Introduction to Judaism
Definitions of Judaism
"A religion developed among the ancient Hebrews and characterized by belief in one transcendent God who has revealed himself to Abraham, Moses, and the Hebrew prophets and by a religious life in accordance with Scriptures and rabbinic traditions" - Merriam Webster Dictionary (https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Judaism)
"1. The Jewish religion, a monotheistic religion based on the laws and teachings of the Holy Scripture and the Talmud. 2. the Jewish way of life; observance of Jewish morality, traditions, ceremonies, etc." - Collins Dictionary (https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/judaism)
"Judaism is composed of three elements: a world view, a way of life, and a social group that, in the here and now, embodies the whole. The world view explains the life of the group, ordinarily referring to God’s creation, the revelation of the Torah, the goal and end of the group’s life in the end of time. The way of life defines what is special about the life of the group. The social group, in a single place and time, then forms the living witness and testimony to the system as a whole and finds in the system ample explanation for its very being. That is Judaism" - Jacob Neusner (Neusner, Jacob. 1975. Review of Ideas of Jewish History. Edited, with Introduction and Notes, by Michael A. Meyer.” History and Theory 14 (2): 212–26.)
Personal Definition: A religion, a race, a culture, and a nation. Judaism as a religion holds to a belief in one God, and bound to God by a sacred covenant. However, not all Jews practice Judaism as a religion; nor does every form of Judaism constitute a religious expression.
Being Jewish
The Jewish God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, God's principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created. Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism: the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind.
The basis of Jewish law and tradition is the Torah. There are 613 commandments in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, some only to farmers 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.
Most Jews share certain beliefs, such as the unity of God, God's concern for humanity, the partnership of God and humanity, the concern that one person should show for another, belief in a world to come (in the Messiah/Messianic Age), the covenant (an greement between God and the people of Israel expressed through God's laws for the proper use of the universe).
Most Jews also participate in religious observances and collectively participate in Jewish holy days and the Jewish calendar, the observance of Jewish ethical practices and practices of holiness, practices of Jewish prayer and study. And perhaps most importantly, those who identify as Jewish share a long and storied tradition of the Jewish people.
History
Ancient Jewish History
The history of Judaism spans more than 3,000 years. Judaism has its roots as a structured religion in the Middle East during the Bronze Age. Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions.
Assyrian conquest and continued on a much larger scale with the Babylonian conquest. Jews were also widespread throughout the Roman Empire, and this carried on to a lesser extent in the period of Byzantine rule in the central and eastern Mediterranean. The Arab Islamic Empire under Caliph Omar conquered Jerusalem and the lands of Mesopotamia, Syria, Palestine and Egypt. The Golden Age of Jewish culture in Spain coincided with the Middle Ages in Europe, a period of Muslim rule. During that time, Jews were generally accepted in society and Jewish religious, cultural, and economic life blossomed.
During the Classical Ottoman period (1300–1600), the Jews, together with most other communities of the empire, enjoyed a certain level of prosperity. In the 17th century, there were many significant Jewish populations in Western Europe. During the period of the European Renaissance and Enlightenment, significant changes occurred within the Jewish community. Jews began in the 18th century to campaign for emancipation from restrictive laws and integration into the wider European society.
Modern Jewish History
During the 1870s and 1880s the Jewish population in Europe began to more actively discuss immigration back to Israel and the re-establishment of the Jewish Nation in its national homeland. The Zionist movement was founded officially in 1884. Meanwhile, the Jews of Europe and the United States gained success in the fields of science, culture and the economy.
In 1933, with the rise to power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany, the Jewish situation became more severe. Economic crises, racial anti-Semitic laws, and a fear of an upcoming war led many Jews to flee from Europe to Palestine, to the United States and to the Soviet Union. In 1939 World War II began and until 1941 Hitler occupied almost all of Europe, including Poland—where millions of Jews were living at that time—and France. In 1941, following the invasion of the Soviet Union, the Final Solution began, an extensive organized operation on an unprecedented scale, aimed at the annihilation of the Jewish people, and resulting in the persecution and murder of Jews in political Europe. Approximately six million Jews were methodically exterminated in this genocide known as the Holocaust.
In 1945 the Jewish resistance organizations in Palestine unified and established the Jewish Resistance Movement. The movement began attacking the British authority. David Ben-Gurion proclaimed on May 14, 1948, the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel to be known as the State of Israel. In 1949, the state of Israel started building the state and absorbing massive waves of hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over the world. Today Israel is a parliamentary democracy with a population of over 8 million people, of whom about 6 million are Jewish.
