worn by religious Jews during weekday morning services. The Jewish approach to prayer differs slightly between the various branches of Judaism, although all use the same set of prayers and texts, the frequency of prayer, the number of prayers recited at various religious events, and whether one prays in a particular liturgical language or the vernacular differs from denomination to denomination, with Conservative and Orthodox congregations using more traditional services, while Reform and Reconstructionist synagogues are more likely to incorporate translations, contemporary writings, and abbreviated services. ===Shabbat=== ''Shabbat'', the weekly day of rest lasting from Friday night to Saturday night, celebrates God's creation as a day of rest that commemorates God's day of rest upon the completion of creation. It plays an important role in Jewish practice and is the subject of a large body of religious law. Some consider it the most important Jewish holiday. ===Jewish holidays=== The Jewish holy days celebrate central themes in the relationship between God and the world, such as creation, revelation, and redemption. Some holidays are also linked to the agricultural cycle. Three holidays celebrate revelation by commemorating different events in the passage of the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt to their return to the land of Canaan. They are also timed to coincide with important agricultural seasons. They are also pilgramage holidays, for which the Children of Israel would journey to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to God in His Temple. *Pesach or Passover celebrates the Exodus from Egypt, and coincides with the barley harvest. It is the only holiday that centers on home-service, the Seder. Pesach occurs on the 15th of Nisan; Nisan is the first month of the Jewish calendar, because it was in this month that the Children of Israel left Egypt. *Shavuot or Pentacost or Feast of Weeks celebrates Moses' giving of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, and marks the transition from the barley harvest to the wheat harvest. *Sukkot, or The Festival of Booths or the Festival of the Ingathering commemorates the wandering of the Children of Israel through the desert. It is celebrated through the construction of temporary booths that represent the temporary shelters of the Children of Israel during their wandering. It coincides with the fruit harvest, and marks the end of the agricultural cycle. *Rosh Hashanah, also ''Yom Ha-Zikkaron'' (the Day of Remembrance) or ''Yom Teruah'' (the Day of the Sounding of the Shofar). Called the Jewish New Year because it celebrates the day that the world was created, and marks the advance in the calendar from one year to the next, although it occurs in the seventh month, Tishri. It is also a holiday of redemption, as it marks the beginning of the atonement period that ends ten days later with Yom Kippur. *Yom Kippur, or The Day of Atonement, also called "the Sabbath of Sabbaths," is a holiday centered on redemption; a day of atonement and fasting for sins committed during the previous year. Many consider this the most important Jewish holiday. There are many minor holidays as well, including Purim, which celebrates the events told in the Biblical book of Esther, and Chanukkah, which is not established in the Bible but which celebrates the successful rebellion by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire. ===Torah readings=== The core of festival and Sabbath prayer services is the public reading of the Torah, along with connected readings from the other books of the Jewish Bible, called Haftarah. During the course of a year, the full Torah is read, and the cycle begins again every autumn during Simhat Torah (“rejoicing in the Torah”). ===Dietary laws: ''Kashrut''=== The laws of kashrut ("keeping kosher") are the Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with Jewish law is termed kosher, and food not in accord with Jewish law is termed ''treifah'' or ''treif''. From the context of the laws in the book of Leviticus, the purpose of ''kashrut'' is related to ritual purity and holiness. Reform and Reconstructionist Jews do not keep kosher, Orthodox Jews and some Conservative Jews do keep kosher, to varying degrees of strictness. ===Family purity=== The laws of ''niddah'' ("menstruant", often referred to euphemistically as "family purity") and various other laws regulating the interaction between men and women (e.g., ''tzeniut'', modesty in dress) are perceived, especially by Orthodox Jews, as vital factors in Jewish life. The laws of ''niddah'' dictate that sexual cannot take place while the woman is having a menstrual flow, and she has to count seven "clean" days and immerse in a ''mikvah'' (ritual bath). === Life-cycle events === Life-cycle events occur throughout a Jew's life that bind him/her to the entire community. *Brit milah - Welcoming male babies into the covenant through the rite of circumcision. *Bar mitzvah and Bat mitzvah - Celebrating a child's reaching the age of majority, becoming responsible from now on for themselves as an adult for living a Jewish life and following halakha. *Jewish view of marriage *Shiv'ah (mourning) - Judaism has a multi-staged mourning practice. The first stage is called the Shiv'ah (literally "seven", observed for one week) during which it is traditional to sit at home and be comforted by friends and family, the second is the ''shloshim'' (observed for one month) and for those who have lost one of their parents, there is a third stage, ''avelut yud bet chodesh'', which is observed for eleven months. ==Community leadership== ===Classical priesthood=== Judaism does not have a clergy, in the sense of full-time specialists required for religious services. Technically, the last time Judaism had a clergy was prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when priests attended to the Temple and sacrifices. The priesthood is an inherited position, and although priests no longer have clerical duties, they are still honored in many Jewish communities. *Kohen (priest) - patrilineal descendant of Aaron, brother of Moses. In the Temple, the ''kohanim'' were charged with performing the sacrifices. Today, a Kohen is the first one called up at the reading of the Torah, performs the priestly blessing, as well as complying with other unique laws. *Levi (Levite) - Patrilineal descendant of Levi the son of Jacob. Today, a Levite is called up second to the reading of the Torah. ===Prayer leaders=== From the times of the Mishna and Talmud to the present, Judaism has required specialists or authorities for the practice of very few rituals or ceremonies. A Jew can fulfil most requirements for prayer by himself. Some activities -- reading the Torah and ''haftarah'' (a supplementary portion from the Prophets or Writings); the prayer for mourners; the blessings for bridegroom and bride; the complete grace after meals -- require a ''minyan'', the presence of ten adults (Orthodox Jews and some Conservative Jews require ten adult men; some Conservative Jews and Reform Jews include women in the minyan). The most common professional clergy in a synagogue are: *Rabbi of a congregation - Jewish scholar who is charged with answering the legal questions of a congregation. Orthodox Judaism requires ''semicha'' (Rabbinical ordination). A congregation does not necessarily require a rabbi. Some congregations have a rabbi but also allow members of the congregation to act as ''shatz'' or ''baal koreh'' (see below). **Hassidic ''Rebbe'' - rabbi who is the head of a Hassidic dynasty. *''Hazzan'' (cantor) - a trained vocalist who acts as ''shatz''. Chosen for a good voice, knowledge of traditional tunes, understanding of the meaning of the prayers and sincerity in reciting them. A congregation does not need to have a dedicated hazzan. Jewish prayer services do involve two specified roles, which are often, but not always, filled by a rabbi and/or hazzan in many congregations: *Shaliach tzibur or ''Shatz'' (leader -- literally "agent" or "representative" -- of the congregation) leads those assembled in prayer, and sometimes prays on behalf of the community. When a ''shatz'' recites a prayer on behalf of the congregation, he is ''not'' acting as an intermediary but rather as a facilitator. The entire congregation participates in the recital of such prayers by saying ''amen'' at their conclusion; it is with this act that the ''shatz's'' prayer becomes the prayer of the congregation. Any adult capable of speaking Hebrew clearly may act as ''shatz'' (Orthodox Jews and some Conservative Jews allow only men to act as ''shatz''; some Conservative Jews and Reform Jews allow women to act as ''shatz'' as well). *Baal koreh (master of the reading) reads the weekly Torah portion. The requirements for acting as ''baal koreh'' are the same as those for the ''shatz''. Note that these roles are not mutually exclusive. The same person is often qualified to fill more than one role, and often does. Many congregations, especially larger ones, also rely on a: *Gabbai (sexton) - Calls people up to the Torah, appoints the ''shatz'' for each prayer session if there is no standard ''shatz'', and makes certain that the synagogue is kept clean and supplied. The three preceding positions are usually voluntary and considered an honor. Since the Enlightenment large synagogues have often adopted the practice of hiring rabbis and hazzans to act as ''shatz'' and ''baal koreh'', and this is still typically the case in most Conservative and Reform congregations. However, in most Orthodox synagogues these positions are filled by laypeople. ===Specialized religious roles=== *''Dayan'' (judge) - expert in Jewish law who sits on a ''beth din'' (rabbinical court) for either monetary matters or for overseeing the giving of a bill of divorce (''get''). A ''dayan'' always requires ''semicha''. *Mohel - performs the ''brit milah'' (circumcision). An expert in the laws of circumcision who has received training from a qualified ''mohel''. *Shochet (ritual slaughterer) - slaughters all kosher meat. In order for meat to be kosher, it must be slaughtered by a ''shochet'' who is expert in the laws and has received training from another ''shochet'', as well as having regular contact with a rabbi and revising the relevant guidelines on a regular basis. *Sofer (scribe) - Torah scrolls, ''tefillin'' (phylacteries), ''mezuzahs'' (scrolls put on doorposts), and ''get'' (bills of divorce) must be written by a ''sofer'' who is an expert in the laws of writing. *Rosh yeshivah - head of a ''yeshiva''. Somebody who is an expert in delving into the depths of the Talmud, and lectures the highest class in a yeshiva. *Mashgiach of a yeshiva - expert in ''mussar Movement'' (ethics). Oversees the emotional and spiritual welfare of the students in a ''yeshiva'', and gives lectures on ''mussar''. *Mashgiach over ''kosher'' products - supervises merchants and manufacturers of kosher food to ensure that the food is kosher. Either an expert in the laws of ''kashrut'', or (generally) under the supervision of a rabbi who is expert in those laws. == Jewish religious history == Jewish history is an extensive topic; this section will cover the elements of Jewish history of most importance to the Jewish religion and the development of Jewish denominations. ===Ancient Jewish religious history=== Jews trace their religious lineage to the Bible patriarch Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. After the Exodus from Egypt, the Jews came to Canaan, and settled the land. A monarchy was established under Saul and continued under King David and Solomon with its capital in Jerusalem. After Solomon's reign the nation split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) and the Kingdom of Judah (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian ruler Shalmaneser V in the 8th century BC and spread all over the Assyrian empire, where they were assimilated into other cultures and become known as the Ten Lost Tribes. The Kingdom of Judah continued as an independent state until it was conquered by a Babylonian army in the early 6th century BC, destroying the First Temple that was at the centre of ancient Jewish worship. The Judean elite was exiled to Babylonia, but later at least a part of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent conquest of Babylonia by the Persians seventy years later, a period known as the Babylonian Captivity. A new Second Temple was constructed, and old religious practices were resumed. After a Jewish revolt against Roman rule in 66 CE, the Romans all but destroyed Jerusalem; only a single "Western Wall" of the Second Temple remained. Following a second revolt, Jews were not allowed to enter the city of Jerusalem and most Jewish worship was forbidden by Rome. Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, and instead was rebuilt around rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities. No new books were added to the Jewish Bible after the Roman period, instead major efforts went into interpreting and developing Jewish law. === Historical Jewish groupings (to 1700) === Around the 1st century there were several small Jewish sects: the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes, and Christians. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, these sects vanished. Christianity survived, but by breaking with Judaism and becoming a separate religion; the Pharisees survived but in the form of Rabbinic Judaism (today, known simply as "Judaism"). Some Jews in the 8th and 9th centuries adopted the Sadducees' rejection of the oral law of the Pharisees/rabbis recorded in the Mishnah (and developed by later rabbis in the two Talmuds), intending to rely only upon the Tanakh. These included the Isunians, the Yudganites, the Malikites, and others. They soon developed oral traditions of their own which differed from the rabbinic traditions, and eventually formed the Karaism sect. Karaites exist in small numbers today, mostly living in Israel. Rabbinical and Karaite Jews each hold that the others are Jews, but that the other faith is erroneous. Over time Jews developed into distinct ethnic groups — amongst others, the ''Ashkenazi Jews'' (of Central and Eastern Europe with Russia); the ''Sephardi Jews'' (of Spain, Portugal, and North Africa) and the ''Yemenite Jews'', from the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. This split is cultural, and is not based on any doctrinal dispute, although the distance did result in minor differences in practice and prayers. === Hasidism === Hasidic Judaism was founded by Israel ben Eliezer (1700-1760), also known as the ''Ba'al Shem Tov'' (or ''Besht''). His disciples attracted many followers; they themselves established numerous Hasidic sects across Europe. Hasidic Judaism eventually became the way of life for many Jews in Europe. Waves of Jewish immigration in the 1880s carried it to the United States. Early on, there was a serious schism between Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews. European Jews who rejected the Hasidic movement were dubbed by the Hasidim as mitnagdim, (lit. "opponents"). Some of the reasons for the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the overwhelming exuberance of Hasidic worship; their untraditional ascriptions of infallibility and alleged miracle-working to their leaders, and the concern that it might become a messianic sect. Since then all the sects of Hasidic Judaism have been subsumed into mainstream Orthodox Judaism, particularly Haredi Judaism. === The Enlightenment and Reform Judaism === In the late 18th century CE Europe was swept by a group of intellectual, social and political movements known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment led to reductions in the European laws that prohibited Jews to interact with the wider secular world, thus allowing Jews access to secular education and experience. A parallel Jewish movement, Haskalah or the "Jewish Enlightenment," began, especially in Central Europe, in response to both the Enlightenment and these new freedoms. It placed an emphasis on integration with secular society and a pursuit of non-religious knowledge. The thrust and counter-thrust between supporters of Haskalah and more traditional Jewish concepts eventually led to the formation of a number of different branches of Judaism: Haskalah supporters founded Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism, while traditionalists founded many forms of Orthodox Judaism, and Jews seeking a balance between the two sides founded Conservative Judaism. A number of smaller groups came into being as well. === The Holocaust === While the Holocaust did not immediately affect Jewish denominations, its great loss of life caused a radical demographic shift, ultimately affecting the makeup of organized Judaism the way it is today. A Jewish day of mourning, Yom HaShoah, was inserted into the Jewish calendar, commemorating the Holocaust. === The present situation === In most Western nations, such as the United States of America, Israel, Canada, United Kingdom and South Africa, a wide variety of Jewish practices exist, along with a growing plurality of secular and non-practicing Jews. For example, in the world's largest Jewish community, the United States, according to the [http://www.ujc.