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{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2019}}{{Use Oxford spelling|date = January 2025}}
{{Judaism}}
] (], Paris)]]
'''Judaism''' (from {{lang-la|Iudaismus}}, derived from ] {{lang|grc|Ἰουδαϊσμός}}, originally from ] {{Hebrew|יהודה}}, ''Yehudah'', "]";<ref name="bibleinterp" /><ref name="askoxford" /> in Hebrew: {{Hebrew|יהדות}}, ''Yahadut'', the distinctive characteristics of the Judean ])<ref name="uncertainties" /> encompasses the ], ], ] and way of life of the ].<ref name="Judaism" /> Judaism is an ancient ] religion, with the ] as its foundational text (part of the larger text known as the ] or ]), and supplemental oral tradition represented by later texts such as the ] and the ]. Judaism is considered by religious Jews to be the expression of the covenantal relationship that ] established with the ].<ref name="Knowledge Resources: Judaism" />
{{Infobox religion
Judaism includes a wide corpus of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Within Judaism there are a variety of movements, most of which emerged from ], which holds that God revealed his laws and ] to ] on ] in the form of both the ] and ].<ref name="What is the oral Torah?" /> Historically, this assertion was challenged by various groups such as the ] and ] during the ]; the ] and ] during the early and later medieval period;<ref name="Karaite Jewish University" /> and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox denominations. Movements in modern times such as ] may be ].<ref name="Society for Humanistic Judaism" /> Today, the largest ] are ] (] and ]), ] and ]. Major sources of difference between these groups are their approaches to ], the authority of the ], and the significance of the ].<ref name="Jewish Denominations" /> Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and Jewish law are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed. Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more "traditional" interpretation of Judaism's requirements than Reform Judaism. 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.<ref name="Reform Judaism" /><ref name="What is Reform Judaism?" /> Historically, ] enforced Jewish law; today, these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary.<ref name="Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Bet Din" /> Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, but in the sacred texts and ] and scholars who interpret them.<ref name="religiousleadership" />
| caption = {{nowrap|Collection of ] (clockwise from top):}}<br />Candlesticks for ], a cup for ], a ] and a ], a ], a ], and an ].
| type = ]
| main_classification = ]
| orientation =
| scripture = ], ], ]
| theology = ]
| associations =
| area = Predominant religion in ] and ]
| language = ] and ]
| founder = ] and ] (according to tradition){{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}{{sfn|Levenson|2012|p=3}}
| founded_date = {{circa|6th century BCE}}
| founded_place = ]
| separated_from = ]
| separations = ]<br />]<br />]{{efn|Christianity originated in 1st-century ] from the ] sect of ].<ref name="Ehrman 2005">{{cite book |last=Ehrman |first=Bart D. |author-link=Bart D. Ehrman |year=2005 |orig-date=2003 |title=Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew |chapter=At Polar Ends of the Spectrum: Early Christian Ebionites and Marcionites |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=URdACxKubDIC&pg=PA95 |location=] |publisher=] |pages=95–112 |doi=10.1017/s0009640700110273 |isbn=978-0-19-518249-1 |lccn=2003053097 |s2cid=152458823 |access-date=20 January 2021 |issn = 0009-6407}}</ref><ref name="Hurtado 2005">{{cite book |last=Hurtado |first=Larry W. |author-link=Larry Hurtado |year=2005 |chapter=How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Approaches to Jesus-Devotion in Earliest Christianity |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Xi5xIxgnNgcC&pg=PA13 |title=How on Earth Did Jesus Become a God? Historical Questions about Earliest Devotion to Jesus |location=] and ] |publisher=] |pages=13–55 |isbn=978-0-8028-2861-3 |access-date=20 July 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Freeman |first=Charles |author-link=Charles Freeman (historian) |year=2010 |title=A New History of Early Christianity |chapter=Breaking Away: The First Christianities |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5_in-6VLgRoC&pg=PA31 |location=] and ] |publisher=] |pages=31–46 |doi=10.12987/9780300166583 |isbn=978-0-300-12581-8 |jstor=j.ctt1nq44w |lccn=2009012009 |s2cid=170124789 |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Wilken |first=Robert Louis |year=2013 |title=The First Thousand Years: A Global History of Christianity |chapter=Beginning in Jerusalem |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iW1-JImrwQUC&pg=PA6 |location=] and ] |publisher=] |pages=6–16 |isbn=978-0-300-11884-1 |jstor=j.ctt32bd7m |lccn=2012021755 |s2cid=160590164 |access-date=20 January 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-last=Lietaert Peerbolte |author-first=Bert Jan |year=2013 |chapter=How Antichrist Defeated Death: The Development of Christian Apocalyptic Eschatology in the Early Church |editor1-last=Krans |editor1-first=Jan |editor2-last=Lietaert Peerbolte |editor2-first=L. J. |editor3-last=Smit |editor3-first=Peter-Ben |editor4-last=Zwiep |editor4-first=Arie W. |title=Paul, John, and Apocalyptic Eschatology: Studies in Honour of Martinus C. de Boer |location=] |publisher=] |series=] |volume=149 |pages=238–255 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MoKxIeOTkqYC&pg=PA238 |doi=10.1163/9789004250369_016 |isbn=978-90-04-25026-0 |issn=0167-9732 |s2cid=191738355 |access-date=13 February 2021}}</ref>}}
| number_of_followers = {{circa|15.2 million}} (referred to as ])
}}
{{Judaism|expanded=all}}
'''Judaism''' ({{langx|he|{{Script/Hebrew|יַהֲדוּת}}|translit=Yahăḏūṯ}}) is an ] ] ] that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the ].<ref name="JEjudaism">{{JewishEncyclopedia|author-link1= Kaufmann Kohler |last1=Kohler |first1=Kaufmann |title=Judaism|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9028-judaism}}</ref>{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=511 quote: "Judaism, the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jews."}}{{sfn|Schiffman|2003|p=3}} Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the ], which was established between ] and the ], their ancestors.<ref name="Knowledge Resources: Judaism" /> The religion is considered one of the earliest monotheistic religions in the world.
Judaism ] spanning ]. Judaism has its roots as a structured religion in the ] during the ].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/history/history_1.shtml|title=History of Judaism until 164 BCE|work=History of Judaism|publisher=BBC}}</ref> Of the major world religions, Judaism is considered one of the oldest monotheistic religions.<ref name="Religion & Ethics – Judaism" /><ref> PBS</ref> The ] / ] were already referred to as "Jews" in later books of the Tanakh such as the ], with the term Jews replacing the title "Children of Israel".<ref name="google" /> Judaism's texts, traditions and values strongly influenced later ], including ], ] and the ].<ref name="Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations" /><ref name="The Historical Muhammad" /> Many aspects of Judaism have also directly or indirectly influenced secular Western ] and civil law.<ref name="questia" />
Jewish religious doctrine encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Among Judaism's core texts is the ], the first five books of the ], a collection of ancient Hebrew scriptures. The Tanakh, known in English as the Hebrew Bible, has the same contents as the ] in ]. In addition to the original written scripture, the supplemental ] is represented by later texts, such as the ] and the ]. The Hebrew-language word ''torah'' can mean "teaching", "law", or "instruction",<ref name="Aish.com">{{cite news |last1=Fried |first1=Yerachmiel |title=What is Torah?. |url=https://aish.com/what-is-torah/ |access-date=11 March 2022 |publisher=Aish |date=18 August 2011 |archive-date=11 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311174152/https://aish.com/what-is-torah/ |url-status=live }}</ref> although "Torah" can also be used as a general term that refers to any Jewish text that expands or elaborates on the original ]. Representing the core of the Jewish spiritual and religious tradition, the Torah is a term and a set of teachings that are explicitly self-positioned as encompassing at least seventy, and potentially infinite, facets and interpretations.<ref name="Bamidbar Rabah">{{cite web |title=Bamidbar Rabah |url=https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/22645?lang=bi |website=sefaria.org |publisher=sefaria |access-date=11 March 2022 |archive-date=11 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220311174951/https://www.sefaria.org/sheets/22645?lang=bi |url-status=live}}</ref> Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including ] and ].<ref name="Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations" /><ref name="The Historical Muhammad" /> ], like ], played a seminal role in the formation of Western civilization through its impact as a core background element of ].<ref name="Cambridge University Historical Series">Cambridge University Historical Series, ''An Essay on Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects'', p.40: Hebraism, like Hellenism, has been an all-important factor in the development of Western Civilization; Judaism, as the precursor of Christianity, has indirectly had had much to do with shaping the ideals and morality of western nations since the christian era.</ref>
Jews are an ]<ref name="Ethnoreligious" /> and include those born Jewish and ]. In 2012, the ] was estimated at about 14 million, or roughly 0.2% of the total world population.<ref name=jewfaq>{{cite web|title=Jewish Population|url=http://www.jewfaq.org/populatn.htm|accessdate=9 September 2013}}</ref> About 42% of all Jews reside in ] and another 42% reside in North America, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other minority groups spread throughout South America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.<ref name="populationdatabank" />
Within Judaism, there are a variety of ], most of which emerged from ],{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=78–92}}{{sfn|Schiffman|2003|p=}}<ref name="Brabbinic">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/rabbinic-judaism |title=Rabbinic Judaism |encyclopedia=] Online |access-date=2020-11-07 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=12 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200612181058/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Rabbinic-Judaism |url-status=live}}</ref> which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to ] on ] in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah.<ref name="What is the oral Torah?" /> Historically, all or part of this assertion was challenged by various groups such as the ] and ] during the ];{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=58–77}}{{sfn|Schiffman|2003|p=}}<ref name="Bsadducee">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sadducee |title=Sadducee |encyclopedia=] Online |access-date=2020-11-07 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=8 March 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308032107/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sadducee |url-status=live }}</ref> the ] during the early and later medieval period; and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox denominations.<ref name="JEkaraites" /> Some modern branches of Judaism such as ] may be considered ] or ].<ref name="Mendes-Flohr2000">{{cite book |surname=Mendes-Flohr |given=Paul |author-link=Paul R. Mendes-Flohr |chapter=Secular Forms of Jewishness |editor-surname=Neusner |editor-given=Jacob |editor-link=Jacob Neusner |editor2-surname=Avery-Peck |editor2-given=Alan J. |title=The Blackwell Companion to Judaism |year=2003 |orig-date=2000 |edition=Reprint |pages=461–476 |publisher=Blackwell Publ. |place=Malden, Mass |chapter-url={{Google books|id=bEyD_MaeqP4C|plainurl=y|page=461|keywords=|text=}} |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bEyD_MaeqP4C |isbn=1-57718-058-5 |access-date=10 July 2023 |archive-date=10 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710092803/https://books.google.com/books?id=bEyD_MaeqP4C |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Karesh|Hurvitz|2005|p=221|loc="Humanistic Judaism"}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Ackerman |first=Ari |title=Eliezer Schweid on the Religious Dimension of a Secular Jewish Renewal |date=May 2010 |journal=Modern Judaism |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=209–228 |doi=10.1093/mj/kjq005 |jstor=40604707 |s2cid=143106665 |issn=0276-1114}}</ref><ref>Troen, Ilan (April 2016). '''', {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731050337/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295688653_Secular_Judaism_in_Israel |date=31 July 2023 }}, ], Vol. 53, Issue 2.</ref> Today, the largest ] are ] (] and ]), ], and ]. Major sources of difference between these groups are their approaches to '']'' (Jewish law), the authority of the ], and the significance of the ].{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979}}{{sfn|Raphael|1984}}{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=}}{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}} Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and ''halakha'' are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed.{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979|pp=218–270, 367–402}}{{sfn|Raphael|1984|pp=125–176}}{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=311–333}}{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Orthodox Judaism"}} Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditionalist interpretation of Judaism's requirements than Reform Judaism.{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979|pp=317–346}}{{sfn|Raphael|1984|pp=79–124}}{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=334–353}}{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Conservative Judaism"}} A typical Reform position is that ''halakha'' 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.{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979|pp=156–185, 285–316}}{{sfn|Raphael|1984|pp=1–78}}{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=291–310}}{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Reform Judaism"}}{{sfn|Karesh|Hurvitz|2005|pp=419–422|loc="Reform Judaism"}} Historically, ] enforced ''halakha''; today, these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary.<ref name="Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Bet Din" /> Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, but in the sacred texts and the ] and scholars who interpret them.
Jews are an ]<ref name="Ethnoreligious" /> including those born Jewish, in addition to ]. In 2021, the world Jewish population was estimated at 15.2 million, or roughly 0.195% of the total world population, although religious observance varies from strict to none.<ref>{{cite report |editor1-last=Dashefsky |editor1-first=Arnold |editor-link1=Arnold Dashefsky |editor2-last=Della-Pergola |editor2-first=Sergio |editor-link2=Sergio Della Pergola |editor3-last=Sheskin |editor3-first=Ira |date=2021 |title=World Jewish Population |url=https://www.jewishdatabank.org/api/download/?studyId=1185&mediaId=bjdb%5c2021_World_Jewish_Population_AJYB_(DellaPergola)_DB_Public.pdf |publisher=] |access-date=4 September 2023 |archive-date=6 September 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230906084243/https://www.jewishdatabank.org/api/download/?studyId=1185&mediaId=bjdb%5C2021_World_Jewish_Population_AJYB_(DellaPergola)_DB_Public.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author1=Ernest Krausz|author2=Gitta Tulea|title=Jewish Survival: The Identity Problem at the Close of the Twentieth Century; [... International Workshop at Bar-Ilan University on the 18th and 19th of March, 1997]|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dnxv-Mlz0JIC&pg=PA90|publisher=Transaction Publishers|year=1997|isbn=978-1-4128-2689-1|pages=90–}} "A person born Jewish who refutes Judaism may continue to assert a Jewish identity, and if he or she does not convert to another religion, even religious Jews will recognize the person as a Jew"</ref> In 2021, about 45.6% of all Jews resided in Israel and another 42.1% resided in the United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other groups spread throughout Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jewish Population by Country 2023 |url=https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/jewish-population-by-country |access-date=2023-01-24 |website=worldpopulationreview.com |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203455/https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/jewish-population-by-country |url-status=live }}</ref>
==Etymology==
{{see also|Ioudaios}}
] (1842)]]
The term ''Judaism'' derives from ''Iudaismus'', a Latinized form of the Ancient Greek '']'' ({{langx|grc-x-koine|Ἰουδαϊσμός}}, from the verb {{lang|grc|ἰουδαΐζειν}}, "to side with or imitate the ").<ref name="LSJverb">{{LSJ|*)ioudai/zw|ἰουδαΐζειν|ref|mLSJ}}</ref> Its ultimate source was {{langx|he|יהודה|Yehudah}} ]",<ref name="bibleinterp_mason3" /><ref name="askoxford8" /> which is also the source of the Hebrew term for Judaism, {{lang|he|יַהֲדוּת}} ''Yahaḏuṯ''. The term ''Ἰουδαϊσμός'' first appears in the ] book of ] in the 2nd century BCE (i.e. 2 Maccabees 2:21, 8:1 and 14:38) .<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |last=Schwartz |first=Daniel R. |date=2021 |title=Judea versus Judaism: Between 1 and 2 Maccabees |url=https://www.thetorah.com/article/judea-versus-judaism-between-1-and-2-maccabees |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240316100256/https://www.thetorah.com/article/judea-versus-judaism-between-1-and-2-maccabees |archive-date=March 16, 2024 |website=TheTorah.com}}</ref> In the context of the age and period it meant "seeking or forming part of a cultural entity".<ref name=influence /> It resembled its antonym ''hellenismos'', a word signifying people's submission to ] cultural norms. The conflict between ''iudaismos'' and ''hellenismos'' lay behind the ] and hence the invention of the term ''iudaismos''.<ref name=influence>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2q6qTb-A7GwC&pg=RA1-PA39 |first=Oskar |last=Skarsaune |author-link=Oskar Skarsaune | title=In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity|publisher=InterVarsity Press|pages=39ff |access-date=22 August 2010|isbn=978-0-8308-2670-4|year=2002}}</ref>
] writes in his book ''The Beginnings of Jewishness'':
{{blockquote|We are tempted, of course, to translate as "Judaism," but this translation is too narrow, because in this first occurrence of the term, ''Ioudaïsmós'' has not yet been reduced to the designation of a religion. It means rather "the aggregate of all those characteristics that makes Judaeans Judaean (or Jews Jewish)." Among these characteristics, to be sure, are practices and beliefs that we would today call "religious," but these practices and beliefs are not the sole content of the term. Thus ''Ioudaïsmós'' should be translated not as "Judaism" but as Judaeanness.<ref>Shaye J.D. Cohen 1999 ''The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties'' University of California Press. 105–106</ref>}}
Daniel R. Schwartz, however, argues that "Judaism", especially in the context of the Book of Maccabees, refers to the religion, as opposed to the culture and politics of the Judean state. He believes it reflected the ideological divide between the ] and ] and, implicitly, anti-Hasmonean and pro-Hasmonean factions in Judean society.<ref name=":0" />
According to the ''Oxford English Dictionary'' the earliest citation in English where the term was used to mean "the profession or practice of the Jewish religion; the religious system or polity of the Jews" is Robert Fabyan's ''The newe cronycles of Englande and of Fraunce'' (1516).<ref>"He anon renouncyd his Iudaisme or Moysen Lawe, And was cristenyd, and lyued after as a Cristen Man." (Robert Fabian, ''New Chronicles of England and France'', reprint London 1811, p. 334.)</ref> "Judaism" as a direct translation of the Latin ''Iudaismus'' first occurred in a 1611 English translation of the ] (the ] in the ] and ]), 2 Macc. ii. 21: "Those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour for Iudaisme."<ref name="dictionary" />
==== 'The Covenant' with Abraham in the book of Genesis ====
A significant part of the ] or ''Tanakh'' is an account of the ]' relationship with religion and ] from their earliest history until the building of the ] ({{Circa|535 BCE}}). ] is hailed as the first ] and the father of the Jewish people. In ], three men, speculated to be God or ], commanded Abraham to ] himself and his sons as a sign of ], and was promised by the angels that ], his second son, would inherit the ] (then called ]) and renamed his Wife from 'Sarai', which meant Mockery, to 'Sarah', which meant Princess, and that she would bear him a son in her old age and his descendants shall also be blessed and keep 'the covenant'.<ref>{{Cite web |title=An in depth summary and analysis of Abraham and the Covenant of Circumcision, Genesis, Chapter 17 |url=https://scriptureinsight.org/study/genesis/17 |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=Scripture Insight |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Bible Gateway passage: Genesis 17 - Complete Jewish Bible |url=https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2017&version=CJB |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=Bible Gateway |language=en}}</ref>
==== The Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim ====
In ], the second book of the bible, the descendants of Isaac's son ] were enslaved in ], and God commanded ] to lead ] from Egypt in a vision. ]; accounted in the ], or five books of Moses.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tanakh – REL 2300: Introduction to Contemporary World Religions |url=https://www.anthrocervone.org/worldreligions/the-tanakh/ |access-date=2024-12-17 |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2021-07-07 |title=The Tanakh Explained: The Hebrew Bible vs. The Christian Bible |url=https://alabasterco.com/blogs/education/tanakah-vs-christian-bible |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=Alabaster Co |language=en}}</ref> These books, together with the ] and ], are known as ''Torah Shebikhtav'', as opposed to the Oral Torah, which refers to the Mishnah and the ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-02-23 |title=The Tanakh: The Jewish Bible {{!}} Religions Facts |url=https://religionsfacts.com/the-tanakh-the-jewish-bible/ |access-date=2024-12-17 |language=en-US}}</ref> The Nevi'im details historical narratives, and prophetic writings, focusing on the Isrelites settlements in Canaan. While the Ketuvim, a diverse collection of books including the ], ], and ], covers poetic and prose philisophical writings which deviates from the more literalist style of the other books.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ketuvim (Writings) |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/ketuvim-writings/ |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=What are the Writings? What is the Ketuvim? |url=https://www.gotquestions.org/Writings-Ketuvim.html |access-date=2024-12-17 |website=GotQuestions.org |language=en}}</ref>
] in ] is a remnant of the wall encircling the ]. The ] is the holiest site in Judaism.]]
==== The Talmud ====
Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the Law, called the ] or "Oral Law," were originally unwritten traditions based on the Law given to Moses at Sinai. However, as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by ] in the ], redacted {{circa|200 CE}}. The Talmud was a compilation of the Mishnah and ], rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, ] and ] (]).<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com">{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14213-talmud|title=Talmud|encyclopedia=Jewish Encyclopedia|author=Wilhelm Bacher|access-date=16 September 2015|archive-date=3 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190503060143/http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14213-talmud|url-status=live}}</ref> Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the ]. It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Palestine.<ref name="jewishencyclopedia.com"/>
==== Historical Analysis ====
According to ], the Torah consists of inconsistent texts edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts.<ref name="yehezkal" />{{page needed|date=July 2017}}<ref name="biblical" /><ref name="speiser" /> Several of these scholars, such as Professor Martin Rose and ], suggest that during the First Temple period the people of Israel believed that each nation had its own version of a god viewed as superior to all other gods.<ref name="history" />{{page needed|date=July 2017}}<ref name="history12" />{{page needed|date=July 2017}} Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to ] dualism.<ref name="ephraim" /> In this view, it was only by the ] that most Jews came to believe that their god was the only god and that the notion of a bounded Jewish nation identical with the Jewish religion formed.<ref name="beginnings" /> ] argues that the origins of biblical ], ], ], and ], may be rooted in earlier ], which was centered on a pantheon of gods much like in ].<ref name="goddesses" />
===Antiquity===
{{Main|Ancient Israel and Judah|Babylonian captivity|Second Temple Judaism|Hasmonean Kingdom|Iudaea Province|First Jewish-Roman War|Bar Kokhba revolt|Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia}}
] map ].]]
According to the ], a ] was established under ] and continued under ] and ] with its capital in ]. After Solomon's reign, the nation split into two kingdoms, the ] (in the north) and the ] (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel was destroyed around 720 BCE, when it was conquered by the ];<ref name="Broshi 2001 174">{{cite book |last=Broshi |first=Maguen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=etTUEorS1zMC&pg=PAPA174 |title=Bread, Wine, Walls and Scrolls |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |year=2001 |isbn=978-1-84127-201-6 |page=174 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203455/https://books.google.com/books?id=etTUEorS1zMC&pg=PAPA174 |url-status=live }}</ref> many people were taken captive from the capital ] to ] and the ] valley. The ] continued as an independent state until it was conquered by ] of the ] in 586 BCE. The Babylonians ] and the ], which was at the center of ancient Jewish worship. ], in what is regarded as the first ]. Later, many of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent ] by the ] seventy years later, an event known as the ]. A ] was constructed and old religious practices were resumed.
During the early years of the Second Temple, the highest religious authority was a council known as the Great Assembly, led by ]. Among other accomplishments of the Great Assembly, the last books of the Bible were written at this time and ]. ] spread to ] from the 3rd century BCE, and its creation sparked widespread controversy in Jewish communities, starting "conflicts within Jewish communities about accommodating the cultures of occupying powers."{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=58–77}}{{sfn|Karesh|Hurvitz|2005|p=507}}
During the ] (66–73 CE), the ] ] and destroyed the Second Temple. Later, Roman emperor ] built a pagan idol on the Temple Mount and prohibited circumcision; these acts of ethnocide provoked the ] (132–136 CE), after which the Romans banned the study of the ] and the celebration of Jewish holidays, and forcibly removed virtually all Jews from Judea. In 200 CE, however, Jews were granted Roman citizenship and Judaism was recognized as a '']'' ("legitimate religion") until the rise of ] and ] in the fourth century.
Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around the community (represented by a minimum of ten adult men) and the establishment of the authority of ] who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities.{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=78–92}}{{sfn|Schiffman|2003|p=}}
] goes back to the pre-Christian period, and was concentrated in the northwest and south. In the fourth century, the ruling class of the ] of ] converted to Judaism. This situation lasted until the early sixth century, when the ] instigated by the massacre of Najran led to a change into Christian rulership.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Robin |first=Christian Julien |title=The Cambridge history of Judaism |date=2021 |publisher=Cambridge university press |isbn=978-0-521-51717-1 |editor-last=Ackerman-Lieberman |editor-first=Phillip Isaac |location=Cambridge |pages= |chapter=Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia}}</ref>
{{Multiple image
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| caption1 = Sephardi style torah
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==Defining characteristics and principles of faith==
==Defining characteristics and principles of faith==
{{Further|God in Judaism}}
], a 1476 Spanish Tanakh]]
Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, the Hebrew God's principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V8KGDwAAQBAJ&q=Nahum++1969+Understanding+Genesis|title=Understanding Genesis|last=Sarna|first=Nahum M.|date=1966|publisher=Schocken Books|isbn=978-0-8052-0253-3|pages=9–10, 14|access-date=20 October 2020|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203455/https://books.google.com/books?id=V8KGDwAAQBAJ&q=Nahum++1969+Understanding+Genesis|url-status=live}}</ref> Judaism thus begins with ]: the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of mankind.<ref name="google1" /> According to the Hebrew Bible, God promised ] to make of his offspring a great nation.<ref name="everlasting" /> Many generations later, he commanded the nation of ] to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate God's concern for the world.<ref name="deuteronomy" /> He also commanded the Jewish people to love one another; that is, Jews are to imitate God's love for people.<ref name="leviticus" />
Thus, although there is an esoteric tradition in Judaism in ], Rabbinic scholar ] has characterized normative Judaism as "normal mysticism", because it involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are common to all Jews.<ref name="publishing" /> This is played out through the observance of the '']'', or Jewish law, and given verbal expression in the ], the short blessings that are spoken every time a positive commandment is to be fulfilled:
===Defining characteristics===
{{blockquote|The ordinary, familiar, everyday things and occurrences we have, constitute occasions for the experience of God. Such things as one's daily sustenance, the very day itself, are felt as manifestations of God's loving-kindness, calling for the ''Berakhot''. ''Kedushah'', holiness, which is nothing else than the imitation of God, is concerned with daily conduct, with being gracious and merciful, with keeping oneself from defilement by idolatry, adultery, and the shedding of blood. The ''Birkat Ha-Mitzwot'' evokes the consciousness of holiness at a rabbinic rite, but the objects employed in the majority of these rites are non-holy and of general character, while the several holy objects are ] And not only do ordinary things and occurrences bring with them the experience of God. Everything that happens to a man evokes that experience, evil as well as good, for a ''Berakah'' is said also at evil tidings. Hence, although the experience of God is like none other, the ''occasions'' for experiencing Him, for having a consciousness of Him, are manifold, even if we consider only those that call for Berakot.<ref name="publishing2" />}}
]
] Hanukkah menorah]]
Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, the Hebrew God's principal relationships are not with other gods, but with the world, and more specifically, with the people he created.<ref name="understanding" /> Judaism thus begins with ethical monotheism: the belief that God is one and is concerned with the actions of humankind.<ref name="google1" /> According to the ] (Hebrew Bible), God promised ] to make of his offspring a great nation.<ref name="everlasting" /> Many generations later, he commanded the nation of ] to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate God's concern for the world.<ref name="deuteronomy" /> He also commanded the Jewish people to love one another; that is, Jews are to imitate God's love for people.<ref name="leviticus" /> These commandments are but two of a large corpus of ] and ] that constitute this ], which is the substance of Judaism.
Whereas ] often debate whether God is ] or ], and whether people have free will or their lives are determined, ''halakha'' is a system through which any Jew acts to bring God into the world.
Thus, although there is an esoteric tradition in Judaism (]), Rabbinic scholar ] has characterized normative Judaism as "normal mysticism", because it involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are common to all Jews.<ref name="publishing" /> This is played out through the observance of the ] and given verbal expression in the ], the short blessings that are spoken every time a positive commandment is to be fulfilled.
:The ordinary, familiar, everyday things and occurrences, we have constitute occasions for the experience of God. Such things as one's daily sustenance, the very day itself, are felt as manifestations of God's loving-kindness, calling for the ''Berakhot''. ''Kedushah'', holiness, which is nothing else than the imitation of God, is concerned with daily conduct, with being gracious and merciful, with keeping oneself from defilement by idolatry, adultery, and the shedding of blood. The ''Birkat Ha-Mitzwot'' evokes the consciousness of holiness at a rabbinic rite, but the objects employed in the majority of these rites are non-holy and of general character, while the several holy objects are ] And not only do ordinary things and occurrences bring with them the experience of God. Everything that happens to a man evokes that experience, evil as well as good, for a ''Berakah'' is said also at evil tidings. Hence, although the experience of God is like none other, the ''occasions'' for experiencing Him, for having a consciousness of Him, are manifold, even if we consider only those that call for Berakot.<ref name="publishing2" />
Whereas ] often debate whether God is immanent or transcendent, and whether people have free will or their lives are determined, ] is a system through which any Jew acts to bring God into the world.
Ethical monotheism is central in all sacred or normative texts of Judaism. However, monotheism has not always been followed in practice. The Jewish Bible (]) records and repeatedly condemns the widespread worship of other gods in ].<ref name="mechon-mamre" /> In the Greco-Roman era, many different interpretations of monotheism existed in Judaism, including the interpretations that gave rise to Christianity.<ref name="The Jewish roots of Christological monotheism: papers from the St. Andrews conference on the historical origins of the worship of Jesus" />
Ethical monotheism is central in all sacred or normative texts of Judaism. However, monotheism has not always been followed in practice. The Hebrew Bible (or ''Tanakh'') records and repeatedly condemns the widespread worship of other gods in ].<ref name="mechon-mamre" /> In the Greco-Roman era, many different interpretations of monotheism existed in Judaism, including the interpretations that gave rise to Christianity.<ref name="The Jewish roots of Christological monotheism: papers from the St. Andrews conference on the historical origins of the worship of Jesus" />
Moreover, some have argued that Judaism is a non-creedal religion that does not require one to believe in God.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/283487502 |title=Is There a Jewish Theology or Not?|last=Maimes|first=Steven |date=Jan 2013|via=ResearchGate|access-date=19 November 2018}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/must-a-jew-believe-in-god/|title=Must a Jew Believe in God?|last=Septimus|first=Daniel|work=My Jewish Learning|access-date=19 Nov 2018|publisher=70 / Faces Media|archive-date=25 April 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190425200432/https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/must-a-jew-believe-in-god/|url-status=live}}</ref> For some, observance of ''halakha'' is more important than belief in God ''per se''.<ref name="jovanovich" /> The debate about whether one can speak of authentic or normative Judaism is not only a debate among religious Jews but also among historians.{{sfn|Langton|2011|pp=161–4}}
Moreover, as a non-creedal religion, some have argued that Judaism does not require one to believe in God. For some, observance of Jewish law is more important than belief in God ''per se''.<ref name="jovanovich" /> In modern times, some liberal Jewish movements do not accept the existence of a personified deity active in history.<ref name="movements" /><ref>http://www.nola.com/community/st-tammany/index.ssf/2014/01/theology_on_tap_winter_2014_un.html</ref>
In ], Judaism is heavily associated with and most often thought of as ].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Queen II |first1=Edward L. |title=The Encyclopedia of American Religious History |last2=Prothero |first2=Stephen R. |last3=Shattuck Jr. |first3=Gardiner H. |publisher=Proseworks |year=1996 |isbn=0-8160-3545-8 |volume=2 |location=New York |page=485 |author-link2=Stephen Prothero}}</ref>
===Core tenets===
===Core tenets===
Line 39:
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# I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, ], was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and those who followed him.
# I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, ], was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and those who followed him.
# I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.
# I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.
# I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged, and that there will never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.
# I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged and that there will never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts, as it is written, "Who fashioned the hearts of them all, Who comprehends all their actions" (] 33:15).
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts, as it is written, "Who fashioned the hearts of them all, Who comprehends all their actions" (] 33:15).
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them.
# I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them.
# I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the ]; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.
# I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the ]; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.
# I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.|source=—]}}
# I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.|source=—]<ref name="JEarticles">{{JewishEncyclopedia|author-link1=Kaufmann Kohler |last1=Kohler |first1=Kaufmann |author-link2=Emil G. Hirsch |last2=Hirsch |first2=Emil G. |title=Articles of Faith|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1832-articles-of-faith}}</ref>}}
In the strict sense, in Judaism, unlike Christianity and Islam, there are no fixed universally binding articles of faith, due to their incorporation into the liturgy.<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=217–18|loc="Dogma"}} Scholars throughout ] have proposed numerous formulations of Judaism's core tenets, all of which have met with criticism.<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=}}<ref name="montpelier" /> The most popular formulation is ]' ], developed in the 12th century.<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=}} According to Maimonides, any Jew who rejects even one of these principles would be considered an apostate and a heretic.<ref name="mesora" /><ref name="Maimonides, 13 Principles of Faith" /> Jewish scholars have held points of view diverging in various ways from Maimonides' principles.<ref name="learning" /><ref name="The JPS guide to Jewish traditions" /> Thus, within ] only the first five principles are endorsed.{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}
In Maimonides' time, his list of tenets was criticized by ] and ]. Albo and ] argued that Maimonides' principles contained too many items that, while true, were not fundamentals of the faith<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=}}
Scholarsthroughout ] haveproposednumerousformulationsofJudaism'scoretenets, allofwhichhavemetwithcriticism.<refname="montpelier"/>Themostpopularformulationis ]'],developedin the 12thcentury. AccordingtoMaimonides, any Jew who rejectsevenone of these principles wouldbeconsideredanapostateandaheretic.<ref name="mesora" /><ref name="Maimonides,13 Principles of Faith" /> Jewishscholarshaveheldpointsof view diverging in various ways from Maimonides' principles.<ref name="learning" /><ref name="The JPS guide to Jewish traditions" />
Along these lines, the ancient historian ] emphasized practices and observances rather than religious beliefs, associating ] with a failure to observe ''halakha'' and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included ] and adherence to traditional customs. Maimonides' principles were largely ignored over the next few centuries.<ref name="medieval" /> Later, two poetic restatements of these principles ("'']''" and "'']''") became integrated into many Jewish liturgies,<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}<ref name="The Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith" /> leading to their eventual near-universal acceptance.<ref name="What Do Jews Believe?" /><ref name="traditions" />
The oldest non-Rabbinic instance of articles of faith were formulated, under Islamic influence, by the 12th century ] figure ]:
In Maimonides' time, his list of tenets was criticized by ] and ]. Albo and ] argued that Maimonides' principles contained too many items that, while true, were not fundamentals of the faith.