Judaism in Contemporary Society
There are between 14.5 and 17.4 million adherents worldwide, making Judaism is the tenth-largest religion in the world. The largest Jewish communities are in Israel and the United States, with major communities in France, Argentina, Russia, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, and Germany.
Orthodox:
Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed. Orthodox Jews claim to hold the true religion of Judaism. In fact, Orthodoxy only began to organize and solidify its beliefs in the nineteenth century, in direct response to the Reform movement. Orthodox Jews wear a kippah (also known as Yarmulke), and are often required to attend at least three prayer services per day. Women tend to be excused from this obligation to carry on tasks of running the household and raising family. For the most part, Orthodox children are trained in Jewish parochial schools that teach not only the full range of state required subjects but also Jewish subjects such as Hebrew
For various reasons, the Orthodox movement is the least organized of the modern Jewish religious divisions, with several national associations claiming primacy. In some parts of Europe -- and certainly in the State of Israel, where the majority of the citizens identify as either secular or Zionist -- Orthodoxy is the largest religious movement. In the United States, however, the Orthodox movement is far smaller than either its Reform or Conservative counterparts.
Conservative
Liberal yet traditional interpretation of Judaism's requirements. Conservative Judaism is characterized by a commitment to traditional Jewish laws and customs, a positive attitude toward modern culture, and an acceptance of both traditional rabbinic and modern scholarship when considering Jewish religious texts. Conservative Judaism teaches that Jewish law is not static, but has always developed in response to changing conditions. It holds that the Torah is a divine document written by prophets inspired by God and reflecting his will, but should reflect modern sensibilities and suit modern conditions.
Unlike the Orthodox, Conservative Judaism believes that Jewish law should be continually examined to meet the needs of every new generation. Unlike the Reform, Conservative Judaism maintains that Jewish law should be modified by rabbis and sages, and not by individual Jews.
Conservative Judaism teaches that Jews should follow the traditional Jewish guidelines and ethics, but it also tries to accommodate the modern world. Over prior decades, Conservative Judaism was the most popular movement of Jews in the USA.
Reform
A typical Reform position is that Jewish law should be viewed as a set of general guidelines rather than as a set of restrictions and obligations whose observance is required of all Jews. The emphasis in Reform Judaism is on ethics: how a Jew should behave. But even when it comes to ethics, Reform Judaism does not follow a single guidebook. Reform Jews generally send their children to afternoon or Sunday schools in addition to regular public schools. Reform Judaism maintains the complete equality women, encouraging both women and men to conform to the same standards of ethical practice, ritual behavior, and study. In fact, the Reform movement pioneered the ordination of women as rabbis.
The Reform movement currently has the largest membership of any Jewish religious group in the United States. It is also well represented in Europe, Asia, Mexico, and Australia; and, in recent years, it has had some limited success in the State of Israel, as well.
Secular
Secular Jews express their Jewish identities in a variety of ways. Some feel a tie to the State of Israel, but their Zionist leanings are not a strong driving force in their lives. Some feel a tie to Jewish religion and attend religious services from time to time, often on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, but they do not maintain a lifelong membership in a synagogue or temple. Some secular Jews express their identity through study, such as returning to the study of Judaism in their later years, or seeing it as a way of searching for their roots. Often, secular Jews quest for spirituality -- sometimes turning to Jewish ideas and practices, even if they never fully return to the religious practices of their ancestors.
Some Jews are ideologically secular. They may be atheists who do not believe in the existence of a god. Or they may be agnostics, unsure of whether or not God exists. Among religions, Judaism is somewhat unique in that it makes room for both atheists and agnostics to remain Jewish, as a person can theoretically live an exemplary Jewish life without a belief in God. Moreover, connection with the Jewish people is determined by birth, not by belief. If a person is born a Jew (or converts to Judaism), he or she is identified as a Jew.
Other more recent and not as prevalent movements include Reconstructionist Judaism, Jewish Renewal, Humanistic Judaism.
References
- Dosick, W. D. (1998). Living Judaism: the complete guide to Jewish belief, tradition, and practice. New York: HarperOne.
- Kertzer, Morris Norman. What Is a Jew? New York: Touchstone, 1996. Print.
- Wylen, Stephen M. Settings of Silver: An Introduction to Judaism. New York: Paulist, 2000. Print.
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judaism