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=83784 2001 National Jewish Population Survey], 4.3 million out of 5.1 million Jews had some sort of connection to the religion. Of that population of connected Jews, 80% participated in some sort of Jewish religious observance, but only 48% belonged to a synagogue. Religious (and secular) Jewish movements in the USA and Canada perceive this as a crisis situation, and have grave concern over rising rates of intermarriage and assimilation in the Jewish community. Since American Jews are marrying at a later time in their life than they used to, and are having fewer children than they used, the birth rate for American Jews has dropped from over 2.0 down to 1.7 (the replacement rate is 2.1). (''This is My Beloved, This is My Friend: A Rabbinic Letter on Intimate relations'', p. 27, Elliot N. Dorff, The Rabbinical Assembly, 1996). Intermarriage rates range from 40-50% in the US, and only about a third of children of intermarried couples are raised Jewish. Due to intermarriage and low birth rates, the Jewish population in the US shrank from 5.5 million in 1990 to 5.1 million in 2001. This is indicative of the general population trends among the Jewish community in the Diaspora, but a focus on population masks the diversity of current Jewish religious practice, as well as growth trends among some communities, like ''Haredi Judaism'' Jews. In the last 50 years there has been a general increase in interest in religion among many segments of the Jewish population. All of the major Jewish denominations have experienced a resurgence in popularity, with increasing numbers of younger Jews participating in Jewish education, joining synagogues, and becoming (to varying degrees) more observant. Complementing the increased popularity of the major denominations has been a number of new approaches to Jewish worship, including feminist approaches to Judaism and Jewish renewal movements. There is a separate article on the Baal teshuva movement, the movement of Jews returning to observant Judaism. Though this gain has not offset the general demographic loss due to intermarriage and acculturation, many Jewish communities and movements are growing. ==Judaism and other religions== === Christianity and Judaism === There are a number of articles on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. These articles include: *Comparing and contrasting Judaism and Christianity *Judeo-Christian *Christianity and anti-Semitism *Jewish view of Jesus *Cultural and historical background of Jesus Since the Holocaust, there has been much to note in the way of reconciliation between some Christian groups and the Jewish people; the article on Christian-Jewish reconciliation studies this issue. Messianic Judaism (sometimes Hebrew Christianity) is the common designation for a number of Christian groups which include varying degrees of Jewish practice. These groups have attracted tens (and perhaps hundreds) of thousands of Jews and Christians to their ranks; members identify themselves as Jews. These groups are viewed highly negatively by all Jewish denominations, which typically see them as covert and deceptive attempts to convert Jews to Christianity, a view Messianic-Jewish groups strongly contest. Some Jews have joined other faiths, such as Judeo-Paganism and neo-paganism. Some adherents to those movements identify themselves as Jews nonetheless. === Islam and Judaism === Under Islam rule, Judaism has been practiced for almost 1500 years and this has led to an interplay between the two religions which has been positive as well as negative at times. The period around 900 to 1200 in Moorish Spain came to be known as the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. The 20th century animosity of Muslim leaders towards Zionism, the political movement of Jewish self-determination, has led to a renewed interest in the relationship between Judaism and Islam. Other relevant material: *Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an *Islam and anti-Semitism == See also == ===Jews and Judaism=== *Jew for information on Jews from a national, ethnic, and cultural perspective. *Jewish history *Jewish population **Judaism by country *Anti-Semitism *Israel *Secular Jewish culture **Jewish humour *List of converts to Judaism *Zionism ===Jewish law and religion=== *Halakha, Jewish religious law **Who is a Jew? **Jewish ethics **Jewish views of homosexuality **Jewish ethics and Mussar Movement concern the ethical teachings of Judaism. **Holocaust theology *Torah *Rabbinic literature, including the Talmud *Jewish services *List of Jewish Prayers and Blessings *Jewish eschatology - Jewish views of the Messiah and the afterlife. * Role of women in Judaism ===Comparative=== *Abrahamic religions *Jewish views of religious pluralism *List of religions ==References== *''Ancient Judaism (book)'', Max Weber, Free Press, 1967, ISBN 0029341302 *''Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition and Practice'' Wayne Dosick. * ''Conservative Judaism: The New Century'', Neil Gillman, Behrman House. *''American Jewish Orthodoxy in Historical Perspective'' Jeffrey S. Gurock, 1996, Ktav. *''Philosophies of Judaism'' Julius Guttmann, trans. by David Silverman, JPS. 1964 *''Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts'' Ed. Barry W. Holtz, Summit Books *''A History of the Jews'' Paul Johnson, HarperCollins, 1988 *''A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America'', Jack Wertheimer. Brandeis Univ. Press, 1997. *''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', Keter Publishing, CD-ROM edition, 1997 *''The American Jewish Identity Survey'', article by Egon Mayer, Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar; a sub-set of The American Religious Identity Survey, City University of New York Graduate Center. An article on this survey is printed in ''The New York Jewish Week'', November 2, 2001. == External links == ===General=== *[http://www.jewfaq.org/ Judaism 101], an extensive FAQ written by a librarian. *[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761556154/Judaism.html ''Microsoft Encarta'' article on Judaism] *[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=666&letter=J&search=Judaism Judaism article from the 1901-1906 ''Jewish Encyclopedia''] *[http://www.shamash.org/links/ Extensive Collection of Links], from Shamash.org *[http://judaism.about.com/library/weekly/mpreviss_judaism_intro.htm Introduction to Judaism] from About.com. *[http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/index.htm Judaism] from ReligionFacts.com. *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/concepts.html Jewish Concepts] from the Jewish Virtual Library. ===Orthodox/Modern Orthodox/Hasidic=== *[http://www.ou.org/ Orthodox Judaism - The Orthodox Union: Official website] *[http://www.chabad.org/ Chabad-Lubavitch: Official website] *[http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/02-04.html What is Orthodox Judaism? Frequently Asked Questions and Answers] *[http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/363_Transp/08_Orthodoxy.html The Various Types of Orthodox Judaism] *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/orthostate.html The State of Orthodox Judaism Today] ===Conservative=== *[http://www.uscj.org/index1.html The United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism: Official website] *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/conservatives.html Introduction to Conservative Judaism] *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/conservstate.html The State of Conservative Judaism Today] ===Reform=== *[http://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/ Reform Judaism (UK): Official website] *[http://www.rj.org/ Reform Judaism (USA): Official website] *[http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/The_Origins_of_Reform_Judaism.html The Origin of Reform Judaism] *[http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/02-05.html What is Reform Judaism? Frequently Asked Questions and Answers] *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ref.html Jewish Virtual Library articles on Reform Judaism] ===Reconstructionist=== *[http://www.jrf.org/ Jewish Reconstructionist Federation: Official website] ===Karaite=== *[http://www.karaite-korner.org World Movement for Karaite Judaism] ===Jewish religious literature and texts=== *[http://wikisource.org/wiki/Pentateuch Wikisource Pentateuch] (in Hebrew). *[http://www.mechon-mamre.org/i/t/t0.htm Complete Tanakh] (in Hebrew, with vowels). *[http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/jps/index.htm English Tanakh] from the 1917 Jewish Publication Society version. *[http://www.e-daf.com/ The complete formatted Talmud online]. Interpretative videos for each page from a Orthodox viewpoint are provided in French, English, Yiddish and Hebrew. *[http://www.shamash.org/tanach/dvar.shtml Links to many sources of Divrei Torah]. Interpretations and discussions of portions of the Tanach from many different viewpoints. ===Wiki Torah study text projects=== *:b:Mishnah at :b: - Includes Hebrew text with translation and commentary; there is also a [http://he.wikibooks.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%94 Hebrew version]. *:wikisource:Shulchan Aruch at :wikisource: - Hebrew text with English translation bn:ইহুদীধর্ম la:Religio Iudaica lv:Jūdaisms minnan:Iu-thài-kàu ms:Yahudi simple:Judaism th:ยูได yi:ייִדישקײט zh-cn:犹太教 Judaism
:See also: Wikipedia:WikiProject Judaism Older discussions may be found here: Talk:Judaism Archive
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===Problems with Paragraphs=== ''Two things distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first developed.'' :The Rabbis opinion is that right from the beginning there was belief in one God. Adam was aware of the existence of God, as was Noah, and Shem and Ever. What is meant by when when it first developed? ::Most Orthodox rabbis hold that Judaism never existed until the time of Abraham. What Orthodox group preaches differently? Also, many Modern Orthodox rabbis admit that what we know today as rabbinic Judaism didn't evolve until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. User:RK ''First, it was monotheism. The significance of this belief is not so much the denial of other gods; although this element is fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, according to most critical Bible scholars the Torah often implies that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods. Rather, the significance lies in that Judaism holds that God created and cares about people. In polythestic religions, humankind is often created by accident, and the gods are primarily concerned with their relations with other gods, not with people.'' :These sentences imply that the opinions of "critical Bible scholars" outweigh those of the Rabbis. This is unacceptable. ::It makes no such statement; you can read such judgements or insults into this text, but they aren't there. User:RK 03:03, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) ''Second, the Torah specifies a number of laws to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a temple, priests, and made sacrifices -— but these were not the sole means of worshipping God. In comparison to other religions, Judaism elevates everyday life to the level of a temple, and worships God through everyday actions.'' :Why does the introduction of the temple have to be in the form that it is something that other nations had? ::Even Orthodox rabbis admit that every other religion and nationalist in that place and time had their own Temple; this is stated explicitly throughout the Talmud and midrash literature. Classical rabbinic Judaism holds that the structure of the Temple was not the point; it was the ''changes'' that Judaism offered to the world in terms of what we conceive of God to be, and how to offer service to God. User:RK 03:03, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) ''By the Hellenic period, most Jews had come to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths. This attitude may reflect growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths.'' ::This assumes that the view of the Jews changed. That is not the opinion of the Rabbis. It is also pure conjecture. :::Maimonides himself describes times and places where the views of Jews changed. So does the Tanakh (Bible) itself! User:RK ''Jews began to grapple with the tension between the particularism of their claim that only Jews were required to obey the Torah, and the universalism of their claim that the Torah contained universal truths. The result is a set of beliefs and practices concerning both identity, ethics, one's relation to nature, and one's relation to God, that privilege "difference" -— the difference between Jews and non-Jews; the differences between locally variable ways of practicing Judaism; a close attention to different meanings of words when interpreting texts; attempts to encode different points of view within texts, and a relative indifference to creed and dogma.'' :This continues to imply that the religion changed in fundamental ways. In any case, the seven Noahide laws existed from the time of Noah, and they are derived by the Talmud from a verse in parshas Noach. ::No one knows when the seven Noahide laws came into existence. All we know is when the Talmud says that they were derived. User:RK 03:03, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) Ezra, you cannot delete material just because you do not agree with it. It is true that critical scholars have a different view than Orthodox Jews. The paragraphs you do not like specify that they reflect the view of critical scholars. If you want to ''add'' the Orthodox view, of course you can do that (as long as you specify whose view it is). But do not delete stuff you don't like. Even the Rabbis z''l included in the Talmud views they disagreed with. Stop desecrating their memory. User:Slrubenstein --User:Ezra Wax 05:08, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) Slr: I am not complaining that I don't agree with the material, I am complaining that it is very one sided. It is not redeemable by adding another view, because there is no reason to add conflicting views into the introdcution. The whole introduction ought to be deleted as it is very difficult to say something that will be agreed to by everyone. All the points must be made where there is room to cover them more fully. How can you put the paragraphs back in when they specifically denigrate "Rabbinical Judaism" by saying that the Rabbis couldn't learn a pasuk of Chumash as well as some secular historian? It is your responsibility to fix the paragraphs before you put them back. Not my responsibility. --User:Ezra Wax 00:32, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC) Ezra, I don't think I ever said the Rabbis can't learn a pasuk of Chumash as well as a secular historian. At most, I ''believe'' that they read pasuks differently, for different purposes. Where did I say they can't read as well? User:Slrubenstein Has anybody here read "The Gifts of the Jews" by Thomas Cahill? He discusses the role of Jewish thought as revolutionary in the context of the ancient world because Abraham introduced the first recorded attempt to set life in terms of a linear narrative-- the notion of religious belief as a story. At this time, the rest of the world had suspended their faiths into neverending calendars which reiterated through predestined cycles and tracked the repetitive machinations of ever-static gods, divorced from time and space. Our religion was the first to weave life in the heavens and life on earth into one continuous and forward-looking thread with a definite beginning and a definite end. At any rate, I think the book (specifically the first third or so) will help clear up some of the snags up above, because it puts the advent of monotheism and all its theological implications in context with the beliefs of the time. That said, I have to say that this article is very well written. It is