{{blockquote|(1) God is the Creator of all created beings; (2) He is premundane and has no peer or associate; (3) the whole universe is created; (4) God called Moses and the other Prophets of the Biblical canon; (5) the Law of Moses alone is true; (6) to know the language of the Bible is a religious duty; (7) the Temple at Jerusalem is the palace of the world's Ruler; (8) belief in Resurrection contemporaneous with the advent of the Messiah; (9) final judgment; (10) retribution.|sign=]|source=''Eshkol ha-Kofer''<ref name="JEarticles" />{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=217–18|loc="Dogma"}}}}
In modern times, Judaism lacks a centralized authority that would dictate an exact religious dogma. Because of this, many different variations on the basic beliefs are considered within the scope of Judaism.<ref name="learning" /> Even so, all ] are, to a greater or lesser extent, based on the principles of the Hebrew Bible or various commentaries such as the Talmud and ]. Judaism also universally recognizes the Biblical ] between God and the ] Abraham as well as the additional aspects of the Covenant revealed to ], who is considered Judaism's greatest ].<ref name="learning" /><ref name="ontario" /><ref name="How Do You Know the Exodus Really Happened?" /> In the ], a core text of ], acceptance of the Divine origins of this covenant is considered an essential aspect of Judaism and those who reject the Covenant forfeit their share in the ].<ref name="sacred-texts" />
Along these lines, the ancient historian ] emphasized practices and observances rather than religious beliefs, associating ] with a failure to observe Jewish law and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included ] and adherence to traditional customs. Maimonides' principles were largely ignored over the next few centuries.<ref name="medieval" /> Later, two poetic restatements of these principles ("'']''" and "'']''") became integrated into many Jewish liturgies,<ref name="The Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith" /> leading to their eventual near-universal acceptance.<ref name="What Do Jews Believe?" /><ref name="traditions" />
Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in the modern era is even more difficult, given the number and diversity of the contemporary ]. Even if to restrict the problem to the most influential intellectual trends of the nineteenth and twentieth century, the matter remains complicated. Thus, for instance, ] (associated with the ]) answer to modernity is constituted upon the identification of Judaism with following the ''halakha'' whereas its ultimate goal is to bring the holiness down to the world. ], the founder of the ], abandons the idea of religion for the sake of identifying Judaism with ] and by means of the latter term and secular translation of the core ideas, he tries to embrace as many Jewish denominations as possible. In turn, ]'s ] was identical with the tradition understood as the interpretation of Torah, in itself being the history of the constant updates and adjustment of the Law performed by means of the creative interpretation. Finally, ] draws the outlines of the Reform movement in Judaism by opposing it to the strict and traditional rabbinical approach and thus comes to the conclusions similar to that of the Conservative movement.{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}<ref>{{Cite book |chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/15006583 |chapter=Some Remarks on the Self-Images of the Modern Judaism. Textual Analysis |last=Kosior |first=Wojciech |title=Filozofia kultury |year=2015 |location=Kraków |pages=91–106 |editor= Piotr Mróz | publisher= Uniwersytet Jagielloński |archive-date=17 August 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210817034301/https://www.academia.edu/15006583 |url-status=live }}</ref>
In modern times, Judaism lacks a centralized authority that would dictate an exact religious dogma.<ref name="religiousleadership" /><ref name="judaism101beliefs" /> Because of this, many different variations on the basic beliefs are considered within the scope of Judaism.<ref name="learning" /> Even so, all ] are, to a greater or lesser extent, based on the principles of the ] and various commentaries such as the ] and ]. Judaism also universally recognizes the Biblical ] between God and the ] ] as well as the additional aspects of the Covenant revealed to ], who is considered Judaism's greatest ].<ref name="learning" /><ref name="ontario" /><ref name="patriarchscovenant" /><ref name="How Do You Know the Exodus Really Happened?" /><ref name="sacredtexts" /> In the ], a core text of ], acceptance of the Divine origins of this covenant is considered an essential aspect of Judaism and those who reject the Covenant forfeit their share in the ].<ref name="sacred-texts" />
==Jewish religious texts==
==Religious texts==
], a Tanakh produced in ] in the 10th century]]
The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought.
The following is a basic, structured list of the central works of Jewish practice and thought:
* ]<ref name="tanakh" /> (]) and ]
* Tanakh<ref name="tanakh" />{{Unreliable source?|date=November 2020}} (]) and ]
** ]
** ]
** ]
** ]
** Jewish Biblical ] (also see ] below)
** Jewish Biblical ] (also see Midrash below)
* Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature)
* Works of the Talmudic Era (classic rabbinic literature)
** ] and commentaries
** ] and commentaries
** ] and the ]
** ] and the ]
** ]:
** ]:
*** The Babylonian Talmud and commentaries
*** The ] and commentaries
*** ] and commentaries
*** ] and commentaries
* ]ic literature:
* ]ic literature:
Line 69:
Line 160:
** ]
** ]
* ] literature
* ] literature
** Major Codes of Jewish Law and Custom
** Major codes of Jewish law and custom
*** ] and commentaries
*** ] and commentaries
*** ] and commentaries
*** ] and commentaries
*** ] and commentaries
*** ] and commentaries
** ] literature
** ] literature
* Jewish Thought and Ethics
* Thought and ethics
** ]
** ]
** ] and other works of ]
** ] and other works of ]
Line 81:
Line 172:
* ] and ]
* ] and ]
* '']'' (Classical Jewish poetry)
* '']'' (Classical Jewish poetry)
]-style torah at the ], Jerusalem]]
===Jewish legal literature===
===Legal literature===
{{Main|Halakha}}
{{Main|Halakha}}
The basis of Jewish law and tradition (halakha) is the ] (also known as the ] or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition there are ] in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the ] and ] (members of the tribe of ]), some only to farmers within the ]. Many laws were only applicable when the ] existed, and fewer than300 of these commandments are still applicable today.{{Citation needed|date=November2013}}
The basis of ''halakha'' and tradition is the ] (also known as the ] or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition, there are ] in the Torah. Some of these laws are directed only to men or to women, some only to the ancient priestly groups, the ] and ] (members of the tribe of ]), some only to farmers within the Land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the ] existed, and only 369 of these commandments are still applicable today.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/541686/jewish/How-Many-of-the-Torahs-Commandments-Still-Apply.htm|title=How Many of the Torah's Commandments Still Apply?|last=Danzinger|first=Eliezer|website=Chabad.org|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-date=15 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170615042210/http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/541686/jewish/How-Many-of-the-Torahs-Commandments-Still-Apply.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=May 2022}}
While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were claimed to be based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the ], and the ]), most Jews believed in what they call the ]. These oral traditions were transmitted by the ] sect of ancient Judaism, and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis.
While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the ], and the ]), most Jews believe in the ]. These oral traditions were transmitted by the ] school of thought of ancient Judaism and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis.
According to Rabbinical Jewish tradition, God gave both the Written Law (the ]) and the ] to Moses on ]. The Oral law is the oral tradition as relayed by God to Moses and from him, transmitted and taught to the sages (]nic leaders) of each subsequent generation.
Rabbinic Judaism (which derives from the Pharisees) has always held that the books of the Torah (called the written law) have always been transmitted in parallel with an oral tradition. 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 ]".
For centuries, the Torah appeared only as a written text transmitted in parallel with the oral tradition. Fearing that the oral teachings might be forgotten, Rabbi ] undertook the mission of consolidating the various opinions into one body of law which became known as the ''Mishnah''.<ref>Codex Judaica Kantor 2006, p. 146" (as cited on ])</ref>
By the time of Rabbi ] (200 CE), after the destruction of Jerusalem, much of this material was edited together into the ]. Over the next four centuries this law underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and ]), and the commentaries on the Mishnah from each of these communities eventually came to be edited together into compilations known as the two ]s. These have been expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages.
The Mishnah consists of 63 tractates codifying ''halakha'', which are the basis of the Talmud. According to ], the '']'' was compiled by Rabbi ] after the destruction of Jerusalem, in ] 3949, which corresponds to 189 CE.<ref>Abraham ben David, ''Seder Ha-Kabbalah Leharavad'', Jerusalem 1971, p.16 (Hebrew) (as cited on ])</ref>
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 ], 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 ] (in ], ''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 ], largely determines Orthodox religious practice today.
Over the next four centuries, the Mishnah underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and ]). The commentaries from each of these communities were eventually compiled into the two Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud (''Talmud Yerushalmi'') and the Babylonian Talmud (''Talmud Bavli''). These have been further expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages.
In the text of the Torah, many words are left undefined, and many procedures are mentioned without explanation or instructions. Such phenomena are sometimes offered to validate the viewpoint that the Written Law has always been transmitted with a parallel oral tradition, illustrating the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.aishdas.org/student/oral.htm|title=Proofs for the Oral Law|last=Student|first=Gil|website=The AishDas Society|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303180308/http://www.aishdas.org/student/oral.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>
''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 ] (Hebrew {{transl|he|Sheelot U-Teshuvot}}). Over time, as practices develop, codes of ''halakha'' are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the ], largely determines Orthodox religious practice today.
===Jewish philosophy===
===Jewish philosophy===
{{Main|Jewish philosophy}}
{{Main|Jewish philosophy}}
] in ], Spain]]
Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. Major Jewish philosophers include ], ], ], ], and ]. Major changes occurred in response to the ] (late 18th to early 19th century) leading to the post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers. Modern Jewish philosophy consists of both Orthodox and non-Orthodox oriented philosophy. Notable among Orthodox Jewish philosophers are ], ], and ]. Well-known non-Orthodox Jewish philosophers include ], ], ], ], ], and ].
Jewish philosophy refers to the conjunction between serious study of philosophy and Jewish theology. Major Jewish philosophers include ], ], ], ], ], and ]. Major changes occurred in response to the ] (late 18th to early 19th century) leading to the post-Enlightenment Jewish philosophers. Modern Jewish philosophy consists of both Orthodox and non-Orthodox oriented philosophy. Notable among Orthodox Jewish philosophers are ], ], and ]. Well-known non-Orthodox Jewish philosophers include ], ], ], ], ], and ].
'''Related Topics'''
* ]s (electronic versions of the Traditional Jewish Bookshelf)
* ]
===Rabbinic hermeneutics===
===Rabbinic hermeneutics===
{{Quote box|width=35%|align=right|quote=13 Principles of Hermeneutics:
{{Quote box|width=35%|align=right|quote=13 Principles of Hermeneutics:
# A law that operates under certain conditions will surely be operative in other situations where the same conditions are present in a more acute form
# A law that operates under certain conditions will surely be operative in other situations where the same conditions are present in a more acute form
# A law operating in one situation will also be operative in another situation, if the text characterizes both situations in identical terms.
# A law operating in one situation will also be operative in another situation if the text characterizes both situations in identical terms.
# A law that clearly expresses the purpose it was meant to serve will also apply to other situations where the identical purpose may be served.
# A law that clearly expresses the purpose it was meant to serve will also apply to other situations where the identical purpose may be served.
# When a general rule is followed by illustrative particulars, only those particulars are to be embraced by it.
# When a general rule is followed by illustrative particulars, only those particulars are to be embraced by it.
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# A particular case already covered in a generalization that is nevertheless treated separately suggests that the same particularized treatment be applied to all other cases which are covered in that generalization.
# A particular case already covered in a generalization that is nevertheless treated separately suggests that the same particularized treatment be applied to all other cases which are covered in that generalization.
# A penalty specified for a general category of wrongdoing is not to be automatically applied to a particular case that is withdrawn from the general rule to be specifically prohibited, but without any mention of the penalty.
# A penalty specified for a general category of wrongdoing is not to be automatically applied to a particular case that is withdrawn from the general rule to be specifically prohibited, but without any mention of the penalty.
# A general prohibition followed by a specified penalty may be followed by a particular case, normally included in the generalization, with a modification in penalty, either toward easing it or making it more severe.
# A general prohibition followed by a specified penalty may be followed by a particular case, normally included in the generalization, with a modification in the penalty, either toward easing it or making it more severe.
# A case logically falling into a general law but treated separately remains outside the provisions of the general law except in those instances where it is specifically included in them.
# A case logically falling into a general law but treated separately remains outside the provisions of the general law except in those instances where it is specifically included in them.
# Obscurities in Biblical texts may be cleared up from the immediate context or from subsequently occurring passages
# Obscurities in Biblical texts may be cleared up from the immediate context or from subsequently occurring passages
# Contradictions in Biblical passages may be removed through the mediation of other passages.
# Contradictions in Biblical passages may be removed through the mediation of other passages.
|source=—]<ref name="translated" />|}}
|source=—]<ref name="translated" />|}}
] and many other ] do not believe that the revealed ] consists solely of its written contents, but of its interpretations as well. The study of ] (in its widest sense, to include both poetry, narrative, and law, and both the ] and the ]) is in Judaism itself a sacred act of central importance. For the sages of the ] and ], and for their successors today, the study of Torah was therefore not merely a means to learn the contents of God's revelation, but an end in itself. According to the ],
] and many other ] do not believe that the revealed ] consists solely of its written contents, but of its interpretations as well. The study of ] (in its widest sense, to include both poetry, narrative, and law, and both the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud) is in Judaism itself a sacred act of central importance. For the sages of the ] and Talmud, and for their successors today, the study of Torah was therefore not merely a means to learn the contents of God's revelation, but an end in itself. According to the Talmud:
:These are the things for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the principal remains for the person to enjoy in the world to come; they are: honoring parents, loving deeds of kindness, and making peace between one person and another. But the study of the Torah is equal to them all. (Talmud Shabbat 127a).
{{blockquote|These are the things for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the principal remains for the person to enjoy in the world to come; they are: honoring parents, loving deeds of kindness, and making peace between one person and another. But the study of the Torah is equal to them all. (Talmud Shabbat 127a).}}
In Judaism, "the study of ] can be a means of experiencing God".<ref name="publishing3" /> Reflecting on the contribution of the ] and ] to contemporary Judaism, Professor Jacob Neusner observed:
In Judaism, "the study of ] can be a means of experiencing God".<ref name="publishing3" /> Reflecting on the contribution of the ] and ] to contemporary Judaism, Professor Jacob Neusner observed:
:The rabbi's logical and rational inquiry is not mere logic-chopping. It is a most serious and substantive effort to locate in trivialities the fundamental principles of the revealed will of God to guide and sanctify the most specific and concrete actions in the workaday world .... Here is the mystery of Talmudic Judaism: the alien and remote conviction that the intellect is an instrument not of unbelief and desacralization but of sanctification."<ref name="invitation" />
{{blockquote|The rabbi's logical and rational inquiry is not mere logic-chopping. It is a most serious and substantive effort to locate in trivialities the fundamental principles of the revealed will of God to guide and sanctify the most specific and concrete actions in the workaday world. ... Here is the mystery of Talmudic Judaism: the alien and remote conviction that the intellect is an instrument not of unbelief and desacralization but of sanctification.<ref name="invitation" />}}
To study the Written Torah and the Oral Torah in light of each other is thus also to study ''how'' to study the word of God.
To study the Written Torah and the Oral Torah in light of each other is thus also to study ''how'' to study the word of God.
In the study of Torah, the sages formulated and followed various ]al and ] principles. According to David Stern, all Rabbinic hermeneutics rest on two basic axioms:
In the study of Torah, the sages formulated and followed various ]al and ] principles. According to David Stern, all Rabbinic hermeneutics rest on two basic axioms:
:first, the belief in the omnisignificance of Scripture, in the meaningfulness of its every word, letter, even (according to one famous report) scribal flourish; second, the claim of the essential unity of Scripture as the expression of the single divine will.<ref name="indeterminacy" />
{{blockquote|first, the belief in the omni-significance of Scripture, in the meaningfulness of its every word, letter, even (according to one famous report) scribal flourish; second, the claim of the essential unity of Scripture as the expression of the single divine will.<ref name="indeterminacy" />}}
These two principles make possible a great variety of interpretations. According to the Talmud,
:A single verse has several meanings, but no two verses hold the same meaning. It was taught in the school of R. Ishmael: 'Behold, My word is like fire—declares the Lord—and like a hammer that shatters rock' (Jer 23:29). Just as this hammer produces many sparks (when it strikes the rock), so a single verse has several meanings." (Talmud Sanhedrin 34a).
Observant Jews thus view the Torah as dynamic, because it contains within it a host of interpretations<ref name="indeterminacy4" />
These two principles make possible a great variety of interpretations. According to the Talmud:
According to Rabbinic tradition, all valid interpretations of the ] were revealed to Moses at Sinai in ], and handed down from teacher to pupil (The oral revelation is in effect coextensive with the Talmud itself). When different rabbis forwarded conflicting interpretations, they sometimes appealed to hermeneutic principles to legitimize their arguments; some rabbis claim that these principles were themselves revealed by God to Moses at Sinai.<ref name="indeterminacy5" />
{{blockquote|A single verse has several meanings, but no two verses hold the same meaning. It was taught in the school of R. Ishmael: 'Behold, My word is like fire—declares the Lord—and like a hammer that shatters rock' (Jer 23:29). Just as this hammer produces many sparks (when it strikes the rock), so a single verse has several meanings." (Talmud Sanhedrin 34a).}}
Observant Jews thus view the Torah as dynamic, because it contains within it a host of interpretations.<ref name="indeterminacy4" />
Thus, ] called attention to seven commonly used hermeneutical principles in the interpretation of laws (] at the beginning of ]); ], thirteen (baraita at the beginning of Sifra; this collection is largely an amplification of that of Hillel).<ref name="introduction" /> ] listed 32, largely used for the exegesis of narrative elements of Torah. All the hermeneutic rules scattered through the ] and ] have been collected by ] in ''Ayyelet ha-Shachar,'' the introduction to his commentary on the ]. Nevertheless, R. Ishmael's 13 principles are perhaps the ones most widely known; they constitute an important, and one of Judaism's earliest, contributions to ], ], and ].<ref name="introduction6" /> ] incorporated Ishmael's principles into ] in the 12th century.<ref name="introduction7" /> Today R. Ishmael's 13 principles are incorporated into the Jewish prayer book to be read by observant Jews on a daily basis.<ref name="jerusalem" /><ref name="congregations" /><ref name="publications" /><ref name="publication" />
According to Rabbinic tradition, all valid interpretations of the ] were revealed to Moses at Sinai in oral form, and handed down from teacher to pupil (The oral revelation is in effect coextensive with the Talmud itself). When different rabbis forwarded conflicting interpretations, they sometimes appealed to hermeneutic principles to legitimize their arguments; some rabbis claim that these principles were themselves revealed by God to Moses at Sinai.<ref name="indeterminacy5" />
==Jewish identity==
Thus, ] called attention to seven commonly used hermeneutical principles in the interpretation of laws (] at the beginning of ]); ], thirteen (baraita at the beginning of Sifra; this collection is largely an amplification of that of Hillel).<ref name="introduction" /> ] listed 32, largely used for the exegesis of narrative elements of Torah. All the hermeneutic rules scattered through the ] and ] have been collected by ] in ''Ayyelet ha-Shachar'', the introduction to his commentary on the ]. Nevertheless, R. Ishmael's 13 principles are perhaps the ones most widely known; they constitute an important, and one of Judaism's earliest, contributions to ], ], and ].<ref name="introduction6" /> ] incorporated Ishmael's principles into Karaite Judaism in the 12th century.<ref name="introduction7" /> Today R. Ishmael's 13 principles are incorporated into the Jewish prayer book to be read by observant Jews on a daily basis.<ref name="jerusalem" /><ref name="congregations" /><ref name="publications" /><ref name="publication" />
===Origin of the term "Judaism"===
] case]]
==Jewish identity==
The term Judaism derives from ''Iudaismus'', a Latinized form of the Ancient Greek ] or ''Ioudaïsmos'' (from the verb {{lang|grc|ἰουδαΐζειν}}, "to side with or imitate the "),<ref name="LSJverb">{{LSJ|*)ioudai/zw|ἰουδαΐζειν|ref|mLSJ}}</ref> and it was ultimately inspired by the ] יהודה, ''Yehudah'', "]";<ref name="Methods and Categories: Judaism and Gospel" /><ref name="askoxford8" /> in Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת, ''Yahadut''. The term ''Ἰουδαϊσμός'' first appears in the ] book of ] in the 2nd century BCE. In the context of the age and period it meant "seeking or forming part of a cultural entity"<ref name=influence /> and resembled its antonym '']'', a word that signified a people's submission unto ] (]) cultural norms. The conflict between ''iudaismos'' and ''hellenismos'' lay behind the ] and hence the invention of the term ''iudaismos''.<ref name=influence>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=2q6qTb-A7GwC&pg=RA1-PA39&lpg=RA1-PA39&dq=Greek+origins+of+Iudaismos#v=onepage&q&f=false |author=]| title=In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity|publisher=InterVarsity Press|pages=39FF |accessdate=2010-08-22|isbn=978-0-8308-2670-4|year=2002}}</ref> ] writes in his book ''The Beginnings of Jewishness'':
:</blockquote>We are tempted, of course, to translate as "Judaism," but this translation is too narrow, because in this first occurrence of the term, ''Ioudaïsmos'' has not yet be reduced to designation of a religion. It means rather "the aggregate of all those characteristics that makes Judaeans Judaean (or Jews Jewish)." Among these characteristics, to be sure, are practices and beliefs that we would today call "religious," but these practices and beliefs are not the sole content of the term. Thus ''Ioudaïsmos'' should be translated not as "Judaism" but as Judaeanness.<ref>Shaye J.D. Cohen 1999 ''The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties'' University of California Press. 105-106</ref></blockquote>
The earliest instance in Europe where the term was used to mean "the profession or practice of the Jewish religion; the religious system or polity of the Jews"{cn} is Robert Fabyan's ''The newe cronycles of Englande and of Fraunce a 1513''. "Judaism" as a direct translation of the Latin ''Iudaismus'' first occurred in a 1611 English translation of the ] (] in ] and ]), 2 Macc. ii. 21: "Those that behaved themselues manfully to their honour for Iudaisme."<ref name="dictionary" />
===Distinction between Jews as a people and Judaism===
===Distinction between Jews as a people and Judaism===
According to ], the underlying distinction between religion and ethnicity is foreign to Judaism itself, and is one form of the dualism between spirit and flesh that has its origin in ]nic philosophy and that permeated ].<ref name="A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity" /> Consequently, in his view, Judaism does not fit easily into conventional Western categories, such as religion, ethnicity, or culture. Boyarin suggests that this in part reflects the fact that much of Judaism's more than 3,000-year history predates the rise of Western culture and occurred outside the West (that is, Europe, particularly medieval and modern Europe). During this time, Jews experienced slavery, anarchic and theocratic self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile. In the Diaspora, they were in contact with, and influenced by, ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenic cultures, as well as modern movements such as the Enlightenment (see ]) and the rise of nationalism, which would bear fruit in the form of a Jewish state in their ancient homeland, the ]. They also saw an elite population convert to Judaism (the ]s), only to disappear as the centers of power in the lands once occupied by that elite fell to the people of Rus and then the Mongols.{{citation needed | reason= Boyarin does not say anything about Khazars is this synthesis?|date=April 2015}} Thus, 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."<ref name="A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity10" />
According to ], the underlying distinction between religion and ethnicity is foreign to Judaism itself, and is one form of the dualism between spirit and flesh that has its origin in ]nic philosophy and that permeated ].<ref name="A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity" /> Consequently, in his view, Judaism does not fit easily into conventional Western categories, such as religion, ethnicity, or culture. Boyarin suggests that this in part reflects the fact that much of Judaism's more than 3,000-year history predates the rise of Western culture and occurred outside the West (that is, Europe, particularly medieval and modern Europe). During this time, Jews experienced slavery, anarchic and theocratic self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile. In the Jewish diaspora, they were in contact with, and influenced by, ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenic cultures, as well as modern movements such as the Enlightenment (see ]) and the rise of nationalism, which would bear fruit in the form of a Jewish state in their ancient homeland, the Land of Israel. Thus, 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."<ref name="A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity10" />
In contrast to this point of view, practices such as ] reject the religious aspects of Judaism, while retaining certain cultural traditions.
In contrast to this point of view, practices such as ] reject the religious aspects of Judaism, while retaining certain cultural traditions.
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===Who is a Jew?===
===Who is a Jew?===
{{Main|Who is a Jew?}}
{{Main|Who is a Jew?}}
According to ], a Jew is anyone who was either born of a Jewish mother or who ] in accordance with ''halakha''. ] and the larger denominations of worldwide ] (also known as Liberal or Reform Judaism) accept the child as Jewish if one of the parents is Jewish, if the parents raise the child with a Jewish identity, but not the smaller regional branches.{{Clarify|date=December 2015}} All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts, although conversion has traditionally been discouraged since the time of the Talmud. The conversion process is evaluated by an authority, and the convert is examined on his or her sincerity and knowledge.<ref name="Who is a Jew?" /> Converts are called "ben Abraham" or "bat Abraham", (son or daughter of Abraham). Conversions have on occasion been overturned. In 2008, Israel's highest religious court invalidated the conversion of 40,000 Jews, mostly from Russian immigrant families, even though they had been approved by an Orthodox rabbi.<ref>Samuel G. Freedman, {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210309013811/https://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/07/us/strains-grow-between-israel-and-many-jews-in-the-us.html |date=9 March 2021 }} '']'', 6 February 2015</ref>
Rabbinical Judaism maintains that a Jew, whether by birth or conversion, is a Jew forever. Thus a Jew who claims to be an atheist or converts to another religion is still considered by traditional Judaism to be Jewish. According to some sources, the Reform movement has maintained that a Jew who has converted to another religion is no longer a Jew,<ref name="university" /> and the Israeli Government has also taken that stance after Supreme Court cases and statutes.<ref name="Law of Return 5710-1950" /> However, the Reform movement has indicated that this is not so cut and dried, and different situations call for consideration and differing actions. For example, Jews who have converted under duress may be permitted to return to Judaism "without any action on their part but their desire to rejoin the Jewish community" and "A proselyte who has become an apostate remains, nevertheless, a Jew".<ref name="Jacob, Walter (1987). Contemporary American Reform Responsa. Mars, PA: Publishers Choice Book Mfg." />
According to ], a Jew is anyone who was either born of a Jewish mother or who ] in accordance with Jewish Law. American ] and British ] accept the child of one Jewish parent (father or mother) as Jewish if the parents raise the child with a Jewish identity. All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts, although conversion has traditionally been discouraged since the time of the Talmud. The conversion process is evaluated by an authority, and the convert is examined on his or her sincerity and knowledge.<ref name="Who is a Jew?" /> Converts are called "ben Abraham" or "bat Abraham", (son or daughter of Abraham). Conversions have on occasion been overturned. In 2008, Israel's highest religious court invalidated the conversion of 40,000 Jews, mostly from Russian immigrant families, even though they had been approved by an Orthodox rabbi.<ref>Samuel G. Freedman, ''New York Times'', 6 February 2015</ref>
] believes that Jewish identity can only be transmitted by patrilineal descent. Although a minority of modern Karaites believe that Jewish identity requires that both parents be Jewish, and not only the father. They argue that only patrilineal descent can transmit Jewish identity on the grounds that all descent in the Torah went according to the male line.<ref name="JEkaraites" />
Rabbinical Judaism maintains that a Jew, whether by birth or conversion, is a Jew forever. Thus a Jew who claims to be an atheist or converts to another religion is still considered by traditional Judaism to be Jewish. According to some sources, the Reform movement has maintained that a Jew who has converted to another religion is no longer a Jew,<ref name="faqs" /><ref name="university" /> and the Israeli Government has also taken that stance after Supreme Court cases and statutes.<ref name="Law of Return 5710-1950" /> However, the Reform movement has indicated that this is not so cut and dried, and different situations call for consideration and differing actions. For example, Jews who have converted under duress may be permitted to return to Judaism "without any action on their part but their desire to rejoin the Jewish community" and "A proselyte who has become an apostate remains, nevertheless, a Jew". (p. 100–106).<ref name="Jacob, Walter (1987). Contemporary American Reform Responsa. Mars, PA: Publishers Choice Book Mfg." />
The question of what determines Jewish identity in the State of Israel was given new impetus when, in the 1950s, ] requested opinions on ''mihu Yehudi'' ("Who is a Jew") from Jewish religious authorities and intellectuals worldwide in order to settle citizenship questions. This is still not settled, and occasionally resurfaces in ].
] believes that Jewish identity can only be transmitted by patrilineal descent. Although a minority of modern Karaites believe that Jewish identity requires that both parents be Jewish, and not only the father. They argue that only patrilineal descent can transmit Jewish identity on the grounds that all descent in the Torah went according to the male line.<ref></ref>
Historical definitions of ] have traditionally been based on ''halakhic'' definitions of matrilineal descent, and ''halakhic'' conversions. Historical definitions of who is a Jew date back to the codification of the Oral Torah into the Babylonian Talmud, around 200 ]. Interpretations of sections of the Tanakh, such as ] 7:1–5, by Jewish sages, are used as a warning against ] between Jews and ] because " will cause your child to turn away from Me and they will worship the gods (i.e., idols) of others."<ref>{{bibleverse|Deuteronomy|7:1–5}}</ref> Leviticus 24 says that the son in a marriage between a Hebrew woman and an ] man is "of the community of Israel."<ref>{{bibleverse|Leviticus|24:10}}</ref> This is complemented by Ezra 10, where Israelites returning from Babylon vow to put aside their ] wives and their children.<ref>{{bibleverse|Ezra|10:2–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/10-11.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19961018024300/http://shamash.org/lists/scj-faq/HTML/faq/10-11.html|archive-date=18 October 1996|title=What is the origin of Matrilineal Descent?|access-date=9 January 2009|date=4 September 2003|publisher=Shamash.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.torah.org/qanda/seequanda.php?id=318 |title=What is the source of the law that a child is Jewish only if its mother is Jewish? |access-date=9 January 2009 |publisher=Torah.org |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081224205847/http://www.torah.org/qanda/seequanda.php?id=318 |archive-date=24 December 2008 }}</ref> A popular theory is that the rape of Jewish women in captivity brought about the law of Jewish identity being inherited through the maternal line, although scholars challenge this theory citing the Talmudic establishment of the law from the pre-exile period.<ref name="Klein2016">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BC_DAAAQBAJ&pg=PA6|title=Lost Jews: The Struggle for Identity Today|author=Emma Klein|year= 2016|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-1-349-24319-8|pages=6–}}</ref><ref name="Schott2010">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6iFx-wHhMJMC&pg=PA67|title=Birth, Death, and Femininity: Philosophies of Embodiment|author=Robin May Schott|year=2010|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=978-0-253-00482-6|pages=67–|access-date=6 April 2018|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203459/https://books.google.com/books?id=6iFx-wHhMJMC&pg=PA67|url-status=live}}</ref> Since the anti-religious '']'' movement of the late 18th and 19th centuries, ''halakhic'' interpretations of Jewish identity have been challenged.<ref>Dosick (2007), pp. 56–57.</ref>
The question of what determines Jewish identity in the State of Israel was given new impetus when, in the 1950s, ] requested opinions on ''mihu Yehudi'' ("who is a Jew") from Jewish religious authorities and intellectuals worldwide in order to settle citizenship questions. This is still not settled, and occasionally resurfaces in ].
===Jewish demographics===
===Jewish demographics===
{{Main|Jewish population by country}}
{{Main|Jewish population by country}}
The total number of Jews worldwide is difficult to assess because the definition of "who is a Jew" is problematic; not all Jews identify themselves as Jewish, and some who identify as Jewish are not considered so by other Jews. According to the ''Jewish Year Book'' (1901), the global Jewish population in 1900 was around 11 million. The latest available data is from the World Jewish Population Survey of 2002 and the Jewish Year Calendar (2005). In 2002, according to the Jewish Population Survey, there were 13.3 million Jews around the world. The Jewish Year Calendar cites 14.6 million. It is 0.25% of world population.{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}
Jewish population growth is currently near zero percent, with 0.3% growth from 2000 to 2001. The overall growth rate of ] is 1.7% annually, and is consistently growing through ] and extensive immigration.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164179|title=Data: Arab Growth Slows, Still Higher than Jewish Rate|date=14 January 2013|publisher=Israel National News|access-date=6 September 2014|archive-date=26 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180826113031/http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/164179|url-status=live}}</ref> The ], by contrast, have low Jewish birth rates, an increasingly elderly age composition, high rates of ] and a negative balance of people leaving Judaism versus those joining.<ref>{{Citation|last=DellaPergola|first=Sergio|chapter=World Jewish Population, 2015|date=2016|volume=115|pages=273–364|editor-last=Dashefsky|editor-first=Arnold|publisher=Springer International Publishing|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-24505-8_7|isbn=978-3-319-24503-4|editor2-last=Sheskin|editor2-first=Ira M.|title=American Jewish Year Book 2015}}</ref>
The total number of Jews worldwide is difficult to assess because the definition of "who is a Jew" is problematic; not all Jews identify themselves as Jewish, and some who identify as Jewish are not considered so by other Jews. According to the ''Jewish Year Book'' (1901), the global Jewish population in 1900 was around 11 million. The latest available data is from the World Jewish Population Survey of 2002 and the Jewish Year Calendar (2005). In 2002, according to the Jewish Population Survey, there were 13.3 million Jews around the world. The Jewish Year Calendar cites 14.6 million. Jewish population growth is currently near zero percent, with 0.3% growth from 2000 to 2001.
In 2022, the world Jewish population was estimated at 15.2 million, the majority live in one of only two countires: Israel and the United States.<ref>{{cite web|first=Judy|last=Maltz|url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-04-26/ty-article/world-jewish-population-totals-15-2-million-with-nearly-half-in-israel/00000180-66f6-d5ca-a986-7eff58900000|title=World Jewish Population Totals 15.2 Million – With Nearly Half in Israel|date=26 April 2022|publisher=Haaretz|access-date=26 June 2023|archive-date=26 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626023319/https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-04-26/ty-article/world-jewish-population-totals-15-2-million-with-nearly-half-in-israel/00000180-66f6-d5ca-a986-7eff58900000|url-status=live}}</ref> About 46.6% of all Jews resided in ] (6.9 million) and another 6 million Jews resided in the United States, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other groups spread throughout Canada, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-jewish-population-passes-7-million-on-eve-of-rosh-hashanah/|title=Israel's Jewish population passes 7 million on eve of Rosh Hashanah|date=25 April 2022|publisher=Times of israel|access-date=26 June 2023|archive-date=26 June 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230626022400/https://www.timesofisrael.com/israels-jewish-population-passes-7-million-on-eve-of-rosh-hashanah/|url-status=live}}</ref>
]
Jewish demographics represent diverse historical and cultural trajectories.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Types of Jews |url=https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/types-of-jews/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=My Jewish Learning |language=en-US}}</ref> ], ], Ethiopian Jews (]), ], and ], may possess unique customs and practices.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Jewish Ethnicity {{!}} People, History & Ethnic Groups |url=https://study.com/academy/lesson/jewish-ethnic-groups.html |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=study.com}}</ref>
In Israel, the classification of Jewish observance into categories like ], ], ], and ] was developed by sociologists and researchers studying the religious and cultural landscape of Israeli society. These distinctions emerged from surveys and studies conducted by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics and scholars such as Shmuel Sandler, who explored how religious practices varied among different segments of the Jewish population. The categories were created to better understand the range of religious adherence, from the ultra-Orthodox Haredim to the secular Hilonim, with Dati and Masorti representing intermediary groups.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Mitchell |first=Travis |date=2016-03-08 |title=4. Religious commitment |url=https://www.pewresearch.org/religious-landscape-study/2016/03/08/religious-commitment/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Jewish religious movements==
==Jewish religious movements==
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===Rabbinic Judaism===
===Rabbinic Judaism===
Rabbinic Judaism (or in some Christiantraditions, Rabbinism)(Hebrew: "Yahadut Rabanit" – יהדות רבנית) has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the ]. It is characterised by the belief that the ] (Written Law) cannot be correctly interpreted without reference to the ] and the voluminous literature specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the ].