clear and even-handed, and I want to give a big yasher koach to all of you. -- O. ---- ''In comparison to other religions, Judaism is not primarily concerned with an afterlife, tending to elevate everyday life to the level of a temple, and worshipping God through the spectrum of everyday life and actions instead.'' :I am brand new at this so go easy on me if I trip over any protocol. I just want to say that this sentence has grammatical problems. I had trouble connecting subject and object. Is Judaism tending to elevate everyday life to the level of a temple? Or is an afterlife tending to elevate everyday life to the level of a temple. Is Judaism worshipping God through the sprectrum of everyday life and actions (instead?) or is the non-Jewish afterlife doing that? This sentence should be restructured so that subject and object connections are clear. User:Mondo4 (7 May 2005) * There is only one reasonable parse: that Judaism tends to elevate life… and worship God&hellip -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 02:02, May 8, 2005 (UTC) == The Traditional Jewish Bookshelf == RK - since you removed this without preliminary discussion on the talk page, I have put it back in without discussion either.User:Dovi 12:05, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC) To those who are mourning and fasting today - may it be meaningful (and easy). May we be comforted along with Jerusalem.User:Dovi 12:07, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC) :Our main articles usually do not contain lists or reading libraries. We used to have such things in many of our articles when they were smaller, but no longer. See the history of the article on Rabbi for an example. This article used to include a discussion of the topic as well as a list of rabbis, but that is no longer the case. The article became much longer, and the list of rabbis was spoun-off into its own article. The same thing happens on many Wikipedia articles. I suggest that the same should be true here. User:RK 17:39, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC) A highly stuctured short list like the present one is entirely appropriate in this context. It is (I repeat) clear and concise, very useful, and of central importance to the main article. Precisely for length reasons, there are ''other'' sections of the main article that should be shortened, spun off, or even converted to similar structured lists (e.g. "clergy"). And since it is the main article, those changes should be discussed in advance.User:Dovi 03:50, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC) ==Introduction == I changed "Traditional view" back to Rabbinical view." Here is why: "traditional" is vague and too broad. Most critical scholars now understand "tradition" to mean "of recent invention," which I am sure is not what Ezra meant. Conversely, others think "traditional" means "from time immemorial," which does not apply to this account. Ezra, as far as I can tell, is summing up exactly what he said -- Rabbinic views (i.e. views that came emerged during the Rabbinic period). There is no evidence that Jews in other periods ascribed to all of these beliefs. That said I still have problems with Ezara's work. I accept and respect his insistance that views other than those of critical historians be included. I have no objection to including a "Rabbinic view." It is just that I don't think that What Ezra wrote really "introduces" the rest of the article. I think it is more an attempt to summarize majore Rabbinic beliefs. I am ''not'' saying the whole thing needs to be rewritten but I encourage Ezra or others to edit it to make it tighter and lead more effectively into the article. User:Slrubenstein :I wish you had just reverted the title, and not the other edits. User:Jayjg 18:45, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC) --- To Jayjg and all concerned: I have removed Ezra's sermon for three reasons: *It is not an encyclopedia discussion of what Judaism is; it is instead his own personal philosophy of religion. *It is ''not'' the traditional rabbinic Jewish view. It is rather one person's modern interpretation of the various classic rabbinic views; note that many other interpretations of the classical view are possible. BTW, no Orthodox rabbi that I have studied with has ever described the nature of Judaism this way (but see my next point.) *The sermon was off-topic. Ezra would be correct to say that this represents the way that some Orthodox rabbis view the ''history of the Jewish people'', but that subject is covered in ''other articles''. This article is not about the early history of the Israelites! Please see the articles on Jew, Israelite, Children of Israel, Abraham and Noah. These articles would be more on-topic for what Ezra wants to write about. User:RK 21:42, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) ::Why don't you quote various parts of the section here, and explain why you think they are inappropriate? I too have issues with the section, and would welcome that. User:Jayjg 21:47, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::Well, it looks to me that he is just recapping the entire history of the early Jews, an isn't really describing much of the faith. Wouldn't it make more sense to summarize this, and link to the relevant articles? Even in my preferred edits I am happy to have a section on traditional rabbinic descriptions of Judaism, just not a copy of history that fits elsewhere. User:RK :::It appears that the critical-historical introduction also re-caps much of the history of the early Jews, in much the same way. Why is the latter acceptable while the former is not? User:Jayjg 00:30, 3 Sep 2004 (UTC) ::::Slr's text doesn't recap the history of Judaism like Ezra's text does, not at all. Ezra goes into a person-by-person history, and offers us no content about what Judaism actually us. In contrast, Slr offers a broad overview, which shows step-by-step what Judaism is and how it differs from other faiths. In fact, I have read a number of articles and books by Orthodox rabbis whose approach is the same as Slr. Ezra Wax's text is embarassing; it looks like a 7th grade Orthodox junior high school book, and is not encyclopedia quality or even on-topic. User:RK 02:40, Sep 3, 2004 (UTC) ==Much of critical historical view is also the rabbinic view== This introduction keeps getting renamed the "critical historical view", as if all of it was somehow at odds with the teachings of classical rabbinic Judaism. That is not so! Most (not all, see below) of this text is not only comptabible with classical rabbinic Judaism, but is explicitly taught by many Orthodox rabbis. User:RK 02:49, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) :Judaism does not easily fit into common Western categories, such as religion, race, ethnicity, or culture. This is because Jews understand Judaism in terms of its 4,000-year history. During this stretch of time, Jews have experienced slavery, anarchism self-government, theocracy self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile; they have been in contact, and have been influenced by Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and Ancient Greece cultures, as well as modern movements such as the the Enlightenment and the rise of nationalism. ::All Orthodox rabbis I have studied with, or whose books I have read, agree with this. They make such statements themselves. User:RK :Thus, Daniel Boyarin has argued that "Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not genealogical, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension." ::This in no way is a refutation of any classical rabbinic teachings; in fact some Orthodox rabbis say the same thing. User:RK :According to critical historians, two things distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first developed. First, it was monotheism. The significance of this belief is not so much the denial of other gods; although this element is fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, according to most critical Bible scholars the Torah often implies that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods. Rather, the significance lies in that Judaism holds that God created and cares about people. In polytheistic religions, humankind is often created by accident, and the gods are primarily concerned with their relations with other gods, not with people. ::Ok, this is a section that many Orthodox rabbis would disagree with. User:RK :Second, the Torah specifies a number of laws to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a temple, priests, and made sacrifices -— but these were not the sole means of worshiping God. In comparison to other religions, Judaism elevates everyday life to the level of a temple, and worships God through everyday actions. ::Many Orthodox rabbis themselves state ''exactly'' this. User:RK :By the Hellenic period, most Jews had come to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths. This attitude may reflect growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths. ::This too is a section that many Orthodox rabbis would disagree with. User:RK :Jews began to grapple with the tension between the particularism of their claim that only Jews were required to obey the Torah, and the universalism of their claim that the Torah contained universal truths. The result is a set of beliefs and practices concerning both identity, ethics, one's relation to nature, and one's relation to God, that privilege "difference" -— the difference between Jews and non-Jews; the differences between locally variable ways of practicing Judaism; a close attention to different meanings of words when interpreting texts; attempts to encode different points of view within texts, and a relative indifference to creed and dogma. ::Many Orthodox rabbis themselves state ''exactly'' this! User:RK == Gefiltefish == Why is it that the Yiddish Wikipedia has only 14 articles, but one of them is on gefiltefish, while we have no articles on gefiltefish out of our over 350000 articles? What's up with that? gefiltefish :yi:געפילטעפיש - user:Node_ue :Well, actually, there ''is'' an article on Gefilte fish.User:IFaqeer—User:IFaqeer | User talk:IFaqeer 22:05, Sep 29, 2004 (UTC) Mark, it has to do with cultural obsessions. To Yiddish-speakers, gefilte fish must be one of the fourteen most important things in the world, ahead of George W. Bush and John F. Kerry. :-) User:Jfdwolff | User_talk:Jfdwolff 00:10, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC) :Well, if you talk about culturally significant, a Sunni Muslim like me from Pakistan and Nigeria by way of New Jersey would agree.User:IFaqeer—User:IFaqeer User talk:IFaqeer 05:15, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC) == Karaite section == Yoshia, please bring proposed changes to the Karaite section here first. Thanks. User:Jayjg 05:40, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Talmidaism == While not considered a form of Judaism Talmidaism should be listed at least in passing, under a ''see also'' or whatever. The section I added was very NPOV and while not perfect should not have been reverted. User:Jayjg state your biases please. --User:Sunborn 16:42, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC) :I assume you mean "Talmudism" but what does this ''mean''? With the exception of Karaites all forms of Judaism today are forms of Rabbinic Judaism. Or are you referring to the split between Hasidim and Mitnagdim? I agree that these two distinctions need to be covered clearly in the article. User:Slrubenstein ::Umm, if you accept the Christian scriptures, then you're a Christian. The only "Jewish" movements that accepted Jesus as a prophet/messiah were the old Ebionites, who died off.--User:Yoshiah ap 20:58, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::That is why they consider themselves like the Ebionites. --User:Sunborn :So "Talmidism" is not a mis-spelling of "Talmud?" I googled talmidism and got three hits; doesn't seem serious for any article -- and certainly not this one! User:Slrubenstein ::Alright, if it is not a real religion, there goes my claim. Too much reliance on the Wikipedia is a bad thing I guess. It sounded too good to be true because that is what I believed when I believed in God, once upon a time. Thanks, --User:Sunborn 23:05, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::From what I can tell it's a tiny internet movement of former Christians who still consider Jesus to be a prophet and use various edited Christian scriptures. They want to be considered Jews, and their religion part of Judaism, but I don't see why that desire makes it true in any way. User:Jayjg 01:09, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Quick Question on Sephardic Jews... == Hello all... i'm not a jewish person but have a great deal of interest in both Israel & Judaism, and have doubts as to the meaning of "sephardic jew" Wikipedia & other i-net resources have given me the definition most of you will know (from Iberian peninsula, emigrating to the mediteranean region, etc...) but what raised my doubts is something else. I recently saw a documentary which claimed that Sephardic jews originated from a tribe in a land adjacent to israel (in the north, though i forgot its ancient name). The king/leader of this tribe was deeply impressed with his jewish neighbours and converted himself, as well as all his people, to judaism... I can find nothing to back this up, and would love any imput you're wishing to provide.. Thank you all, Hayden Mmm.... that's kind of backwards. The Sephardics, being those who were more local to the Holy Land, are probably closer to the original. The reference you seem to have is probably to the Khazars, a tribe who converted to Judaism and became part of the Ashkenazik, or Northern European branch of the religion, from whom most American Jews are descended. I'll let you search the details for yourself, the Web is full of all kinds of stuff on the topic, some reliable, some insane; I couldn't hope to pick out an objectively reliable selection. I will point out, however, that there is genetic evidence linking Ashkenazic Jews to Shephardic Jews, and both groups to the residents of the Arabic peninsula; most closely, ironically but not unexpectedly, to the Palestinians. User:Gzuckier 15:35, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC) ::The Sephardim came from Spain, which is rather farther from "the Holy Land" than southern Germany, where we first find identifiable Ashkenazim. The Khazars themselves may have contributed some input into Ashkenazi Jews, but the genetic evidence for this is weak, and the contribution in any event would be minor. User:Jayjg 18:42, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::Actually, Italqim (AKA Italiani, Bene Roma, etc.) is the European Jewish tradition with the strongest evidence of high proportions of Erets Yisraeli Jews. Many of these Italian Jews travelled to Southern France and the Iberian peninsula, and others ended up in SW Germany. I have done a fair bit of research on the liturgy of Western European Sephardim, and in connection with that also on the Italian and Ashkenazi traditions. Many of the characteristic traits of Italian Judaism are found in Western Ashkenazi traditions of SW Germany, that's true. But a high number of these traits are actually also found in the Castilian and Catalonian traditions. I have no problem agreeing that Western Ashkenazim are Erets Yisraeli to a relatively high degree. But the same goes for Western Sephardim! Eastern Ashkenazim show some pretty significant differences here (and local groups have been linked genetically to Iraqi Jewry, much the same way that this has been found for some Sephardi groups) -- as do also many other "Sephardi" traditions. Too little weight has been put on investigating the differences within the Ashkenazi traditions... :::You might, BTW, want to look into the "Bené Hes" story and see what this tells us about south-western Germany's early Jews in a Sephardi / Western Ashkenazi / Eastern Ashkenazi perspective... :::As for Spain being further from Israel than southern Germany is, that is not really true in an ancient world perspective, when boats were the easiest means of getting around... -- User:Olve 19:16, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC) :Gzuckier is right in linking this story to the Khazars. Descendents of the Khazars seem to be a significant element amongst Eastern European Karaites, and to some relatively small degree also amongst Eastern Ashkenazim — but the rather controversial Dr. Wexler's theories of Ashkenazim being predominantly Khazar converts and Sephardim being predominantly Berber converts is more than a tad too farfetched — and agrees very badly to the available data. There has been various claims of specific origins of the Ashkenazim as a whole or the Sephardim as a whole. It is not true that Ashkenazim all or mostly came from Israel and Sephardim all or mostly came from Babylon. Neither is the opposite true. In reality, things are much more complicated. It can be summed up relatively simply: The current broad terms Sephardim and Ashkenazim each covers several groups of people with various proportions of Roman Era Israel, Babylon and the general Mediterranean in addition to a relatively small but over the centuries noticeable influx from other groups through conversion (quite frequent in some times and places) and occasional intermarriage, extramarital affairs or rapes. :-- User:Olve 16:29, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC) Olve & Gzuckier: Thank you for the insight... i will look into some of the points you made... and i definitely agree with you on one basic point Olve - reality is always more complicated than people make it out to be... especially on television. == Zoroastrianism == The article Zoroastrianism claims that Zoroastrianism was an influence on the development on Judaism, but this article has nothing to say on the matter. What gives? Who's right? :Many historians suggest that Jewish concern with a struggle between good and evil, which emerged in literature written during the Babylonial exile, was strongly influenced if not inspired by Zoroastrian dualism. I don't have any sources offhand, but I think this is the origin to the claim. User:Slrubenstein == Order of Diaspora denominations == I think alphabetical is the most neutral way to list them. However, if they're going to be listed by size (as a recent edit changed it), I'll believe that Orthodox is the largest in the Diaspora (since it accounts for the majority of active Jews outside of Israel and North America), but Reform is larger than Conservative in the US according to the latest NJPS, and the US accounts for the majority of Reform/Conservative Jews, so it's reasonable to say that Reform is larger than Conservative in the Diaspora as a whole. User:Dreyfus 23:20, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC) :These things are hard to know, but Reform is certainly the largest in the U.S. Anyway, the order now is more or less by age of the movement, which is another reasonable order. User:Jayjg 00:58, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC) == New "Judaism stub" and "Israel stub" == Hi, welcome the new Wikipedia
Judaism
Judaism is the religious culture of the Jewish people. It is one of the first recorded monotheistic faiths and one of the oldest religious traditions still practiced today. The tenets and history of Judaism are the major part of the foundation of other Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam. For all of these reasons, Judaism has been a major force in shaping the world. == Introduction == Judaism does not easily fit into common Western categories, such as religion, race, ethnicity, or culture. This is because Jews understand Judaism in terms of its 4,000-year history. During this time, Jews have experienced slavery, anarchism self-government, theocracy self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile; they have been in contact, and have been influenced by Ancient Egypt, Babylonian, Persian Empire, and Ancient Greece cultures, as well as modern movements such as the The Enlightenment and the rise of Nationalism. Thus, Daniel Boyarin has argued that "Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not Genealogy, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension." [[Image:Menorah7a.png|100px|right|framed|The seven-branched Menorah is an ancient symbol of Judaism. It was used in the Temple in Jerusalem.]] According to both traditional Jews and critical historical scholars, a number of qualities distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first emerged. The first characteristic is monotheism. This notion is derived directly from the Torah (the Hebrew Bible) where Names of God in Judaism makes it part of the Ten Commandments#Exodus 20/Deuteronomy 5: "...I am the Lord your God. Do not have any other gods before Me. Do not represent [such] gods by any carved statue or picture of anything in the heaven above, on the earth below, or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to [such gods] or worship them. I am God your Lord, a God who demands exclusive worship". [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments#Exodus_20.2FDeuteronomy_5] The Ten Commandments#Jewish understanding of this is that: #"I am the Lord your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt..." The belief in the existence of God, that God exists for all time, that God is the sole creator of all that exists, that God determines the course of events in this world. This is the foundation of Judaism. To turn from these beliefs is to deny God and the essence of Judaism. #"You shall have no other gods besides Me...Do not make a sculpted image or any likeness of what is in the heavens above..." One is required to believe in God and God alone. This prohibits belief in or worship of any additional deities, gods, spirits or incarnations. To deny the uniqueness of God, is to deny all that is written in the Torah. It is also a prohibition against making or possessing objects that one or other may bow down to or serve such as crucifixes, and any forms of paintings or artistic representations of God. One must not bow down to or serve any being or object but God. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ten_Commandments#Jewish_interpretation] The significance of this idea lies in that Judaism holds that an omniscient and omnipotent God created humankind as recorded in the Book of Genesis, in the Creation according to Genesis starting with the very first verse of Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." While in Polytheism religions, the gods are limited by the preoccupation of personal desires irrelevant to humankind, by limited powers, and by the interference of other powers, in Judaism, God is unlimited and fully available to care for Creation. Second, the Torah (i.e., The Hebrew Bible) specifies a number of laws, known as the 613 mitzvot, to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a Temple in Jerusalem, Kohen, and made Korban — but these were not the sole means of worshiping God. As a matter of practical worship (in comparison to other religions) Judaism seeks to elevate everyday life to the level of the ancient Temples' worship by worshipping God through the spectrum of daily activites and actions. It has traditionally maintained that this is how the individual would merit rewards in the afterlife, called ''gan eden'' (Hebrew language: "Garden of Eden") or ''Jewish eschatology#The afterlife and olam haba (the world to come)'' ("World to Come"). ===Religious view of the development of Judaism=== According to Orthodox Judaism and most religious Jews, the Biblical patriarch Abraham was the first Jew. Rabbinic literature records that he was the first to reject idolatry and preach monotheism. As a result, God promised he would have children. His first child was Ishmael and then he had Isaac, who God said would carry on his work and inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan), after having been exiled and redeemed. God sent the patriarch Jacob and his children to Ancient Egypt; after they eventually became enslaved, God sent Moses to redeem the Israelites from slavery. After the Exodus from Egypt, God led them to Mount Sinai and gave them the Torah, and eventually brought them to the land of Israel. God set the descendants of Aaron, Moses' brother, to be a Kohen within the Israelite community. They first officiated in the tabernacle (a portable house of worship), and later their descendants were in charge of worship in the Temple in Jerusalem. Once the Jews had settled in the land of Israel, the tabernacle was planted in the city of Shiloh (Biblical) for over 300 years during which time God provided great men, and occasionally women, to rally the nation against attacking enemies, some of which were sent by God as a punishment for the sins of the people. This is described in the Book of Joshua and the Book of Judges. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the Philistines to capture the tabernacle in Shiloh. The people of Israel then told Samuel the prophet that they had reached the point where they needed a permanent king like other nations had, and described in the Books of Samuel. God knew this was not best for the Jews, but acceded to this request and had Samuel appoint Saul the King, a great but very humble man, to be their king. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint David in his stead. Once David was established as king, he told the prophet Nathan that he would like to build a permanent temple. As a reward for his actions, God promised David that he would allow his son to build the temple and the throne would never depart from his children. David himself was not allowed to build the temple because he had been involved in many wars, making it inappropriate for him to build a temple representing peace. As a result, it was David's son Solomon who built the Solomon's Temple according to God's will, in Jerusalem. This era is described in the Books of Kings. After Solomon's death, the kingdom was split into the two kingdoms of Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah. Israel had a number of kings, but after a few hundred years God allowed Assyria to conquer Israel and exile its people because of the rampant idolatry in the kingdom. The southern kingdom of Judah, whose capital was Jerusalem, home of the Temple, remained under the rulership of the house of David. However, as in the north, idolatry increased to the point that God allowed Babylonia to conquer it, destroy the Temple which had stood for 410 years and exile its people to Babylonia, with the promise that they would be redeemed after seventy years. These events are recorded in the Book of Isaiah and the Book of Jeremiah. After seventy years the Jews were allowed back into Israel under the leadership of Ezra, and the Temple was rebuilt, as recorded in the Book of Ezra and the Book of Nehemiah. The Second Temple stood for 420 years after which it was destroyed by the Roman Empire general (later Roman Emperor) Titus. This is the state in which it is to remain until a descendant of David arises to restore the glory of Israel (the current existence of the Islamic Dome of the Rock is not relevent to the rabbinical view.) The Torah given on Mount Sinai was summarized in the five books of Moses. Together with the books of the prophets it is called the ''Written Torah''. The details and interpretation of the law, which are called the ''Oral Torah'' or ''Oral law#Oral law in Judaism'' were originally unwritten. However as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, rabbinic tradition holds that these oral laws were recorded in the Mishnah, and the Talmud, as well as other holy books. ===Critical historical view of the development of Judaism=== Although monotheism is fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, according to many critical Bible scholars the Torah often implies that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods. However, they viewed their God as the Creator and the one that mankind was morally bound to worship alone. But by the Hellenic period most Jews had come to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths. This attitude may reflect growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths. Jews began to grapple with the tension between the particularism of their claim that only Jews were required to obey the Torah, and the universalism of their claim that the Torah contained universal truths. The result is a set of beliefs and practices concerning both identity, ethics, one's relation to nature, and one's relation to God, that privilege "difference" — the difference between Jews and non-Jews; the differences between locally variable ways of practicing Judaism; a close attention to different meanings of words when interpreting texts; attempts to encode different points of view within texts, and a relative indifference to creed and dogma. The subject of the Hebrew Bible is an account of the Israelites' (also called Hebrews) relationship with God as reflected in their history from the beginning of time until the building of the Second Temple (ca. 350 BCE). This relationship is generally portrayed as contentious, as Jews struggle between their faith in God and their attraction for other gods, and as some Jews (most notably and directly, Abraham, Jacob -- later known as Israel—and Moses) struggle with God. Modern scholars also suggest that the Torah consists of a variety of inconsistent texts that were edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts (see Documentary hypothesis). ==Religious doctrine and ''Principles of Faith''== While Judaism has always affirmed a number of Jewish principles of faith, it has never developed a fully binding "catechism". It is difficult to generalize about Jewish theology because Judaism is non-creedal; that is, there is no agreed-upon dogma (set of orthodox beliefs) that most Jews believed were required of Jews. While individual Jewish rabbis, or sometimes entire groups, at times agreed upon a firm dogma, other rabbis and groups disagreed. With no central agreed-upon authority, no one formulation of Jewish principles of faith could take precedence over any other. This approach to religious doctrine dates back at least two thousand years. For example, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and traditions rather than beliefs when he describes the characteristics of an apostate (a Jew who does not follow traditional customs) and the requirements for conversion to Judaism (circumcision, and adherence to traditional customs). Despite the above, in Orthodox Judaism some principles (e.g., the Divine origin of the Torah) are considered important enough that public rebellion against them can put one in the category of "apikoros" (heretic). Over the centuries, a number of clear formulations of Jewish principles of faith have appeared; most of them have much in common, yet they differ in certain details. A comparison of them demonstrates a wide array of tolerance for varying theological perspectives. Generally, however, the thirteen principles of faith expressed by Maimonides are considered authorative descriptions of Jewish beliefs: * God is one - Judaism is based on strict unitarian monotheism, the belief in one God, the eternal creator of the universe and the source of morality. The idea of God as a dualism or trinity is heretical for Jews to hold; it is considered akin to polytheism. * God is all powerful (omnipotent), as well as all knowing (omniscient). The different names of God are ways to express different aspects of God's presence in the world. See the entry on Names of God in Judaism. * God is non-physical, non-corporeal, and eternal. All statements in the Tanakh and in rabbinic literature which use anthropomorphism are held to be linguistic conceits or metaphors, as it would otherwise be impossible to talk about God. * To God alone may one offer prayer. Any belief that an intermediary between man and God could be used, whether necessary or even optional, has traditionally been considered heretical. * The Hebrew Bible, and much of the beliefs described in the Mishnah and Talmud, are held to be the product of divine revelation. How revelation works, and what precisely one means when one says that a book is "divine", has always been a matter of some dispute. Different understandings of this subject exist among Jews. * The words of the prophets are true. * Moses was the chief of all prophets. * The Torah (five books of Moses) is the primary text of Judaism. * God will reward those who observe His commandments, and punish those who violate them. * Names of God in Judaism chose the Jewish people to be in a unique covenant with Him; see Jews as a chosen people. * The messianic age: There will be a Jewish eschatology (Jewish Messiah), or perhaps a messianic era. * The soul is pure at birth. People are born with a ''yetzer ha'tov'', a tendency to do good, and with a ''yetzer ha'ra'', a tendency to do bad. Thus, human beings have free will and can choose the path in life that they will take. * People can atone for sins through words and deeds, and without intermediaries. The liturgy of the Days of Awe (Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur) states