Rabbinic Judaism (or in some older sources, Rabbinism;<ref>{{Cite web |title=RABBI |url=https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12494 |access-date=2023-10-04 |website=www.jewishencyclopedia.com |quote=After the foundation for a scientific treatment of Jewish history and religion had been laid by Leopold Zunz and his colaborers, a number of enthusiastic young rabbis, struggling against the most violent opposition, strove to bring about a reconciliation of ''rabbinism'' with the modern scientific spirit |archive-date=10 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010133923/https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12494 |url-status=live }}</ref> Hebrew: "Yahadut Rabanit" – יהדות רבנית) has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Talmud. It is characterised by the belief that the ] (Written Law) cannot be correctly interpreted without reference to the Oral Torah and the voluminous literature specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the Law.{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=78–92}}{{sfn|Schiffman|2003|p=}}<ref name="Brabbinic" />
The ] of the late 18th century resulted in the division of Western Jewry (primarily, the ], but also western part of ] and ], a.k.a. ''Italkim'', and Greek ]—both last groups are considered distinct from Ashkenazim and Sephardim) into religious movements or denominations, especially in North America and Anglophone countries. The main denominations today outside Israel (where the situation is rather different){{sfn|Deshen|Liebman|Shokeid|2017}} are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. The notion "traditional Judaism" includes the Orthodox with Conservative{{sfn|Jacobs|2007|p=}} or solely the Orthodox Jews:{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979|pp=98–115}}{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005|p=}}
] ], Jerusalem]]
* ] holds that both the Written and Oral Torah were divinely revealed to ] and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally consider commentaries on the '']'' (a condensed codification of ''halakha'' that largely favoured Sephardic traditions) to be the definitive codification of ''halakha''. Orthodoxy places a high importance on ] as a definition of Jewish faith.
:Orthodoxy is often divided into ] and ]. Haredi is less accommodating to modernity and has less interest in non-Jewish disciplines, and it may be distinguished from ] in practice by its styles of dress and more stringent practices. Subsets of Haredi Judaism along both ethnic and ideological lines include ] ("Nationalist Haredi" within ]); ], which is rooted in the ] and distinguished by reliance on a ]{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Rebbe, Hasidic"}} or religious teacher; their traditionalist opponents the '']'' (also known as Lithuanian or ''Lita'im''); and ] Judaism, which emerged among ] and ] (Asian and North African) Jews in Israel.{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979|pp=218–270, 367–402}}{{sfn|Raphael|1984|pp=125–176}}{{sfn|Nadler|1997}}{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=311–333}}{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Orthodox Judaism"}}{{sfn|Zohar|2005|p=}}{{sfn|Segal|2008|pp=113–117}} "Centrist" Orthodoxy (]) is sometimes also distinguished.{{sfn|Segal|2008|pp=121–123}}
]
* ] (known as ''Masorti Judaism'' outside North America and Israel) is characterized by a commitment to traditional ''halakha'' and customs, including observance of ] and ], a deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith, 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 ''halakha'' 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 rejects the Orthodox position that it was dictated by God to Moses.{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979|pp=317–346}}{{sfn|Raphael|1984|pp=79–124}}{{sfn|Gillman|1993}}{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=334–353}}{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Conservative Judaism"}}{{sfn|Elazar|Geffen|2012|p=}}<ref name="Torah MiSinai:Conservative Views" /><ref name="Conservative Judaism" /> Conservative Judaism holds that the Oral Law is divine and normative, but holds that both the Written and Oral Law may be interpreted by the rabbis to reflect modern sensibilities and suit modern conditions.
* ], called Liberal or Progressive Judaism in many countries, defines Judaism in relatively universalist terms, rejects most of the ritual and ceremonial laws of the ] while observing moral laws, and emphasizes the ethical call of the ]. Reform Judaism has developed an egalitarian prayer service in the vernacular (along with Hebrew in many cases) and emphasizes personal connection to Jewish tradition.{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979|pp=156–185, 285–316}}{{sfn|Raphael|1984|pp=1–78}}{{sfn|Meyer|1988|pp=177–194}}{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=291–310}}{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Reform Judaism"}}{{sfn|Karesh|Hurvitz|2005|pp=419–422|loc="Reform Judaism"}}
* ], like Reform Judaism, does not hold that ''halakha'', as such, requires observance, but unlike Reform, Reconstructionist thought emphasizes the role of the community in deciding what observances to follow. It is sometimes recognized as the fourth major stream of Judaism.{{sfn|Rudavsky|1979|pp=347–366}}{{sfn|Raphael|1984|pp=177–194}}{{sfn|Wertheimer|1993|p=169}}{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Reconstructionism"}}{{sfn|Mendes-Flohr|2005}}{{sfn|Karesh|Hurvitz|2005|pp=416–418|loc="Reconstructionist Judaism"}}
* ] is a recent North American movement which focuses on spirituality and social justice but does not address issues of ''halakha''. Men and women participate equally in prayer.<ref name="Magid2005">{{cite encyclopedia |surname=Magid |given=Shaul |author-link=Shaul Magid |year=2005 |title=Jewish Renewal Movement |editor-surname=Jones |editor-given=Lindsay |encyclopedia=The Encyclopedia of Religion |place=Farmington Hills, Mi |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |edition=2nd |volume=7 |pages=4868–74 |format=PDF |url=https://www.academia.edu/41218249 |isbn=0-02-865740-3 |access-date=19 June 2023 |archive-date=7 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230407073638/https://www.academia.edu/41218249 |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Segal|2008|pp=123–129}}
* ] is a small non-theistic movement centered in North America and Israel that emphasizes ] and history as the sources of Jewish identity.{{sfn|Karesh|Hurvitz|2005|p=221|loc="Humanistic Judaism"}}<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |entry=Humanistic Judaism |surname=Cohn-Sherbok |given=Dan |author-link=Dan Cohn-Sherbok |title=Encyclopedia of new religious movements |pages=288–289 |publisher=Routledge |year=2006 |editor-surname=Clarke |editor-given=Peter B. |editor-link=Peter B. Clarke |place=London; New York |url={{Google books|id=heeCAgAAQBAJ|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |isbn=9-78-0-415-26707-6}}</ref>
* ] (Sabbatarians) are a movement of Jews of ] ethnic origin in the 18th–20th centuries, the majority of whom belonged to Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism.<ref>{{JewishEncyclopedia |author-link=Herman Rosenthal |surname=Rosenthal |given=Herman |surname2=Hurwitz |given2=S. |entry=Subbotniki ("Sabbatarians") |entry-url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14094-subbotniki}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |author-link=Glenn Dynner |last=Dynner |first=Glenn |title=Holy Dissent: Jewish and Christian Mystics in Eastern Europe |place=Detroit, Mi |publisher=Wayne State University Press |year=2011 |url={{Google books|id=bYnlGaeUBx0C|plainurl=y|page=358|keywords=|text=}} |isbn=978-0-8143-3597-0 |pages=358–359 |archive-date=2023-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203459/https://books.google.com/books?id=bYnlGaeUBx0C&pg=PT358 |url-status=live}}</ref> Many settled in the ] as part of the Zionist ] in order to escape oppression in the Russian Empire and later mostly intermarried with other Jews, their descendants included ], Major-General Alik Ron,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3992298,00.html |title=Russia's Subbotnik Jews get rabbi |author=Weiss, Ruchama |author2=Brackman, Levi |publisher=Israel Jewish Scene |date=9 December 2010 |access-date=2015-08-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501183834/https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3992298,00.html |url-status=live |archive-date=2021-05-01}}</ref> and the mother of ].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4497612,00.html |title=Subbotnik Jews to resume aliyah |author=Eichner, Itamar |publisher=Israel Jewish Scene |date=11 March 2014 |access-date=2014-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140409152315/http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4497612,00.html |url-status=live |archive-date=2014-04-09}}</ref>
====Sephardi and Mizrahi Judaism====
The ] of the late 18th century resulted in the division of ] (Western) Jewry into religious movements or denominations, especially in North America and Anglophone countries. The main denominations today outside Israel (where the situation is rather different) are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform.
{{see also|Sephardic Haredim|Sephardic law and customs}}
* ] holds that both the Written and ] were divinely revealed to ], and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally consider commentaries on the '']'' (a condensed codification of halakha that largely favored Sephardic traditions) to be the definitive codification of Jewish law. Orthodoxy places a high importance on ] as a definition of Jewish faith.
] in ], Tunisia]]
:* Orthodoxy is often divided into ] and ]. ] is less accommodating to modernity and has less interest in non-Jewish disciplines, and it may be distinguished from ] in practice by its styles of dress and more stringent practices. Subsets of ] include: ], which is rooted in the ] and distinguished by reliance on a ] or religious teacher; and ] Judaism, which emerged among ] (Asian and North African) Jews in Israel.
While ] vary between discrete communities, it can be said that ] (Iberian, for example, most ] and ]) and ] (Oriental) Jewish communities do not generally adhere to the "movement" framework popular in and among ] Jewry.<ref>{{cite web |last=Elazar|first=Daniel|title=Can Sephardic Judaism be Reconstructed?|url=http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles3/sephardic.htm|website=Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs|access-date=2018-05-15|archive-date=22 October 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061022155306/http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles3/sephardic.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> Historically, Sephardi and Mizrahi communities have eschewed denominations in favour of a "big tent" approach.<ref>{{cite news |last=Jager |first=Elliot |title=Sephardi Judaism Straining to Stay Non-Denominational|url=https://www.jpost.com/Jerusalem-Report/Sephardi-Judaism-Straining-to-Stay-Non-Denominational-513181|newspaper=The Jerusalem Post |access-date=2018-05-15|archive-date=16 May 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180516014757/https://www.jpost.com/Jerusalem-Report/Sephardi-Judaism-Straining-to-Stay-Non-Denominational-513181|url-status=live}}</ref> This is particularly the case in contemporary Israel, which is home to the largest communities of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in the world. (However, individual Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews or some their communities may be members of or attend synagogues that do adhere to one Ashkenazi-inflected movement or another.){{sfn|Zohar|2005|p=}} Among the pioneers of Reform Judaism in the 1820s there was the Sephardic congregation ] in ].{{sfn|Meyer|1988|pp=232–235}} A part of the European Sephardim were also linked with the Judaic modernization.<ref>{{cite journal |surname=Ferziger |given=Adam S. |author-link=Adam Ferziger |title=Between 'Ashkenazi' and Sepharad: An Early Modern German Rabbinic Response to Religious Pluralism in the Spanish-Portuguese Community |journal=Studia Rosenthaliana |publisher=Amsterdam University Press |date=Spring 2001 |volume=35 |number=1 |pages=7–22 |url=https://www.academia.edu/36844984 |jstor=41482436 |access-date=6 July 2023 |archive-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716001528/https://www.academia.edu/36844984 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ], known as ] outside the United States and Canada, is characterized by a commitment to traditional Jewish laws and customs, including observance of ] and ], a deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith, 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 rejects the Orthodox position that it was dictated by God to Moses.<ref name="Torah MiSinai:Conservative Views" /><ref name="Conservative Judaism" /> Conservative Judaism holds that the ] is divine and normative, but holds that both the Written and Oral Law may be interpreted by the rabbis to reflect modern sensibilities and suit modern conditions.
* ], called ] or ] in many countries, defines Judaism as a religion rather than as a race or culture, rejects most of the ritual and ceremonial laws of the ] while observing moral laws, and emphasizes the ethical call of the ]. Reform Judaism has developed an egalitarian prayer service in the vernacular (along with ] in many cases) and emphasizes personal connection to Jewish tradition.
] with mixed seating and equal participation of men and women]]
Sephardi and Mizrahi observance of Judaism tends toward the traditional (Orthodox) and ] are reflective of this, with the text of each rite being largely unchanged since their respective inception. Observant Sephardim may follow the teachings of a particular rabbi or school of thought; for example, the Sephardic ].{{sfn|Zohar|2005|p=}}{{sfn|Deshen|Liebman|Shokeid|2017|loc=Part 5 "The Sephardic Pattern"}}{{sfn|Berlin|2011|p=166|loc="Chief Rabbinate"}}
* ], like Reform Judaism, does not hold that Jewish law, as such, requires observance, but unlike Reform, Reconstructionist thought emphasizes the role of the community in deciding what observances to follow.
* ] is a recent North American movement which focuses on spirituality and social justice, but does not address issues of Jewish law. Men and women participate equally in prayer.
* ] is a small non-theistic movement centered in North America and Israel that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as the sources of Jewish identity.
====Jewish movements in Israel====
====Jewish movements in Israel====
{{Main|Religion in Israel}}
{{Main|Religion in Israel}}
In Israel, as in the West, Judaism is also divided into major Orthodox, Conservative and Reform traditions.<ref name="Tabory1990">{{cite book |year=2004 |orig-date=1990 |surname=Tabory |given=Ephraim |chapter=Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel |title=Social Foundations of Judaism |editor-surname=Goldscheider |editor-given=Calvin |editor-surname2=Neusner |editor-given2=Jacob |editor-link2=Jacob Neusner |place=Eugene, Or |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publ. |edition=Reprint |pages=240–258 |chapter-url= |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TxLAwAAQBAJ |isbn=1-59244-943-3 |access-date=24 June 2023 |archive-date=24 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624193459/https://books.google.com/books?id=2TxLAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>{{sfn|Deshen|Liebman|Shokeid|2017|loc=Ch. 18 "Americans in the Israeli Reform and Conservative Denominations"}}<ref name="Beit-Hallahmi">{{cite encyclopedia |surname=Beit-Hallahmi |given=Benjamin |author-link=Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi |entry=Jewish Religious Life in State of Israel |editor-surname=Berlin |editor-given=Adele |editor-link=Adele Berlin |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion |edition=2nd |pages=385–387 |entry-url={{Google books|id=hKAaJXvUaUoC|plainurl=y|page=385|keywords=|text=}} |year=2011 |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=Oxford; New York |url={{Google books|id=hKAaJXvUaUoC|plainurl=y}} |isbn=978-0-19-975927-9}}</ref> At the same time, for statistical and practical purposes, a different division of society is used there on the basis of a person's attitude to religion.
Most Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "secular" (''hiloni''), "traditional" (''masorti''), "religious" (''dati'') or '']''. 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).
Most Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "]" ('']''), "traditional" ('']''), "religious" ('']'') or "ultra-religious" ('']'').<ref name="Beit-Hallahmi" /><ref name="Kedem">{{cite book |surname=Kedem |given=Peri |chapter=Demensions of Jewish Religiosity |year=2017 |orig-date=1995 |editor-surname=Deshen |editor-given=Shlomo |editor-surname2=Liebman |editor-given2=Charles S. |editor-link2=Charles Liebman |editor-surname3=Shokeid |editor-given3=Moshe |editor-link3=Moshe Shokeid |title=Israeli Judaism: The Sociology of Religion in Israel |series=Studies of Israeli Society, 7 |place=London; New York |publisher=Routledge |pages=33–62 |edition=Reprint |chapter-url={{Google books|id=XCNHDwAAQBAJ|plainurl=y|page=33}} |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCNHDwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-56000-178-2 |access-date=7 July 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707163510/https://books.google.com/books?id=XCNHDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 ] (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" is not popular in Israeli discourse, although the percentage of Jews who come under that category is far greater than in the ]. 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 "]" or the "National Religious" community, as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as ''haredi-leumi'' (] ''haredi''), or "Hardal", which combines a largely ''haredi'' lifestyle with nationalist ideology. (Some people, in ], also refer to observant Orthodox Jews as ''frum'', as opposed to ''frei'' (more liberal Jews)).
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 Conservative Judaism, which also names itself "Masorti" outside North America. Only a few authors, like Elliot Nelson Dorff, consider the American Conservative (masorti) movement and Israeli masorti sector to be one and the same.{{sfn|Berlin|2011|p=350}} 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 worldview and practical religious observance. The term "Orthodox" is not popular in Israeli discourse, although the percentage of Jews who come under that category is far greater than in the Jewish diaspora. What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called ''dati'' (religious, including ]) or ''haredi'' (ultra-Orthodox) in Israel.<ref name="Beit-Hallahmi" /><ref name="Kedem" /> The former term includes what is called "religious Zionism" or the "National Orthodox" community, as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as ''haredi-leumi'' (] ''haredi''), or "Hardal", which combines a largely ''haredi'' lifestyle with nationalist ideology. (Some people, in ], also refer to observant Orthodox Jews as '']'', as opposed to ''frei'' (more liberal Jews)).{{sfn|Deshen|Liebman|Shokeid|2017|loc=Part 4 "Nationalist Orthodoxy"}}
''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 ] origin; (2) Hasidic ''haredim'' of Ashkenazic origin; and (3) ] ''haredim''.
===AlternativeJudaism===
===Karaites and Samaritans===
] defines itself as the remnants of the non-Rabbinic Jewish sects of the ] period, such as the ]. The Karaites ("Scripturalists") accept only the Hebrew Bible and what they view as the ] ("simple" meaning); they do not accept non-biblical writings as authoritative. Some European Karaites do not see themselves as part of the Jewish community at all, although most do.<ref name="JEkaraites">{{JewishEncyclopedia|first1=Kaufmann |last1=Kohler |author-link1=Kaufmann Kohler |first2=Abraham|last2=Harkavy| author-link2= Abraham Harkavy |title=Karaites and Karaism|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/9211-karaites-and-karaism}}</ref>
{{Main|Alternative Judaism}}
] defines itself as the remnants of the non-Rabbinic Jewish sects of the ] period, such as the ]. The Karaites ("Scripturalists") accept only the Hebrew Bible and what they view as the ] ("simple" meaning); they do not accept non-biblical writings as authoritative. Some European Karaites do not see themselves as part of the Jewish community at all, although most do.
The ]s, a very small community located entirely around ] in the ]/] region of the ] and in ], near ] in Israel, regard themselves as the descendants of the Israelites of the Iron Age ]. Their religious practices are based on the literal text of the written ] (Five Books of Moses), which they view as the only authoritative scripture (with a special regard also for the ]).
The ], a very small community located entirely around ] in the ]/] region of the ] and in ], near ] in Israel, regard themselves as the descendants of the Israelites of the Iron Age ]. Their religious practices are based on the literal text of the written ] (Five Books of Moses), which they view as the only authoritative scripture (with a special regard also for the ]).
] at the Western Wall]]
===Haymanot (Ethiopian Judaism)===
{{See also|Haymanot|Beta Israel}}
Haymanot (meaning "religion" in Ge'ez and Amharic) refers the Judaism practiced by Ethiopian Jews. This version of Judaism differs substantially from Rabbinic, Karaite, and Samaritan Judaisms, Ethiopian Jews having diverged from their coreligionists earlier. Sacred scriptures (the Orit) are written in Ge'ez, not Hebrew, and dietary laws are based strictly on the text of the Orit, without explication from ancillary commentaries. Holidays also differ, with some Rabbinic holidays not observed in Ethiopian Jewish communities, and some additional holidays, like ].
=== Noahide (''B'nei Noah'' movement) ===
{{Further|Noahidism}}
] is a ] ] based on the ] and their traditional interpretations within ]. According to the ''halakha'', non-Jews (]) are not obligated to ], but they are required to observe the Seven Laws of Noah to be assured of a place in the ], the final reward of the righteous. The divinely ordained penalty for violating any of the Laws of Noah is discussed in the Talmud, but in practical terms it is subject to the working legal system which is established by the society at large. Those who subscribe to the observance of the Noahic Covenant are referred to as {{transl|he|B'nei Noach}} (Hebrew: {{lang|he|בני נח}}, 'Children of Noah') or ''Noahides'' (]). Supporting organizations have been established around the world over the past decades by both Noahides and Orthodox Jews.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Feldman |first=Rachel Z. |date=August 2018 |title=The Children of Noah: Has Messianic Zionism Created a New World Religion? |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/737561/pdf |journal=] |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=115–128 |doi=10.1525/nr.2018.22.1.115 |s2cid=149940089 |format=PDF |via=] |access-date=18 December 2020 |archive-date=26 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526150243/https://muse.jhu.edu/article/737561/pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>
Historically, the Hebrew term ''B'nei Noach'' has applied to all non-Jews as descendants of Noah. However, nowadays it's primarily used to refer specifically to those non-Jews who observe the Seven Laws of Noah.
==Jewish observances==
==Jewish observances==
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===Jewish ethics===
===Jewish ethics===
{{Main|Jewish ethics}}
{{Main|Jewish ethics}}
Jewish ethics may be guided by ] traditions, by other moral principles, or by central Jewish virtues. Jewish ethical practice is typically understood to be marked by values such as justice, truth, peace, loving-kindness (]), compassion, humility, and self-respect. Specific Jewish ethical practices include practices of charity (]) and refraining from negative speech (]). Proper ethical practices regarding sexuality and many other issues are subjects of dispute among Jews.
Jewish ethics may be guided by ''halakhic'' traditions, by other moral principles, or by central Jewish virtues. Jewish ethical practice is typically understood to be marked by values such as justice, truth, peace, loving-kindness (]), compassion, humility, and self-respect. Specific Jewish ethical practices include practices of charity (]) and refraining from negative speech (]). Proper ethical practices regarding sexuality and many other issues are subjects of dispute among Jews.
===Prayers===
===Prayers===
{{Main|Jewish services}}
{{Main|Jewish prayer}}
] skullcap, prayer shawl and ]]]
] skullcap, prayer shawl and ]]]
Traditionally, Jews recite prayers three times daily, ], ], and ] with a fourth prayer, ] added on ] and ]. At the heart of each service is the '']'' or ''Shemoneh Esrei''. Another key prayer in many services is the declaration of faith, the '']'' (or ''Shema''). The ''Shema'' is the recitation of a verse from the Torah (] 6:4): ''Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad''—"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One!"
Traditionally, Jews recite prayers three times daily, ], ], and ] with a fourth prayer, ] added on ] and ]. At the heart of each service is the '']'' or ''Shemoneh Esrei''. Another key prayer in many services is the declaration of faith, the '']'' (or ''Shema''). The ''Shema'' is the recitation of a verse from the Torah (] 6:4): ''Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad''—"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One!"
]
Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service can be recited in solitary prayer, although communal prayer is preferred. Communal prayer requires a ] of ten adult Jews, called a '']''. In nearly all Orthodox and a few Conservative circles, only male Jews are counted toward a ''minyan''; most Conservative Jews and members of other Jewish denominations count female Jews as well.
Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service can be recited in solitary prayer, although communal prayer is preferred. Communal prayer requires a ] of ten adult Jews, called a '']''. In nearly all Orthodox and a few Conservative circles, only male Jews are counted toward a ''minyan''; most Conservative Jews and members of other Jewish denominations count female Jews as well.
In addition to prayer services, observant traditional Jews recite prayers and benedictions throughout the day when ]. Prayers are recited upon ], before eating or drinking different foods, ], and so on.
In addition to prayer services, observant traditional Jews recite ] throughout the day when ]. Prayers are recited upon ], before eating or drinking different foods, ], and so on.
The approach to prayer varies among the Jewish denominations. Differences can include the texts of prayers, the frequency of prayer, the number of prayers recited at various religious events, the use of musical instruments and choral music, and whether prayers are recited in the traditional liturgical languages or the vernacular. In general, Orthodox and Conservative congregations adhere most closely to tradition, and Reform and Reconstructionist synagogues are more likely to incorporate translations and contemporary writings in their services. Also, in most Conservative synagogues, and all Reform and Reconstructionist congregations, women participate in prayer services on an ] with men, including roles traditionally filled only by men, such as ]. In addition, many Reform temples use musical accompaniment such as organs and mixed choirs.
The approach to prayer varies among the Jewish denominations. Differences can include the texts of prayers, the frequency of prayer, the number of prayers recited at various religious events, the use of musical instruments and choral music, and whether prayers are recited in the traditional liturgical languages or the vernacular. In general, Orthodox and Conservative congregations adhere most closely to tradition, and Reform and Reconstructionist synagogues are more likely to incorporate translations and contemporary writings in their services. Also, in most Conservative synagogues, and all Reform and Reconstructionist congregations, women participate in prayer services on an ] with men, including roles traditionally filled only by men, such as ]. In addition, many Reform temples use musical accompaniment such as organs and mixed choirs.
===Religious clothing===
===Religious clothing===
] and ] play soccer in Jerusalem]]
{{Further|kippah|tzitzit|tefillin}}
]ot pray at the Western Wall]]
A '']'' (Hebrew: כִּפָּה, plural ''kippot''; Yiddish: יאַרמלקע, ''yarmulke'') is a slightly rounded brimless skullcap worn by many Jews while praying, eating, reciting blessings, or studying Jewish religious texts, and at all times by some Jewish men. In Orthodox communities, only men wear kippot; in non-Orthodox communities, some women also wear kippot. ''Kippot'' range in size from a small round beanie that covers only the back of the head, to a large, snug cap that covers the whole crown.
{{Further|Jewish religious clothing|kippah|tzitzit|tefillin}}
A '']'' (Hebrew: כִּפָּה, plural ''kippot''; Yiddish: יאַרמלקע, ''yarmulke'') is a slightly rounded brimless skullcap worn by many Jews while praying, eating, reciting blessings, or studying Jewish religious texts, and at all times by some Jewish men. In Orthodox communities, only men wear kippot; in non-Orthodox communities, some women also wear kippot. ''Kippot'' range in size from a small round beanie that covers only the back of the head to a large, snug cap that covers the whole crown.
'']'' (Hebrew: צִיציִת) (]: ''tzitzis'') are special knotted "fringes" or "tassels" found on the four corners of the '']'' (Hebrew: טַלִּית) (Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''tallis''), or prayer ]. The ''tallit'' is worn by Jewish men and some Jewish women during the prayer service. Customs vary regarding when a Jew begins wearing a tallit. In the Sephardi community, boys wear a tallit from bar mitzvah age. In some Ashkenazi communities it is customary to wear one only after marriage. A ''tallit katan'' (small tallit) is a fringed garment worn under the clothing throughout the day. In some Orthodox circles, the fringes are allowed to hang freely outside the clothing.
'']'' (Hebrew: צִיציִת) (]: ''tzitzis'') are special knotted "fringes" or "tassels" found on the four corners of the '']'' (Hebrew: טַלִּית) (Ashkenazi pronunciation: ''tallis''), or prayer ]. The ''tallit'' is worn by Jewish men and some Jewish women during the prayer service. Customs vary regarding when a Jew begins wearing a tallit. In the Sephardi community, boys wear a tallit from bar mitzvah age. In some Ashkenazi communities, it is customary to wear one only after marriage. A ''tallit katan'' (small tallit) is a fringed garment worn under the clothing throughout the day. In some Orthodox circles, the fringes are allowed to hang freely outside the clothing.
] (Hebrew: תְפִלִּין), known in English as phylacteries (from the Greek word φυλακτήριον, meaning ''safeguard'' or ''amulet''), are two square leather boxes containing biblical verses, attached to the forehead and wound around the left arm by leather straps. They are worn during weekday morning prayer by observant Jewish men and some Jewish women.<ref name="publishers" />
] (Hebrew: תְפִלִּין), known in English as phylacteries (from the Greek word φυλακτήριον, meaning ''safeguard'' or ''amulet''), are two square leather boxes containing biblical verses, attached to the forehead and wound around the left arm by leather straps. They are worn during weekday morning prayer by observant Jewish men and some Jewish women.<ref name="publishers" />
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====Shabbat====
====Shabbat====
{{Main|Shabbat}}
{{Main|Shabbat}}
] placed under an embroidered ] at the start of the Shabbat meal]]
'']'', the weekly day of rest lasting from shortly before sundown on Friday night to nightfall on Saturday night, commemorates God's day of rest after six days of creation. It plays a pivotal role in Jewish practice and is governed by a large corpus of religious law. At sundown on Friday, the woman of the house welcomes the Shabbat by lighting two or more candles and reciting a blessing. The evening meal begins with the Kiddush, a blessing recited aloud over a cup of wine, and the Mohtzi, a blessing recited over the bread. It is customary to have ], two braided loaves of bread, on the table. During Shabbat, Jews are forbidden to engage in any activity that falls under ], translated literally as "work". In fact, the activities banned on the Sabbath are not "work" in the usual sense: They include such actions as lighting a fire, writing, using money and carrying in the public domain. The prohibition of lighting a fire has been extended in the modern era to driving a car, which involves burning fuel and using electricity.<ref name="JEsabbath">{{JewishEncyclopedia|author-link1=Emil G. Hirsch |last1=Hirsch |first1=Emil G. |display-authors=etal |title=Sabbath|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/12962-sabbath}}</ref>
]s placed under an embroidered ] at the start of the Shabbat meal]]
'']'', the weekly day of rest lasting from shortly before sundown on Friday night to nightfall Saturday night, commemorates God's day of rest after six days of creation.<ref name="shabbat" /> It plays a pivotal role in Jewish practice and is governed by a large corpus of religious law. At sundown on Friday, the woman of the house welcomes the Shabbat by lighting two or more candles and reciting a blessing. The evening meal begins with the Kiddush, a blessing recited aloud over a cup of wine, and the Mohtzi, a blessing recited over the bread. It is customary to have ], two braided loaves of bread, on the table. During Shabbat Jews are forbidden to engage in any activity that falls under ], translated literally as "work". In fact the activities banned on the Sabbath are not "work" in the usual sense: They include such actions as lighting a fire, writing, using money and carrying in the public domain. The prohibition of lighting a fire has been extended in the modern era to driving a car, which involves burning fuel, and using electricity.
====Three pilgrimage festivals====
====Three pilgrimage festivals====
{{Main|Shalosh regalim}}
{{Main|Shalosh regalim}}
Jewish holy days (''chaggim''), celebrate landmark events in Jewish history, such as the ] and the giving of the Torah, and sometimes mark the change of seasons and transitions in the agricultural cycle. The three major festivals, Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot, are called "regalim" (derived from the Hebrew word "regel", or foot). On the three regalim, it was customary for the Israelites to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the Temple:
* ] used by the Jewish community of Cairo in Arabic]] ] (''Pesach'') is a week-long holiday beginning on the evening of the 14th day of ] (the first month in the Hebrew calendar), that commemorates the ] from Egypt. Outside Israel, Passover is celebrated for eight days. In ancient times, it coincided with the barley harvest. It is the only holiday that centers on home-service, the ]. ] products (]) are removed from the house prior to the holiday and are not consumed throughout the week. Homes are thoroughly cleaned to ensure no bread or bread by-products remain, and a symbolic burning of the last vestiges of chametz is conducted on the morning of the Seder. ] is eaten instead of bread.
] in Jerusalem]]
Jewish holy days (''chaggim''), celebrate landmark events in Jewish history, such as the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah, and sometimes mark the change of seasons and transitions in the agricultural cycle. The three major festivals, Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot, are called "regalim" (derived from the Hebrew word "regel", or foot). On the three regalim, it was customary for the Israelites to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the Temple.
* ] (''Pesach'') is a week-long holiday beginning on the evening of the 14th day of ] (the first month in the Hebrew calendar), that commemorates the ] from Egypt. Outside Israel, Passover is celebrated for eight days. In ancient times, it coincided with the barley harvest. It is the only holiday that centers on home-service, the ]. ] products (]) are removed from the house prior to the holiday, and are not consumed throughout the week. Homes are thoroughly cleaned to ensure no bread or bread by-products remain, and a symbolic burning of the last vestiges of chametz is conducted on the morning of the Seder. ] is eaten instead of bread.
* ] ("Pentecost" or "Feast of Weeks") celebrates the revelation of the ] to the ]s on Mount Sinai. Also known as the Festival of Bikurim, or first fruits, it coincided in biblical times with the wheat harvest. Shavuot customs include all-night study marathons known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot, eating dairy foods (cheesecake and blintzes are special favorites), reading the Book of Ruth, decorating homes and synagogues with greenery, and wearing white clothing, symbolizing purity.
* ] ("Pentecost" or "Feast of Weeks") celebrates the revelation of the ] to the ]s on Mount Sinai. Also known as the Festival of Bikurim, or first fruits, it coincided in biblical times with the wheat harvest. Shavuot customs include all-night study marathons known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot, eating dairy foods (cheesecake and blintzes are special favorites), reading the Book of Ruth, decorating homes and synagogues with greenery, and wearing white clothing, symbolizing purity.
* ] ("Tabernacles" or "The Festival of Booths") commemorates the Israelites' forty years of wandering through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. It is celebrated through the construction of temporary booths called ''sukkot'' (sing. '']'') that represent the temporary shelters of the Israelites during their wandering. It coincides with the fruit harvest, and marks the end of the agricultural cycle. Jews around the world eat in ''sukkot'' for seven days and nights. Sukkot concludes with ], where Jews begin to pray for rain and ], "Rejoicing of the Torah", a holiday which marks reaching the end of the Torah reading cycle and beginning all over again. The occasion is celebrated with singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls. Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are technically considered to be a separate holiday and not a part of Sukkot.
* ]]] ] ("Tabernacles" or "The Festival of Booths") commemorates the Israelites' forty years of wandering through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. It is celebrated through the construction of temporary booths called ''sukkot'' (sing. '']'') that represent the temporary shelters of the Israelites during their wandering. It coincides with the fruit harvest and marks the end of the agricultural cycle. Jews around the world eat in ''sukkot'' for seven days and nights. Sukkot concludes with ], where Jews begin to pray for rain and ], "Rejoicing of the Torah", a holiday which marks reaching the end of the Torah reading cycle and beginning all over again. The occasion is celebrated with singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls. Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are technically considered to be a separate holiday and not a part of Sukkot.
] and ]s]]
====High Holy Days====
====High Holy Days====
]'' by ] (1878)]]
{{Main|High Holidays}}
{{Main|High Holidays}}
The High Holidays (''Yamim Noraim'' or "Days of Awe") revolve around judgment and forgiveness.
The High Holidays (''Yamim Noraim'' or "Days of Awe") revolve around judgment and forgiveness:
* ], (also ''Yom Ha-Zikkaron'' or "Day of Remembrance", and ''Yom Teruah'', or "Day of the Sounding of the ]"). Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year (literally, "head of the year"), although it falls on the first day of the seventh month of the ], ]. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the 10-day period of atonement leading up to Yom Kippur, during which Jews are commanded to search their souls and make amends for sins committed, intentionally or not, throughout the year. Holiday customs include blowing the shofar, or ram's horn, in the synagogue, eating apples and honey, and saying blessings over a variety of symbolic foods, such as pomegranates.
* ], (also ''Yom Ha-Zikkaron'' or "Day of Remembrance", and ''Yom Teruah'', or "Day of the Sounding of the ]"). Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year (literally, "head of the year"), although it falls on the first day of the seventh month of the ], ]. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the 10-day period of atonement leading up to Yom Kippur, during which Jews are commanded to search their souls and make amends for sins committed, intentionally or not, throughout the year. Holiday customs include blowing the shofar, or ram's horn, in the synagogue, eating apples and honey, and saying blessings over a variety of symbolic foods, such as pomegranates.