that prayer, repentance and ''tzedakah'' (dutiful giving of charity) atone for sin. Atonement is deemed only meaningful if accompanied by sincere decision to cease unacceptable actions, and then only if appropriate amends to others are honestly undertaken. It covers wrongdoings by which a person has fallen short of divine wishes in his daily life, and thus there is always a "way back" to God. In Judaism, sin is more considered in terms of a wrongful action, contravening divine commandment to live a holy life, than wrongful thought. A more detailed discussion of the Jewish view of sin is available in the entry on sin. ==The traditional Jewish bookshelf== Jews are often called the "People of the Book," and Judaism has an age-old intellectual tradition focusing on text-based Torah study. The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought. For more detail, see Rabbinic literature. *The Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) and Jewish bible study, which include: **Mesorah **Targum **Jewish Biblical exegesis (also see Midrash below) *Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature) **The Mishnah and its commentaries. **The Tosefta and the minor tractates. **The Talmud: ***The Jerusalem Talmud and its commentaries. ***The Babylonian Talmud and its commentaries. **Midrash: ***Halakhic Midrash ***Aggadic Midrash *Halakhic literature **The Major Codes of Halakha ***The Mishneh Torah and its commentaries. ***The Arba'ah Turim and its commentaries. ***The Shulhan Arukh and its commentaries. **Other books on Jewish Law and Custom **The Responsa literature *Jewish Thought and Ethics **Jewish philosophy **Kabbalah **Hasidic Judaism works **Jewish ethics and the Mussar Movement *The Siddur and Jewish liturgy *''Piyyut'' (Classical Jewish poetry) Related Topics *Torah databases (electronic versions of the Traditional Jewish Bookshelf) *List of Jewish Prayers and Blessings ==Jewish Law and interpretation== The basis of Jewish law and tradition ("halakha") is the Torah (the five books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition there are 613 mitzvot commandments in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the Kohen and Leviyim (members of the tribe of Levi), some only to those who practice farming within the land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and fewer than 300 of these commandments are still applicable today. While there have been Jewish groups which claimed to be based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees, and the Karaism), most Jews believed in what they call the oral law. These oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee sect of ancient Judaism, and were latter recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis. Rabbinic Judaism has always held that the books of the Tanakh (called the written law) have always been transmitted in parallel with an Oral law. To justify this viewpoint, Jews point to the text of the Torah, where many words are left undefined, and many procedures mentioned without explanation or instructions; this, they argue, means that the reader is assumed to be familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources. This parallel set of material was originally transmitted orally, and came to be known as "the oral law". By the time of Rabbi Judah Ha-Nasi (200 CE), after the destruction of Jerusalem, much of this material was edited together into the Mishnah. Over the next four centuries this law underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and Babylon), and the commentaries on the Mishnah from each of these communities eventually came to be edited together into compilations known as the two Talmud. These have been expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages. Halakha, the rabbinic Jewish way of life, then, is based on a combined reading of the Torah, and the oral tradition - the Mishnah, the halakhic Midrash, the Talmud and its commentaries. The Halakha has developed slowly, through a precedent-based system. The literature of questions to rabbis, and their considered answers, is referred to as responsa (in Hebrew language, ''Sheelot U-Teshuvot''.) Over time, as practices develop, codes of Jewish law are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the Shulkhan Arukh, largely determines Jewish religious practice up to today. ===What makes a person Jewish?=== According to Jewish law, someone is considered to be a Jew if he or she was born of a Jewish mother or converted in accord with Jewish Law. (Recently, the American Reform Judaism and Reconstructionist Judaism movements have included those born of Jewish fathers and gentile mothers, if the children are raised practicing Judaism only.) All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts. A Jew who ceases to practice Judaism is still considered a Jew, as is a Jew who does not accept Jewish principles of faith and becomes an agnostic or an atheist; so too with a Jew who converts to another religion. However, in the latter case, the person loses standing as a member of the Jewish community and becomes known as an apostate. In the past, family and friends were said to often formally mourn for the person, though this is rarely done today. The question of what determines Jewish identity was given new impetus when, in the 1950s, David ben Gurion requested opinions on ''mihu Yehudi'' ("who is a Jew") from Jewish religious authorities and intellectuals worldwide. The question is far from settled and occasionally resurfaces in Politics of Israel. ===Jewish philosophy=== Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. Early Jewish philosophy was influenced by the philosophy of Plato, Aristotle, and Islamic philosophy. Major Jewish philosophers include Solomon ibn Gabirol, Saadia Gaon, Maimonides, and Gersonides. Major changes occurred in response to The Enlightenment (late 1700s to early 1800s) leading to the post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers, and then modern Jewish philosophers such as Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig, Mordecai Kaplan, Abraham Joshua Heschel, Will Herberg, Emmanuel Levinas, Richard Rubenstein, Emil Fackenheim, and Joseph Soloveitchik. ==Jewish denominations== Over the past two centuries the Jewish community has divided into a number of Jewish denominations; each has a different understanding of what principles of belief a Jew should hold, and how one should live as a Jew. Unlike Christian denominations, these doctrinal differences have not fundamentally split Jewish denominations, which continue to overlap on many issues. It would not be unusual for a Conservative Jew to attend either an Orthodox or Reform synagogue, for example. *Orthodox Judaism holds that the Torah was written by God and dictated to Moses, and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally consider a 16th century CE law code, the Shulkhan Arukh, to be the definitive codification of Jewish law, and assert a continuity between pre-Enlightenment Judaism and modern-day Orthodox Judaism. Orthodox Judaism consists of Modern Orthodox Judaism and Haredi Judaism. Hasidic Judaism is a sub-set of Haredi Judaism. Most of Orthodox Judaism holds to one particular form of Jewish theology, based on Maimonides' 13 principles of Jewish faith. *Reform Judaism (outside of the United States also known as Progressive Judaism, and in the UK as Liberal Judaism) originally formed in Germany in response to the Enlightenment. Reform Judaism initially defined Judaism as a religion, rather than as a race or culture; rejected the ritual prescriptions and proscriptions of the Torah; and emphasized the ethical call of the Neviim. Reform Judaism developed a prayer service in the vernacular and emphasized decorum during services. Today, many Reform congregations have returned to Hebrew prayers and encourage some degree of legal observance. *Conservative Judaism. Outside of the United States it is known as Masorti (Hebrew language for "Traditional") Judaism. "Masorti" is its official title in the State of Israel as well, although most Israelis use the word in a more general sense (see below). Conservative Judaism formed in the United States in the late 1800s through the fusion of two distinct groups: former Reform Jews who were alienated by that movement's emphatic rejection of Jewish law, and former Orthodox Jews who had rejected belief in the "oral law" (which claims continuity between God's revelation at Sinai and Jewish law as codified in the ''Shulkhan Arukh'') in favor of the critical study of Jewish texts and history. Conservative Jews emphasize that Jews constitute a nation as well as a religion. Conservative scholars emphasize their identification with the Amoraim, the sages of the Talmud, who embraced open debates over interpretations (and reinterpretations) of Jewish law. *Reconstructionist Judaism started as a stream of philosophy by a rabbi within Conservative Judaism, and later became an independent movement emphasizing reinterpreting Judaism for modern times. Many religious Jews do not look at one's denomination as a valid way of designating Jews; instead they view Jews by the level of their religious observance. According to most Orthodox Jews, Jewish people who do not keep the laws of Shabbat and Yom Tov (the holidays), Kashrut, and family purity are considered non-religious. Any Jew who keeps at least those laws would be considered observant and religious). ===Jewish denominations in Israel=== Even though all of these denominations exist in Israel, Israelis tend to classify Jewish identity in ways that are different than diaspora Jewry. Most Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "secular" (''hiloni''), "traditional" (''masorti''), "religious" (''dati'') or ''Haredi''. The term "secular" is more popular as a self-description among Israeli families of western (European) origin, whose Jewish identity may be a very powerful force in their lives, but who see it as largely independent of traditional religious belief and practice. This portion of the population largely ignores organized religious life, be it of the official Israeli rabbinate (Orthodox) or of the liberal movements common to diaspora Judaism (Reform, Conservative). The term "traditional" (''masorti'') is most common as a self-description among Israeli families of "eastern" origin (i.e., the Middle East, Central Asia, and North Africa). This term, as commonly used, has nothing to do with the official Masorti (Conservative) movement. There is a great deal of ambiguity in the ways "secular" and "traditional" are used in Israel. They often overlap, and they cover an extremely wide range in terms of ideology and religious observance. The term "Orthodox" (''Ortodoxi'') is unpopular in Israeli discourse (among both "secular" and "religious" alike). Nevertheless, the spectrum covered by "Orthodox" in the diaspora exists in Israel, again with some important variations. The "Orthodox" spectrum in Israel is a far greater percentage of the Jewish population in Israel than in the diaspora, though ''how much'' greater is hotly debated. Various ways of measuring this percentage, each with its pros and cons, include the proportion of religiously observant Knesset members, the proportion of Jewish children enrolled in religious schools, and statistical studies on "identity". What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called ''dati'' (religious) or ''haredi'' (ultra-Orthodox) in Israel. The former term includes what is called "Religious Zionism" or the "National Religious" community, as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as ''haredi-leumi'' (nationalist ''haredi''), which combines a largely ''haredi'' lifestyle with nationalist ideology. ''Haredi'' applies to a populace that can be roughly divided into three separate groups along both ethnic and ideological lines: (1) "Lithuanian" (non-hasidic) ''haredim'' of Ashkenazic origin; (2) Hasidic ''haredim'' of Ashkenazic origin; and (3) Sephardic ''haredim''. The third group is the largest, and has been the most politically active since the early 1990s. ===Karaism=== Unlike the above denominations, which were ideological reactions that resulted from the exposure of traditional rabbinic Judaism to the radical changes of modern times, Karaite_Judaism did not begin as a modern Jewish movement. The followers of Karaism believe they are the remnants of the non-Rabbinic Jewish sects of the Second Temple period, such as the Saducees, though others contend they are a sect started in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Karaites, or "Scripturalists," accept only the Hebrew Bible and what they view as the Peshat: "Plain or Simple Meaning"; and do not accept non-biblical writings as authoritative. Some European Karaites do not see themselves as part of the Jewish community, while most do. It is interesting to note that the Nazis did not consider Karaites as Jews, and therefore Karaite communities were spared in WWII and exist to this day even in places such as Lithuania where Jewish communities were completely deveastated. The ''main article'' Jewish views of religious pluralism describes how Judaism views other religions; it also describes how members of each of the Jewish religious denominations view the other denominations. ==Jewish prayer and practice== ===Prayers=== There are three main daily prayer services, named ''Shacharit'', ''Mincha'' (literally: "flour-offering") and ''Maariv'' or ''Arvit''. All services include a number of benedictions called the ''Amidah'' or the ''Shemonah Esrei'' ("eighteen"), which on weekdays consists of nineteen blessings (one was added in the time of the ''Mishna'', but the name remains). Another key prayer in many services is the declaration of faith, the ''Shema'' which is recited at ''shacharit'' and ''maariv''. Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service can be said in solitary prayer, but ''Kaddish'' and ''Kedusha'' require a group of ten adult men (or men and women in some branches of Judaism) called a minyan (prayer quorum). There are also prayers and benedictions recited throughout the day, such as those before eating or drinking. There are a number of common Jewish religious objects used in prayer. The tallit is a Jewish prayer shawl. A kippah or yarmulke (skullcap) is a head covering worn during prayer by most Jews, and at all times by more orthodox Jews — especially Ashkenazim. Phylacteries or tefillin, boxes containing the portions of the Torah mandating them, are also worn by religious Jews during weekday morning services. The Jewish approach to prayer differs slightly between the various branches of Judaism, although all use the same set of prayers and texts, the frequency of prayer, the number of prayers recited at various religious events, and whether one prays in a particular liturgical language or the vernacular differs from denomination to denomination, with Conservative and Orthodox congregations using more traditional services, while Reform and Reconstructionist synagogues are more likely to incorporate translations, contemporary writings, and abbreviated services. ===Shabbat=== ''Shabbat'', the weekly day of rest lasting from Friday night to Saturday night, celebrates God's creation as a day of rest that commemorates God's day of rest upon the completion of creation. It plays an important role in Jewish practice and is the subject of a large body of religious law. Some consider it the most important Jewish holiday. ===Jewish holidays=== The Jewish holy days celebrate central themes in the relationship between God and the world, such as creation, revelation, and redemption. Some holidays are also linked to the agricultural cycle. Three holidays celebrate revelation by commemorating different events in the passage of the Children of Israel out of slavery in Egypt to their return to the land of Canaan. They are also timed to coincide with important agricultural seasons. They are also pilgramage holidays, for which the Children of Israel would journey to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices to God in His Temple. *Pesach or Passover celebrates the Exodus from Egypt, and coincides with the barley harvest. It is the only holiday that centers on home-service, the Seder. Pesach occurs on the 15th of Nisan; Nisan is the first month of the Jewish calendar, because it was in this month that the Children of Israel left Egypt. *Shavuot or Pentacost or Feast of Weeks celebrates Moses' giving of the Ten Commandments to the Israelites, and marks the transition from the barley harvest to the wheat harvest. *Sukkot, or The Festival of Booths or the Festival of the Ingathering commemorates the wandering of the Children of Israel through the desert. It is celebrated through the construction of temporary booths that represent the temporary shelters of the Children of Israel during their wandering. It coincides with the fruit harvest, and marks the end of the agricultural cycle. *Rosh Hashanah, also ''Yom Ha-Zikkaron'' (the Day of Remembrance) or ''Yom Teruah'' (the Day of the Sounding of the Shofar). Called the Jewish New Year because it celebrates the day that the world was created, and marks the advance in the calendar from one year to the next, although it occurs in the seventh month, Tishri. It is also a holiday of redemption, as it marks the beginning of the atonement period that ends ten days later with Yom Kippur. *Yom Kippur, or The Day of Atonement, also called "the Sabbath of Sabbaths," is a holiday centered on redemption; a day of atonement and fasting for sins committed during the previous year. Many consider this the most important Jewish holiday. There are many minor holidays as well, including Purim, which celebrates the events told in the Biblical book of Esther, and Chanukkah, which is not established in the Bible but which celebrates the successful rebellion by the Maccabees against the Seleucid Empire. ===Torah readings=== The core of festival and Sabbath prayer services is the public reading of the Torah, along with connected readings from the other books of the Jewish Bible, called Haftarah. During the course of a year, the full Torah is read, and the cycle begins again every autumn during Simhat Torah (“rejoicing in the Torah”). ===Dietary laws: ''Kashrut''=== The laws of kashrut ("keeping kosher") are the Jewish dietary laws. Food in accord with Jewish law is termed kosher, and food not in accord with Jewish law is termed ''treifah'' or ''treif''. From the context of the laws in the book of Leviticus, the purpose of ''kashrut'' is related to ritual purity and holiness. Reform and Reconstructionist Jews do not keep kosher, Orthodox Jews and some Conservative Jews do keep kosher, to varying degrees of strictness. ===Family purity=== The laws of ''niddah'' ("menstruant", often referred to euphemistically as "family purity") and various other laws regulating the interaction between men and women (e.g., ''tzeniut'', modesty in dress) are perceived, especially by Orthodox Jews, as vital factors in Jewish life. The laws of ''niddah'' dictate that sexual cannot take place while the woman is having a menstrual flow, and she has to count seven "clean" days and immerse in a ''mikvah'' (ritual bath). === Life-cycle events === Life-cycle events occur throughout a Jew's life that bind him/her to the entire community. *Brit milah - Welcoming male babies into the covenant through the rite of circumcision. *Bar mitzvah and Bat mitzvah - Celebrating a child's reaching the age of majority, becoming responsible from now on for themselves as an adult for living a Jewish life and following halakha. *Jewish view of marriage *Shiv'ah (mourning) - Judaism has a multi-staged mourning practice. The first stage is called the Shiv'ah (literally "seven", observed for one week) during which it is traditional to sit at home and be comforted by friends and family, the second is the ''shloshim'' (observed for one month) and for those who have lost one of their parents, there is a third stage, ''avelut yud bet chodesh'', which is observed for eleven months. ==Community leadership== ===Classical priesthood=== Judaism does not have a clergy, in the sense of full-time specialists required for religious services. Technically, the last time Judaism had a clergy was prior to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, when priests attended to the Temple and sacrifices. The priesthood is an inherited position, and although priests no longer have clerical duties, they are still honored in many Jewish communities. *Kohen (priest) - patrilineal descendant of Aaron, brother of Moses. In the Temple, the ''kohanim'' were charged with performing the sacrifices. Today, a Kohen is the first one called up at the reading of the Torah, performs the priestly blessing, as well as complying with other unique laws. *Levi (Levite) - Patrilineal descendant of Levi the son of Jacob. Today, a Levite is called up second to the reading of the Torah. ===Prayer leaders=== From the times of the Mishna and Talmud to the present, Judaism has required specialists or authorities for the practice of very few rituals or ceremonies. A Jew can fulfil most requirements for prayer by himself. Some activities -- reading the Torah and ''haftarah'' (a supplementary portion from the Prophets or Writings); the prayer for mourners; the blessings for bridegroom and bride; the complete grace after meals -- require a ''minyan'', the presence of ten adults (Orthodox Jews and some Conservative Jews require ten adult men; some Conservative Jews and Reform Jews include women in the minyan). The most common professional clergy in a synagogue are: *Rabbi of a congregation - Jewish scholar who is charged with answering the legal questions of a congregation. Orthodox Judaism requires ''semicha'' (Rabbinical ordination). A congregation does not necessarily require a rabbi. Some congregations have a rabbi but also allow members of the congregation to act as ''shatz'' or ''baal koreh'' (see below). **Hassidic ''Rebbe'' - rabbi who is the head of a Hassidic dynasty. *''Hazzan'' (cantor) - a trained vocalist who acts as ''shatz''. Chosen for a good voice, knowledge of traditional tunes, understanding of the meaning of the prayers and sincerity in reciting them. A congregation does not need to have a dedicated hazzan. Jewish prayer services do involve two specified roles, which are often, but not always, filled by a rabbi and/or hazzan in many congregations: *Shaliach tzibur or ''Shatz'' (leader -- literally "agent" or "representative" -- of the congregation) leads those assembled in prayer, and sometimes prays on behalf of the community. When a ''shatz'' recites a prayer on behalf of the congregation, he is ''not'' acting as an intermediary but rather as a facilitator. The entire congregation participates in the recital of such prayers by saying ''amen'' at their conclusion; it is with this act that the ''shatz's'' prayer becomes the prayer of the congregation. Any adult capable of speaking Hebrew clearly may act as ''shatz'' (Orthodox Jews and some Conservative Jews allow only men to act as ''shatz''; some Conservative Jews and Reform Jews allow women to act as ''shatz'' as well). *Baal koreh (master of the reading) reads the weekly Torah portion. The requirements for acting as ''baal koreh'' are the same as those for the ''shatz''. Note that these roles are not mutually exclusive. The same person is often qualified to fill more than one role, and often does. Many congregations, especially larger ones, also rely on a: *Gabbai (sexton) - Calls people up to the Torah, appoints the ''shatz'' for each prayer session if there is no standard ''shatz'', and makes certain that the synagogue is kept clean and supplied. The three preceding positions are usually voluntary and considered an honor. Since the Enlightenment large synagogues have often adopted the practice of hiring rabbis and hazzans to act as ''shatz'' and ''baal koreh'', and this is still typically the case in most Conservative and Reform congregations. However, in most Orthodox synagogues these positions are filled by laypeople. ===Specialized religious roles=== *''Dayan'' (judge) - expert in Jewish law who sits on a ''beth din'' (rabbinical court) for either monetary matters or for overseeing the giving of a bill of divorce (''get''). A ''dayan'' always requires ''semicha''. *Mohel - performs the ''brit milah'' (circumcision). An expert in the laws of circumcision who has received training from a qualified ''mohel''. *Shochet (ritual slaughterer) - slaughters all kosher meat. In order for meat to be kosher, it must be slaughtered by a ''shochet'' who is expert in the laws and has received training from another ''shochet'', as well as having regular contact with a rabbi and revising the relevant guidelines on a regular basis. *Sofer (scribe) - Torah scrolls, ''tefillin'' (phylacteries), ''mezuzahs'' (scrolls put on doorposts), and ''get'' (bills of divorce) must be written by a ''sofer'' who is an expert in the laws of writing. *Rosh yeshivah - head of a ''yeshiva''. Somebody who is an expert in delving into the depths of the Talmud, and lectures the highest class in a yeshiva. *Mashgiach of a yeshiva - expert in ''mussar Movement'' (ethics). Oversees the emotional and spiritual welfare of the students in a ''yeshiva'', and gives lectures on ''mussar''. *Mashgiach over ''kosher'' products - supervises merchants and manufacturers of kosher food to ensure that the food is kosher. Either an expert in the laws of ''kashrut'', or (generally) under the supervision of a rabbi who is expert in those laws. == Jewish religious history == Jewish history is an extensive topic; this section will cover the elements of Jewish history of most importance to the Jewish religion and the development of Jewish denominations. ===Ancient Jewish religious history=== Jews trace their religious lineage to the Bible patriarch Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. After the Exodus from Egypt, the Jews came to Canaan, and settled the land. A monarchy was established under Saul and continued under King David and Solomon with its capital in Jerusalem. After Solomon's reign the nation split into two kingdoms, the Kingdom of Israel (in the north) and the Kingdom of Judah (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the Assyrian ruler Shalmaneser V in the 8th century BC and spread all over the Assyrian empire, where they were assimilated into other cultures and become known as the Ten Lost Tribes. The Kingdom of Judah continued as an independent state until it was conquered by a Babylonian army in the early 6th century BC, destroying the First Temple that was at the centre of ancient Jewish worship. The Judean elite was exiled to Babylonia, but later at least a part of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent conquest of Babylonia by the Persians seventy years later, a period known as the Babylonian Captivity. A new Second Temple was constructed, and old religious practices were resumed. After a Jewish revolt against Roman rule in 66 CE, the Romans all but destroyed Jerusalem; only a single "Western Wall" of the Second Temple remained. Following a second revolt, Jews were not allowed to enter the city of Jerusalem and most Jewish worship was forbidden by Rome. Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, and instead was rebuilt around rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities. No new books were added to the Jewish Bible after the Roman period, instead major efforts went into interpreting and developing Jewish law. === Historical Jewish groupings (to 1700) === Around the 1st century there were several small Jewish sects: the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, Essenes, and Christians. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, these sects vanished. Christianity survived, but by breaking with Judaism and becoming a separate religion; the Pharisees survived but in the form of Rabbinic Judaism (today, known simply as "Judaism"). Some Jews in the 8th and 9th centuries adopted the Sadducees' rejection of the oral law of the Pharisees/rabbis recorded in the Mishnah (and developed by later rabbis in the two Talmuds), intending to rely only upon the Tanakh. These included the Isunians, the Yudganites, the Malikites, and others. They soon developed oral traditions of their own which differed from the rabbinic traditions, and eventually formed the Karaism sect. Karaites exist in small numbers today, mostly living in Israel. Rabbinical and Karaite Jews each hold that the others are Jews, but that the other faith is erroneous. Over time Jews developed into distinct ethnic groups — amongst others, the ''Ashkenazi Jews'' (of Central and Eastern Europe with Russia); the ''Sephardi Jews'' (of Spain, Portugal, and North Africa) and the ''Yemenite Jews'', from the southern tip of the Arabian peninsula. This split is cultural, and is not based on any doctrinal dispute, although the distance did result in minor differences in practice and prayers. === Hasidism === Hasidic Judaism was founded by Israel ben Eliezer (1700-1760), also known as the ''Ba'al Shem Tov'' (or ''Besht''). His disciples attracted many followers; they themselves established numerous Hasidic sects across Europe. Hasidic Judaism eventually became the way of life for many Jews in Europe. Waves of Jewish immigration in the 1880s carried it to the United States. Early on, there was a serious schism between Hasidic and non-Hasidic Jews. European Jews who rejected the Hasidic movement were dubbed by the Hasidim as mitnagdim, (lit. "opponents"). Some of the reasons for the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the overwhelming exuberance of Hasidic worship; their untraditional ascriptions of infallibility and alleged miracle-working to their leaders, and the concern that it might become a messianic sect. Since then all the sects of Hasidic Judaism have been subsumed into mainstream Orthodox Judaism, particularly Haredi Judaism. === The Enlightenment and Reform Judaism === In the late 18th century CE Europe was swept by a group of intellectual, social and political movements known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment led to reductions in the European laws that prohibited Jews to interact with the wider secular world, thus allowing Jews access to secular education and experience. A parallel Jewish movement, Haskalah or the "Jewish Enlightenment," began, especially in Central Europe, in response to both the Enlightenment and these new freedoms. It placed an emphasis on integration with secular society and a pursuit of non-religious knowledge. The thrust and counter-thrust between supporters of Haskalah and more traditional Jewish concepts eventually led to the formation of a number of different branches of Judaism: Haskalah supporters founded Reform Judaism and Liberal Judaism, while traditionalists founded many forms of Orthodox Judaism, and Jews seeking a balance between the two sides founded Conservative Judaism. A number of smaller groups came into being as well. === The Holocaust === While the Holocaust did not immediately affect Jewish denominations, its great loss of life caused a radical demographic shift, ultimately affecting the makeup of organized Judaism the way it is today. A Jewish day of mourning, Yom HaShoah, was inserted into the Jewish calendar, commemorating the Holocaust. === The present situation === In most Western nations, such as the United States of America, Israel, Canada, United Kingdom and South Africa, a wide variety of Jewish practices exist, along with a growing plurality of secular and non-practicing Jews. For example, in the world's largest Jewish community, the United States, according to the [http://www.ujc.org/content_display.html?ArticleID=83784 2001 National Jewish Population Survey], 4.3 million out of 5.1 million Jews had some sort of connection to the religion. Of that population of connected Jews, 80% participated in some sort of Jewish religious observance, but only 48% belonged to a synagogue. Religious (and secular) Jewish movements in the USA and Canada perceive this as a crisis situation, and have grave concern over rising rates of intermarriage and assimilation in the Jewish community. Since American Jews are marrying at a later time in their life than they used to, and are having fewer children than they used, the birth rate for American Jews has dropped from over 2.0 down to 1.7 (the replacement rate is 2.1). (''This is My Beloved, This is My Friend: A Rabbinic Letter on Intimate relations'', p. 27, Elliot N. Dorff, The Rabbinical Assembly, 1996). Intermarriage rates range from 40-50% in the US, and only about a third of children of intermarried couples are raised Jewish. Due to intermarriage and low birth rates, the Jewish population in the US shrank from 5.5 million in 1990 to 5.1 million in 2001. This is indicative of the general population trends among the Jewish community in the Diaspora, but a focus on population masks the diversity of current Jewish religious practice, as well as growth trends among some communities, like ''Haredi Judaism'' Jews. In the last 50 years there has been a general increase in interest in religion among many segments of the Jewish population. All of the major Jewish denominations have experienced a resurgence in popularity, with increasing numbers of younger Jews participating in Jewish