* ], ("Day of Atonement") is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is a day of communal fasting and praying for forgiveness for one's sins. Observant Jews spend the entire day in the synagogue, sometimes with a short break in the afternoon, reciting prayers from a special holiday prayerbook called a "Machzor". Many non-religious Jews make a point of attending synagogue services and fasting on Yom Kippur. On the eve of Yom Kippur, before candles are lit, a prefast meal, the "seuda mafseket", is eaten. Synagogue services on the eve of Yom Kippur begin with the Kol Nidre prayer. It is customary to wear white on Yom Kippur, especially for Kol Nidre, and leather shoes are not worn. The following day, prayers are held from morning to evening. The final prayer service, called "Ne'ilah", ends with a long blast of the shofar.
* ], ("Day of Atonement") is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is a day of communal fasting and praying for forgiveness for one's sins. Observant Jews spend the entire day in the synagogue, sometimes with a short break in the afternoon, reciting prayers from a special holiday prayerbook called a "Machzor". Many non-religious Jews make a point of attending synagogue services and fasting on Yom Kippur. On the eve of Yom Kippur, before candles are lit, a prefast meal, the "]", is eaten. Synagogue services on the eve of Yom Kippur begin with the Kol Nidre prayer. It is customary to wear white on Yom Kippur, especially for Kol Nidre, and leather shoes are not worn. The following day, prayers are held from morning to evening. The final prayer service, called "Ne'ilah", ends with a long blast of the shofar.
====Purim====
====Purim====
{{Main|Purim}}
{{Main|Purim}}
]
]
]
] reading, France, 1860 ]]]
] (]: {{Audio|He-Purim.ogg|פורים}} ''Pûrîm'' "]") is a joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the ] from the plot of the evil ], who sought to ] them, as recorded in the biblical ]. It is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, mutual gifts of food and drink, ] to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22). Other customs include drinking wine, eating special pastries called ]en, dressing up in masks and costumes, and organizing carnivals and parties.
] (Hebrew: {{Audio|He-Purim.ogg|פורים}} {{transl|he|Pûrîm}} "]") is a joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the ] from the plot of the evil ], who sought to ] them, as recorded in the biblical ]. It is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, mutual gifts of food and drink, ] to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22). Other customs include drinking wine, eating special pastries called ]en, dressing up in masks and costumes, and organizing carnivals and parties.
Purim is celebrated annually on the 14th of the Hebrew month of ], which occurs in February or March of the Gregorian calendar.
Purim has celebrated annually on the 14th of the Hebrew month of ], which occurs in February or March of the Gregorian calendar.
====Hanukkah====
====Hanukkah====
{{Main|Hanukkah}}
{{Main|Hanukkah}}
] ({{langx|he|חֲנֻכָּה}}, "dedication") also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of ] (]). The festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one on the first night, two on the second night and so on.
The holiday was called Hanukkah (meaning "dedication") because it marks the re-dedication of the Temple after its desecration by ]. Spiritually, Hanukkah commemorates the "Miracle of the Oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication of the ] following the victory of the ] over the ], there was only enough consecrated oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days—which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil.
] ({{lang-he|חֲנֻכָּה}}, "dedication") also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of ] (]). The festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one on the first night, two on the second night and so on.
The holiday was called Hanukkah (meaning "dedication") because it marks the re-dedication of the Temple after its desecration by ]. Spiritually, Hanukkah commemorates the "Miracle of the Oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication of the ] following the victory of the ] over the ], there was only enough consecrated ] to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days – which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil.
Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Bible and was never considered a major holiday in Judaism, but it has become much more visible and widely celebrated in modern times, mainly because it falls around the same time as Christmas and has national Jewish overtones that have been emphasized since the establishment of the State of Israel.
Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Bible and was never considered a major holiday in Judaism, but it has become much more visible and widely celebrated in modern times, mainly because it falls around the same time as Christmas and has national Jewish overtones that have been emphasized since the establishment of the State of Israel.
====Other days====
====Fast days====
{{Main|Tisha B'Av|YomHashoah|YomHa'atzmaut}}
{{Main|Tisha B'Av|Seventeenth of Tamuz|10th of Tevet|Tzom Gedaliah}}
] ({{lang-he|תשעה באב}} or {{lang|he|ט׳ באב}}, "the Ninth of ]") is a day of mourning and fasting commemorating the destruction of the ] and ]s, and in later times, the ].
] ({{langx|he|תשעה באב}} or {{lang|he|ט׳ באב}}, "the Ninth of ]") is a day of mourning and fasting commemorating the destruction of the ] and ]s, and in later times, the ].
There are three more minor Jewish fast days that commemorate various stages of the destruction of the Temples. They are the ], the ] and ] (the 3rd of Tishrei).
The modern holidays of ] (Holocaust Remembrance Day) and ] (Israeli Independence Day) commemorate the horrors of the ] and the achievement of Israel independence, respectively.
====Israeli holidays====
{{Main|Yom Hashoah|Yom Hazikaron|Yom Ha'atzmaut}}
The modern holidays of ] (Holocaust Remembrance Day), ] (Israeli Memorial Day) and ] (Israeli Independence Day) commemorate the horrors of the ], the fallen soldiers of Israel and victims of terrorism, and Israeli independence, respectively.
There are some who prefer to commemorate those who were killed in the Holocaust on the ].
]]]
===Torah readings===
===Torah readings===
{{Main|Torah reading}}
{{Main|Torah reading}}
The core of festival and ] prayer services is the public reading of the ], along with connected readings from the other books of the ], called ]. Over the course of a year, the whole Torah is read, with the cycle starting over in the autumn, on ].
The core of festival and ] prayer services is the public reading of the ], along with connected readings from the other books of the Tanakh, called ]. Over the course of a year, the whole Torah is read, with the cycle starting over in the autumn, on ].
===Synagogues and religious buildings===
===Synagogues and religious buildings===
{{Main|Synagogue}}
{{Main|Synagogue}}
] in Jerusalem.]]
] in ], ]]]
]]]
Synagogues are Jewish houses of prayer and study. They usually contain separate rooms for prayer (the main sanctuary), smaller rooms for study, and often an area for community or educational use. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. The Reform movement mostly refer to their synagogues as temples. Some traditional features of a synagogue are:
Synagogues are Jewish houses of prayer and study. They usually contain separate rooms for prayer (the main sanctuary), smaller rooms for study, and often an area for community or educational use. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. The Reform movement mostly refer to their synagogues as temples. Some traditional features of a synagogue are:
]]]
* The ] (called ''aron ha-kodesh'' by ] and ''hekhal'' by ]) where the ] scrolls are kept (the ark is often closed with an ornate curtain ('']'') outside or inside the ark doors);
* The ] (called ''aron ha-kodesh'' by ] and ''hekhal'' by ]) where the ] scrolls are kept (the ark is often closed with an ornate curtain ('']'') outside or inside the ark doors);
* The elevated reader's platform (called '']'' by Ashkenazim and ''tebah'' by Sephardim), where the Torah is read (and services are conducted in Sephardi synagogues);
* The elevated reader's platform (called '']'' by Ashkenazim and ''tebah'' by Sephardim), where the Torah is read (and services are conducted in Sephardi synagogues);
* The ] (''ner tamid''), a continually lit lamp or lantern used as a reminder of the constantly lit ] of the ]
* The ] (''ner tamid''), a continually lit lamp or lantern used as a reminder of the constantly lit ] of the ]
* The pulpit, or ''amud'', a lectern facing the Ark where the ] or prayer leader stands while praying.
* The pulpit, or ''amud'', a lectern facing the Ark where the ] or prayer leader stands while praying.
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===Dietary laws: ''kashrut''===
===Dietary laws: ''kashrut''===
{{Main|Kashrut}}
{{Main|Kashrut}}
The Jewish dietary laws are known as '']''. Food prepared in accordance with them is termed ], and food that is not kosher is also known as ''treifah'' or ''treif''. People who observe these laws are colloquially said to be "keeping kosher".<ref name="JEdietary">{{JewishEncyclopedia|author-link1=Solomon Schechter |last1=Schechter |first1=Solomon |display-authors=etal |title=Dietary Laws|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5191-dietary-laws}}</ref>{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=212–14|loc="Dietary Laws"}}
Many of the laws apply to animal-based foods. For example, in order to be considered kosher, mammals must have split ] and ]. The ] is arguably the most well-known example of a non-kosher animal.<ref name="The Kosher Pig?" /> Although it has split hooves, it does not chew its cud. For ] to be kosher, the animal must have ] and ]. Certain types of seafood, such as ], ], and ]s, are therefore considered non-kosher. Concerning birds, a list of non-kosher species is given in the ]. The exact ] of many of the species have not survived, and some non-kosher birds' identities are no longer certain. However, ] exist about the ''kashrut'' status of a few birds. For example, both ] and ] are permitted in most communities. Other types of animals, such as ], ], and most ], are prohibited altogether.<ref name="JEdietary" />
The Jewish dietary laws are known as '']''. Food prepared in accordance with them is termed ], and food that is not kosher is also known as ''treifah'' or ''treif''. People who observe these laws are colloquially said to be "keeping kosher".<ref name="JewFAQ Kashrut" />
In addition to the requirement that the species be considered kosher, meat and poultry (but not fish) must come from a healthy animal slaughtered in a process known as '']''. Without the proper ] practices even an otherwise kosher animal will be rendered ''treif''. The slaughtering process is intended to be quick and relatively painless to the animal. Forbidden parts of animals include the ], some ]s, and the area in and around the ].<ref name="JEdietary" />
Many of the laws apply to animal-based foods. For example, in order to be considered kosher, ] must have split ] and ]. The ] is arguably the most well-known example of a non-kosher animal.<ref name="The Kosher Pig?" /> Although it has split hooves, it does not chew its cud.<ref name="Tamar Levy, St. Louis, MO – Block Yeshiva High School, Grade 9" /> For ] to be kosher, the animal must have ] and ]. Certain types of seafood, such as ], ], and ]s, are therefore considered non-kosher. Concerning birds, a list of non-kosher species is given in the ]. The exact ] of many of the species have not survived, and some non-kosher birds' identities are no longer certain. However, ] exist about the ''kashrut'' status of a few birds. For example, both ] and ] are permitted in most communities. Other types of animals, such as ], ], and most ], are prohibited altogether.<ref name="JewFAQ Kashrut" />
''Halakha'' also forbids the consumption of meat and dairy products together. The waiting period between eating meat and eating dairy varies by the order in which they are consumed and by community and can extend for up to six hours. Based on the Biblical injunction against cooking a kid in its mother's milk, this rule is mostly derived from the Oral Torah, the Talmud and Rabbinic law. Chicken and other kosher birds are considered the same as meat under the laws of ''kashrut'', but the prohibition is rabbinic, not biblical.<ref name="shulchan" />
In addition to the requirement that the species be considered kosher, meat and poultry (but not fish) must come from a healthy animal slaughtered in a process known as '']''. Without the proper ] practices even an otherwise kosher animal will be rendered ''treif''. The slaughtering process is intended to be quick and relatively painless to the animal. Forbidden parts of animals include the ], some ]s, and the area in and around the ].<ref name="JewFAQ Kashrut" />
The use of ], serving utensils, and ]s may make food ''treif'' that would otherwise be kosher. Utensils that have been used to prepare non-kosher food, or dishes that have held meat and are now used for dairy products, render the food ''treif'' under certain conditions.<ref name="JEdietary" />
Jewish law also forbids the consumption of meat and dairy products together. The waiting period between eating meat and eating dairy varies by the order in which they are consumed and by community, and can extend for up to six hours. Based on the Biblical injunction against cooking a kid in its mother's milk, this rule is mostly derived from the ], the ] and ].<ref name="JewFAQ Kashrut" /> Chicken and other kosher birds are considered the same as meat under the laws of ''kashrut'', but the prohibition is Rabbinic, not Biblical.<ref name="shulchan" />
Furthermore, all Orthodox and some Conservative authorities forbid the consumption of processed ] products made by non-Jews, due to ancient ] practices of using wine in rituals. Some Conservative authorities permit wine and grape juice made without rabbinic supervision.<ref name="rabbinicalassembly" />
The use of ], serving utensils, and ]s may make food ''treif'' that would otherwise be kosher. Utensils that have been used to prepare non-kosher food, or dishes that have held meat and are now used for dairy products, render the food ''treif'' under certain conditions.<ref name="JewFAQ Kashrut" />
The Torah does not give specific reasons for most of the laws of ''kashrut''. However, a number of explanations have been offered, including maintaining ritual purity, teaching impulse control, encouraging obedience to God, improving health, reducing ] and preserving the distinctness of the Jewish community.<ref name="JEdietary" /> The various categories of dietary laws may have developed for different reasons, and some may exist for multiple reasons. For example, people are forbidden from consuming the blood of birds and mammals because, according to the Torah, this is where animal souls are contained. In contrast, the Torah forbids Israelites from eating non-kosher species because "they are unclean".<ref name="leviticus11" /> The ] describes sparks of holiness that are released by the act of eating kosher foods but are too tightly bound in non-kosher foods to be released by eating.<ref name="JEdietary" />
Furthermore, all ] and some ] authorities forbid the consumption of processed ] products made by non-Jews, due to ancient ] practices of using wine in rituals.<ref name="JewFAQ Kashrut" /> Some Conservative authorities permit wine and grape juice made without rabbinic supervision.<ref name="rabbinicalassembly" />
Survival concerns supersede all the laws of ''kashrut'', as they do for most ''halakhot''.<ref name="jewishmag" /><ref name="biu" />
The ] does not give specific reasons for most of the laws of ''kashrut''.<ref name="JewFAQ Kashrut" /> However, a number of explanations have been offered, including maintaining ritual purity, teaching impulse control, encouraging obedience to God, improving health, reducing ] and preserving the distinctness of the Jewish community.<ref name="Kashrut Facts" /> The various categories of dietary laws may have developed for different reasons, and some may exist for multiple reasons. For example, people are forbidden from consuming the blood of birds and mammals because, according to the Torah, this is where animal souls are contained.<ref name="Judaism 101: Kashrut: Jewish Dietary Laws" /> In contrast, the Torah forbids Israelites from eating non-kosher species because "they are unclean".<ref name="leviticus11" /> The ] describes sparks of holiness that are released by the act of eating kosher foods, but are too tightly bound in non-kosher foods to be released by eating.<ref name="Judaism and the Art of Eating" />
Survival concerns supersede all the laws of ''kashrut'', as they do for most ].<ref name="jewishmag" /><ref name="biu" />
===Laws of ritual purity===
===Laws of ritual purity===
{{Main|Tumah}}
{{Main|Tumah}}
The Tanakh describes circumstances in which a person who is ''tahor'' or ritually pure may become ''tamei'' or ritually impure. Some of these circumstances are contact with human ] or ], seminal flux, vaginal flux, ], and contact with people who have become impure from any of these.<ref name="leviticus15" /><ref name="bamidbar" /> In Rabbinic Judaism, ], members of the hereditary ] that served as ] in the time of the Temple, are mostly restricted from entering grave sites and touching dead bodies.<ref name="Torah tidbits" /> During the Temple period, such priests (]) were required to eat their bread offering (]) in a state of ritual purity, which laws eventually led to more rigid laws being enacted, such as ] which became a requisite of all Jews before consuming ordinary bread.{{sfn|Neusner|1993}}{{sfn|Fonrobert|2005}}{{sfn|Berlin|2011|loc="Purity and Unpurity, Ritual"}}
] with inscription in ]]]
The ] describes circumstances in which a person who is ''tahor'' or ritually pure may become ''tamei'' or ritually impure. Some of these circumstances are contact with human ] or ], seminal flux, vaginal flux, ], and contact with people who have become impure from any of these.<ref name="leviticus15" /><ref name="bamidbar" /> In Rabbinic Judaism, ], members of the hereditary ] that served as ] in the time of the Temple, are mostly restricted from entering grave sites and touching dead bodies.<ref name="Torah tidbits" /> During the Temple period, such priests (]) were required to eat their bread offering (]) in a state of ritual purity, which laws eventually led to more rigid laws being enacted, such as ] which became a requisite of all Jews before consuming ordinary bread.
====Family purity====
====Family purity====
]]]
]]]
{{Main|Niddah}}
{{Main|Niddah}}
{{See also|Women in Judaism}}
An important subcategory of the ritual purity laws relates to the segregation of menstruating ]. These laws are also known as '']'', literally "separation", or family purity. Vital aspects of ''halakha'' for traditionally observant Jews, they are not usually followed by Jews in liberal denominations.<ref name="JEniddah">{{JewishEncyclopedia|author-link1=Wilhelm Bacher|last1=Bacher|first1=Wilhelm|author-link2=Jacob Zallel Lauterbach|last2=Lauterbach|first2=Jacob Zallel |title=Niddah|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/11529-niddah}}</ref>
Especially in ], the Biblical laws are augmented by Rabbinical injunctions. For example, the ] mandates that a woman in her normal menstrual period must abstain from ] for seven days. A woman whose menstruation is prolonged must continue to abstain for seven more days after bleeding has stopped.<ref name=leviticus15 /> The Rabbis conflated ordinary ''niddah'' with this extended menstrual period, known in the Torah as '']'', and mandated that a woman may not have sexual intercourse with her husband from the time she begins her ] flow until seven days after it ends. In addition, ] forbids the ] from touching or sharing a bed with his wife during this period. Afterwards, purification can occur in a ritual bath called a ]<ref name="JEniddah" />
An important subcategory of the ritual purity laws relates to the segregation of menstruating ]. These laws are also known as '']'', literally "separation", or family purity. Vital aspects of halakha for traditionally observant Jews, they are not usually followed by Jews in liberal denominations.<ref name="koshersex" />
Traditional ] keep menstruating women in separate huts and, similar to Karaite practice, do not allow menstruating women into their ] because of a temple's special sanctity. Emigration to Israel and the influence of other Jewish denominations have led to Ethiopian Jews adopting more normative Jewish practices.<ref name="Karaites" /><ref name="Women and water: menstruation in Jewish life and law" />
Especially in ], the Biblical laws are augmented by Rabbinical injunctions. For example, the ] mandates that a woman in her normal menstrual period must abstain from ] for seven days. A woman whose menstruation is prolonged must continue to abstain for seven more days after bleeding has stopped.<ref name=leviticus15 /> The Rabbis conflated ordinary ''niddah'' with this extended menstrual period, known in the Torah as '']'', and mandated that a woman may not have sexual intercourse with her ] from the time she begins her ] flow until seven days after it ends. In addition, ] forbids the ] from touching or sharing a bed with his wife during this period. Afterwards, purification can occur in a ritual bath called a ].<ref name=koshersex />
] at a ]. The torah is visible in the foreground.]]
Traditional ] keep menstruating women in separate ] and, similar to ], do not allow menstruating women into their ] because of a temple's special sanctity. Emigration to ] and the influence of other Jewish denominations have led to Ethiopian Jews adopting more normative Jewish practices.<ref name="Karaites" /><ref name="Women and water: menstruation in Jewish life and law" />
===Life-cycle events===
===Life-cycle events===
Life-cycle events, or ], occur throughout a Jew's life that serve to strengthen Jewish identity and bind him/her to the entire community.
Life-cycle events, or ], occur throughout a Jew's life that serves to strengthen Jewish identity and bind him/her to the entire community:
* ] – Welcoming male babies into the covenant through the rite of ] on their eighth day of life. The baby boy is also given his Hebrew name in the ceremony. A naming ceremony intended as a parallel ritual for girls, named '']'' or brit bat, enjoys limited popularity.
* {{lang|he|]}} – Welcoming male babies into the covenant through the rite of ] on their eighth day of life. The baby boy is also given his Hebrew name in the ceremony. A naming ceremony intended as a parallel ritual for girls, named '']'' or brit bat, enjoys limited popularity.
* ] – This passage from childhood to adulthood takes place when a female Jew is twelve and a male Jew is thirteen years old among Orthodox and some Conservative congregations. In the Reform movement, both girls and boys have their bat/bar mitzvah at age thirteen. This is often commemorated by having the new adults, male only in the Orthodox tradition, lead the congregation in prayer and publicly read a "portion" of the Torah.
* ] – This passage from childhood to adulthood takes place when a female Jew is twelve and a male Jew is thirteen years old among Orthodox and some Conservative congregations. In the Reform movement, both girls and boys have their bat/bar mitzvah at age thirteen. This is often commemorated by having the new adults, male only in the Orthodox tradition, lead the congregation in prayer and publicly read a "portion" of the Torah.
* ] – Marriage is an extremely important lifecycle event. A wedding takes place under a '']'', or wedding canopy, which symbolizes a happy house. At the end of the ceremony, the groom breaks a glass with his foot, symbolizing the continuous mourning for the destruction of the Temple, and the scattering of the Jewish people.
* ] – Marriage is an extremely important lifecycle event and an ideal human state.{{sfn|Jacobs|2003|loc="Marriage"}} A wedding takes place under a '']'', or wedding canopy, which symbolizes a happy house. At the end of the ceremony, the groom breaks a glass with his foot, symbolizing the continuous mourning for the destruction of the Temple, and the scattering of the Jewish people. An ] is prohibited, except as within Reform Judaism:{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=381–2|loc="Intermarriage"}}
], {{circa|1930}}]]
* ] – Judaism has a multi-staged ] practice. The first stage is called the ] (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.
* ] – Divorce is allowed in accordance with Halakha. The divorce ceremony involves the husband giving the short {{lang|he|]}} document written in Aramaic into the hand of the wife in rabbinical court, that is all. But, since the 11th century among the Ashkenazim and many Sephardim a divorce became prohibited against will of a wife, than a man had way for ].{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=216–7|loc="Divorce"}} The ''get'' contains declaration: "You are hereby permitted to all men."
]'', ], Israel]]
* ] ({{lang|he|Avelut}}) – The ''Torah'' requires burial as soon as possible, even for executed criminals.<ref>] 21:23</ref> Judaism has a multi-staged ] practice. The first stage is called the ] (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.{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=205–6|loc="Death"}} A ] within Orthodox Judaism permitted only by some leading rabbis in West Europe.{{sfn|Berlin|2011|pp=193–4|loc="Cremation"}}
==Community leadership==
==Community leadership==
===Classical priesthood===
===Classical priesthood===
], ] c. 1910.]]
], ] {{Circa|1910}}.]]
The role of the priesthood in Judaism has significantly diminished since the destruction of the ] in 70 CE, when priests attended to the Temple and sacrifices. The priesthood is an inherited position, and although priests no longer have any but ceremonial duties, they are still honored in many Jewish communities. Many Orthodox Jewish communities believe that they will be needed again for a future ] and need to remain in readiness for future duty.
The role of the priesthood in Judaism has significantly diminished since the destruction of the ] in 70 CE when priests attended to the Temple and sacrifices. The priesthood is an inherited position, and although priests no longer have any but ceremonial duties, they are still honoured in many Jewish communities. Many Orthodox Jewish communities believe that they will be needed again for a future ] and need to remain in readiness for future duty:
* ] (priest) – patrilineal descendant of ], brother of ]. 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 ], as well as complying with other unique laws and ceremonies, including the ceremony of redemption of the first-born.
* ] (priest) – patrilineal descendant of ], brother of ]. 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 ], as well as complying with other unique laws and ceremonies, including the ceremony of redemption of the first-born.
* Levi (]) – Patrilineal descendant of ] the son of ]. In the ], the levites sang ], performed construction, maintenance, janitorial, and guard duties, assisted the priests, and sometimes interpreted the law and Temple ritual to the public. Today, a Levite is called up second to the reading of the Torah.
* Levi (]) – Patrilineal descendant of ] the son of ]. In the ], the levites sang ], performed construction, maintenance, janitorial, and guard duties, assisted the priests, and sometimes interpreted the law and Temple ritual to the public. Today, a Levite is called up second to the reading of the Torah.
===Prayer leaders===
===Prayer leaders===
] in Kolkata, India]]
From the time of the ] and ] to the present, Judaism has required specialists or authorities for the practice of very few rituals or ceremonies. A Jew can fulfill most requirements for prayer by himself. Some activities—reading the ] 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 '']'', the presence of ten Jews.
From the time of the ] and Talmud to the present, Judaism has required specialists or authorities for the practice of very few rituals or ceremonies. A Jew can fulfill most requirements for prayer by himself. Some activities—reading the ] and '']'' (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 '']'', the presence of ten Jews.
The most common professional clergy in a ] are:
The most common professional clergy in a ] are:
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Jewish prayer services do involve two specified roles, which are sometimes, but not always, filled by a rabbi or hazzan in many congregations. In other congregations these roles are filled on an ad-hoc basis by members of the congregation who lead portions of services on a rotating basis:
Jewish prayer services do involve two specified roles, which are sometimes, but not always, filled by a rabbi or hazzan in many congregations. In other congregations these roles are filled on an ad-hoc basis by members of the congregation who lead portions of services on a rotating basis:
* 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 reciting the prayers clearly may act as ''shatz''. In Orthodox congregations and some Conservative congregations, only men can be prayer leaders, but all ] communities now allow women to serve in this function.
* 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 reciting the prayers clearly may act as ''shatz''. In Orthodox congregations and some Conservative congregations, only men can be prayer leaders, but all ] communities now allow women to serve in this function.
* The Baal kriyah or ''baal koreh'' (master of the reading) reads the weekly ] portion. The requirements for being the ''baal kriyah'' are the same as those for the ''shatz''. These roles are not mutually exclusive. The same person is often qualified to fill more than one role, and often does. Often there are several people capable of filling these roles and different services (or parts of services) will be led by each.
* The Baal kriyah or ''baal koreh'' (master of the reading) reads the weekly ] portion. The requirements for being the ''baal kriyah'' are the same as those for the ''shatz''. These roles are not mutually exclusive. The same person is often qualified to fill more than one role and often does. Often there are several people capable of filling these roles and different services (or parts of services) will be led by each.
Many congregations, especially larger ones, also rely on a:
Many congregations, especially larger ones, also rely on a:
* ] (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.
* ] (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 ] large synagogues have often adopted the practice of hiring rabbis and hazzans to act as ''shatz'' and ''baal kriyah'', and this is still typically the case in many Conservative and Reform congregations. However, in most Orthodox synagogues these positions are filled by laypeople on a rotating or ad-hoc basis. Although most congregations hire one or more Rabbis, the use of a professional hazzan is generally declining in American congregations, and the use of professionals for other offices is rarer still.
The three preceding positions are usually voluntary and considered an honour. Since the ] large synagogues have often adopted the practice of hiring rabbis and hazzans to act as ''shatz'' and ''baal kriyah'', and this is still typically the case in many Conservative and Reform congregations. However, in most Orthodox synagogues these positions are filled by laypeople on a rotating or ad-hoc basis. Although most congregations hire one or more Rabbis, the use of a professional hazzan is generally declining in American congregations, and the use of professionals for other offices is rarer still.
] sofer writing a torah in the 1930s]]
===Specialized religious roles===
===Specialized religious roles===
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* ] (scribe) – ] scrolls, '']'' (phylacteries), '']'' (scrolls put on doorposts), and ''gittin'' (bills of divorce) must be written by a ''sofer'' who is an expert in Hebrew calligraphy and has undergone rigorous training in the laws of writing sacred texts.
* ] (scribe) – ] scrolls, '']'' (phylacteries), '']'' (scrolls put on doorposts), and ''gittin'' (bills of divorce) must be written by a ''sofer'' who is an expert in Hebrew calligraphy and has undergone rigorous training in the laws of writing sacred texts.
* ] – A Torah scholar who runs a ].
* ] – A Torah scholar who runs a ].
* ] of a yeshiva – Depending on which yeshiva, might either be the person responsible for ensuring attendance and proper conduct, or even supervise the emotional and spiritual welfare of the students and give lectures on ] (Jewish ethics).
* ] of a yeshiva – Depending on which yeshiva, might either be the person responsible for ensuring attendance and proper conduct, or even supervise the emotional and spiritual welfare of the students and give lectures on ] (Jewish ethics).
* ] – Supervises manufacturers of kosher food, importers, caterers and restaurants to ensure that the food is kosher. Must be an expert in the laws of ] and trained by a rabbi, if not a rabbi himself.
* ] – Supervises manufacturers of kosher food, importers, caterers and restaurants to ensure that the food is kosher. Must be an expert in the laws of ] and trained by a rabbi, if not a rabbi himself or herself.
==History==
{{Main|Jewish history}}
{{About|the history of Judaism|the book on Ancient Judaism|Ancient Judaism (book)|section=yes}}
===Origins===
{{Main|Origins of Judaism}}
{{Further|Ancient Semitic religion}}
] decorate the ] dating from 244 CE]]
At its core, the Tanakh is an account of the ]s' relationship with ] from their earliest history until the building of the ] (c. 535 BCE). ] is hailed as the first ] and the father of the Jewish people. As a reward for his act of faith in one God, he was promised that ], his second son, would inherit the ] (then called ]). Later, the descendants of Isaac's son ] were enslaved in ], and God commanded ] to lead ] from Egypt. At ] they received the ]—the five books of Moses. These books, together with ] and ] are known as ''Torah Shebikhtav'' as opposed to the ], which refers to the Mishnah and the Talmud. Eventually, God led them to the ] where the ] was planted in the city of ] for over 300 years to rally the nation against attacking enemies. As time went on, the spiritual level of the nation declined to the point that God allowed the ] to capture the tabernacle. The people of Israel then told ] the ] that they needed to be governed by a permanent king, and Samuel appointed ] to be their King. When the people pressured Saul into going against a command conveyed to him by Samuel, God told Samuel to appoint ] in his stead.
] in ] is a remnant of the wall encircling the ]. The ] is the holiest site in Judaism.]]
Once King David was established, he told the prophet ] that he would like to build a permanent temple, and as a reward for his actions, God promised David that he would allow his son, ], to build the ] and the throne would never depart from his children.
Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the law, which are called the '']'' or '']'', were originally an unwritten tradition based upon what God told Moses on Mount Sinai. However, as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by ] ] (Judah the Prince) in the ], redacted ''circa'' 200 CE. The ] was a compilation of both the Mishnah and the ], rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, ] and ].<ref>http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14213-talmud</ref> Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the ]. It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in ]<ref>http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/14213-talmud</ref>. The Babylonian Talmud was compiled from discussions in the houses of study by the scholars ], ], and ] by 500 CE, although it continued to be edited later.
Some critical scholars oppose the view that the sacred texts, including the ], were divinely inspired. Many of these scholars accept the general principles of the ] and suggest that the ] consists of inconsistent texts edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts.<ref name="yehezkal" /><ref name="biblical" /><ref name="speiser" /> Many suggest that during the First Temple period, the people of Israel believed that each nation had its own god, but that their god was superior to other gods.<ref name="history" /><ref name="history12" /> Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to ] dualism.<ref name="ephraim" /> In this view, it was only by the ] that most Jews came to believe that their god was the only god, and that the notion of a clearly bounded Jewish nation identical with the Jewish religion formed.<ref name="beginnings" />
] argues that the origins of biblical ], ], ], and ], may be rooted in earlier ], which was centered on a pantheon of gods much like the ].<ref name="goddesses" />
===Antiquity===
{{Main|Ancient Israel and Judah|Babylonian captivity|Hellenistic Judaism|Hasmonean Kingdom|Iudaea Province|Bar Kokhba revolt}}
According to the ], the ] was established under ] and continued under ] and ] with its capital in ]. After Solomon's reign the nation split into two kingdoms, the ] (in the north) and the ] (in the south). The Kingdom of Israel was conquered by the ]n ruler ] in the late 8th century BCE with many people from the capital Samaria being taken captive to Media and the ] valley. The ] continued as an independent state until it was conquered by a Babylonian army in the early 6th century BCE, destroying the ] that was at the center of ancient Jewish worship. The Judean elite were exiled to ] and this is regarded as the first Jewish Diaspora. Later many of them returned to their homeland after the subsequent conquest of Babylonia by the ] seventy years later, a period known as the ]. A new ] was constructed, and old religious practices were resumed.
During the early years of the Second Temple, the highest religious authority was a council known as the Great Assembly, led by Ezra of the Book of Ezra. Among other accomplishments of the Great Assembly, the last books of the Bible were written at this time and the canon sealed.
] spread to ] from the 3rd century BCE. After ] (66–73 CE), the Romans destroyed the Temple. ] built a pagan idol on the Temple grounds and prohibited circumcision; these acts of ethnocide provoked the ] 132–136 CE after which the Romans banned the study of the ] and the celebration of Jewish holidays, and forcibly removed virtually all Jews from Judea. In 200 CE, however, Jews were granted Roman citizenship and Judaism was recognized as a '']'' ("legitimate religion"), until the rise of ] and ] in the fourth century.
Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around the community (represented by a minimum of ten adult men) and the establishment of the authority of rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities (see ]).
===Historical Jewish groupings (to 1700)===
===Historical Jewish groupings (to 1700)===
Around the 1st century CE, there were several small Jewish sects: the ], ], ], ], and ]. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, these sects vanished.{{sfn|Schiffman|2003|p=}}<ref>{{cite book|author1=Sara E. Karesh|author2=Mitchell M. Hurvitz|title=Encyclopedia of Judaism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2cCZBDm8F8C&pg=PA444|year=2005|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-6982-8|pages=444–|quote=The Sadducees disappeared when the second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 C.E and Pharisaic Judaism became the preeminent Jewish sect.|access-date=5 April 2018|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203459/https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2cCZBDm8F8C&pg=PA444|url-status=live}}</ref> Christianity survived, but by breaking with Judaism and ]; the ] survived but in the form of ] (today, known simply as "Judaism").{{sfn|Schiffman|2003|p=}} The ] rejected the ] of the ] and the ], relying only on the ] as divinely inspired. Consequently, a number of other core tenets of the Pharisees' belief system (which became the basis for modern Judaism), were also dismissed by the Sadducees. (The ] practiced a similar religion, which is traditionally considered separate from Judaism.)
] of the Beth Jakov synagogue in ]]]
Around the 1st century CE there were several small Jewish sects: the ], ], ], ], and ]. After the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, these sects vanished. ] survived, but by breaking with Judaism and ]; the ] survived but in the form of ] (today, known simply as "Judaism"). The ] rejected the ] of the ] and the ], relying only on the ] as divinely inspired. Consequently, a number of other core tenets of the Pharisees' belief system (which became the basis for modern Judaism), were also dismissed by the Sadducees. (The ] practiced a similar religion, which is traditionally considered separate from Judaism.)
Like the Sadducees who relied only on the Torah, some Jews in the 8th and 9th centuries rejected the authority and divine inspiration of the ] as recorded in the ] (and developed by later rabbis in the two ]s), relying instead only upon the ]. These included the Isunians, the Yudganites, the ], and others. They soon developed oral traditions of their own, which differed from the rabbinic traditions, and eventually formed the ] 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.