education, joining synagogues, and becoming (to varying degrees) more observant. Complementing the increased popularity of the major denominations has been a number of new approaches to Jewish worship, including feminist approaches to Judaism and Jewish renewal movements. There is a separate article on the Baal teshuva movement, the movement of Jews returning to observant Judaism. Though this gain has not offset the general demographic loss due to intermarriage and acculturation, many Jewish communities and movements are growing. ==Judaism and other religions== === Christianity and Judaism === There are a number of articles on the relationship between Judaism and Christianity. These articles include: *Comparing and contrasting Judaism and Christianity *Judeo-Christian *Christianity and anti-Semitism *Jewish view of Jesus *Cultural and historical background of Jesus Since the Holocaust, there has been much to note in the way of reconciliation between some Christian groups and the Jewish people; the article on Christian-Jewish reconciliation studies this issue. Messianic Judaism (sometimes Hebrew Christianity) is the common designation for a number of Christian groups which include varying degrees of Jewish practice. These groups have attracted tens (and perhaps hundreds) of thousands of Jews and Christians to their ranks; members identify themselves as Jews. These groups are viewed highly negatively by all Jewish denominations, which typically see them as covert and deceptive attempts to convert Jews to Christianity, a view Messianic-Jewish groups strongly contest. Some Jews have joined other faiths, such as Judeo-Paganism and neo-paganism. Some adherents to those movements identify themselves as Jews nonetheless. === Islam and Judaism === Under Islam rule, Judaism has been practiced for almost 1500 years and this has led to an interplay between the two religions which has been positive as well as negative at times. The period around 900 to 1200 in Moorish Spain came to be known as the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. The 20th century animosity of Muslim leaders towards Zionism, the political movement of Jewish self-determination, has led to a renewed interest in the relationship between Judaism and Islam. Other relevant material: *Similarities between the Bible and the Qur'an *Islam and anti-Semitism == See also == ===Jews and Judaism=== *Jew for information on Jews from a national, ethnic, and cultural perspective. *Jewish history *Jewish population **Judaism by country *Anti-Semitism *Israel *Secular Jewish culture **Jewish humour *List of converts to Judaism *Zionism ===Jewish law and religion=== *Halakha, Jewish religious law **Who is a Jew? **Jewish ethics **Jewish views of homosexuality **Jewish ethics and Mussar Movement concern the ethical teachings of Judaism. **Holocaust theology *Torah *Rabbinic literature, including the Talmud *Jewish services *List of Jewish Prayers and Blessings *Jewish eschatology - Jewish views of the Messiah and the afterlife. * Role of women in Judaism ===Comparative=== *Abrahamic religions *Jewish views of religious pluralism *List of religions ==References== *''Ancient Judaism (book)'', Max Weber, Free Press, 1967, ISBN 0029341302 *''Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition and Practice'' Wayne Dosick. * ''Conservative Judaism: The New Century'', Neil Gillman, Behrman House. *''American Jewish Orthodoxy in Historical Perspective'' Jeffrey S. Gurock, 1996, Ktav. *''Philosophies of Judaism'' Julius Guttmann, trans. by David Silverman, JPS. 1964 *''Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts'' Ed. Barry W. Holtz, Summit Books *''A History of the Jews'' Paul Johnson, HarperCollins, 1988 *''A People Divided: Judaism in Contemporary America'', Jack Wertheimer. Brandeis Univ. Press, 1997. *''Encyclopaedia Judaica'', Keter Publishing, CD-ROM edition, 1997 *''The American Jewish Identity Survey'', article by Egon Mayer, Barry Kosmin and Ariela Keysar; a sub-set of The American Religious Identity Survey, City University of New York Graduate Center. An article on this survey is printed in ''The New York Jewish Week'', November 2, 2001. == External links == ===General=== *[http://www.jewfaq.org/ Judaism 101], an extensive FAQ written by a librarian. *[http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761556154/Judaism.html ''Microsoft Encarta'' article on Judaism] *[http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=666&letter=J&search=Judaism Judaism article from the 1901-1906 ''Jewish Encyclopedia''] *[http://www.shamash.org/links/ Extensive Collection of Links], from Shamash.org *[http://judaism.about.com/library/weekly/mpreviss_judaism_intro.htm Introduction to Judaism] from About.com. *[http://www.religionfacts.com/judaism/index.htm Judaism] from ReligionFacts.com. *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/concepts.html Jewish Concepts] from the Jewish Virtual Library. ===Orthodox/Modern Orthodox/Hasidic=== *[http://www.ou.org/ Orthodox Judaism - The Orthodox Union: Official website] *[http://www.chabad.org/ Chabad-Lubavitch: Official website] *[http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/02-04.html What is Orthodox Judaism? Frequently Asked Questions and Answers] *[http://www.acs.ucalgary.ca/~elsegal/363_Transp/08_Orthodoxy.html The Various Types of Orthodox Judaism] *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/orthostate.html The State of Orthodox Judaism Today] ===Conservative=== *[http://www.uscj.org/index1.html The United Synagogues of Conservative Judaism: Official website] *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/conservatives.html Introduction to Conservative Judaism] *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/conservstate.html The State of Conservative Judaism Today] ===Reform=== *[http://www.reformjudaism.org.uk/ Reform Judaism (UK): Official website] *[http://www.rj.org/ Reform Judaism (USA): Official website] *[http://www.us-israel.org/jsource/Judaism/The_Origins_of_Reform_Judaism.html The Origin of Reform Judaism] *[http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/02-05.html What is Reform Judaism? Frequently Asked Questions and Answers] *[http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/ref.html Jewish Virtual Library articles on Reform Judaism] ===Reconstructionist=== *[http://www.jrf.org/ Jewish Reconstructionist Federation: Official website] ===Karaite=== *[http://www.karaite-korner.org World Movement for Karaite Judaism] ===Jewish religious literature and texts=== *[http://wikisource.org/wiki/Pentateuch Wikisource Pentateuch] (in Hebrew). *[http://www.mechon-mamre.org/i/t/t0.htm Complete Tanakh] (in Hebrew, with vowels). *[http://www.sacred-texts.com/bib/jps/index.htm English Tanakh] from the 1917 Jewish Publication Society version. *[http://www.e-daf.com/ The complete formatted Talmud online]. Interpretative videos for each page from a Orthodox viewpoint are provided in French, English, Yiddish and Hebrew. *[http://www.shamash.org/tanach/dvar.shtml Links to many sources of Divrei Torah]. Interpretations and discussions of portions of the Tanach from many different viewpoints. ===Wiki Torah study text projects=== *:b:Mishnah at :b: - Includes Hebrew text with translation and commentary; there is also a [http://he.wikibooks.org/wiki/%D7%9E%D7%A9%D7%A0%D7%94 Hebrew version]. *:wikisource:Shulchan Aruch at :wikisource: - Hebrew text with English translation bn:ইহুদীধর্ম la:Religio Iudaica lv:Jūdaisms minnan:Iu-thài-kàu ms:Yahudi simple:Judaism th:ยูได yi:ייִדישקײט zh-cn:犹太教 Judaism
Judaism
:See also: Wikipedia:WikiProject Judaism Older discussions may be found here: Talk:Judaism Archive
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===Problems with Paragraphs=== ''Two things distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first developed.'' :The Rabbis opinion is that right from the beginning there was belief in one God. Adam was aware of the existence of God, as was Noah, and Shem and Ever. What is meant by when when it first developed? ::Most Orthodox rabbis hold that Judaism never existed until the time of Abraham. What Orthodox group preaches differently? Also, many Modern Orthodox rabbis admit that what we know today as rabbinic Judaism didn't evolve until the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE. User:RK ''First, it was monotheism. The significance of this belief is not so much the denial of other gods; although this element is fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, according to most critical Bible scholars the Torah often implies that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods. Rather, the significance lies in that Judaism holds that God created and cares about people. In polythestic religions, humankind is often created by accident, and the gods are primarily concerned with their relations with other gods, not with people.'' :These sentences imply that the opinions of "critical Bible scholars" outweigh those of the Rabbis. This is unacceptable. ::It makes no such statement; you can read such judgements or insults into this text, but they aren't there. User:RK 03:03, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) ''Second, the Torah specifies a number of laws to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a temple, priests, and made sacrifices -— but these were not the sole means of worshipping God. In comparison to other religions, Judaism elevates everyday life to the level of a temple, and worships God through everyday actions.'' :Why does the introduction of the temple have to be in the form that it is something that other nations had? ::Even Orthodox rabbis admit that every other religion and nationalist in that place and time had their own Temple; this is stated explicitly throughout the Talmud and midrash literature. Classical rabbinic Judaism holds that the structure of the Temple was not the point; it was the ''changes'' that Judaism offered to the world in terms of what we conceive of God to be, and how to offer service to God. User:RK 03:03, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) ''By the Hellenic period, most Jews had come to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths. This attitude may reflect growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths.'' ::This assumes that the view of the Jews changed. That is not the opinion of the Rabbis. It is also pure conjecture. :::Maimonides himself describes times and places where the views of Jews changed. So does the Tanakh (Bible) itself! User:RK ''Jews began to grapple with the tension between the particularism of their claim that only Jews were required to obey the Torah, and the universalism of their claim that the Torah contained universal truths. The result is a set of beliefs and practices concerning both identity, ethics, one's relation to nature, and one's relation to God, that privilege "difference" -— the difference between Jews and non-Jews; the differences between locally variable ways of practicing Judaism; a close attention to different meanings of words when interpreting texts; attempts to encode different points of view within texts, and a relative indifference to creed and dogma.'' :This continues to imply that the religion changed in fundamental ways. In any case, the seven Noahide laws existed from the time of Noah, and they are derived by the Talmud from a verse in parshas Noach. ::No one knows when the seven Noahide laws came into existence. All we know is when the Talmud says that they were derived. User:RK 03:03, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) Ezra, you cannot delete material just because you do not agree with it. It is true that critical scholars have a different view than Orthodox Jews. The paragraphs you do not like specify that they reflect the view of critical scholars. If you want to ''add'' the Orthodox view, of course you can do that (as long as you specify whose view it is). But do not delete stuff you don't like. Even the Rabbis z''l included in the Talmud views they disagreed with. Stop desecrating their memory. User:Slrubenstein --User:Ezra Wax 05:08, 26 Jul 2004 (UTC) Slr: I am not complaining that I don't agree with the material, I am complaining that it is very one sided. It is not redeemable by adding another view, because there is no reason to add conflicting views into the introdcution. The whole introduction ought to be deleted as it is very difficult to say something that will be agreed to by everyone. All the points must be made where there is room to cover them more fully. How can you put the paragraphs back in when they specifically denigrate "Rabbinical Judaism" by saying that the Rabbis couldn't learn a pasuk of Chumash as well as some secular historian? It is your responsibility to fix the paragraphs before you put them back. Not my responsibility. --User:Ezra Wax 00:32, 27 Jul 2004 (UTC) Ezra, I don't think I ever said the Rabbis can't learn a pasuk of Chumash as well as a secular historian. At most, I ''believe'' that they read pasuks differently, for different purposes. Where did I say they can't read as well? User:Slrubenstein Has anybody here read "The Gifts of the Jews" by Thomas Cahill? He discusses the role of Jewish thought as revolutionary in the context of the ancient world because Abraham introduced the first recorded attempt to set life in terms of a linear narrative-- the notion of religious belief as a story. At this time, the rest of the world had suspended their faiths into neverending calendars which reiterated through predestined cycles and tracked the repetitive machinations of ever-static gods, divorced from time and space. Our religion was the first to weave life in the heavens and life on earth into one continuous and forward-looking thread with a definite beginning and a definite end. At any rate, I think the book (specifically the first third or so) will help clear up some of the snags up above, because it puts the advent of monotheism and all its theological implications in context with the beliefs of the time. That said, I have to say that this article is very well written. It is clear and even-handed, and I want to give a big yasher koach to all of you. -- O. ---- ''In comparison to other religions, Judaism is not primarily concerned with an afterlife, tending to elevate everyday life to the level of a temple, and worshipping God through the spectrum of everyday life and actions instead.'' :I am brand new at this so go easy on me if I trip over any protocol. I just want to say that this sentence has grammatical problems. I had trouble connecting subject and object. Is Judaism tending to elevate everyday life to the level of a temple? Or is an afterlife tending to elevate everyday life to the level of a temple. Is Judaism worshipping God through the sprectrum of everyday life and actions (instead?) or is the non-Jewish afterlife doing that? This sentence should be restructured so that subject and object connections are clear. User:Mondo4 (7 May 2005) * There is only one reasonable parse: that Judaism tends to elevate life… and worship God&hellip -- User:Jmabel | User talk:Jmabel 02:02, May 8, 2005 (UTC) == The Traditional Jewish Bookshelf == RK - since you removed this without preliminary discussion on the talk page, I have put it back in without discussion either.User:Dovi 12:05, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC) To those who are mourning and fasting today - may it be meaningful (and easy). May we be comforted along with Jerusalem.User:Dovi 12:07, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC) :Our main articles usually do not contain lists or reading libraries. We used to have such things in many of our articles when they were smaller, but no longer. See the history of the article on Rabbi for an example. This article used to include a discussion of the topic as well as a list of rabbis, but that is no longer the case. The article became much longer, and the list of rabbis was spoun-off into its own article. The same thing happens on many Wikipedia articles. I suggest that the same should be true here. User:RK 17:39, Jul 27, 2004 (UTC) A highly stuctured short list like the present one is entirely appropriate in this context. It is (I repeat) clear and concise, very useful, and of central importance to the main article. Precisely for length reasons, there are ''other'' sections of the main article that should be shortened, spun off, or even converted to similar structured lists (e.g. "clergy"). And since it is the main article, those changes should be discussed in advance.User:Dovi 03:50, Jul 28, 2004 (UTC) ==Introduction == I changed "Traditional view" back to Rabbinical view." Here is why: "traditional" is