Like the Sadducees who relied only on the Torah, some Jews in the 8th and 9th centuries rejected the authority and divine inspiration of the oral law as recorded in the ] (and developed by later rabbis in the two Talmuds), relying instead only upon the Tanakh. These included the ], the ], the ],{{Clarify|reason=|date=September 2021|text=|pre-text=|post-text=}} and others. They soon developed oral traditions of their own, which differed from the rabbinic traditions, and eventually formed the ] 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 a long time, Jews formed distinct ethnic groups in several different geographic areas — amongst others, the ] (of ] and ]), the ] (of Spain, ], and ]), the ] of ], and the ] from the southern tip of the ]. Many of these groups have developed differences in their prayers, traditions and accepted canons; however these distinctions are mainly the result of their being formed at some cultural distance from normative (rabbinic) Judaism, rather than based on any doctrinal dispute.
Over a long time, Jews formed distinct ethnic groups in several different geographic areas—amongst others, the Ashkenazi Jews (of ] and Eastern Europe), the ] (of Spain, Portugal, and North Africa), the ] of Ethiopia, the ] from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and the ] from Kerala . Many of these groups have developed differences in their prayers, traditions and accepted canons; however, these distinctions are mainly the result of their being formed at some cultural distance from normative (rabbinic) Judaism, rather than based on any doctrinal dispute.
===Persecutions===
===Persecutions===
{{Main|Persecution of Jews|Antisemitism|History of antisemitism}}
{{Main|Persecution of Jews|Antisemitism|History of antisemitism}}
] arose during the ], in the form of persecutions, ]s, ], expulsions, social restrictions and ]ization.
] arose during the ], in the form of persecutions, ]s, ]s, expulsions, social restrictions and ]ization.
This was different in quality toany repressions of Jews in ancient times. Ancient repressionwas politically motivated and Jews were treated the same way as any other ethnic group would have been. With the rise of the Churches, attacks on Jews becamemotivatedinsteadbytheologicalconsiderations specifically deriving from Christian views about Jews and Judaism.<ref name="History, religion, and antisemitism" /> During the ], Jewish people under Muslim rule generally experienced tolerance and integration,<ref name="Cohen, Mark R 1991">Cohen, Mark R. "." ''Tikkun'' 6.3 (1991)</ref> but there were occasional outbreaks of violence like ].<ref name="ugr">Amira K. Bennison and María Ángeles Gallego. "." MEAH, sección Hebreo 56 (2007), 33-51</ref>
This was different in quality from the repressions of Jews which had occurred in ancient times. Ancient repressions were politically motivated and Jews were treated the same as members of other ethnic groups. With the rise of the Churches, the main motive for attacks on Jews changed from politics to religion and the religious motive for such attacks was specifically derived from Christian views about Jews and Judaism.<ref name="History, religion, and antisemitism" /> During the ], Jewish people who lived under Muslim rule generally experienced tolerance and integration,<ref name="Cohen, Mark R 1991">Cohen, Mark R. "." ''Tikkun'' 6.3 (1991)</ref> but there were occasional outbreaks of violence like ].<ref name="ugr">Amira K. Bennison and María Ángeles Gallego. " {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303202838/http://www.ugr.es/~estsemi/miscelanea/57/3.Gallego.08,33-51.pdf |date=3 March 2016 }}." MEAH, sección Hebreo 56 (2007), 33–51</ref>
===Hasidism===
===Hasidism===
{{Main|Hasidic Judaism}}
{{Main|Hasidic Judaism}}
Hasidic Judaism was founded by ] (1700–1760), also known as the ''Ba'al Shem Tov'' (or ''Besht''). It originated in a time of persecution of the Jewish people when European Jews had turned inward to Talmud study; many felt that most expressions of Jewish life had become too "academic", and that they no longer had any emphasis on spirituality or joy. Its adherents favoured small and informal gatherings called ], which, in contrast to a traditional synagogue, could be used both as a place of worship and for celebrations involving dancing, eating, and socializing.<ref>{{Cite book|title=How and Why Did Hasidism Spread?|last=Stampfer|first=Shaul|location=The Hebrew University of Jerusalem|pages=205–207}}</ref> Ba'al Shem Tov's disciples attracted many followers; they themselves established numerous Hasidic sects across Europe. Unlike other religions, which typically expanded through word of mouth or by use of print, Hasidism spread largely owing to ]s, who used their influence to encourage others to follow the movement. Hasidism appealed to many Europeans because it was easy to learn, did not require full immediate commitment, and presented a compelling spectacle.<ref>{{Cite book|title=How and Why Did Hasidism Spread?|last=Stampfer|first=Shaul|location=The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel|pages=202–204}}</ref> Hasidic Judaism eventually became the way of life for many Jews in Eastern Europe. Waves of Jewish immigration in the 1880s carried it to the United States. The movement itself claims to be nothing new, but a ''refreshment'' of original Judaism. As some have put it: ''"they merely re-emphasized that which the generations had lost"''. Nevertheless, 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 ], (lit. "opponents"). Some of the reasons for the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the exuberance of Hasidic worship, its deviation from tradition in ascribing infallibility and miracles to their leaders, and the concern that it might become a messianic sect. Over time differences between the Hasidim and their opponents have slowly diminished and both groups are now considered part of Haredi Judaism.
Hasidic Judaism was founded by ] (1700–1760), also known as the ''Ba'al Shem Tov'' (or ''Besht''). It originated in a time of persecution of the Jewish people, when European Jews had turned inward to Talmud study; many felt that most expressions of Jewish life had become too "academic", and that they no longer had any emphasis on spirituality or joy. 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.
The movement itself claims to be nothing new, but a ''refreshment'' of original Judaism. Or as some have put it: '' "they merely re-emphasized that which the generations had lost"''.<ref name="nishmas" /> Nevertheless, 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 ], (lit. "opponents"). Some of the reasons for the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the overwhelming exuberance of Hasidic worship, its untraditional ascriptions of infallibility and alleged miracle-working to their leaders, and the concern that it might become a messianic sect. Since then differences between the Hasidim and their opponents have slowly diminished and both groups are now considered part of ].
===The Enlightenment and new religious movements===
===The Enlightenment and new religious movements===
{{Main|Haskalah|Jewish religious movements}}
{{Main|Haskalah|Jewish religious movements}}
In the late 18th century CE, Europe was swept by a group of intellectual, social and political movements known as the ]. 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, ] or the "Jewish Enlightenment", began, especially in Central Europe and Western 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 through reason. With the promise of political emancipation, many Jews saw no reason to continue to observe ''halakha'' and increasing numbers of Jews assimilated into Christian Europe. Modern religious movements of Judaism all formed in reaction to this trend.
In Central Europe, followed by Great Britain and the United States, ] developed, relaxing legal obligations (especially those that limited Jewish relations with non-Jews), emulating ] decorum in prayer, and emphasizing the ethical values of Judaism's Prophetic tradition. ] developed in reaction to Reform Judaism, by leaders who argued that Jews could participate in public life as citizens equal to Christians while maintaining the observance of ''halakha''. Meanwhile, in the United States, wealthy Reform Jews helped European scholars, who were Orthodox in practice but critical (and skeptical) in their study of the Bible and Talmud, to establish a seminary to train rabbis for immigrants from Eastern Europe. These left-wing Orthodox rabbis were joined by right-wing Reform rabbis who felt that ''halakha'' should not be entirely abandoned, to form the ]. Orthodox Jews who opposed the Haskalah formed ]. After massive movements of Jews following ] and the creation of the state of Israel, these movements have competed for followers from among traditional Jews in or from other countries.
In the late 18th century CE, Europe was swept by a group of intellectual, social and political movements known as the ]. 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, ] or the "Jewish Enlightenment", began, especially in ] and ], 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 through reason. With the promise of political emancipation many Jews saw no reason to continue to observe Jewish law and increasing numbers of Jews assimilated into Christian Europe. Modern religious movements of Judaism all formed in reaction to this trend.
In ], followed by ] and the United States, ] and ] developed, relaxing legal obligations (especially those that limited Jewish relations with non-Jews), emulating ] decorum in prayer, and emphasizing the ethical values of Judaism's Prophetic tradition. ] developed in reaction to Reform Judaism, by leaders who argued that Jews could participate in public life as citizens equal to Christians, while maintaining the observance of Jewish law. Meanwhile, in the United States, wealthy Reform Jews helped European scholars, who were Orthodox in practice but critical (and skeptical) in their study of the Bible and Talmud, to establish a seminary to train rabbis for immigrants from Eastern Europe. These left-wing Orthodox rabbis were joined by right-wing Reform rabbis who felt that Jewish law should not be entirely abandoned, to form the ]. Orthodox Jews who opposed the Haskalah formed ]. After massive movements of Jews following ] and the creation of ], these movements have competed for followers from among traditional Jews in or from other countries.
===Spectrum of observance===
===Spectrum of observance===
] published in Hebrew and ] for use by the ] community]]
].]]
Countries such as the ], ], ], ], ] and ] contain large Jewish populations. Jewish religious practice varies widely through all levels of observance. According to the of the ], in the United States' Jewish community—the world's second largest—4.3million Jews out of 5.1million 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, and fewer than 16% attend regularly.<ref name="harrisinteractive" />
Jewish religious practice varies widely through all levels of observance. According to the 2001 edition of the ], in the United States' Jewish community—the world's second largest—4.3 million Jews out of 5.1 million had some sort of connection to the religion.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jewishdatabank.org/studies/details.cfm?StudyID=307 |title=National Jewish Population Survey (NJPS) 2000–01 |access-date=8 May 2017 |archive-date=25 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525151442/http://www.jewishdatabank.org/studies/details.cfm?StudyID=307 |url-status=live }}</ref> Of that population of connected Jews, 80% participated in some sort of Jewish religious observance, but only 48% belonged to a congregation, and fewer than 16% attend regularly.<ref name="harrisinteractive" />
Birth rates for American Jews have dropped from 2.0 to 1.7.<ref name="relations" /> (Replacement rate is 2.1.) Intermarriage rates range from 40-50% in the US, and only about a third of children of intermarried couples are raised as Jews. 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 ], but a focus on total population obscures growth trends in some denominations and communities, such as ]. The ] movement is a movement of Jews who have "returned" to religion or become more observant.
==Judaism and other religions==
==Judaism and other religions==
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{{Main|Christianity and Judaism}}
{{Main|Christianity and Judaism}}
{{See also|Christianity and antisemitism|Christian–Jewish reconciliation}}
{{See also|Christianity and antisemitism|Christian–Jewish reconciliation}}
] in ], Spain was converted to a church shortly after anti-Jewish ]s in 1391]]
] was originally a sect of ], but the two religions ]. The differences between Christianity and Judaism originally centered on whether Jesus was the Jewish Messiah, but eventually became irreconcilable. Major differences between the two faiths include the nature of the Messiah, of ] and ], the status of God's commandments to Israel, and perhaps most significantly of the ] himself. Due to these differences, Judaism traditionally regards Christianity as ], or worship of the God of Israel which is not monotheistic. Christianity has traditionally regarded Judaism as obsolete with the invention of Christianity and Jews as a people replaced by the Church, though a Christian belief in ] emerged as a phenomenon following Christian reflection on how their theology influenced the Nazi ].<ref>R. Kendall Soulen, The God of Israel and Christian Theology, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) ISBN 978-0-8006-2883-3</ref>
] was originally a sect of ], but the two religions ]. The differences between Christianity and Judaism originally centered on whether Jesus was the Jewish Messiah but eventually became irreconcilable. Major differences between the two faiths include the nature of the Messiah, of ] and ], the status of God's commandments to Israel, and perhaps most significantly of the ] himself. Due to these differences, Judaism traditionally regards Christianity as ] or worship of the God of Israel which is not monotheistic. Christianity has traditionally regarded Judaism as obsolete with the invention of Christianity and Jews as a people replaced by the Church, though a Christian belief in ] emerged as a phenomenon following Christian reflection on how their theology influenced the Nazi ].<ref>R. Kendall Soulen, ''The God of Israel and Christian Theology'', (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) {{ISBN|978-0-8006-2883-3}}</ref>
Since the time of the ], the ] upheld the '']'' (Formal Statement on the Jews), which stated: {{blockquote|We decree that no Christian shall use violence to force them to be baptized, so long as they are unwilling and refuse.…Without the judgment of the political authority of the land, no Christian shall presume to wound them or kill them or rob them of their money or change the good customs that they have thus far enjoyed in the place where they live."<ref name="BaskinSeeskin2010">{{cite book|last1=Baskin|first1=Judith R.|last2=Seeskin|first2=Kenneth|title=The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture|year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-86960-7|page=120}}</ref>}}
Until ] in the late 18th and the 19th century, Jews in Christian lands were subject to humiliating legal restrictions and limitations. They included provisions requiring Jews to wear specific and identifying clothing such as the ] and the ], restricting Jews to certain cities and towns or in certain parts of towns (]), and forbidding Jews to enter certain trades (for example selling new clothes in medieval ]). Disabilities also included special taxes levied on Jews, exclusion from public life, restraints on the performance of religious ceremonies, and linguistic censorship. Some countries went even further and completely expelled Jews, for example, ] in 1290 (Jews were readmitted in 1655) and ] in 1492 (readmitted in 1868). The first Jewish settlers in North America arrived in the Dutch colony of ] in 1654; they were forbidden to hold public office, open a retail shop, or establish a synagogue. When the colony was seized by the British in 1664 Jewish rights remained unchanged, but by 1671 ] was the first Jew to serve on a jury in North America.<ref name=gotham>] & ]. '']''. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. pp. 60, 133–134</ref> In 1791, ] was the first country to abolish disabilities altogether, followed by ] in 1848. ] was achieved in 1858 after an almost 30-year struggle championed by ]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/237923/Sir-Isaac-Lyon-Goldsmid-1st-Baronet#ref213807|title=Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, 1st Baronet|encyclopedia=]|url-access=subscription|access-date=23 June 2022|archive-date=27 April 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140427062024/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/237923/Sir-Isaac-Lyon-Goldsmid-1st-Baronet#ref213807|url-status=live}}</ref> with the ability of Jews to sit in parliament with the passing of the ]. The newly created ] in 1871 abolished Jewish disabilities in Germany, which were reinstated in the ] in 1935.
Jewish life in Christian lands was marked by frequent ]s, expulsions, ]s and ]s. Religious prejudice was an underlying source against Jews in Europe. Christian rhetoric and antipathy towards Jews developed in the ] and was reinforced by ever increasing anti-Jewish measures over the ensuing centuries. The action taken by Christians against Jews included acts of violence, and murder culminating in the ].<ref name="HarriesAfter" />{{rp|21}}<ref name="Kung" />{{rp|169}}<ref name="Dawidowicz" /> These attitudes were reinforced by Christian preaching, in art and popular teaching for two millennia which expressed contempt for Jews,<ref name=JCPSHorst>Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. 5 May 2009. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726170352/http://jcpa.org/article/the-origins-of-christian-anti-semitism/ |date=26 July 2018 }}</ref> as well as statutes which were designed to humiliate and stigmatise Jews. The ] was known for its ]; many of them, such as the Protestant ] and the Catholic Church,<ref>Gill, Anton (1994). An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler. Heinemann Mandarin. 1995 paperback {{ISBN|978-0-434-29276-9}}; p. 57</ref> as well as ] and ], aided and rescued Jews who were being targeted by the antireligious régime.<ref name="Gottfried2001">{{cite book|last=Gottfried|first=Ted|title=Heroes of the Holocaust|url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780761317173|url-access=registration|access-date=14 January 2017|year=2001|publisher=Twenty-First Century Books|isbn=978-0-7613-1717-3|pages=–25|quote=Some groups that are known to have helped Jews were religious in nature. One of these was the Confessing Church, a Protestant denomination formed in May 1934, the year after Hitler became chancellor of Germany. One of its goals was to repeal the Nazi law "which required that the civil service would be purged of all those who were either Jewish or of partly Jewish descent." Another was to help those "who suffered through repressive laws, or violence." About 7,000 of the 17,000 Protestant clergy in Germany joined the Confessing Church. Much of their work has gone unrecognized, but two who will never forget them are Max Krakauer and his wife. Sheltered in sixty-six houses and helped by more than eighty individuals who belonged to the Confessing Church, they owe them their lives. German Catholic churches went out of their way to protect Catholics of Jewish ancestry. More inclusive was the principled stand taken by Catholic Bishop Clemens Count von Galen of Munster. He publicly denounced the Nazi slaughter of Jews and actually succeeded in having the problem halted for a short time.…Members of the Society of Friends—German Quakers working with organizations of Friends from other countries—were particularly successful in rescuing Jews.…Jehovah's Witnesses, themselves targeted for concentration camps, also provided help to Jews.}}</ref>
Until ] in the late 18th and the 19th century, Jews in Christian lands were subject to humiliating legal restrictions and limitations. They included provisions requiring Jews to wear specific and identifying clothing such as the ] and the ], restricting Jews to certain cities and towns or in certain parts of towns (]), and forbidding Jews to enter certain trades (for example selling new clothes in medieval Sweden). Disabilities also included special taxes levied on Jews, exclusion from public life, restraints on the performance of religious ceremonies, and linguistic censorship. Some countries went even further and completely expelled Jews, for example ] in 1290 (Jews were readmitted in 1655) and ] in 1492 (readmitted in 1868). The first Jewish settlers in North America arrived in the Dutch colony of ] in 1654; they were forbidden to hold public office, open a retail shop, or establish a synagogue. When the colony was seized by the British in 1664 Jewish rights remained unchanged, but by 1671 ] was the first Jew to serve on a jury in North America.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/US-Israel/amsterdam.html |title=New Amsterdam's Jewish Crusader |publisher=]}}</ref>
In 1791, ] was the first country to abolish disabilities altogether, followed by ] in 1848. ] was achieved in 1858 after an almost 30-year struggle championed by ]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/237923/Sir-Isaac-Lyon-Goldsmid-1st-Baronet#ref213807 |title=Sir Isaac Lyon Goldsmid, 1st Baronet| publisher=]}}</ref> with the ability of Jews to sit in parliament with the passing of the ]. The newly united ] in 1871 abolished Jewish disabilities in Germany, which were reinstated in the ] in 1935.
The attitude of Christians and Christian Churches toward the Jewish people and Judaism have changed in a mostly positive direction since ]. Pope ] and the Catholic Church have "upheld the Church's acceptance of the continuing and permanent election of the Jewish people" as well as a ] between ] and the Jews.<ref name="Wigoder1988">{{cite book|last=Wigoder|first=Geoffrey|title=Jewish-Christian Relations Since the Second World War|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9N9RAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA87|access-date=14 January 2017|year=1988|publisher=Manchester University Press|language=en|isbn=978-0-7190-2639-3|page=87|archive-date=10 February 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203500/https://books.google.com/books?id=9N9RAQAAIAAJ&pg=PA87|url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2015, the ] released a 10,000-word document that, among other things, stated that Catholics should work with Jews to fight antisemitism.<ref name="news.va">{{cite web|url=http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-issues-new-document-on-christian-jewish-di|title=Vatican issues new document on Christian-Jewish dialogue|access-date=14 January 2017|archive-date=13 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171113203040/http://www.news.va/en/news/vatican-issues-new-document-on-christian-jewish-di}}</ref>
Jewish life in Christian lands was marked by frequent ]s, expulsions, ]s and ]s. An underlying source of prejudice against Jews in Europe was religious. Christian rhetoric and antipathy towards Jews developed in the ] and was reinforced by ever increasing anti-Jewish measures over the ]. The action taken by Christians against Jews included acts of violence, and murder culminating in the ].<ref name=HarriesAfter />{{rp|21}}<ref name=Kung />{{rp|169}}<ref name=Dawidowicz /> These attitudes were reinforced in Christian preaching, art and popular teaching for two millennia, containing contempt for Jews,<ref name=JCPSHorst>Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. May 5, 2009. </ref> as well as statutes which were designed to humiliate and stigmatise Jews.
===Islam and Judaism===
===Islam and Judaism===
{{Main|Islam and Judaism}}
{{Main|Islam and Judaism}}
] of ]]]
Both Judaism and Islamic religion arose from the patriarch ], and are therefore considered ]. In both Jewish and Muslim tradition, the Jewish and Arab peoples are descended from the two sons of Abraham—Isaac and Ishmael, respectively. While both religions are ] and share many commonalities, they differ in that Jews do not consider ] or ] to be prophets. The religions' adherents have interacted with each other since the 7th century, when ] originated and spread in the ]. Indeed, the years 712 to 1066 CE under the ] and the ] rulers have been called the ]. Non-Muslim monotheists living in these countries, including Jews, were known as ]. Dhimmis were allowed to practice their religion and to administer their internal affairs, but they were subject to certain restrictions that were not imposed on Muslims.<ref name="Lewis-84" /> For example, they had to pay the ], a per capita tax imposed on free adult non-Muslim males,<ref name="Lewis-84" /> and they were also forbidden to bear arms or testify in court cases involving Muslims.<ref name="lewis14" /> Many of the laws regarding dhimmis were highly symbolic. For example, dhimmis in some countries were required to wear ], a practice not found in either the ] or ] but invented in ] ] and inconsistently enforced.<ref name="lewis15" /> Jews in Muslim countries were not entirely free from persecution—for example, many were killed, exiled or forcibly converted in the 12th century, in ], and by the rulers of the ] dynasty in North Africa and ],<ref name="stillman" /> as well as by the Zaydi imams of Yemen in the 17th century (see: ]). At times, Jews were also restricted in their choice of residence—in ], for example, Jews were confined to walled quarters (]s) beginning in the 15th century and increasingly since the early 19th century.<ref name="lewis16" />
] in Cairo, Egypt]]
Both Judaism and ] track their origins from the patriarch Abraham, and they are therefore considered ]. In both Jewish and ] tradition, the Jewish and ] are descended from the two sons of Abraham—] and ], respectively. While both religions are ] and share many commonalities, they differ based on the fact that Jews do not consider ] or ] to be prophets. The religions' adherents have interacted with each other since the 7th century when ] originated and spread in the ]. Indeed, the years 712 to 1066 CE under the ] and the ] rulers have been called the ]. Non-Muslim monotheists living in these countries, including Jews, were known as ]. Dhimmis were allowed to practice their own religions and administer their own internal affairs, but they were subject to certain restrictions that were not imposed on Muslims.<ref name="Lewis-84" /> For example, they had to pay the ], a per capita tax imposed on free adult non-Muslim males,<ref name="Lewis-84" /> and they were also forbidden to bear arms or testify in court cases involving Muslims.<ref name="lewis14" /> Many of the laws regarding dhimmis were highly symbolic. For example, dhimmis in some countries were required to wear ], a practice not found in either the ] or the ] but invented in ] ] and inconsistently enforced.<ref name="lewis15" /> Jews in Muslim countries were not entirely free from persecution—for example, many were killed, exiled or forcibly converted in the 12th century, in ], and by the rulers of the ] dynasty in North Africa and ],<ref name="stillman" /> as well as by the Zaydi imams of Yemen in the 17th century (see: ]). At times, Jews were also restricted in their choice of residence—in ], for example, Jews were confined to walled quarters (]s) beginning in the 15th century and increasingly since the early 19th century.<ref name="lewis16" />
In the mid-20th century, Jews were expelled from nearly all of the Arab countries.<ref>.''Middle East Forum''. Retrieved on 2013-07-28.</ref><ref>Shumsky, Dmitry. (2012-09-12) . ''Haaretz''. Retrieved on 2013-07-28.</ref><ref>Meir, Esther. (2012-10-09) . 'Haaretz''. Retrieved on 2013-07-28.</ref> Most have chosen to live in ]. Today, antisemitic themes including ] have become commonplace in the propaganda of Islamic movements such as ] and ], in the pronouncements of various agencies of the ], and even in the newspapers and other publications of ].<ref name="Lewis_MEQ" />
In the mid-20th century, ] from nearly all of the Arab countries.<ref>Shumsky, Dmitry. (12 September 2012) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130714015124/http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/recognize-jews-as-refugees-from-arab-countries-1.464535 |date=14 July 2013 }}. ''Haaretz''. Retrieved on 28 July 2013.</ref><ref>Meir, Esther. (9 October 2012) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131011092041/http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/the-truth-about-the-expulsion.premium-1.468823 |date=11 October 2013 }}. ''Haaretz''. Retrieved on 28 July 2013.</ref> Most have chosen to live in Israel. Today, antisemitic themes including ] have become commonplace in the propaganda of Islamic movements such as ] and ], in the pronouncements of various agencies of the ], and even in the newspapers and other publications of ].<ref name="Lewis_MEQ">{{cite journal |url=http://www.meforum.org/396/muslim-anti-semitism |pages=43–49 |title=Muslim Anti-Semitism |author=Bernard Lewis |journal=Middle East Quarterly |date=June 1998 |access-date=13 August 2009 |archive-date=25 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090625062233/http://www.meforum.org/396/muslim-anti-semitism |url-status=live }}</ref>
===Syncretic movements incorporating Judaism===
===Syncretic movements incorporating Judaism===
There are some movements that combine elements of Judaism withthose of otherreligions. The most well-known of these is ], a religious movement, which arose in the 1960s,<ref name=Feher1998p140 /><ref name=Ariel2006p191b /><ref name=Ariel2006p194a /><ref name =Meltonp373a /> thatincorporates elements of Judaism with the ].<ref name =Meltonp373a /><ref name=Ariel2006p191a /><ref name=Ariel2006p194b /><ref name="Sherbok_179" /><ref name=Ariel2000p223 /> The movement states that ] is the Jewish Messiah, and generally that he is part of the ],<ref name="UMJC-3" /><ref name="Trinitarianism" /> and ] is only achieved through acceptance of Jesus as one's savior.<ref name="JeC3" /> Some members argue that Messianic Judaism is a sect of Judaism.<ref name="MJSelfID" /> Jewish organizations of every denomination reject this, stating that Messianic Judaism is a Christian sect, as it harbors identical creeds to that of ].<ref name="Denominations" />
There are some movements in other religions that include elements of Judaism. Among Christianity these are a number of denominations of ancient and contemporary ]. The most well-known of these is ], a religious movement, which arose in the 1960s,<ref name=Feher1998p140 /><ref name=Ariel2006p191b /><ref name=Ariel2006p194a /><ref name =Meltonp373a /> In this, elements of the messianic traditions in Judaism,<ref>{{Interlanguage link|Vittorio Lanternari|it}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210421080954/https://www.jstor.org/stable/1062037 |date=21 April 2021 }} ] Vol. 2, No. 1 (Summer, 1962), pp. 52–72:'the same messianic complex which originated in Judaism and was confirmed in Christianity.' p. 53</ref><ref>Michael L. Morgan, Steven Weitzman, (eds.,) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203500/https://books.google.com/books?id=d3OPBQAAQBAJ&pg=PA1 |date=10 February 2023 }} ] 2014 {{isbn|978-0-253-01477-1}} p. 1. ] considered 'the messianic dimensions of the Kabbalah and of rabbinic Judaism as a central feature of a Jewish philosophy of history.'</ref> are incorporated in, and melded with the ].<ref name =Meltonp373a /><ref name=Ariel2006p191a /><ref name=Ariel2006p194b /><ref name="Sherbok_179" /><ref name=Ariel2000p223 /> The movement generally states that ] is the Jewish Messiah, that he is one of the ],<ref name="UMJC-3" /><ref name="Trinitarianism" /> and that ] is only achieved through acceptance of Jesus as one's savior.<ref name="JeC3" /> Some members of Messianic Judaism argue that it is a sect of Judaism.<ref name="MJSelfID" /> Jewish organizations of every denomination reject this, stating that Messianic Judaism is a Christian sect, because it teaches creeds which are identical to those of ], and because the conditions for Messiah to have come accordingly within traditional Jewish thought have not yet been met.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Moss |first=Aron |title=Can a Jew believe in Jesus? |url=https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/160992/jewish/Can-a-Jew-believe-in-Jesus.htm |access-date=September 22, 2023 |archive-date=10 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231010133031/https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/160992/jewish/Can-a-Jew-believe-in-Jesus.htm |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="Denominations" /> Another religious movement is the ] group, which not to be confused with less syncretic ] (a constellation of movements which, depending on their adherence to normative Jewish tradition, receive varying degrees of recognition by the broader Jewish community).
Other examples of ] include ], loosely organized sects which incorporate ], ] or ]n beliefs with some Jewish religious practices;<ref name="RaphaelMelissa">{{cite journal |surname=Raphael |given=Melissa |date=April 1998 |title=Goddess Religion, Postmodern Jewish Feminism, and the Complexity of Alternative Religious Identities |journal=] |volume=1 |issue=2 |pages=198–215 |doi=10.1525/nr.1998.1.2.198 |url=https://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-abstract/1/2/198/70030/Goddess-Religion-Postmodern-Jewish-Feminism-and?redirectedFrom=PDF |url-access=registration |access-date=17 July 2023 |archive-date=17 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230717021926/https://online.ucpress.edu/nr/article-abstract/1/2/198/70030/Goddess-Religion-Postmodern-Jewish-Feminism-and?redirectedFrom=PDF |url-status=live }}</ref> ]s, another loosely organized group that incorporates elements of ] and other Asian spirituality in their faith.<ref>{{cite book |surname=Cohn-Sherbok |given=Dan |author-link=Dan Cohn-Sherbok |chapter=Jewish Buddhists |title=Judaism Today |year=2010 |publisher=Continuum |place=London; New York |pages=98–100 |chapter-url={{Google books|id=kw8SBwAAQBAJ|plainurl=y|page=98|keywords=|text=}} |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=kw8SBwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-0-8264-3829-4 |access-date=17 July 2023 |archive-date=28 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230628053238/https://books.google.com/books?id=kw8SBwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}</ref>
Other examples of ] include ], a loosely organized sect which incorporates pagan or ]n beliefs with some Jewish religious practices; ], another loosely organized group that incorporates elements of Asian spirituality in their faith; and some ] who borrow freely and openly from ], ], ] religion, and other faiths.
Some ] borrow freely and openly from Buddhism, ], ], and other faiths.<ref name="Magid2005" />{{sfn|Segal|2008|pp=123–129}}
The ], which employs teachers from multiple religions, is a ] movement that claims to popularize the ], part of the ].
The ], which employs teachers from multiple religions, is a one of "] Judaism" movements{{sfn|Neusner|Avery-Peck|2003|pp=354–370|loc="New Age Judaism"}} that claims to popularize the ], part of the ].<ref>{{cite book |surname=Myers |given=Jody Elizabeth |title=Kabbalah and the spiritual quest: the Kabbalah Centre in America |place=Westport, Conn |publisher=Praeger |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-275-98940-8 |url= https://archive.org/details/kabbalahspiritua0000myer |url-access=registration}}</ref>
Criticism of Judaism may include those that require ] to classical Orthodox Judaism, such as that of the modernized denomination of ] as established by American rabbi ], who believed that classical Orthodox Judaism is outdated as a religious belief on its own, and should represent the ].<ref name="delusion">{{cite book
}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Seeman |first=Isadore |title=Reconstructionist Judaism |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1999/09/21/reconstructionist-judaism/ec2210ea-38b6-45a6-bf09-f8f247e83b40/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240424034031/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/opinions/1999/09/21/reconstructionist-judaism/ec2210ea-38b6-45a6-bf09-f8f247e83b40/ |archive-date=April 24, 2024 |access-date=April 23, 2024 |newspaper=Washington Post |quote=In the 1930s Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan recognized that many Jews were losing interest in religious observance, except perhaps for the high holidays. As a cogent philosopher and the leader of a congregation in New York, Rabbi Kaplan began to evolve a fresh approach to Jewish belief and practice... The essence of Reconstructionism is that Judaism is not just a religion but an evolving religious civilization. Reconstructionists believe in the importance of music, art, dance, the Hebrew language, a dedication to the State of Israel and a sense of Jewish peoplehood...}}</ref>
On the other hand, proponents of classical Orthodox Judaism such as ] and similar groups strongly oppose the growing accommodation to ] by ] groups such as ]; a previously anti-Zionist proponent of Orthodox Haredi Judaism whom the Neturei Karta see as betrayal by the Agudat Yisrael against the Orthodoxy, in the belief that Judaism should never be conflated with the politics of Zionism.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Neturei Karta |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/neturei-karta-2 |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org |quote=Neturei Karta (Aramaic: "Guardians of the City") is a group of Orthodox Jews which rejects Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel. They believe that the true Israel can only be reestablished with the coming of the Messiah.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Harb |first=Ali |title='Anti-Zionism is antisemitism,' US House asserts in 'dangerous' resolution |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/12/6/anti-zionism-is-antisemitism-us-house-asserts-in-dangerous-resolution |access-date=2024-04-08 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |quote=In the US, Palestinian rights supporters have long rejected conflations of Zionism with Judaism, noting that many Jewish Americans identify as anti-Zionist. "Opposing the policies of the government of Israel and Netanyahu's extremism is not antisemitic. Speaking up for human rights and a ceasefire to save lives should never be condemned," Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said in a social media post on Tuesday, explaining her vote against the resolution.}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Santos |first=Fernanda |date=2007-01-15 |title=New York Rabbi Finds Friends in Iran and Enemies at Home |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/15/nyregion/15rabbi.html |access-date=2024-04-08 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=... Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, spokesman and assistant director of a small anti-Zionist group with a foothold in this town in Rockland County, home to one of the nation's largest communities of Hasidic Jews... "we had to let the world know, especially the Arab world and the Muslim world, that we are not their enemies," he said in an interview, a Palestinian flag with the phrase "A Jew Not a Zionist," written in Hebrew, English and Arabic pinned to the lapel of his coat...}}</ref>
Orthodox Jewish ] and ] ] believed in the separation of church and state,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-06-22 |title=Yeshayahu Leibowitz: Idol smasher or idol maker? |url=https://www.jpost.com/opinion/yeshayahu-leibowitz-idol-smasher-or-idol-maker-593342 |access-date=2024-05-13 |website=The Jerusalem Post {{!}} JPost.com |language=en |quote=Smashing idols was Leibowitz’s mission. And there were many idols to smash: Reform Judaism, Jewish nationalism, Kabbalah, the mystical and messianic insights of Religious Zionism’s Abraham Isaac Kook, the notion that the mitzvot are grounded in moral principles.}}</ref> and regarded ] as a "historical distortion of the Jewish religion".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Greenberg |first=Joel |date=1994-08-19 |title=Yeshayahu Leibowitz, 91, Iconoclastic Israeli Thinker |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/08/19/obituaries/yeshayahu-leibowitz-91-iconoclastic-israeli-thinker.html |access-date=2024-05-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331 |quote=A staunch believer in the separation of state from religion, he argued that the blend of religion and politics in Israel corrupted the faith... He taught at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for 36 years, lecturing in biochemistry, neurophysiology, philosophy and the history of science... A volume of his work was published in English under the title “Judaism, Human Values and the Jewish State” by Harvard University Press in 1992.}}</ref>
<ref name="tanakh">{{cite news |url=http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/tanakh.htm |publisher=Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations in America |title=Judaism 101: A Glossary of Basic Jewish Terms and Concepts |date=April 12, 2006 }}</ref>
==See also==
<ref name="A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity">{{cite book |last = Boyarin |first = Daniel |title = A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity |url = http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view%3bjsessionid=CVFQtGjpR4aPh1TA?docId=ft7w10086w&query=&brand=ucpress |accessdate = 2006-06-15 |date= October 14, 1994 |publisher = ] |location = ] |isbn = 0-520-08592-2 |lccn=93036269 |pages = 13–38 |chapter = Introduction |chapterurl = http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft7w10086w&chunk.id=introduction&toc.depth=1&toc.id=introduction&brand=ucpress |quote = Paul was motivated by a Hellenistic desire for the One, which among other things produced an ideal of a universal human essence, beyond difference and hierarchy. This universal humanity, however, was predicated (and still is) on the dualism of the flesh and the spirit, such that while the body is particular, marked through practice as Jew or Greek, and through anatomy as male or female, the spirit is universal. Paul did not, however, reject the body—as did, for instance, the gnostics—but rather promoted a system whereby the body had its place, albeit subordinated to the spirit. Paul's anthropological dualism was matched by a hermeneutical dualism as well. Just as the human being is divided into a fleshy and a spiritual component, so also is language itself. It is composed of outer, material signs and inner, spiritual significations. When this is applied to the religious system that Paul inherited, the physical, fleshy signs of the Torah, of historical Judaism, are re-interpreted as symbols of that which Paul takes to be universal requirements and possibilities for humanity. }}</ref>
{{Portal|Judaism|Religion}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
== Footnotes ==
<ref name="A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity10">{{cite book |last = Boyarin |first = Daniel |title = A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity |year= 1994 |publisher = University of California Press |location = Berkeley, California |isbn = 0-520-08592-2 |chapter = Answering the Mail |chapterurl = http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft7w10086w&chunk.id=ch10&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch10&brand=ucpress |quote = Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not genealogical, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension with one another. }}</ref>
{{sfn whitelist|CITEREFJacobs2007}}
{{Reflist|30em|refs=
<!-- Not in use
<ref name="Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Bet Din">{{cite web|author=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/63134/bet-din |title=Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Bet Din |publisher=Britannica.com |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="Population of Jews">''14.3 million'' (core Jewish population) to ''17.4 million'' (including non-Jews who have a Jewish parent), according to:
* {{cite news|title=Worldwide Jewry numbers 14 million|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4324677,00.html|publisher=Ynet|access-date=21 October 2013}}
* {{cite web|author=Daniel J. Elazar|title=How Strong is Orthodox Judaism – Really? The Demographics of Jewish Religious Identification|url=http://www.jcpa.org/dje/articles2/demographics.htm|work=]|access-date=20 September 2013}}
* {{cite web|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2012/12/18/global-religious-landscape-jew/|work=]|title= The Global Religious Landscape – Jews|date=18 December 2012|access-date=31 October 2013}}</ref>
<ref name="Conservative Judaism">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewlicious.com/2005/06/conservative-judaism/ |title=Conservative Judaism |publisher=Jewlicious |quote=We therefore understand this term as a metaphor to mean that the Torah is divine and that it reflects God's will.}}</ref>
<ref name="Knowledge Resources: Judaism">{{cite web |url=http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/traditions/judaism |title=Knowledge Resources: Judaism |publisher=] |access-date=22 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827210045/http://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/resources/traditions/judaism |archive-date=27 August 2011 }}</ref>
<ref name="Ethnoreligious">See, for example, ], ''American Jewish Identity Politics'', ], 2008, p. 303; Ewa Morawska, ''Insecure Prosperity: Small-Town Jews in Industrial America, 1890–1940'', ], 1999. p. 217; Peter Y. Medding, ''Values, interests and identity: Jews and politics in a changing world'', Volume 11 of Studies in contemporary Jewry, ], 1995, p. 64; Ezra Mendelsohn, ''People of the city: Jews and the urban challenge'', Volume 15 of Studies in contemporary Jewry, ], 1999, p. 55; Louis Sandy Maisel, Ira N. Forman, Donald Altschiller, Charles Walker Bassett, ''Jews in American politics: essays'', ], 2004, p. 158; ], ''American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword'', ], 1997, p. 169.</ref>
<ref name="tanakh">{{cite news|url=http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/tanakh.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010219104140/http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/tanakh.htm |archive-date=19 February 2001 |publisher=Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations in America |title=Judaism 101: A Glossary of Basic Jewish Terms and Concepts |date=12 April 2006 }}</ref>
<ref name="History, religion, and antisemitism">{{cite book | last = Langmuir | first = Gavin | title = History, religion, and antisemitism | publisher = University of California Press | year = 1993 | isbn = 0-520-07728-8}}</ref>
<ref name="A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity">{{cite book |last = Boyarin |first = Daniel |title = A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity |url = http://www.escholarship.org/editions/view%3bjsessionid=CVFQtGjpR4aPh1TA?docId=ft7w10086w&query=&brand=ucpress |access-date = 15 June 2006 |year= 1994 |publisher = University of California Press |location = Berkeley |isbn = 978-0-520-08592-3 |lccn = 93036269 |pages = 13–38 |chapter = Introduction |chapter-url = http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft7w10086w&chunk.id=introduction&toc.depth=1&toc.id=introduction&brand=ucpress |quote = Paul was motivated by a Hellenistic desire for the One, which among other things produced an ideal of a universal human essence, beyond difference and hierarchy. This universal humanity, however, was predicated (and still is) on the dualism of the flesh and the spirit, such that while the body is particular, marked through practice as Jew or Greek, and through anatomy as male or female, the spirit is universal. Paul did not, however, reject the body—as did, for instance, the gnostics—but rather promoted a system whereby the body had its place, albeit subordinated to the spirit. Paul's anthropological dualism was matched by a hermeneutical dualism as well. Just as the human being is divided into a fleshy and a spiritual component, so also is language itself. It is composed of outer, material signs and inner, spiritual significations. When this is applied to the religious system that Paul inherited, the physical, fleshy signs of the Torah, of historical Judaism, are re-interpreted as symbols of that which Paul takes to be universal requirements and possibilities for humanity. |archive-date = 10 February 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203503/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view%3Bjsessionid=CVFQtGjpR4aPh1TA?docId=ft7w10086w&query=&brand=ucpress |url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name="How Do You Know the Exodus Really Happened?">{{cite web |url=http://jewishinspiration.com/tape.php?tape_id=41 |title=How Do You Know the Exodus Really Happened? |author= Rietti, Rabbi Jonathan |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20040918062910/http://jewishinspiration.com/tape.php?tape_id=41 |archivedate=2004-09-18}} The word "''emunah''" has been translated incorrectly by the King James Bible as merely "belief" or "faith", when in actuality, it means ''conviction'', which is a much more emphatic knowledge of God based on experience.</ref>
<ref name="A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity10">{{cite book |last = Boyarin |first = Daniel |title = A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity |year = 1994 |publisher = University of California Press |location = Berkeley |isbn = 978-0-520-08592-3 |chapter = Answering the Mail |chapter-url = http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft7w10086w&chunk.id=ch10&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch10&brand=ucpress |quote = Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not genealogical, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension with one another. |access-date = 16 June 2006 |archive-date = 10 February 2023 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203503/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft7w10086w&chunk.id=ch10&toc.depth=1&toc.id=ch10&brand=ucpress |url-status = live }}</ref>
<ref name="Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations">{{cite book|author=Heribert Busse|title=Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations |publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers |year= 1998 |pages=63–112| isbn=978-1-55876-144-5}}</ref>
<ref name="Britannica Online Encyclopedia: Bet Din">{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/63134/bet-din |title=Bet Din |encyclopedia=] Online |access-date=2010-08-22 |url-access=subscription |archive-date=27 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150427092415/http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/63134/bet-din |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Jacob, Walter (1987). Contemporary American Reform Responsa. Mars, PA: Publishers Choice Book Mfg.">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YbKqlxCZdsC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Jacob, Walter (1987). Contemporary American Reform Responsa. Mars, PA: Publishers Choice Book Mfg. |publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2011-09-28|isbn=0-88123-003-0|year=1987}}</ref>
<ref name="Conservative Judaism">{{cite web |url=http://www.jewlicious.com/2005/06/conservative-judaism/ |title=Conservative Judaism |publisher=Jewlicious |quote=We therefore understand this term as a metaphor to mean that the Torah is divine and that it reflects God's will. |date=16 June 2005 |access-date=13 April 2009 |archive-date=3 December 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161203124813/http://jewlicious.com/2005/06/conservative-judaism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Ethnoreligious">See, for example, ], ''American Jewish Identity Politics'', University of Michigan Press, 2008, p. 303; Ewa Morawska, ''Insecure Prosperity: Small-Town Jews in Industrial America, 1890–1940'', Princeton University Press, 1999. p. 217; Peter Y. Medding, ''Values, interests and identity: Jews and politics in a changing world'', Volume 11 of Studies in contemporary Jewry, Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 64; Ezra Mendelsohn, ''People of the city: Jews and the urban challenge'', Volume 15 of Studies in contemporary Jewry, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 55; ], ], eds., ''Jews in American politics: essays'', ], 2004, p. 158; ], ''American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword'', W.W. Norton & Company, 1997, p. 169.</ref>
<ref name="History, religion, and antisemitism">{{cite book | last = Langmuir | first = Gavin | title = History, religion, and antisemitism | publisher = University of California Press | year = 1993 | isbn = 978-0-520-07728-7}}</ref>
<ref name="How Do You Know the Exodus Really Happened?">{{cite web |url=http://jewishinspiration.com/tape.php?tape_id=41 |title=How Do You Know the Exodus Really Happened? |author= Rietti, Rabbi Jonathan |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040918062910/http://jewishinspiration.com/tape.php?tape_id=41 |archive-date=18 September 2004}} The word "''emunah''" has been translated incorrectly by the King James Bible as merely "belief" or "faith", when in actuality, it means ''conviction'', which is a much more emphatic knowledge of God based on experience.</ref>
<ref name="Judaism and the Art of Eating">{{cite web|last=Rice |first=Yisrael |url=http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/89567/jewish/Judaism-and-the-Art-of-Eating.htm |title=Judaism and the Art of Eating |publisher=Chabad |date=2007-06-10 |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations">{{cite book|author=Heribert Busse|title=Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations |publisher=Markus Wiener Publishers |year= 1998 |pages=63–112| isbn=978-1-55876-144-5}}</ref>
<ref name="Judaism">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Jacobs |first=Louis |authorlink=Louis Jacobs |editor=Fred Skolnik |encyclopedia=] |title=Judaism |edition=2d |year=2007 |publisher=Thomson Gale |volume=11 |location=Farmington Hills, Mich. |isbn=978-0-02-865928-2 |page=511 |quote=Judaism, the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jews. }}</ref>
<ref name="Jacob, Walter (1987). Contemporary American Reform Responsa. Mars, PA: Publishers Choice Book Mfg.">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6YbKqlxCZdsC&pg=PA100 |last=Jacob |first=Walter |title=Contemporary American Reform Responsa |location=Mars, PA |publisher=Central Conference of American Rabbis |access-date=28 September 2011|isbn=978-0-88123-003-1|year=1987|pages=100–106}}</ref>
<ref name="Karaites">{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3458001508.html |title=Karaites |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=23 May 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100523150434/http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3458001508.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Law of Return 5710-1950">{{cite web|url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1950_1959/Law%20of%20Return%205710-1950 |title=Law of Return 5710-1950 |access-date=22 October 2007 |year=2007 |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006035045/http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1950_1959/Law%20of%20Return%205710-1950 |archive-date=6 October 2007}}</ref>
<ref name="Maimonides, 13 Principles of Faith">{{cite web |url=http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/48923722.html |title=Maimonides, 13 Principles of Faith |quote=According to the Rambam, their acceptance defines the minimum requirement necessary for one to relate to the Almighty and His Torah as a member of the People of Israel |publisher=Aish HaTorah |author=Rabbi Mordechai Blumenfeld |date=9 May 2009 |access-date=13 August 2009 |archive-date=27 September 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927055733/https://www.aish.com/sp/ph/48923722.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Law of Return 5710-1950">{{cite web |url=http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFAArchive/1950_1959/Law%20of%20Return%205710-1950 |title=Law of Return 5710-1950 |accessdate=2007-10-22 |year=2007 |publisher=Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs}}</ref>
<ref name="bibleinterp_mason3">{{Cite web|url=https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/mason3|title=Methods and Categories: Judaism and Gospel|last=Mason|first=Steve|date=Aug 2009|website=bibleinterp.arizona.edu|access-date=19 November 2018|archive-date=29 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200729033722/https://bibleinterp.arizona.edu/articles/mason3|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="Lewis_MEQ"> by Bernard Lewis (Middle East Quarterly) June 1998</ref>
<!--
<ref name="Maimonides, 13 Principles of Faith">{{cite web |url=http://www.aish.com/sp/ph/48923722.html |title=Maimonides, 13 Principles of Faith |quote=According to the Rambam, their acceptance defines the minimum requirement necessary for one to relate to the Almighty and His Torah as a member of the People of Israel |publisher=Aish HaTorah |author=Rabbi Mordechai Blumenfeld}}</ref>
<ref name="Religion & Ethics – Judaism">{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/ |title=Religion & Ethics – Judaism |publisher=BBC |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=23 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181023222613/http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/judaism/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
-->
<ref name="Methods and Categories: Judaism and Gospel">{{cite web|url=http://www.bibleinterp.com/articles/mason3.shtml |title=Methods and Categories: Judaism and Gospel |publisher=Bibleinterp.com |date=2007-11-06 |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="Society for Humanistic Judaism">{{cite web|url=http://www.shj.org/ |title=Society for Humanistic Judaism |publisher=Shj.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="Tamar Levy, St. Louis, MO – Block Yeshiva High School, Grade 9">{{cite web|url=http://www.oukosher.org/index.php/common/article/9660/ |title=Tamar Levy, St. Louis, MO – Block Yeshiva High School, Grade 9 |publisher=OUkosher.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="The Historical Muhammad">{{cite book|author=Irving M. Zeitlin|title=The Historical Muhammad |publisher=] |year= 2007 |pages=92–93| isbn=978-0-7456-3999-4}}</ref>
<ref name="The Historical Muhammad">{{cite book|author=Irving M. Zeitlin|title=The Historical Muhammad |publisher=] |year= 2007 |pages=92–93| isbn=978-0-7456-3999-4}}</ref>
<ref name="The JPS guide to Jewish traditions">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/?id=_qGHi_9K154C&pg=RA13-PA509&lpg=RA13-PA509&dq=Maimonides'+thirteen+principles+of+faith |title=The JPS guide to Jewish traditions |author=Ronald L. Eisenberg |page=509 |isbn=0-8276-0760-1 |quote=The concept of "dogma" is … not a basic idea in Judaism.|publisher=Jewish Publication Society |year=2004}}</ref>
<ref name="The JPS guide to Jewish traditions">{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_qGHi_9K154C&pg=RA13-PA509|title=The JPS guide to Jewish traditions |author=Ronald L. Eisenberg |page=509 |isbn=978-0-8276-0760-6 |quote=The concept of "dogma" is…not a basic idea in Judaism.|publisher=Jewish Publication Society |year=2004}}</ref>
<ref name="The Jewish roots of Christological monotheism: papers from the St. Andrews conference on the historical origins of the worship of Jesus">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=9ST5wISvTaQC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Jewish+monotheism#v=onepage&q=&f=false |title=The Jewish roots of Christological monotheism: papers from the St. Andrews conference on the historical origins of the worship of Jesus|publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22|isbn=978-90-04-11361-9|year=1999}}</ref>
<ref name="The Jewish roots of Christological monotheism: papers from the St. Andrews conference on the historical origins of the worship of Jesus">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9ST5wISvTaQC&q=Jewish+monotheism|title=The Jewish roots of Christological monotheism: papers from the St. Andrews conference on the historical origins of the worship of Jesus|editor1-first=Carey C.|editor1-last=Newman|editor2-first=James R.|editor2-last=Davila|editor3-first=Gladys S.|editor3-last=Lewis|publisher=Brill|access-date=22 August 2010|isbn=978-90-04-11361-9|year=1999|archive-date=18 April 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210418075120/https://books.google.com/books?id=9ST5wISvTaQC&q=Jewish+monotheism|url-status=live}}</ref>
<ref name="The Kosher Pig?">{{cite web |url=http://www.meaningfullife.com/torah/parsha/vayikra/shemini/The_Kosher_Pig.php |title=The Kosher Pig? |author=Chaya Shuchat |quote=It is also the most quintessentially "treif" of animals, with its name being nearly synonymous with non-kosher … Although far from alone in the litany of non-kosher animals, the pig seems to stand in a class of its own.}}</ref>
<ref name="The Kosher Pig?">{{cite web |url=http://www.meaningfullife.com/torah/parsha/vayikra/shemini/The_Kosher_Pig.php |title=The Kosher Pig? |author=Chaya Shuchat |date=25 June 2015 |quote=It is also the most quintessentially "treif" of animals, with its name being nearly synonymous with non-kosher…Although far from alone in the litany of non-kosher animals, the pig seems to stand in a class of its own. |access-date=1 November 2009 |archive-date=23 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100323031149/http://www.meaningfullife.com/torah/parsha/vayikra/shemini/The_Kosher_Pig.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="The Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith">{{cite web|url=http://www.hebrew4christians.net/Scripture/Shloshah-Asar_Ikkarim/shloshah-asar_ikkarim.html |title=The Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith |publisher=Hebrew4Christians |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="The Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith">{{cite web |url=http://www.hebrew4christians.net/Scripture/Shloshah-Asar_Ikkarim/shloshah-asar_ikkarim.html |title=The Thirteen Principles of the Jewish Faith |publisher=Hebrew4Christians |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=25 May 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170525144323/http://www.hebrew4christians.net/Scripture/Shloshah-Asar_Ikkarim/shloshah-asar_ikkarim.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Torah MiSinai:Conservative Views">{{cite web |url=http://masortiworld.org/faq/theology-%20beliefs/torah-misinai.html |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713183805/http://masortiworld.org/faq/theology-+beliefs/torah-misinai.html |archivedate=2007-07-13 |title=Torah MiSinai:Conservative Views |publisher=Masorti World |author=Robert Gordis |work=A Modern Approach to a Living Halachah |quote=The Torah is an emanation of God... This conception does not mean, for us, that the process of revalation consisted of dictation by God.}}</ref>
<ref name="Torah MiSinai:Conservative Views">{{cite web |url=http://masortiworld.org/faq/theology-%20beliefs/torah-misinai.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713183805/http://masortiworld.org/faq/theology-%20beliefs/torah-misinai.html |archive-date=13 July 2007 |title=Torah MiSinai:Conservative Views |publisher=Masorti World |author=Robert Gordis |work=A Modern Approach to a Living Halachah |quote=The Torah is an emanation of God…This conception does not mean, for us, that the process of revelation consisted of dictation by God.}}</ref>
<ref name="Torah tidbits">{{cite web |author=Avi Kehat |url=http://www.ou.org/torah/tt/5767/shemot67/mikdash.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070317042450/http://www.ou.org/torah/tt/5767/shemot67/mikdash.htm |archive-date=17 March 2007 |title=Torah tidbits |publisher=Ou.org |access-date=22 August 2010 }}</ref>
<ref name="What Do Jews Believe?">{{cite web |url=http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/beliefs.htm |title=What Do Jews Believe? |publisher=Mechon Mamre |quote=The closest that anyone has ever come to creating a widely accepted list of Jewish beliefs is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith.}}</ref>
<ref name="What Do Jews Believe?">{{cite web |url=http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/beliefs.htm |title=What Do Jews Believe? |publisher=Mechon Mamre |quote=The closest that anyone has ever come to creating a widely accepted list of Jewish beliefs is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith. |access-date=13 April 2009 |archive-date=6 April 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090406081613/http://www.mechon-mamre.org/jewfaq/beliefs.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="What is ReformJudaism?">{{cite web|url=http://reformjudaism.org/whatisrj.shtml |title=What is ReformJudaism? |publisher=Reformjudaism.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="What is the oral Torah?">{{cite web |url=http://www.torah.org/learning/basics/primer/torah/oraltorah.html |title=What is the oral Torah? |publisher=Torah.org |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=12 January 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020112052251/http://www.torah.org/learning/basics/primer/torah/oraltorah.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="Who is a Jew?">{{Cite book|last=Kertzer|first=Morris|title=What is a Jew?|publisher=Touchstone|location=New York|year=1996|isbn=0-684-84298-X|url-access=registration|url=https://archive.org/details/whatisjew00morr}} and {{Cite book|last=Siedman|first=Lauren |title=What Makes Someone a Jew?|publisher=Jewish Lights Publishing|location=Woodstock, Vermont|year=2007|isbn=978-1-58023321-7}}
<ref name="What is the oral Torah?">{{cite web|url=http://www.torah.org/learning/basics/primer/torah/oraltorah.html |title=What is the oral Torah? |publisher=Torah.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
</ref>
<ref name="Women and water: menstruation in Jewish life and law">{{cite book|last=Wasserfall|first=Rahel|title=Women and water: menstruation in Jewish life and law|publisher=Brandeis University Press|year=1999|isbn=978-0-87451-960-0}}</ref>
<ref name="Who is a Jew?">{{cite web |url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Judaism/whojew1.html |title=Who is a Jew? |accessdate=2007-10-06 |last=Weiner |first=Rebecca |coauthors= |year=2007 |work= |publisher=Jewish Virtual Library}}</ref>
<ref name="askoxford8">, AskOxford</ref>
<ref name="Women and water: menstruation in Jewish life and law">{{cite book|last=Wasserfall|first=Rahel|title=Women and water: menstruation in Jewish life and law|publisher=Brandeis University Press|year=1999|isbn=0-87451-960-8}}</ref>
<ref name="beginnings">Shaye Cohen ''The beginnings of Jewishness</ref>
<ref name="beginnings">Shaye Cohen ''The beginnings of Jewishness''</ref>
<ref name="bibleinterp"></ref>
<ref name="biblical">Robert Alter ''The Art of Biblical Poetry''</ref>
<ref name="biblical">Robert Alter ''The Art of Biblical Poetry''</ref>
<ref name="biu">{{cite web |url=http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/shmini/lict.html |title=Weekly Pamphlet #805 |author=Y. Lichtenshtein M.A. |publisher=], Faculty of Jewish Studies, Rabbinical office |quote=...certain prohibitions become allowed without a doubt because of lifethreatening circumstances, like for example eating non-kosher food}}</ref>
<ref name="biu">{{cite web |url=http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/shmini/lict.html |title=Weekly Pamphlet #805 |author=Y. Lichtenshtein M.A. |publisher=], Faculty of Jewish Studies, Rabbinical office |quote=…certain prohibitions become allowed without a doubt because of lifethreatening circumstances, like for example eating non-kosher food |access-date=3 November 2009 |archive-date=14 May 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514183103/http://www.biu.ac.il/JH/Parasha/shmini/lict.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="congregations">Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, 2006 ''The Koren Sacks Siddur: Hebrew/English Prayer Book: The Authorized Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth'' London: Harper Collins Publishers pp. 54-55</ref>
<ref name="congregations">Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, 2006 ''The Koren Sacks Siddur: Hebrew/English Prayer Book: The Authorized Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth'' London: Harper Collins Publishers pp. 54–55</ref>
<ref name="deuteronomy">] 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me; {{bibleverse|Deut.||6:5|HE}} ] 6:5 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."</ref>
<ref name="deuteronomy">] 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me; {{bibleverse|Deut.||6:5|HE}} ] 6:5 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."</ref>
<ref name="everlasting">{{bibleverse|Gen.||17:3-8|HE}} ] 17: 3-8: Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God;" {{bibleverse|Gen.||22:17-18|HE}} Genesis 22: 17-18: I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."</ref>
<ref name="everlasting">{{bibleverse|Gen.||17:3–8|HE}} ] 17: 3–8: Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God;" {{bibleverse|Gen.||22:17–18|HE}} Genesis 22: 17–18: I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."</ref>
<ref name="faqs">{{cite web|url=http://www.faqs.org/faqs/judaism/FAQ/10-Reform/section-15.html |title=''Reform's Position On...What is unacceptable practice?'' |publisher=Faqs.org |date=2010-06-29 |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="goddesses">John Day ''Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan'', page 68.</ref>
<ref name="goddesses">John Day ''Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan'', p. 68.</ref>
<!-- Not in use
<ref name="google">''Settings of silver: an introduction to Judaism'' p. 59 by Stephen M. Wylen, Paulist Press, 2000 </ref>
<ref name="google">''Settings of silver: an introduction to Judaism'' by Stephen M. Wylen, Paulist Press, 2000</ref>
Not in use-->
<ref name="google1">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=asYoIwz9z2UC&pg=PA230&lpg=PA230&dq=The+Blackwell+Companion+to+Judaism++By+Jacob+Neusner,+Alan+Avery-Peck#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Jacob Neusner,''Defining Judaism'', in Jacob Neusner and Alan Avery-Peck,"The Blackwell companion to Judaism"(Blackwell, 2003), p.3 |publisher=Books.google.com.au |date= 2003-02-23|accessdate=2010-08-22|isbn=978-1-57718-059-3}}</ref>
<ref name="google1">{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=asYoIwz9z2UC&pg=PA230 |first=Jacob |last=Neusner |chapter=Defining Judaism |editor1-first=Jacob |editor1-last=Neusner |editor2-first=Alan |editor2-last=Avery-Peck |title=The Blackwell companion to Judaism |publisher=Blackwell |year=2003 |page=3 |access-date=22 August 2010 |isbn=978-1-57718-059-3 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210203503/https://books.google.com/books?id=asYoIwz9z2UC&pg=PA230 |url-status=live }}</ref>
<!--<ref name="google9">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/?id=2q6qTb-A7GwC&pg=RA1-PA39&lpg=RA1-PA39&dq=Greek+origins+of+Iudaismos#v=onepage&q&f=false |title=Oscar Sakrsaune, "In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity"InterVarsity Press, 2002, PP.39FF |publisher=Books.google.com.au |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22|isbn=978-0-8308-2670-4|year=2002}}</ref> -->
<!--<ref name="google9">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2q6qTb-A7GwC&pg=RA1-PA39&dq=Greek+origins+of+Iudaismos |author=Oscar Sakrsaune|title=In the Shadow of the Temple: Jewish Influences on Early Christianity|publisher=InterVarsity Press |access-date=22 August 2010|isbn=978-0-8308-2670-4|year=2002}}</ref> -->
<ref name="harrisinteractive">http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Research-While-Most-Americans-Believe-in-God-Only-36-pct-A-2003-10.pdf Religiousserviceattendanceatleastonce a month</ref>
<ref name="harrisinteractive">{{cite web|url=http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Research-While-Most-Americans-Believe-in-God-Only-36-pct-A-2003-10.pdf |title=While Most Americans Believe in God, Only 36% Attend a Religious Service Once a Month or More Often|first=Humphrey|last=Taylor|publisher=HarrisInteractive|date=15 October 2003|access-date=1 January 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110109031643/http://www.harrisinteractive.com/vault/Harris-Interactive-Poll-Research-While-Most-Americans-Believe-in-God-Only-36-pct-A-2003-10.pdf |archive-date=9 January 2011}}</ref>
<ref name="history">John Bright ''A History of Israel''</ref>
<ref name="history">John Bright ''A History of Israel''</ref>
Line 592:
Line 688:
<ref name="history12">Martin Noth ''The History of Israel''</ref>
<ref name="history12">Martin Noth ''The History of Israel''</ref>
<ref name="indeterminacy">Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), p.151.</ref>
<ref name="indeterminacy">Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), p. 151.</ref>
<ref name="indeterminacy4">Neusner, Jacob 2003 ''Invitation to the Talmud'' Stipf and Son, Oregon xvii-vix; Steinsaltz, Adin 1976 ''The Essential Talmud'' New York: Basic Books. 3-9; Strack, Hermann 1980 ''Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud'' New York: Atheneum. 95; Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 132-161</ref>
<ref name="indeterminacy4">Neusner, Jacob 2003 ''Invitation to the Talmud'' Stipf and Son, Oregon xvii-vix; Steinsaltz, Adin 1976 ''The Essential Talmud'' New York: Basic Books. 3–9; Strack, Hermann 1980 ''Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud'' New York: Atheneum. 95; Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 132–161</ref>
<ref name="indeterminacy5">Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), p.147.</ref>
<ref name="indeterminacy5">Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in ''Critical Inquiry'', Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), p. 147.</ref>
<ref name="introduction">Cohen, Abner 1949 ''Everyman's Talmud'' New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. xxiv; Strack, Hermann 1980 ''Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud'' New York: Atheneum. 95</ref>
<ref name="introduction">Cohen, Abraham 1949 ''Everyman's Talmud'' New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. xxiv; Strack, Hermann 1980 ''Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud'' New York: Atheneum. 95</ref>
<ref name="introduction6">Cohen, Abner 1949 ''Everyman's Talmud'' New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. xxiv; Steinsaltz, Adin 1976 ''The Essential Talmud'' New Yorki: Basic Books. 222; Strack, Hermann 1980 ''Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud'' New York: Atheneum. 95</ref>
<ref name="introduction6">Cohen, Abraham 1949 ''Everyman's Talmud'' New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. xxiv; Steinsaltz, Adin 1976 ''The Essential Talmud'' New Yorki: Basic Books. 222; Strack, Hermann 1980 ''Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud'' New York: Atheneum. 95</ref>
<ref name="introduction7">Strack, Hermann 1980 ''Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud'' New York: Atheneum. 95</ref>
<ref name="introduction7">Strack, Hermann 1980 ''Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud'' New York: Atheneum. p. 95</ref>
<ref name="invitation">Neusner, Jacob 2003 ''Invitation to the Talmud'' Stipf and Son, Oregon xvii-xxii</ref>
<ref name="invitation">Neusner, Jacob 2003 ''Invitation to the Talmud'' Stipf and Son, Oregon xvii–xxii</ref>
<ref name="jerusalem">סדור רינת ישראל לבני חוײל Jerusalem: 1974, pp. 38-39</ref>
<ref name="jerusalem">סדור רינת ישראל לבני חוײל Jerusalem: 1974, pp. 38–39</ref>
<ref name="jewishmag">: "there was a...specialdispensation...that allowed Jews serving in the armed services to eat "non-kosher" when no Jewish food was available; that deviation from halacha was allowed 'in order to save a human life including your own.'"</ref>
<ref name="jewishmag"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100202121713/http://jewishmag.com/136mag/uk_rationing/uk_rationing.htm |date=2 February 2010 }}: "there was a…special dispensation…that allowed Jews serving in the armed services to eat "non-kosher" when no Jewish food was available; that deviation from halacha was allowed 'in order to save a human life including your own.'"</ref>
<ref name="jovanovich">Steinberg, Milton 1947 ''Basic Judaism'' New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 36</ref>
<ref name="learning">{{cite web |url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/beliefs/Theology/Thinkers_and_Thought/Doctrine_and_Dogma/The_Middle_Ages/Principles_of_Faith.shtml |title=The Thirteen Principles of Faith |author=Daniel Septimus |publisher=MyJewishLearning.com |access-date=13 April 2009 |archive-date=3 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150403004645/http://www.myjewishlearning.com/beliefs/Theology/Thinkers_and_Thought/Doctrine_and_Dogma/The_Middle_Ages/Principles_of_Faith.shtml |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="judaism101beliefs">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewfaq.org/beliefs.htm |title=Judaism 101: What Do Jews Believe? |publisher=Jewfaq.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="leviticus">{{bibleverse|Lev.||19:18|HE}} ] 19:18: {{"'}}Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord"</ref>
<ref name="koshersex">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewfaq.org/sex.htm |title=Judaism 101: Kosher Sex |publisher=Jewfaq.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="learning">{{cite web |url=http://www.myjewishlearning.com/beliefs/Theology/Thinkers_and_Thought/Doctrine_and_Dogma/The_Middle_Ages/Principles_of_Faith.shtml |title=The Thirteen Principles of Faith |author=Daniel Septimus |publisher=MyJewishLearning.com}}</ref>
<ref name="leviticus">{{bibleverse|Lev.||19:18|HE}} ] 19:18: "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord"</ref>
<ref name="mechon-mamre">The ] and ] in the Tanakh contain a few of the many Biblical accounts of Israelite kings and segments of ancient Israel's population worshiping other gods. For example: King Solomon's "wives turned away his heart after other gods... did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD" (elaborated in 1 Melachim 11:4-10); King Ahab "went and served Baal, and worshiped him...And Ahab made the Asherah ; and Ahab did yet more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him" (1 Melachim 16:31-33); the prophet ] condemns the people who "prepare a table for Fortune, and that offer mingled wine in full measure unto Destiny" (Yeshaiahu 65:11-12). Translation: JPS (]) edition of the Tanakh, from 1917, available at .</ref>
<ref name="mechon-mamre">The ] and ] in the Tanakh contain a few of the many Biblical accounts of Israelite kings and segments of ancient Israel's population worshiping other gods. For example: King Solomon's "wives turned away his heart after other gods… did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD" (elaborated in 1 Melachim 11:4–10); King Ahab "went and served Baal, and worshiped him…And Ahab made the Asherah ; and Ahab did yet more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him" (1 Melachim 16:31–33); the prophet ] condemns the people who "prepare a table for Fortune, and that offer mingled wine in full measure unto Destiny" (Yeshaiahu 65:11–12). Translation: JPS (]) edition of the Tanakh, from 1917, available at {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612191925/http://mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0.htm |date=12 June 2010 }}.</ref>
<ref name="medieval">Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought, Menachem Kellner.</ref>
<ref name="medieval">Dogma in Medieval Jewish Thought, Menachem Kellner.</ref>
<ref name="mesora">{{cite web |url=http://www.mesora.org/13principles.html |title=Maimonides' 13 Foundations of Judaism |publisher=Mesora |quote=However if he rejects one of these fundamentals he leaves the nation and is a denier of the fundamentals and is called a heretic, a denier, etc.}}</ref>
<ref name="mesora">{{cite web |url=http://www.mesora.org/13principles.html |title=Maimonides' 13 Foundations of Judaism |publisher=Mesora |quote=However if he rejects one of these fundamentals he leaves the nation and is a denier of the fundamentals and is called a heretic, a denier, etc. |access-date=13 April 2009 |archive-date=23 April 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160423015645/http://www.mesora.org/13principles.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
<ref name="montpelier">Rabbi S. of Montpelier, Yad Rama, Y. Alfacher, Rosh Amanah.</ref>
<ref name="montpelier">Rabbi S. of Montpelier, Yad Rama, Y. Alfacher, Rosh Amanah.</ref>
<ref name="ontario">{{cite web |url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/jud_desc.htm |title=Description of Judaism, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance |publisher=Religioustolerance.org |access-date=22 August 2010 |archive-date=5 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105234706/http://www.religioustolerance.org/jud_desc.htm }}</ref>
<ref name="ontario">{{cite web|url=http://www.religioustolerance.org/jud_desc.htm |title=Description of Judaism, Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance |publisher=Religioustolerance.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="publishers">"Tefillin", "The Book of Jewish Knowledge", Nathan Ausubel, Crown Publishers, NY, 1964, p. 458</ref>
<ref name="patriarchscovenant">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewfaq.org/origins.htm |title=Judaism 101: The Patriarchs and the Origins of Judaism |publisher=Jewfaq.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="publications">NossonScherman2003 ''The CompleteArtscroll Siddur'' ThirdEditionBrooklyn,N.Y.:Mesorah Publications pp. 49-53</ref>
<ref name="publishing3">Kadushin, Max 1972 ''The Rabbinic Mind'' New York: Bloch Publishing. p. 213</ref>
<ref name="rabbinicalassembly">Elliot Dorff, {{cite web|url=http://rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19861990/dorff_wines.pdf |title=On the Use of All Wines |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091222083350/http://www.rabbinicalassembly.org/teshuvot/docs/19861990/dorff_wines.pdf |archive-date=22 December 2009}} {{small|(2.19 MB)}}, YD 123:1.1985, pp. 11–15.</ref>
<ref name="publishers">"Tefillin", "The Book of Jewish Knowledge", Nathan Ausubel, Crown Publishers, NY, 1964, p.458)</ref>
<ref name="sacred-texts">M. San 10:1. Translation available here {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100414001914/http://www.sacred-texts.com/jud/tsa/tsa37.htm |date=14 April 2010 }}.</ref>
<ref name="publishing3">Kadushin, Max 1972 ''The Rabbinic Mind'' New York: Bloch Publishing. 213</ref>
<ref name="questia"> (book)</ref>
<ref name="rabbinicalassembly">Elliot Dorff, {{PDFlink||2.19 MB}}, YD 123:1.1985, pp. 11–15.</ref>
<ref name="relations">''This is My Beloved, This is My Friend: A Rabbinic Letter on Intimate relations'', p. 27, ]</ref>
<ref name="religiousleadership">{{cite web|url=http://www.jewfaq.org/rabbi.htm |title=Judaism 101: Rabbis, Priests and Other Religious Functionaries |publisher=Jewfaq.org |date= |accessdate=2010-08-22}}</ref>
<ref name="sacred-texts">M. San 10:1. Translation available here .</ref>
<ref name="traditions">The JPS guide to Jewish traditions, page 510, "The one that eventually secured almost universal acceptance was the Thirteen Principles of faith"</ref>
<ref name="traditions">The JPS guide to Jewish traditions, p. 510, "The one that eventually secured almost universal acceptance was the Thirteen Principles of faith"</ref>
<ref name="translated">''The Prayer book: Weekday, Sabbath, and Festival'' translated and arranged by Ben Zion Bokser. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. pp. 9–10</ref>
<ref name="uncertainties">Shaye J.D. Cohen 1999 ''The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties'', Berkeley: University of California Press; p. 7</ref>
<!--unused<ref name="uncertainties">{{Cite book|title=The beginnings of Jewishness: boundaries, varieties, uncertainties|last=Cohen|first=Shaye J. D.|date=1999|publisher=University of California Press|isbn={{Format ISBN|978-0520211414}}|location=Berkeley|oclc=39727721}}</ref>-->
<ref name="understanding">Nahum Sarna 1969 ''Understanding Genesis''. New York: Schocken</ref>
<ref name="university">Heschel, Susannah (1998) Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 157. ISBN0-226-32959-3</ref>
<ref name="university">Heschel, Susannah (1998) Abraham Geiger and the Jewish Jesus. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. p. 157. {{ISBN|0-226-32959-3}}</ref>
<ref name="yehezkal">Yehezkal Kauffman, ''The Religion of Israel''</ref>
<ref name="yehezkal">Yehezkal Kauffman, ''The Religion of Israel''</ref>
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|first= Yaakov S.