vague and too broad. Most critical scholars now understand "tradition" to mean "of recent invention," which I am sure is not what Ezra meant. Conversely, others think "traditional" means "from time immemorial," which does not apply to this account. Ezra, as far as I can tell, is summing up exactly what he said -- Rabbinic views (i.e. views that came emerged during the Rabbinic period). There is no evidence that Jews in other periods ascribed to all of these beliefs. That said I still have problems with Ezara's work. I accept and respect his insistance that views other than those of critical historians be included. I have no objection to including a "Rabbinic view." It is just that I don't think that What Ezra wrote really "introduces" the rest of the article. I think it is more an attempt to summarize majore Rabbinic beliefs. I am ''not'' saying the whole thing needs to be rewritten but I encourage Ezra or others to edit it to make it tighter and lead more effectively into the article. User:Slrubenstein :I wish you had just reverted the title, and not the other edits. User:Jayjg 18:45, 28 Jul 2004 (UTC) --- To Jayjg and all concerned: I have removed Ezra's sermon for three reasons: *It is not an encyclopedia discussion of what Judaism is; it is instead his own personal philosophy of religion. *It is ''not'' the traditional rabbinic Jewish view. It is rather one person's modern interpretation of the various classic rabbinic views; note that many other interpretations of the classical view are possible. BTW, no Orthodox rabbi that I have studied with has ever described the nature of Judaism this way (but see my next point.) *The sermon was off-topic. Ezra would be correct to say that this represents the way that some Orthodox rabbis view the ''history of the Jewish people'', but that subject is covered in ''other articles''. This article is not about the early history of the Israelites! Please see the articles on Jew, Israelite, Children of Israel, Abraham and Noah. These articles would be more on-topic for what Ezra wants to write about. User:RK 21:42, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) ::Why don't you quote various parts of the section here, and explain why you think they are inappropriate? I too have issues with the section, and would welcome that. User:Jayjg 21:47, 31 Aug 2004 (UTC) ::Well, it looks to me that he is just recapping the entire history of the early Jews, an isn't really describing much of the faith. Wouldn't it make more sense to summarize this, and link to the relevant articles? Even in my preferred edits I am happy to have a section on traditional rabbinic descriptions of Judaism, just not a copy of history that fits elsewhere. User:RK :::It appears that the critical-historical introduction also re-caps much of the history of the early Jews, in much the same way. Why is the latter acceptable while the former is not? User:Jayjg 00:30, 3 Sep 2004 (UTC) ::::Slr's text doesn't recap the history of Judaism like Ezra's text does, not at all. Ezra goes into a person-by-person history, and offers us no content about what Judaism actually us. In contrast, Slr offers a broad overview, which shows step-by-step what Judaism is and how it differs from other faiths. In fact, I have read a number of articles and books by Orthodox rabbis whose approach is the same as Slr. Ezra Wax's text is embarassing; it looks like a 7th grade Orthodox junior high school book, and is not encyclopedia quality or even on-topic. User:RK 02:40, Sep 3, 2004 (UTC) ==Much of critical historical view is also the rabbinic view== This introduction keeps getting renamed the "critical historical view", as if all of it was somehow at odds with the teachings of classical rabbinic Judaism. That is not so! Most (not all, see below) of this text is not only comptabible with classical rabbinic Judaism, but is explicitly taught by many Orthodox rabbis. User:RK 02:49, Aug 31, 2004 (UTC) :Judaism does not easily fit into common Western categories, such as religion, race, ethnicity, or culture. This is because Jews understand Judaism in terms of its 4,000-year history. During this stretch of time, Jews have experienced slavery, anarchism self-government, theocracy self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile; they have been in contact, and have been influenced by Ancient Egypt, Babylon, Persia, and Ancient Greece cultures, as well as modern movements such as the the Enlightenment and the rise of nationalism. ::All Orthodox rabbis I have studied with, or whose books I have read, agree with this. They make such statements themselves. User:RK :Thus, Daniel Boyarin has argued that "Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not genealogical, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension." ::This in no way is a refutation of any classical rabbinic teachings; in fact some Orthodox rabbis say the same thing. User:RK :According to critical historians, two things distinguish Judaism from the other religions that existed when it first developed. First, it was monotheism. The significance of this belief is not so much the denial of other gods; although this element is fundamental to Rabbinic Judaism, according to most critical Bible scholars the Torah often implies that the early Israelites accepted the existence of other gods. Rather, the significance lies in that Judaism holds that God created and cares about people. In polytheistic religions, humankind is often created by accident, and the gods are primarily concerned with their relations with other gods, not with people. ::Ok, this is a section that many Orthodox rabbis would disagree with. User:RK :Second, the Torah specifies a number of laws to be followed by the Children of Israel. Other religions at the time were characterized by temples in which priests would worship their gods through sacrifice. The Children of Israel similarly had a temple, priests, and made sacrifices -— but these were not the sole means of worshiping God. In comparison to other religions, Judaism elevates everyday life to the level of a temple, and worships God through everyday actions. ::Many Orthodox rabbis themselves state ''exactly'' this. User:RK :By the Hellenic period, most Jews had come to believe that their God was the only God (and thus, the God of everyone), and that the record of His revelation (the Torah) contained within it universal truths. This attitude may reflect growing Gentile interest in Judaism (some Greeks and Romans considered the Jews a most "philosophical" people because of their belief in a God that cannot be represented visually), and growing Jewish interest in Greek philosophy, which sought to establish universal truths. ::This too is a section that many Orthodox rabbis would disagree with. User:RK :Jews began to grapple with the tension between the particularism of their claim that only Jews were required to obey the Torah, and the universalism of their claim that the Torah contained universal truths. The result is a set of beliefs and practices concerning both identity, ethics, one's relation to nature, and one's relation to God, that privilege "difference" -— the difference between Jews and non-Jews; the differences between locally variable ways of practicing Judaism; a close attention to different meanings of words when interpreting texts; attempts to encode different points of view within texts, and a relative indifference to creed and dogma. ::Many Orthodox rabbis themselves state ''exactly'' this! User:RK == Gefiltefish == Why is it that the Yiddish Wikipedia has only 14 articles, but one of them is on gefiltefish, while we have no articles on gefiltefish out of our over 350000 articles? What's up with that? gefiltefish :yi:געפילטעפיש - user:Node_ue :Well, actually, there ''is'' an article on Gefilte fish.User:IFaqeer—User:IFaqeer | User talk:IFaqeer 22:05, Sep 29, 2004 (UTC) Mark, it has to do with cultural obsessions. To Yiddish-speakers, gefilte fish must be one of the fourteen most important things in the world, ahead of George W. Bush and John F. Kerry. :-) User:Jfdwolff | User_talk:Jfdwolff 00:10, 3 Oct 2004 (UTC) :Well, if you talk about culturally significant, a Sunni Muslim like me from Pakistan and Nigeria by way of New Jersey would agree.User:IFaqeer—User:IFaqeer User talk:IFaqeer 05:15, Dec 4, 2004 (UTC) == Karaite section == Yoshia, please bring proposed changes to the Karaite section here first. Thanks. User:Jayjg 05:40, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Talmidaism == While not considered a form of Judaism Talmidaism should be listed at least in passing, under a ''see also'' or whatever. The section I added was very NPOV and while not perfect should not have been reverted. User:Jayjg state your biases please. --User:Sunborn 16:42, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC) :I assume you mean "Talmudism" but what does this ''mean''? With the exception of Karaites all forms of Judaism today are forms of Rabbinic Judaism. Or are you referring to the split between Hasidim and Mitnagdim? I agree that these two distinctions need to be covered clearly in the article. User:Slrubenstein ::Umm, if you accept the Christian scriptures, then you're a Christian. The only "Jewish" movements that accepted Jesus as a prophet/messiah were the old Ebionites, who died off.--User:Yoshiah ap 20:58, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::That is why they consider themselves like the Ebionites. --User:Sunborn :So "Talmidism" is not a mis-spelling of "Talmud?" I googled talmidism and got three hits; doesn't seem serious for any article -- and certainly not this one! User:Slrubenstein ::Alright, if it is not a real religion, there goes my claim. Too much reliance on the Wikipedia is a bad thing I guess. It sounded too good to be true because that is what I believed when I believed in God, once upon a time. Thanks, --User:Sunborn 23:05, 5 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::From what I can tell it's a tiny internet movement of former Christians who still consider Jesus to be a prophet and use various edited Christian scriptures. They want to be considered Jews, and their religion part of Judaism, but I don't see why that desire makes it true in any way. User:Jayjg 01:09, 6 Oct 2004 (UTC) == Quick Question on Sephardic Jews... == Hello all... i'm not a jewish person but have a great deal of interest in both Israel & Judaism, and have doubts as to the meaning of "sephardic jew" Wikipedia & other i-net resources have given me the definition most of you will know (from Iberian peninsula, emigrating to the mediteranean region, etc...) but what raised my doubts is something else. I recently saw a documentary which claimed that Sephardic jews originated from a tribe in a land adjacent to israel (in the north, though i forgot its ancient name). The king/leader of this tribe was deeply impressed with his jewish neighbours and converted himself, as well as all his people, to judaism... I can find nothing to back this up, and would love any imput you're wishing to provide.. Thank you all, Hayden Mmm.... that's kind of backwards. The Sephardics, being those who were more local to the Holy Land, are probably closer to the original. The reference you seem to have is probably to the Khazars, a tribe who converted to Judaism and became part of the Ashkenazik, or Northern European branch of the religion, from whom most American Jews are descended. I'll let you search the details for yourself, the Web is full of all kinds of stuff on the topic, some reliable, some insane; I couldn't hope to pick out an objectively reliable selection. I will point out, however, that there is genetic evidence linking Ashkenazic Jews to Shephardic Jews, and both groups to the residents of the Arabic peninsula; most closely, ironically but not unexpectedly, to the Palestinians. User:Gzuckier 15:35, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC) ::The Sephardim came from Spain, which is rather farther from "the Holy Land" than southern Germany, where we first find identifiable Ashkenazim. The Khazars themselves may have contributed some input into Ashkenazi Jews, but the genetic evidence for this is weak, and the contribution in any event would be minor. User:Jayjg 18:42, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC) :::Actually, Italqim (AKA Italiani, Bene Roma, etc.) is the European Jewish tradition with the strongest evidence of high proportions of Erets Yisraeli Jews. Many of these Italian Jews travelled to Southern France and the Iberian peninsula, and others ended up in SW Germany. I have done a fair bit of research on the liturgy of Western European Sephardim, and in connection with that also on the Italian and Ashkenazi traditions. Many of the characteristic traits of Italian Judaism are found in Western Ashkenazi traditions of SW Germany, that's true. But a high number of these traits are actually also found in the Castilian and Catalonian traditions. I have no problem agreeing that Western Ashkenazim are Erets Yisraeli to a relatively high degree. But the same goes for Western Sephardim! Eastern Ashkenazim show some pretty significant differences here (and local groups have been linked genetically to Iraqi Jewry, much the same way that this has been found for some Sephardi groups) -- as do also many other "Sephardi" traditions. Too little weight has been put on investigating the differences within the Ashkenazi traditions... :::You might, BTW, want to look into the "Bené Hes" story and see what this tells us about south-western Germany's early Jews in a Sephardi / Western Ashkenazi / Eastern Ashkenazi perspective... :::As for Spain being further from Israel than southern Germany is, that is not really true in an ancient world perspective, when boats were the easiest means of getting around... -- User:Olve 19:16, 13 Oct 2004 (UTC) :Gzuckier is right in linking this story to the Khazars. Descendents of the Khazars seem to be a significant element amongst Eastern European Karaites, and to some relatively small degree also amongst Eastern Ashkenazim — but the rather controversial Dr. Wexler's theories of Ashkenazim being predominantly Khazar converts and Sephardim being predominantly Berber converts is more than a tad too farfetched — and agrees very badly to the available data. There has been various claims of specific origins of the Ashkenazim as a whole or the Sephardim as a whole. It is not true that Ashkenazim all or mostly came from Israel and Sephardim all or mostly came from Babylon. Neither is the opposite true. In reality, things are much more complicated. It can be summed up relatively simply: The current broad terms Sephardim and Ashkenazim each covers several groups of people with various proportions of Roman Era Israel, Babylon and the general Mediterranean in addition to a relatively small but over the centuries noticeable influx from other groups through conversion (quite frequent in some times and places) and occasional intermarriage, extramarital affairs or rapes. :-- User:Olve 16:29, 12 Oct 2004 (UTC) Olve & Gzuckier: Thank you for the insight... i will look into some of the points you made... and i definitely agree with you on one basic point Olve - reality is always more complicated than people make it out to be... especially on television. == Zoroastrianism == The article Zoroastrianism claims that Zoroastrianism was an influence on the development on Judaism, but this article has nothing to say on the matter. What gives? Who's right? :Many historians suggest that Jewish concern with a struggle between good and evil, which emerged in literature written during the Babylonial exile, was strongly influenced if not inspired by Zoroastrian dualism. I don't have any sources offhand, but I think this is the origin to the claim. User:Slrubenstein == Order of Diaspora denominations == I think alphabetical is the most neutral way to list them. However, if they're going to be listed by size (as a recent edit changed it), I'll believe that Orthodox is the largest in the Diaspora (since it accounts for the majority of active Jews outside of Israel and North America), but Reform is larger than Conservative in the US according to the latest NJPS, and the US accounts for the majority of Reform/Conservative Jews, so it's reasonable to say that Reform is larger than Conservative in the Diaspora as a whole. User:Dreyfus 23:20, 2 Dec 2004 (UTC) :These things are hard to know, but Reform is certainly the largest in the U.S. Anyway, the order now is more or less by age of the movement, which is another reasonable order. User:Jayjg 00:58, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC) == New "Judaism stub" and "Israel stub" == Hi, welcome the new Wikipedia