|first= Yaakov S.
|title= Evangelizing the chosen people: missions to the Jews in America, 1880–2000
|title= Evangelizing the chosen people: missions to the Jews in America, 1880–2000
|chapter= Chapter 20: The Rise of Messianic Judaism
|chapter= Chapter 20: The Rise of Messianic Judaism
|chapterurl=
|quote= Messianic Judaism, although it advocated the idea of an independent movement of Jewish converts, remained the offspring of the missionary movement, and the ties would never be broken. The rise of Messianic Judaism was, in many ways, a logical outcome of the ideology and rhetoric of the movement to evangelize the Jews as well as its early sponsorship of various forms of Hebrew Christian expressions. The missions have promoted the message that Jews who had embraced Christianity were not betraying their heritage or even their faith but were actually fulfilling their true Jewish selves by becoming Christians. The missions also promoted the dispensationalist idea that the Church equals the body of the true Christian believers and that Christians were defined by their acceptance of Jesus as their personal Savior and not by their affiliations with specific denominations and particular liturgies or modes of prayer. Missions had been using Jewish symbols in their buildings and literature and called their centers by Hebrew names such as Emanuel or Beth Sar Shalom. Similarly, the missions' publications featured Jewish religious symbols and practices such as the lighting of a menorah. Although missionaries to the Jews were alarmed when they first confronted the more assertive and independent movement of Messianic Judaism, it was they who were responsible for its conception and indirectly for its birth. The ideology, rhetoric, and symbols they had promoted for generations provided the background for the rise of a new movement that missionaries at first rejected as going too far but later accepted and even embraced.
|quote= Messianic Judaism, although it advocated the idea of an independent movement of Jewish converts, remained the offspring of the missionary movement, and the ties would never be broken. The rise of Messianic Judaism was, in many ways, a logical outcome of the ideology and rhetoric of the movement to evangelize the Jews as well as its early sponsorship of various forms of Hebrew Christian expressions. The missions have promoted the message that Jews who had embraced Christianity were not betraying their heritage or even their faith but were actually fulfilling their true Jewish selves by becoming Christians. The missions also promoted the dispensationalist idea that the Church equals the body of the true Christian believers and that Christians were defined by their acceptance of Jesus as their personal Savior and not by their affiliations with specific denominations and particular liturgies or modes of prayer. Missions had been using Jewish symbols in their buildings and literature and called their centers by Hebrew names such as Emanuel or Beth Sar Shalom. Similarly, the missions' publications featured Jewish religious symbols and practices such as the lighting of a menorah. Although missionaries to the Jews were alarmed when they first confronted the more assertive and independent movement of Messianic Judaism, it was they who were responsible for its conception and indirectly for its birth. The ideology, rhetoric, and symbols they had promoted for generations provided the background for the rise of a new movement that missionaries at first rejected as going too far but later accepted and even embraced.
}}</ref>
}}</ref>
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|editor2-first=W. Michael
|editor2-first=W. Michael
|title= Jewish and Christian Traditions
|title= Jewish and Christian Traditions
|accessdate=
|series= Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America
|series= Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America
|volume= 2
|volume= 2
|year= 2006
|year= 2006
|publisher= ]
|publisher= ]
|location= ]
|location= Westport, CN
|isbn= 978-0-275-98714-5
|isbn= 978-0-275-98714-5
|oclc= 315689134
|oclc= 315689134
|page= 191
|page= 191
|chapter= Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism
|chapter= Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism
|quote=While Christianity started in the first century of the Common Era as a Jewish group, it quickly separated from Judaism and claimed to replace it; ever since the relationship between the two traditions has often been strained. But in the twentieth century groups of young Jews claimed that they had overcome the historical differences between the two religions and amalgamated Jewish identity and customs with the Christian faith.
|quote=While Christianity started in the first century of the Common Era as a Jewish group, it quickly separated from Judaism and claimed to replace it; ever since the relationship between the two traditions has often been strained. But in the twentieth century groups of young Jews claimed that they had overcome the historical differences between the two religions and amalgamated Jewish identity and customs with the Christian faith.
|lccn = 2006022954}}</ref>
|lccn = 2006022954}}</ref>
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|year= 2006
|year= 2006
|publisher= ]
|publisher= ]
|location= ]
|location= Westport, CN
|isbn= 978-0-275-98714-5
|isbn= 978-0-275-98714-5
|oclc= 315689134
|oclc= 315689134
|page= 191
|page= 191
|chapter= Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism
|chapter= Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism
|quote=In the late 1960s and 1970s, both Jews and Christians in the United States were surprised to see the rise of a vigorous movement of Jewish Christians or Christian Jews.
|quote=In the late 1960s and 1970s, both Jews and Christians in the United States were surprised to see the rise of a vigorous movement of Jewish Christians or Christian Jews.
|lccn = 2006022954}}</ref>
|lccn = 2006022954}}</ref>
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|editor2-first=W. Michael
|editor2-first=W. Michael
|title= Jewish and Christian Traditions
|title= Jewish and Christian Traditions
|accessdate=
|series= Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America
|series= Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America
|volume= 2
|volume= 2
|year= 2006
|year= 2006
|publisher= ]
|publisher= ]
|location= ]
|location= Westport, CN
|isbn= 978-0-275-98714-5
|isbn= 978-0-275-98714-5
|oclc= 315689134
|oclc= 315689134
|page= 194
|page= 194
|chapter= Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism
|chapter= Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism
|quote=The Rise of Messianic Judaism. In the first phase of the movement, during the early and mid-1970s, Jewish converts to Christianity established several congregations at their own initiative. Unlike the previous communities of Jewish Christians, Messianic Jewish congregations were largely independent of control from missionary societies or Christian denominations, even though they still wanted the acceptance of the larger evangelical community.
|quote=The Rise of Messianic Judaism. In the first phase of the movement, during the early and mid-1970s, Jewish converts to Christianity established several congregations at their own initiative. Unlike the previous communities of Jewish Christians, Messianic Jewish congregations were largely independent of control from missionary societies or Christian denominations, even though they still wanted the acceptance of the larger evangelical community.
|lccn = 2006022954}}</ref>
|lccn = 2006022954}}</ref>
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|editor2-first=W. Michael
|editor2-first=W. Michael
|title= Jewish and Christian Traditions
|title= Jewish and Christian Traditions
|accessdate=
|series= Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America
|series= Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America
|volume= 2
|volume= 2
|year= 2006
|year= 2006
|publisher= ]
|publisher= ]
|location= ]
|location= Westport, CN
|isbn= 978-0-275-98714-5
|isbn= 978-0-275-98714-5
|oclc= 315689134
|oclc= 315689134
|pages= 194–195
|pages= 194–195
|chapter= Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism
|chapter= Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism
|quote=When the term resurfaced in Israel in the 1940s and 1950s, it designated all Jews who accepted Christianity in its Protestant evangelical form. Missionaries such as the Southern Baptist Robert Lindsey noted that for Israeli Jews, the term ''nozrim'', "Christians" in Hebrew, meant, almost automatically, an alien, hostile religion. Because such a term made it nearly impossible to convince Jews that Christianity was their religion, missionaries sought a more neutral term, one that did not arouse negative feelings. They chose ''Meshichyim'', Messianic, to overcome the suspicion and antagonism of the term ''nozrim''. ''Meshichyim'' as a term also had the advantage of emphasizing messianism as a major component of the Christian evangelical belief that the missions and communities of Jewish converts to Christianity propagated. It conveyed the sense of a new, innovative religion rather that''{{sic}}'' an old, unfavorable one. The term was used in reference to those Jews who accepted Jesus as their personal savior, and did not apply to Jews accepting Roman Catholicism who in Israel have called themselves Hebrew Christians. The term Messianic Judaism was adopted in the United States in the early 1970s by those converts to evangelical Christianity who advocated a more assertive attitude on the part of converts towards their Jewish roots and heritage.
|quote=When the term resurfaced in Israel in the 1940s and 1950s, it designated all Jews who accepted Christianity in its Protestant evangelical form. Missionaries such as the Southern Baptist Robert Lindsey noted that for Israeli Jews, the term ''nozrim'', "Christians" in Hebrew, meant, almost automatically, an alien, hostile religion. Because such a term made it nearly impossible to convince Jews that Christianity was their religion, missionaries sought a more neutral term, one that did not arouse negative feelings. They chose ''Meshichyim'', Messianic, to overcome the suspicion and antagonism of the term ''nozrim''. ''Meshichyim'' as a term also had the advantage of emphasizing messianism as a major component of the Christian evangelical belief that the missions and communities of Jewish converts to Christianity propagated. It conveyed the sense of a new, innovative religion rather that''{{sic}}'' an old, unfavorable one. The term was used in reference to those Jews who accepted Jesus as their personal savior, and did not apply to Jews accepting Roman Catholicism who in Israel have called themselves Hebrew Christians. The term Messianic Judaism was adopted in the United States in the early 1970s by those converts to evangelical Christianity who advocated a more assertive attitude on the part of converts towards their Jewish roots and heritage.
|lccn = 2006022954}}</ref>
|lccn = 2006022954}}</ref>
<ref name="Denominations">;]
<ref name="Denominations">;]
:{{cite web
:{{cite web
|url=http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48892792.html
|url=http://www.aish.com/jw/s/48892792.html
|title=Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus
|title=Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus
| accessdate = July 28, 2010
|access-date=28 July 2010
|last=Simmons
|last=Simmons
|first=Shraga
|first=Shraga
|date=9 May 2009
| publisher = ]
|publisher=]
| quote = Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because:<br /> #Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies. #Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah. #Biblical verses "referring" to Jesus are mistranslations. #Jewish belief is based on national revelation.
|quote=Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because:<br />#Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies. #Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah. #Biblical verses "referring" to Jesus are mistranslations. #Jewish belief is based on national revelation.
|quote=Hebrew Christian, Jewish Christian, Jew for Jesus, Messianic Jew, Fulfilled Jew. The name may have changed over the course of time, but all of the names reflect the same phenomenon: one who asserts that s/he is straddling the theological fence between Christianity and Judaism, but in truth is firmly on the Christian side....we must affirm as did the Israeli Supreme Court in the well-known Brother Daniel case that to adopt Christianity is to have crossed the line out of the Jewish community.
|quote=Hebrew Christian, Jewish Christian, Jew for Jesus, Messianic Jew, Fulfilled Jew. The name may have changed over the course of time, but all of the names reflect the same phenomenon: one who asserts that s/he is straddling the theological fence between Christianity and Judaism, but in truth is firmly on the Christian side.…we must affirm as did the Israeli Supreme Court in the well-known Brother Daniel case that to adopt Christianity is to have crossed the line out of the Jewish community.
|archiveurl =https://web.archive.org/web/20060628033541/http://www.uscj.org/Messianic_Jews_Not_J5480.html|archivedate = June 28, 2006}}
|quote=Missionary Impossible, an imaginative video and curriculum guide for teachers, educators, and rabbis to teach Jewish youth how to recognize and respond to "Jews-for-Jesus," "Messianic Jews," and other Christian proselytizers, has been produced by six rabbinic students at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's Cincinnati School. The students created the video as a tool for teaching why Jewish college and high school youth and Jews in intermarried couples are primary targets of Christian missionaries.
|quote=Missionary Impossible, an imaginative video and curriculum guide for teachers, educators, and rabbis to teach Jewish youth how to recognize and respond to "Jews-for-Jesus," "Messianic Jews," and other Christian proselytizers, has been produced by six rabbinic students at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's Cincinnati School. The students created the video as a tool for teaching why Jewish college and high school youth and Jews in intermarried couples are primary targets of Christian missionaries.
|quote='''''What is ALEPH's position on so called messianic Judaism?''''' ALEPH has a policy of respect for other spiritual traditions, but objects to deceptive practices and will not collaborate with denominations which actively target Jews for recruitment. Our position on so-called "Messianic Judaism" is that it is Christianity and its proponents would be more honest to call it that.
|quote='''''What is ALEPH's position on so called messianic Judaism?''''' ALEPH has a policy of respect for other spiritual traditions, but objects to deceptive practices and will not collaborate with denominations which actively target Jews for recruitment. Our position on so-called "Messianic Judaism" is that it is Christianity and its proponents would be more honest to call it that.
<ref name="Feher1998p140">Feher, Shoshanah. ''Passing over Easter: Constructing the Boundaries of Messianic Judaism'', Rowman Altamira, 1998, ISBN 978-0-7619-8953-0, . "This interest in developing a Jewish ethnic identity may not be surprising when we consider the 1960s, when Messianic Judaism arose."</ref>
}}</ref>
<ref name="Feher1998p140">Feher, Shoshanah. ''Passing over Easter: Constructing the Boundaries of Messianic Judaism'', Rowman Altamira, 1998, {{ISBN|978-0-7619-8953-0}}, . "This interest in developing a Jewish ethnic identity may not be surprising when we consider the 1960s, when Messianic Judaism arose."</ref>
| quote = To convert to the Jewish sect of HaDerech, accepting Yeshua as your King is the first act after one's heart turns toward HaShem and His Torah – as one can not obey a commandment of God if they first do not love God, and we love God by following his Messiah. Without first accepting Yeshua as the King and thus obeying Him, then getting circumcised for the purpose of Jewish conversion only gains you access to the Jewish community. It means nothing when it comes to inheriting a place in the World to Come....Getting circumcised apart from desiring to be obedient to HaShem, and apart from accepting Yeshua as your King, is nothing but a surgical procedure, or worse, could lead to you believe that Jewish identity grants you a portion in the World to Come – at which point, what good is Messiah Yeshua, the Word of HaShem to you? He would have died for nothing!...As a convert from the nations, part of your obligation in keeping the Covenant, if you are a male, is to get circumcised in fulfillment of the commandment regarding circumcision. Circumcision is not an absolute requirement of being a Covenant member (that is, being made righteous before HaShem, and thus obtaining eternal life), but it is a requirement of obedience to God's commandments, because circumcision is commanded for those who are of the seed of Abraham, whether born into the family, adopted, or converted....If after reading all of this you understand what circumcision is, and that is an act of obedience, rather than an act of gaining favor before HaShem for the purpose of receiving eternal life, then if you are male believer in Yeshua the Messiah for the redemption from death, the consequence of your sin of rebellion against Him, then pursue circumcision, and thus conversion into Judaism, as an act of obedience to the Messiah.
| quote = To convert to the Jewish sect of HaDerech, accepting Yeshua as your King is the first act after one's heart turns toward HaShem and His Torah—as one can not obey a commandment of God if they first do not love God, and we love God by following his Messiah. Without first accepting Yeshua as the King and thus obeying Him, then getting circumcised for the purpose of Jewish conversion only gains you access to the Jewish community. It means nothing when it comes to inheriting a place in the World to Come....Getting circumcised apart from desiring to be obedient to HaShem, and apart from accepting Yeshua as your King, is nothing but a surgical procedure, or worse, could lead to you believe that Jewish identity grants you a portion in the World to Come—at which point, what good is Messiah Yeshua, the Word of HaShem to you? He would have died for nothing!...As a convert from the nations, part of your obligation in keeping the Covenant, if you are a male, is to get circumcised in fulfillment of the commandment regarding circumcision. Circumcision is not an absolute requirement of being a Covenant member (that is, being made righteous before HaShem, and thus obtaining eternal life), but it is a requirement of obedience to God's commandments, because circumcision is commanded for those who are of the seed of Abraham, whether born into the family, adopted, or converted....If after reading all of this you understand what circumcision is, and that is an act of obedience, rather than an act of gaining favor before HaShem for the purpose of receiving eternal life, then if you are male believer in Yeshua the Messiah for the redemption from death, the consequence of your sin of rebellion against Him, then pursue circumcision, and thus conversion into Judaism, as an act of obedience to the Messiah.
<ref name="Meltonp373a">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-surname=Melton |editor-given=J. Gordon |editor-link=J. Gordon Melton |year=2005 |entry=Messianic Judaism |title=Encyclopedia of Protestantism |place=New York |publisher=Facts On File |series=Encyclopedia of World Religions |page=373 |entry-url={{Google books|id=bW3sXBjnokkC|plainurl=y|page=373|keywords=|text=}} |url={{Google books|id=bW3sXBjnokkC|plainurl=y}} |isbn=0-8160-5456-8 |quote="Messianic Judaism is a Protestant movement that emerged in the last half of the 20th century among believers who were ethnically Jewish but had adopted an Evangelical Christian faith.…By the 1960s, a new effort to create a culturally Jewish Protestant Christianity emerged among individuals who began to call themselves Messianic Jews."}}</ref>
<ref name="Meltonp373a">]. ''Encyclopedia of Protestantism''. Infobase Publishing, 2005,
<ref name="MJSelfID">{{cite web
ISBN 978-0-8160-5456-5, p. 373. "Messianic Judaism is a Protestant movement that emerged in the last half of the 20th century among believers who were ethnically Jewish but had adopted an Evangelical Christian faith... By the 1960s, a new effort to create a culturally Jewish Protestant Christianity emerged among individuals who began to call themselves Messianic Jews."</ref>
| quote = This then is who Yeshua is: He is not just a man, and as a man, he is not from Adam, but from God. He is the Word of HaShem, the Memra, the Davar, the Righteous One, he didn't become righteous, he is righteous. He is called God's Son, he is the agent of HaShem called HaShem, and he is "HaShem" who we interact with and not die.
| quote = This then is who Yeshua is: He is not just a man, and as a man, he is not from Adam, but from God. He is the Word of HaShem, the Memra, the Davar, the Righteous One, he didn't become righteous, he is righteous. He is called God's Son, he is the agent of HaShem called HaShem, and he is "HaShem" who we interact with and not die.
|quote = 1. We believe the Bible is the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of G-d.<br />2. We believe that there is one G-d, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.<br />3. We believe in the deity of the L-RD Yeshua, the Messiah, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
|quote = 1. We believe the Bible is the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of G-d.<br />2. We believe that there is one G-d, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.<br />3. We believe in the deity of the L-RD Yeshua, the Messiah, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
<ref name=HarriesAfter>Richard Harries. After the evil: Christianity and Judaism in the shadow of the Holocaust. Oxford University Press, 2003. ISBN978-0-19-926313-4</ref>
<ref name="HarriesAfter">Richard Harries. ''After the evil: Christianity and Judaism in the shadow of the Holocaust''. Oxford University Press, 2003. {{ISBN|978-0-19-926313-4}}</ref>
<ref name=Kung>Hans Küng. On Being a Christian. Doubleday, Garden City NY, 1976 ISBN978-0-385-02712-0</ref>
<ref name="Kung">Hans Küng. ''On Being a Christian''. Doubleday, Garden City, NY, 1976 {{ISBN|978-0-385-02712-0}}</ref>
<ref name=Dawidowicz>Lucy Dawidowicz ''The War Against the Jews, 1933–1945''. First published 1975; this Bantam edition 1986, p.23. ISBN0-553-34532-X</ref>
<ref name="Dawidowicz">Lucy Dawidowicz ''The War Against the Jews, 1933–1945''. First published 1975; this Bantam edition 1986, p. 23. {{ISBN|0-553-34532-X}}</ref>
}}
}}
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<!-- No URL without text access -->
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* {{cite book |surname=Albertz |first=Rainer |title=A History of Israelite Religion. Vol. 2: From the Exile to the Maccabees |translator=John Bowden |edition=Reprint |place=Louisville, Kentucky |publisher=Westminster John Knox |year=1994b |orig-date=1992 |isbn=0-664-21847-4 |url={{Google books|id=z5O7BwAAQBAJ|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} }}
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* {{cite book |editor-surname=Cohen |editor-given=Arthur A. |editor-link=Arthur A. Cohen |editor2-surname=Mendes-Flohr |editor2-given=Paul |editor2-link=Paul R. Mendes-Flohr |title=20th Century Jewish Religious Thought: Original Essays on Critical Concepts, Movements, and Beliefs |url={{Google books|id=i4VnjMQsUU0C|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |year=2009 |orig-date=1987 |place=Philadelphia, Pa |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |isbn=978-0-8276-0892-4 }}
* Day, John (2000). ''Yahweh and the Gods and Goddesses of Canaan''. Chippenham: Sheffield Academic Press.
* {{cite book |year=2017 |orig-date=1995 |editor-surname=Deshen |editor-given=Shlomo |editor-surname2=Liebman |editor-given2=Charles S. |editor-link2=Charles Liebman |editor-surname3=Shokeid |editor-given3=Moshe |editor-link3=Moshe Shokeid |title=Israeli Judaism: The Sociology of Religion in Israel |series=Studies of Israeli Society, 7 |place=London; New York |publisher=Routledge |edition=Reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XCNHDwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-1-56000-178-2 |access-date=7 July 2023 |archive-date=7 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230707163510/https://books.google.com/books?id=XCNHDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* ] (2005). ''Did God Have a Wife?''. Grand Rapids, Mich.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publ.
* {{cite book |surname=Dorff |given=Elliot N. |surname2=Rosett |given2=Arthur |title=A Living Tree: The Roots and Growth of Jewish Law |place=Albany, NY |publisher=SUNY Press |year=1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YId1U1DuTjUC |isbn=0-88706-459-0 |access-date=31 July 2023 |archive-date=31 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731112239/https://books.google.com/books?id=YId1U1DuTjUC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Dosick |given=Wayne |title=Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition and Practice |url=https://archive.org/details/livingjudaismcom00dosi |url-access=registration |year=2007 |publisher=HarperCollins |place=New York |isbn=978-0-06-062179-7 }}
* {{cite book |surname=Elazar |given=Daniel J. |given2=Rela Mintz |surname2=Geffen |author-link=Daniel J. Elazar |title=The Conservative Movement in Judaism: Dilemmas and Opportunities |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2012 |location=Albany, NY |isbn=978-0-7914-9202-4 |url={{Google books|id=6Lg6BmMTZGIC|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} }}
* ] (1996). "Ethnicity and Origin of the Iron I Settlers in the Highlands of Canaan: Can the Real Israel Please Stand Up?" The ''Biblical Archaeologist'', 59(4).
* {{cite encyclopedia |surname=Fonrobert |given=Charlotte Elisheva |author-link=Charlotte Fonrobert |entry=Purification in Judaism |title=Encyclopedia of Religion: 15-volume Set |editor=Jones, Lindsay |edition=2nd |place=Detroit, Mi |publisher=MacMillan Reference USA |year=2005 |volume= |pages= |entry-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/purification-purification-judaism |via=] |access-date=16 July 2023 |archive-date=16 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230716001429/https://www.encyclopedia.com/environment/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/purification-purification-judaism |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Gillman |given=Neil |author-link=Neil Gillman |title=Conservative Judaism: The New Century |year=1993 |publisher=Behrman House |place=New York |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=J0U-JxuuuKYC |isbn=0-87441-547-0 |access-date=15 June 2023 |archive-date=21 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230621030608/https://books.google.com/books?id=J0U-JxuuuKYC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |year=2009 |editor-surname=Gitelman |editor-given=Zvi |editor-link=Zvi Gitelman |title=Religion or Ethnicity? Jewish Identities in Evolution |place=New Brunswick, NJ |publisher=Rutgers University Press |isbn=978-0-8135-4450-2}}
* {{cite book |surname=Goldenberg |given=Robert |title=The Origins of Judaism: From Canaan to the Rise of Islam |year=2007 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-84453-6}}
* {{cite book |year=2004 |orig-date=1990 |editor-surname=Goldscheider |editor-given=Calvin |editor-surname2=Neusner |editor-given2=Jacob |editor-link2=Jacob Neusner |title=Social Foundations of Judaism |place=Eugene, Or |publisher=Wipf and Stock Publ. |edition=Reprint |isbn=1-59244-943-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2TxLAwAAQBAJ |access-date=24 June 2023 |archive-date=24 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230624193459/https://books.google.com/books?id=2TxLAwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Gurock |given=Jeffrey S. |year=1996 |author-link=Jeffrey S. Gurock |title=American Jewish Orthodoxy in Historical Perspective |place=Hoboken, NJ |publisher=KTAV Publ. House |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yWyxwAdgHWMC |isbn=0-88125-567-X |access-date=30 June 2023 |archive-date=30 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230630013416/https://books.google.com/books?id=yWyxwAdgHWMC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Gurock |given=Jeffrey S. |year=2009 |author-link=Jeffrey S. Gurock |title=Orthodox Jews in America |place=Bloomington, In |publisher=Indiana University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MKyLmWOSCPoC |isbn=978-0-253-35291-0 |access-date=5 July 2023 |archive-date=4 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230704045201/https://books.google.com/books?id=MKyLmWOSCPoC |url-status=live }}
* Guttmann, Julius (1964). Trans. by David Silverman, ''Philosophies of Judaism''. Philadelphia, Pa: Jewish Publication Society.
* Holtz, Barry W. (ed.), ''Back to the Sources: Reading the Classic Jewish Texts''. Summit Books.
* {{cite book |surname=Jacobs |given=Louis |author-link=Louis Jacobs |title=The Jewish Religion: A Companion |place=Oxford; New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-19-826463-1 |oclc=31938398}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=2003 |surname=Jacobs |given=Louis |author-link=Louis Jacobs |title=A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion |format=Online Version |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-172644-6 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780192800886.001.0001/acref-9780192800886 |url-access=subscription |access-date=13 July 2023 |archive-date=13 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713041407/https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780192800886.001.0001/acref-9780192800886 |url-status=live }}
* ] (1988). ''A History of the Jews''. HarperCollins.
* {{cite encyclopedia |surname=Karesh |given=Sara E. |surname2=Hurvitz |given2=Mitchell M. |year=2005 |title=Encyclopedia of Judaism |place=New York |publisher=Facts On File |series=Encyclopedia of World Religions. ], Series Editor |isbn=0-8160-5457-6 |url={{Google books|id=Z2cCZBDm8F8C|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} }}
* Khanbaghi, A. (2006). ''The Fire, the Star and the Cross: Minority Religions in Medieval and Early Modern Iran''. IB Tauris.
* {{cite book |surname=Langton |given=Daniel R. |title=Normative Judaism? Jews, Judaism and Jewish Identity |publisher=Gorgias Press |year=2011 |isbn=978-1-60724-161-4}}
* {{cite book |last=Levenson |first=Jon Douglas |author-link=Jon D. Levenson |title=Inheriting Abraham: The Legacy of the Patriarch in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam |year=2012 |place=Princeton, NJ; Oxford |publisher=Princeton University Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EUO2Mhd-drcC |isbn=978-0-691-15569-2 |access-date=4 June 2023 |archive-date=4 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230604005111/https://books.google.com/books?id=EUO2Mhd-drcC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Lewis |year=1984 |title=The Jews of Islam |location=Princeton, NJ; Oxford |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=0-691-00807-8}}
* {{cite book |last=Lewis |first=Bernard |author-link=Bernard Lewis |year=1999 |title=Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice |publisher=W. W. Norton & Co |isbn=0-393-31839-7}}
* ]; Kosmin, Barry; Keysar, Ariela. "The American Jewish Identity Survey", a subset 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'', 2 November 2001.
* {{cite encyclopedia |surname=Mendes-Flohr |given=Paul |author-link=Paul R. Mendes-Flohr |editor=Thomas Riggs |entry=Judaism |year=2005 |entry-url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/judaism/judaism/judaism |title=Worldmark Encyclopedia of Religious Practices |place=Farmington Hills, Mi |publisher=Thomson Gale |volume=1 |isbn=978-0-7876-6611-8 |via=] |access-date=29 November 2020 |archive-date=10 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230610122657/https://www.encyclopedia.com/philosophy-and-religion/judaism/judaism/judaism |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Meyer |given=Michael A. |author-link=Michael A. Meyer |title=Response to Modernity: A History of the Reform Movement in Judaism |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1988 |place=New York |isbn=978-0-19-505167-4 |url={{Google books|id=M12toEjI5PEC|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} }}
* {{cite book |surname=Nadler |given=Allan |author-link=Allan Nadler |title=The Faith of the Mithnagdim: Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic Rapture |year=1997 |location=Baltimore, Md |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |series=Johns Hopkins Jewish studies |isbn=978-0-8018-6182-6}}
* {{cite book |surname=Neusner |given=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Neusner |title=A Short History of Judaism: Three Meals, Three Epochs |year=1992 |place=Minneapolis, Mn |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=0-8006-2552-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z3oZVjrDcgC |access-date=25 June 2023 |archive-date=25 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230625095320/https://books.google.com/books?id=5Z3oZVjrDcgC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Neusner |given=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Neusner |title=Purity in Rabbinic Judaism. A Systematic Account of the Sources, Media, Effects, and Removal of Uncleanness |series=South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism, 95 |year=1993 |place=Atlanta, Ga |publisher=Scholars Press |isbn=1-55540-929-6}}
* {{cite book |year=2003 |orig-date=2000 |editor-surname=Neusner |editor-given=Jacob |editor-link=Jacob Neusner |editor2-surname=Avery-Peck |editor2-given=Alan J. |title=The Blackwell Companion to Judaism |edition=Reprint |publisher=Blackwell Publ. |place=Malden, Mass |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bEyD_MaeqP4C |isbn=1-57718-058-5 |access-date=10 July 2023 |archive-date=10 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230710092803/https://books.google.com/books?id=bEyD_MaeqP4C |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Raphael |given=Marc Lee |title=Profiles in American Judaism: the Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and Reconstructionist traditions in historical perspective |year=1984 |publisher=Harper & Row |place=San Francisco, Ca |isbn=0-06066801-6 |url=https://archive.org/details/profilesinameric00raph |url-access=registration }}
* {{cite book |surname=Rosenak |given=Michael |author-link=Michael Rosenak |title=Commandments and Concerns: Jewish Religious Education in Secular Society |place=Philadelphia, Pa |year=1987 |publisher=Jewish Publ. Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q6D1GFBSptcC |isbn=0-8276-0279-0 |access-date=31 July 2023 |archive-date=31 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230731113937/https://books.google.com/books?id=q6D1GFBSptcC |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Rudavsky |given=David |title=Modern Jewish Religious Movements: A History of Emancipation and Abjustment |edition=3rd rev. |year=1979 |orig-date=1967 |place=New York |publisher=Behrman House |url=https://archive.org/details/modernjewishreli0000ruda/page/n8/mode/1up |url-access=registration |isbn=0-87441-286-2 }}
* {{cite book |last=Schiffman |first=Lawrence H. |author-link=Lawrence Schiffman |editor1=Jon Bloomberg |editor2=Samuel Kapustin |title=Understanding Second Temple and Rabbinic Judaism |publisher=KTAV Publ. House |year=2003 |location=Jersey, NJ |isbn=978-0-88125-813-4 |url={{Google books|id=nQDkLzQimk8C|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} }}
* {{cite book |surname=Segal |given=Eliezer |title=Judaism: The e-Book |url={{Google books|id=fdiZZqE0hkkC|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |year=2008 |place=State College, Pa |publisher=Journal of Buddhist Ethics Online Books |isbn=978-09801633-1-5 }}
* Simon, Reeva; Laskier, Michael; Reguer, Sara (eds.) (2002). ''The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa In Modern Times'', New York: Columbia University Press.
|place=New York |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |volume=1–12}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121206210430/http://jewishencyclopedia.com/ |date=6 December 2012 }}
* {{cite book |last=Stillman |first=Norman |author-link=Norman Stillman |year=1979 |title=The Jews of Arab Lands: A History and Source Book |location=Philadelphia, Pa |publisher=Jewish Publication Society |isbn=0-8276-0198-0}}
* {{cite book |year=2018 |orig-date=1999 |editor-surname=Visotzky |editor-given=Burton L. |editor-link=Burton Visotzky |editor-surname2=Fishman |editor-given2=David E. |editor-link2=David Fishman |title=From Mesopotamia to Modernity: Ten Introductions to Jewish History and Literature |place=London; New York |publisher=Routledge |edition=Reprint |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=x1JPDwAAQBAJ |isbn=978-0-8133-6717-0 |access-date=9 July 2023 |archive-date=8 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230708222500/https://books.google.com/books?id=x1JPDwAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* Walsh, J.P.M. (1987). ''The Mighty from Their Thrones''. Eugene, Or: Wipf and Stock Publ.
* {{cite book |year=2008 |editor-surname=Waxman |editor-given=Chaim I. |editor-link=Chaim I. Waxman |title=Religious Zionism Post Disengagement: Future Directions |series=Orthodox Forum Series |place=New York |publisher=Michael Scharf Publ. Trust, Yeshiva University Press |url=https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4529 |isbn=978-1-60280-022-9 |access-date=6 July 2023 |archive-date=5 July 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230705180452/https://repository.yu.edu/handle/20.500.12202/4529 |url-status=live }}
* ] (1967). '']''. Glencoe, Il: The Free Press, {{ISBN|0-02-934130-2}}.
* {{cite book |year=1993 |editor-surname=Wertheimer |editor-given=Jack |editor-link=Jack Wertheimer |title=The Modern Jewish Experience: A Reader's Guide |place=New York; London |publisher=NYU Press |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-G8TCgAAQBAJ |isbn=0-8147-9261-8 |access-date=9 June 2023 |archive-date=9 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230609070712/https://books.google.com/books?id=-G8TCgAAQBAJ |url-status=live }}
* {{cite book |surname=Yaron |given=Y. |given2=Joe |surname2=Pessah |given3=Avraham |surname3=Qanaï |author3-link=Avraham Qanaï |given4=Yosef |surname4=El-Gamil |title=An Introduction to Karaite Judaism: History, Theology, Practice and Culture |publisher=Qirqisani Center |year=2003 |location=Albany, NY |isbn=978-0-9700775-4-7}}
* {{cite book |editor-surname=Zohar |editor-given=Zion |title=Sephardic and Mizrahi Jewry: From the Golden Age of Spain to Modern Times |year=2005 |place=New York; London |publisher=NYU Press |url={{Google books|id=H6K1IcaHwd0C|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |isbn=0-8147-9705-9 }}
{{Refend}}
=== Further reading ===
; Encyclopedias
* {{cite encyclopedia |editor-surname=Berlin |editor-given=Adele |editor-link=Adele Berlin |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Jewish Religion |edition=2nd |year=2011 |url={{Google books|id=hKAaJXvUaUoC|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |publisher=Oxford University Press |place=Oxford; New York |isbn=978-0-19-975927-9 |ref=none}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=2003 |surname=Jacobs |given=Louis |author-link=Louis Jacobs |title=A Concise Companion to the Jewish Religion |format=Online Version |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-172644-6 |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780192800886.001.0001/acref-9780192800886 |url-access=subscription |ref=none}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |surname=Karesh |given=Sara E. |surname2=Hurvitz |given2=Mitchell M. |year=2005 |title=Encyclopedia of Judaism |place=New York |publisher=Facts On File |series=Encyclopedia of World Religions. ], Series Editor |isbn=0-8160-5457-6 |url={{Google books|id=Z2cCZBDm8F8C|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |ref=none}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |year=1999 |editor-surname=Neusner |editor-given=Jacob |editor-link=Jacob Neusner |editor-surname2=Avery-Peck |editor-given2=Alan J. |editor-surname3=Green |editor-given3=William Scott |title=The Encyclopedia of Judaism |place=Leiden; New York |publisher=Brill; Continuum |url=https://brill.com/view/package/9789004105836 |url-access=subscription |volume=1–3 |isbn=978-90-04-10583-6 |ref=none}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |surname=Neusner |given=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Neusner |title=The Halakhah: An Encyclopaedia of the Law of Judaism |series=The Brill Reference Library of Judaism |volume=1–5 |year=2000 |place=Leiden |publisher=Brill |isbn=90-04-11617-6 |ref=none}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |surname=Neusner |given=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Neusner |surname2=Avery-Peck |given2=Alan J. |title=The Routledge Dictionary of Judaism |year=2004 |format=e-Book |place=New York; London |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0-203-63391-1 |url={{Google books|id=1m6CAgAAQBAJ|plainurl=y}} |ref=none}}
|place=New York |publisher=Funk & Wagnalls |volume=1–12 |ref=none}}
* {{cite encyclopedia |editor-surname=Skolnik |editor-given=Fred |editor-link=Fred Skolnik |title=] |volume=1–22 |edition=2nd rev. |year=2007 |publisher=Macmillan Reference USA |place=Farmington Hills, Mi |isbn=978-002-865-928-2 |ref=none}}
; General works
* {{cite book |surname=Cohn-Sherbok |given=Dan |author-link=Dan Cohn-Sherbok |title=Judaism: History, Belief, and Practice |place=London; New York |publisher=Routledge |year=2003 |url={{Google books|id=dMbVhwqAnhkC|plainurl=y}} |isbn=0-415-23660-6 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |surname=Dosick |given=Wayne |title=Living Judaism: The Complete Guide to Jewish Belief, Tradition and Practice |url=https://archive.org/details/livingjudaismcom00dosi |url-access=registration|year=2007|publisher=HarperCollins |place=New York |isbn=978-0-06-062179-7 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |surname=Jacobs |given=Louis |author-link=Louis Jacobs |title=The Jewish Religion: A Companion |place=Oxford; New York |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=1995 |isbn=0-19-826463-1 |oclc=31938398 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |surname=de Lange |given=Nicholas |year=2002 |orig-date=2000 |author-link=Nicholas de Lange |title=An Introduction to Judaism |publisher=Cambridge University Press |place=Cambridge |isbn=0-521-46073-5 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/introductiontoju00nich |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |surname=Neusner |given=Jacob |author-link=Jacob Neusner |title=An Introduction to Judaism: A Textbook and Reader |place=Louisville, Kentucky |publisher=Westminster/John Knox Press |year=1991 |url={{Google books|id=6M8oxDql1KIC|plainurl=y}} |isbn=0-664-25348-2 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |year=2003 |orig-date=2000 |editor-surname=Neusner |editor-given=Jacob |editor-link=Jacob Neusner |editor2-surname=Avery-Peck |editor2-given=Alan J. |title=The Blackwell Companion to Judaism |edition=Reprint |publisher=Blackwell Publ. |place=Malden, Mass |url={{Google books|id=bEyD_MaeqP4C|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |isbn=1-57718-058-5 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |surname=Segal |given=Eliezer |title=Judaism: The e-Book |url={{Google books|id=fdiZZqE0hkkC|plainurl=y}} |year=2008 |place=State College, Pa |publisher=Journal of Buddhist Ethics Online Books |isbn=978-09801633-1-5 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |year=1993 |editor-surname=Wertheimer |editor-given=Jack |editor-link=Jack Wertheimer |title=The Modern Jewish Experience: A Reader's Guide |place=New York; London |publisher=NYU Press |url={{Google books|id=-G8TCgAAQBAJ|plainurl=y}} |isbn=0-8147-9261-8 |ref=none}}
; Regional contemporary
* {{cite book |year=2017 |orig-date=1995 |editor-surname=Deshen |editor-given=Shlomo |editor-surname2=Liebman |editor-given2=Charles S. |editor-link2=Charles Liebman |editor-surname3=Shokeid |editor-given3=Moshe |editor-link3=Moshe Shokeid |title=Israeli Judaism: The Sociology of Religion in Israel |series=Studies of Israeli Society, 7 |place=London; New York |publisher=Routledge |edition=Reprint |url={{Google books|id=XCNHDwAAQBAJ|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |isbn=978-1-56000-178-2 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |year=1990 |surname=Liebman |given=Charles S. |author-link=Charles Liebman |surname2=Cohen |given2=Steven Martin |author-link2=Steven M. Cohen |title=Two Worlds of Judaism: The Israeli and American Experiences |place=New Haven, Conn |publisher=Yale University Press |isbn=978-0-300-04726-4 |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |surname=Raphael |given=Marc Lee |title=Judaism in America |publisher=Columbia University Press |place=New York |year=2003 |isbn=0-231-12060-5 |url=https://archive.org/details/judaisminamerica00raph |url-access=registration |ref=none}}
* {{cite book |surname=Rebhum |given=Uzi |year=2016 |title=Jews and the American Religious Landscape |place=New York |publisher=Columbia University Press |url={{Google books|id=cb6lDAAAQBAJC|plainurl=y|page=}} |isbn=978-0-231-17826-6 |ref=none }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
* {{cite book |surname=Wertheimer |given=Jack |author-link=Jack Wertheimer |title=The New American Judaism: How Jews Practice Their Religion Today |place=Princeton, NJ; Oxford |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=2018 |url={{Google books|id=1DthDwAAQBAJ|plainurl=y|page=|keywords=|text=}} |isbn=978-0-691-18129-5 |ref=none}}
==Notes==
{{Notelist}}
==External links==
==External links==
{{sisterlinks|Judaism}}
{{Sister project links|Judaism|voy=Judaism}}
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* (in Hebrew, with vowels).
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181120092142/http://www.mechon-mamre.org/i/t/t0.htm |date=20 November 2018 }} (in Hebrew, with vowels).
*
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090210134451/http://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt0.htm |date=10 February 2009 }}
* from the 1917 Jewish Publication Society version.
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100612191925/http://mechon-mamre.org/e/et/et0.htm |date=12 June 2010 }} from the 1917 Jewish Publication Society version.
* (also known as ''Project Genesis'') – contains Torah commentaries and studies of Tanakh, along with Jewish ethics, philosophy, holidays and other classes.
*
* – audio files of lectures for each page from an Orthodox viewpoint are provided in French, English, Yiddish and Hebrew. Reload the page for an image of a page of the Talmud.
* . (also known as ''Project Genesis'') Contains Torah commentaries and studies of Tanakh, along with Jewish ethics, philosophy, holidays and other classes.
* . Audio files of lectures for each page from an Orthodox viewpoint are provided in French, English, Yiddish and Hebrew. Reload the page for an image of a page of the Talmud.
See also ] for links to more Judaism e-texts.
See also ] for links to more Judaism e-texts.
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Text study projects at ]. In many instances, the Hebrew versions of these projects are more fully developed than the English.
Text study projects at ]. In many instances, the Hebrew versions of these projects are more fully developed than the English.
* ] (Rabbinic Bible) in ] ] and ] ].
* ] (Rabbinic Bible) in ] ] and ] ].
* ] at the "Vayavinu Bamikra" Project in ] (lists nearly 200 recordings) and ].
* ] at the "Vayavinu Bamikra" Project in ] (lists nearly 200 recordings) and ].
* ] in ] ] and ] ].
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Latest revision as of 01:51, 9 January 2025
Ethnic religion of the Jewish people
"Judeo" redirects here. For the album, see Judeo (album).
Judaism (Hebrew: יַהֲדוּת, romanized: Yahăḏūṯ) is an Abrahamicmonotheisticethnic religion that comprises the collective spiritual, cultural, and legal traditions of the Jewish people. Religious Jews regard Judaism as their means of observing the Mosaic covenant, which was established between God and the Israelites, their ancestors. The religion is considered one of the earliest monotheistic religions in the world.
Jewish religious doctrine encompasses a wide body of texts, practices, theological positions, and forms of organization. Among Judaism's core texts is the Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, a collection of ancient Hebrew scriptures. The Tanakh, known in English as the Hebrew Bible, has the same contents as the Old Testament in Christianity. In addition to the original written scripture, the supplemental Oral Torah is represented by later texts, such as the Midrash and the Talmud. The Hebrew-language word torah can mean "teaching", "law", or "instruction", although "Torah" can also be used as a general term that refers to any Jewish text that expands or elaborates on the original Five Books of Moses. Representing the core of the Jewish spiritual and religious tradition, the Torah is a term and a set of teachings that are explicitly self-positioned as encompassing at least seventy, and potentially infinite, facets and interpretations. Judaism's texts, traditions, and values strongly influenced later Abrahamic religions, including Christianity and Islam. Hebraism, like Hellenism, played a seminal role in the formation of Western civilization through its impact as a core background element of Early Christianity.
Within Judaism, there are a variety of religious movements, most of which emerged from Rabbinic Judaism, which holds that God revealed his laws and commandments to Moses on Mount Sinai in the form of both the Written and Oral Torah. Historically, all or part of this assertion was challenged by various groups such as the Sadducees and Hellenistic Judaism during the Second Temple period; the Karaites during the early and later medieval period; and among segments of the modern non-Orthodox denominations. Some modern branches of Judaism such as Humanistic Judaism may be considered secular or nontheistic. Today, the largest Jewish religious movements are Orthodox Judaism (Haredi and Modern Orthodox), Conservative Judaism, and Reform Judaism. Major sources of difference between these groups are their approaches to halakha (Jewish law), the authority of the rabbinic tradition, and the significance of the State of Israel. Orthodox Judaism maintains that the Torah and halakha are divine in origin, eternal and unalterable, and that they should be strictly followed. Conservative and Reform Judaism are more liberal, with Conservative Judaism generally promoting a more traditionalist interpretation of Judaism's requirements than Reform Judaism. A typical Reform position is that halakha 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. Historically, special courts enforced halakha; today, these courts still exist but the practice of Judaism is mostly voluntary. Authority on theological and legal matters is not vested in any one person or organization, but in the sacred texts and the rabbis and scholars who interpret them.
Jews are an ethnoreligious group including those born Jewish, in addition to converts to Judaism. In 2021, the world Jewish population was estimated at 15.2 million, or roughly 0.195% of the total world population, although religious observance varies from strict to none. In 2021, about 45.6% of all Jews resided in Israel and another 42.1% resided in the United States and Canada, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other groups spread throughout Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
The term Judaism derives from Iudaismus, a Latinized form of the Ancient Greek Ioudaismos (Koinē Greek: Ἰουδαϊσμός, from the verb ἰουδαΐζειν, "to side with or imitate the "). Its ultimate source was Hebrew: יהודה, romanized: YehudahJudah", which is also the source of the Hebrew term for Judaism, יַהֲדוּת Yahaḏuṯ. The term Ἰουδαϊσμός first appears in the Koine Greek book of 2 Maccabees in the 2nd century BCE (i.e. 2 Maccabees 2:21, 8:1 and 14:38) . In the context of the age and period it meant "seeking or forming part of a cultural entity". It resembled its antonym hellenismos, a word signifying people's submission to Hellenistic cultural norms. The conflict between iudaismos and hellenismos lay behind the Maccabean Revolt and hence the invention of the term iudaismos.
We are tempted, of course, to translate as "Judaism," but this translation is too narrow, because in this first occurrence of the term, Ioudaïsmós has not yet been reduced to the designation of a religion. It means rather "the aggregate of all those characteristics that makes Judaeans Judaean (or Jews Jewish)." Among these characteristics, to be sure, are practices and beliefs that we would today call "religious," but these practices and beliefs are not the sole content of the term. Thus Ioudaïsmós should be translated not as "Judaism" but as Judaeanness.
Daniel R. Schwartz, however, argues that "Judaism", especially in the context of the Book of Maccabees, refers to the religion, as opposed to the culture and politics of the Judean state. He believes it reflected the ideological divide between the Pharisees and Sadducees and, implicitly, anti-Hasmonean and pro-Hasmonean factions in Judean society.
According to the Oxford English Dictionary the earliest citation in English where the term was used to mean "the profession or practice of the Jewish religion; the religious system or polity of the Jews" is Robert Fabyan's The newe cronycles of Englande and of Fraunce (1516). "Judaism" as a direct translation of the Latin Iudaismus first occurred in a 1611 English translation of the Biblical apocrypha (the Deuterocanonical books in the Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodoxy), 2 Macc. ii. 21: "Those that behaved themselves manfully to their honour for Iudaisme."
'The Covenant' with Abraham in the book of Genesis
A significant part of the Hebrew Bible or Tanakh is an account of the Israelites' relationship with religion and God from their earliest history until the building of the Second Temple (c. 535 BCE). Abraham is hailed as the first Hebrew and the father of the Jewish people. In Genesis, three men, speculated to be God or Archangels, commanded Abraham to circumcise himself and his sons as a sign of the covenant, and was promised by the angels that Isaac, his second son, would inherit the Land of Israel (then called Canaan) and renamed his Wife from 'Sarai', which meant Mockery, to 'Sarah', which meant Princess, and that she would bear him a son in her old age and his descendants shall also be blessed and keep 'the covenant'.
The Torah, Nevi'im, and Ketuvim
In Exodus, the second book of the bible, the descendants of Isaac's son Jacob were enslaved in Egypt, and God commanded Moses to lead the Exodus from Egypt in a vision. Rules and commandments were conveyed to Moses at Sinai; accounted in the Torah, or five books of Moses. These books, together with the Nevi'im and Ketuvim, are known as Torah Shebikhtav, as opposed to the Oral Torah, which refers to the Mishnah and the Talmud. The Nevi'im details historical narratives, and prophetic writings, focusing on the Isrelites settlements in Canaan. While the Ketuvim, a diverse collection of books including the Psalms, Proverbs, and Esther, covers poetic and prose philisophical writings which deviates from the more literalist style of the other books.
Rabbinic tradition holds that the details and interpretation of the Law, called the Oral Torah or "Oral Law," were originally unwritten traditions based on the Law given to Moses at Sinai. However, as the persecutions of the Jews increased and the details were in danger of being forgotten, these oral laws were recorded by Judah ha-Nasi in the Mishnah, redacted c. 200 CE. The Talmud was a compilation of the Mishnah and Gemara, rabbinic commentaries redacted over the next three centuries. The Gemara originated in two major centers of Jewish scholarship, Palestine and Babylonia (Lower Mesopotamia). Correspondingly, two bodies of analysis developed, and two works of Talmud were created. The older compilation is called the Jerusalem Talmud. It was compiled sometime during the 4th century in Palestine.
Historical Analysis
According to critical scholars, the Torah consists of inconsistent texts edited together in a way that calls attention to divergent accounts. Several of these scholars, such as Professor Martin Rose and John Bright, suggest that during the First Temple period the people of Israel believed that each nation had its own version of a god viewed as superior to all other gods. Some suggest that strict monotheism developed during the Babylonian Exile, perhaps in reaction to Zoroastrian dualism. In this view, it was only by the Hellenistic period that most Jews came to believe that their god was the only god and that the notion of a bounded Jewish nation identical with the Jewish religion formed. John Day argues that the origins of biblical Yahweh, El, Asherah, and Ba'al, may be rooted in earlier Canaanite religion, which was centered on a pantheon of gods much like in Greek mythology.
During the early years of the Second Temple, the highest religious authority was a council known as the Great Assembly, led by Ezra the Scribe. Among other accomplishments of the Great Assembly, the last books of the Bible were written at this time and the canon sealed. Hellenistic Judaism spread to Ptolemaic Egypt from the 3rd century BCE, and its creation sparked widespread controversy in Jewish communities, starting "conflicts within Jewish communities about accommodating the cultures of occupying powers."
During the Great Jewish Revolt (66–73 CE), the Romanssacked Jerusalem and destroyed the Second Temple. Later, Roman emperor Hadrian built a pagan idol on the Temple Mount and prohibited circumcision; these acts of ethnocide provoked the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132–136 CE), after which the Romans banned the study of the Torah and the celebration of Jewish holidays, and forcibly removed virtually all Jews from Judea. In 200 CE, however, Jews were granted Roman citizenship and Judaism was recognized as a religio licita ("legitimate religion") until the rise of Gnosticism and Early Christianity in the fourth century.
Following the destruction of Jerusalem and the expulsion of the Jews, Jewish worship stopped being centrally organized around the Temple, prayer took the place of sacrifice, and worship was rebuilt around the community (represented by a minimum of ten adult men) and the establishment of the authority of rabbis who acted as teachers and leaders of individual communities.
Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia goes back to the pre-Christian period, and was concentrated in the northwest and south. In the fourth century, the ruling class of the Himyarite Kingdom of pre-Islamic South Arabia converted to Judaism. This situation lasted until the early sixth century, when the Aksumite invasion of Himyar instigated by the massacre of Najran led to a change into Christian rulership.
Unlike other ancient Near Eastern gods, the Hebrew God is portrayed as unitary and solitary; consequently, the Hebrew 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 mankind. According to the Hebrew Bible, God promised Abraham to make of his offspring a great nation. Many generations later, he commanded the nation of Israel to love and worship only one God; that is, the Jewish nation is to reciprocate God's concern for the world. He also commanded the Jewish people to love one another; that is, Jews are to imitate God's love for people.
Thus, although there is an esoteric tradition in Judaism in Kabbalah, Rabbinic scholar Max Kadushin has characterized normative Judaism as "normal mysticism", because it involves everyday personal experiences of God through ways or modes that are common to all Jews. This is played out through the observance of the halakha, or Jewish law, and given verbal expression in the Birkat Ha-Mizvot, the short blessings that are spoken every time a positive commandment is to be fulfilled:
The ordinary, familiar, everyday things and occurrences we have, constitute occasions for the experience of God. Such things as one's daily sustenance, the very day itself, are felt as manifestations of God's loving-kindness, calling for the Berakhot. Kedushah, holiness, which is nothing else than the imitation of God, is concerned with daily conduct, with being gracious and merciful, with keeping oneself from defilement by idolatry, adultery, and the shedding of blood. The Birkat Ha-Mitzwot evokes the consciousness of holiness at a rabbinic rite, but the objects employed in the majority of these rites are non-holy and of general character, while the several holy objects are non-theurgic. And not only do ordinary things and occurrences bring with them the experience of God. Everything that happens to a man evokes that experience, evil as well as good, for a Berakah is said also at evil tidings. Hence, although the experience of God is like none other, the occasions for experiencing Him, for having a consciousness of Him, are manifold, even if we consider only those that call for Berakot.
Whereas Jewish philosophers often debate whether God is immanent or transcendent, and whether people have free will or their lives are determined, halakha is a system through which any Jew acts to bring God into the world.
Ethical monotheism is central in all sacred or normative texts of Judaism. However, monotheism has not always been followed in practice. The Hebrew Bible (or Tanakh) records and repeatedly condemns the widespread worship of other gods in ancient Israel. In the Greco-Roman era, many different interpretations of monotheism existed in Judaism, including the interpretations that gave rise to Christianity.
Moreover, some have argued that Judaism is a non-creedal religion that does not require one to believe in God. For some, observance of halakha is more important than belief in God per se. The debate about whether one can speak of authentic or normative Judaism is not only a debate among religious Jews but also among historians.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the Creator and Guide of everything that has been created; He alone has made, does make, and will make all things.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is One, and that there is no unity in any manner like His, and that He alone is our God, who was, and is, and will be.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, has no body, and that He is free from all the properties of matter, and that there can be no (physical) comparison to Him whatsoever.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, is the first and the last.
I believe with perfect faith that to the Creator, Blessed be His Name, and to Him alone, it is right to pray, and that it is not right to pray to any being besides Him.
I believe with perfect faith that all the words of the prophets are true.
I believe with perfect faith that the prophecy of Moses our teacher, peace be upon him, was true, and that he was the chief of the prophets, both those who preceded him and those who followed him.
I believe with perfect faith that the entire Torah that is now in our possession is the same that was given to Moses our teacher, peace be upon him.
I believe with perfect faith that this Torah will not be exchanged and that there will never be any other Torah from the Creator, Blessed be His Name.
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, knows all the deeds of human beings and all their thoughts, as it is written, "Who fashioned the hearts of them all, Who comprehends all their actions" (Psalms 33:15).
I believe with perfect faith that the Creator, Blessed be His Name, rewards those who keep His commandments and punishes those that transgress them.
I believe with perfect faith in the coming of the Messiah; and even though he may tarry, nonetheless, I wait every day for his coming.
I believe with perfect faith that there will be a revival of the dead at the time when it shall please the Creator, Blessed be His name, and His mention shall be exalted for ever and ever.
In the strict sense, in Judaism, unlike Christianity and Islam, there are no fixed universally binding articles of faith, due to their incorporation into the liturgy. Scholars throughout Jewish history have proposed numerous formulations of Judaism's core tenets, all of which have met with criticism. The most popular formulation is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith, developed in the 12th century. According to Maimonides, any Jew who rejects even one of these principles would be considered an apostate and a heretic. Jewish scholars have held points of view diverging in various ways from Maimonides' principles. Thus, within Reform Judaism only the first five principles are endorsed.
In Maimonides' time, his list of tenets was criticized by Hasdai Crescas and Joseph Albo. Albo and the Raavad argued that Maimonides' principles contained too many items that, while true, were not fundamentals of the faith
Along these lines, the ancient historian Josephus emphasized practices and observances rather than religious beliefs, associating apostasy with a failure to observe halakha and maintaining that the requirements for conversion to Judaism included circumcision and adherence to traditional customs. Maimonides' principles were largely ignored over the next few centuries. Later, two poetic restatements of these principles ("Ani Ma'amin" and "Yigdal") became integrated into many Jewish liturgies, leading to their eventual near-universal acceptance.
The oldest non-Rabbinic instance of articles of faith were formulated, under Islamic influence, by the 12th century Karaite figure Judah ben Elijah Hadassi:
(1) God is the Creator of all created beings; (2) He is premundane and has no peer or associate; (3) the whole universe is created; (4) God called Moses and the other Prophets of the Biblical canon; (5) the Law of Moses alone is true; (6) to know the language of the Bible is a religious duty; (7) the Temple at Jerusalem is the palace of the world's Ruler; (8) belief in Resurrection contemporaneous with the advent of the Messiah; (9) final judgment; (10) retribution.
In modern times, Judaism lacks a centralized authority that would dictate an exact religious dogma. Because of this, many different variations on the basic beliefs are considered within the scope of Judaism. Even so, all Jewish religious movements are, to a greater or lesser extent, based on the principles of the Hebrew Bible or various commentaries such as the Talmud and Midrash. Judaism also universally recognizes the Biblical Covenant between God and the Patriarch Abraham as well as the additional aspects of the Covenant revealed to Moses, who is considered Judaism's greatest prophet. In the Mishnah, a core text of Rabbinic Judaism, acceptance of the Divine origins of this covenant is considered an essential aspect of Judaism and those who reject the Covenant forfeit their share in the World to Come.
Establishing the core tenets of Judaism in the modern era is even more difficult, given the number and diversity of the contemporary Jewish denominations. Even if to restrict the problem to the most influential intellectual trends of the nineteenth and twentieth century, the matter remains complicated. Thus, for instance, Joseph Soloveitchik's (associated with the Modern Orthodox movement) answer to modernity is constituted upon the identification of Judaism with following the halakha whereas its ultimate goal is to bring the holiness down to the world. Mordecai Kaplan, the founder of the Reconstructionist Judaism, abandons the idea of religion for the sake of identifying Judaism with civilization and by means of the latter term and secular translation of the core ideas, he tries to embrace as many Jewish denominations as possible. In turn, Solomon Schechter's Conservative Judaism was identical with the tradition understood as the interpretation of Torah, in itself being the history of the constant updates and adjustment of the Law performed by means of the creative interpretation. Finally, David Philipson draws the outlines of the Reform movement in Judaism by opposing it to the strict and traditional rabbinical approach and thus comes to the conclusions similar to that of the Conservative movement.
The basis of halakha and tradition is the Torah (also known as the Pentateuch or the Five Books of Moses). According to rabbinic tradition, 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, the Kohanim and Leviyim (members of the tribe of Levi), some only to farmers within the Land of Israel. Many laws were only applicable when the Temple in Jerusalem existed, and only 369 of these commandments are still applicable today.
While there have been Jewish groups whose beliefs were based on the written text of the Torah alone (e.g., the Sadducees, and the Karaites), most Jews believe in the oral law. These oral traditions were transmitted by the Pharisee school of thought of ancient Judaism and were later recorded in written form and expanded upon by the rabbis.
According to Rabbinical Jewish tradition, God gave both the Written Law (the Torah) and the Oral Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai. The Oral law is the oral tradition as relayed by God to Moses and from him, transmitted and taught to the sages (rabbinic leaders) of each subsequent generation.
For centuries, the Torah appeared only as a written text transmitted in parallel with the oral tradition. Fearing that the oral teachings might be forgotten, Rabbi Judah haNasi undertook the mission of consolidating the various opinions into one body of law which became known as the Mishnah.
The Mishnah consists of 63 tractates codifying halakha, which are the basis of the Talmud. According to Abraham ben David, the Mishnah was compiled by Rabbi Judah haNasi after the destruction of Jerusalem, in anno mundi 3949, which corresponds to 189 CE.
Over the next four centuries, the Mishnah underwent discussion and debate in both of the world's major Jewish communities (in Israel and Babylonia). The commentaries from each of these communities were eventually compiled into the two Talmuds, the Jerusalem Talmud (Talmud Yerushalmi) and the Babylonian Talmud (Talmud Bavli). These have been further expounded by commentaries of various Torah scholars during the ages.
In the text of the Torah, many words are left undefined, and many procedures are mentioned without explanation or instructions. Such phenomena are sometimes offered to validate the viewpoint that the Written Law has always been transmitted with a parallel oral tradition, illustrating the assumption that the reader is already familiar with the details from other, i.e., oral, sources.
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 (Hebrew Sheelot U-Teshuvot). Over time, as practices develop, codes of halakha are written that are based on the responsa; the most important code, the Shulchan Aruch, largely determines Orthodox religious practice today.
A law that operates under certain conditions will surely be operative in other situations where the same conditions are present in a more acute form
A law operating in one situation will also be operative in another situation if the text characterizes both situations in identical terms.
A law that clearly expresses the purpose it was meant to serve will also apply to other situations where the identical purpose may be served.
When a general rule is followed by illustrative particulars, only those particulars are to be embraced by it.
A law that begins with specifying particular cases, and then proceeds to an all-embracing generalization, is to be applied to particulars cases not specified but logically falling into the same generalization.
A law that begins with a generalization as to its intended applications, then continues with the specification of particular cases, and then concludes with a restatement of the generalization, can be applied only to the particular cases specified.
The rules about a generalization being followed or preceded by specifying particulars (rules 4 and 5) will not apply if it is apparent that the specification of the particular cases or the statement of the generalization is meant purely for achieving a greater clarity of language.
A particular case already covered in a generalization that is nevertheless treated separately suggests that the same particularized treatment be applied to all other cases which are covered in that generalization.
A penalty specified for a general category of wrongdoing is not to be automatically applied to a particular case that is withdrawn from the general rule to be specifically prohibited, but without any mention of the penalty.
A general prohibition followed by a specified penalty may be followed by a particular case, normally included in the generalization, with a modification in the penalty, either toward easing it or making it more severe.
A case logically falling into a general law but treated separately remains outside the provisions of the general law except in those instances where it is specifically included in them.
Obscurities in Biblical texts may be cleared up from the immediate context or from subsequently occurring passages
Contradictions in Biblical passages may be removed through the mediation of other passages.
Orthodox and many other Jews do not believe that the revealed Torah consists solely of its written contents, but of its interpretations as well. The study of Torah (in its widest sense, to include both poetry, narrative, and law, and both the Hebrew Bible and the Talmud) is in Judaism itself a sacred act of central importance. For the sages of the Mishnah and Talmud, and for their successors today, the study of Torah was therefore not merely a means to learn the contents of God's revelation, but an end in itself. According to the Talmud:
These are the things for which a person enjoys the dividends in this world while the principal remains for the person to enjoy in the world to come; they are: honoring parents, loving deeds of kindness, and making peace between one person and another. But the study of the Torah is equal to them all. (Talmud Shabbat 127a).
In Judaism, "the study of Torah can be a means of experiencing God". Reflecting on the contribution of the Amoraim and Tanaim to contemporary Judaism, Professor Jacob Neusner observed:
The rabbi's logical and rational inquiry is not mere logic-chopping. It is a most serious and substantive effort to locate in trivialities the fundamental principles of the revealed will of God to guide and sanctify the most specific and concrete actions in the workaday world. ... Here is the mystery of Talmudic Judaism: the alien and remote conviction that the intellect is an instrument not of unbelief and desacralization but of sanctification.
To study the Written Torah and the Oral Torah in light of each other is thus also to study how to study the word of God.
In the study of Torah, the sages formulated and followed various logical and hermeneutical principles. According to David Stern, all Rabbinic hermeneutics rest on two basic axioms:
first, the belief in the omni-significance of Scripture, in the meaningfulness of its every word, letter, even (according to one famous report) scribal flourish; second, the claim of the essential unity of Scripture as the expression of the single divine will.
These two principles make possible a great variety of interpretations. According to the Talmud:
A single verse has several meanings, but no two verses hold the same meaning. It was taught in the school of R. Ishmael: 'Behold, My word is like fire—declares the Lord—and like a hammer that shatters rock' (Jer 23:29). Just as this hammer produces many sparks (when it strikes the rock), so a single verse has several meanings." (Talmud Sanhedrin 34a).
Observant Jews thus view the Torah as dynamic, because it contains within it a host of interpretations.
According to Rabbinic tradition, all valid interpretations of the written Torah were revealed to Moses at Sinai in oral form, and handed down from teacher to pupil (The oral revelation is in effect coextensive with the Talmud itself). When different rabbis forwarded conflicting interpretations, they sometimes appealed to hermeneutic principles to legitimize their arguments; some rabbis claim that these principles were themselves revealed by God to Moses at Sinai.
Thus, Hillel called attention to seven commonly used hermeneutical principles in the interpretation of laws (baraita at the beginning of Sifra); R. Ishmael, thirteen (baraita at the beginning of Sifra; this collection is largely an amplification of that of Hillel). Eliezer b. Jose ha-Gelili listed 32, largely used for the exegesis of narrative elements of Torah. All the hermeneutic rules scattered through the Talmudim and Midrashim have been collected by Malbim in Ayyelet ha-Shachar, the introduction to his commentary on the Sifra. Nevertheless, R. Ishmael's 13 principles are perhaps the ones most widely known; they constitute an important, and one of Judaism's earliest, contributions to logic, hermeneutics, and jurisprudence. Judah Hadassi incorporated Ishmael's principles into Karaite Judaism in the 12th century. Today R. Ishmael's 13 principles are incorporated into the Jewish prayer book to be read by observant Jews on a daily basis.
Jewish identity
Distinction between Jews as a people and Judaism
According to Daniel Boyarin, the underlying distinction between religion and ethnicity is foreign to Judaism itself, and is one form of the dualism between spirit and flesh that has its origin in Platonic philosophy and that permeated Hellenistic Judaism. Consequently, in his view, Judaism does not fit easily into conventional Western categories, such as religion, ethnicity, or culture. Boyarin suggests that this in part reflects the fact that much of Judaism's more than 3,000-year history predates the rise of Western culture and occurred outside the West (that is, Europe, particularly medieval and modern Europe). During this time, Jews experienced slavery, anarchic and theocratic self-government, conquest, occupation, and exile. In the Jewish diaspora, they were in contact with, and influenced by, ancient Egyptian, Babylonian, Persian, and Hellenic cultures, as well as modern movements such as the Enlightenment (see Haskalah) and the rise of nationalism, which would bear fruit in the form of a Jewish state in their ancient homeland, the Land of Israel. Thus, 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."
In contrast to this point of view, practices such as Humanistic Judaism reject the religious aspects of Judaism, while retaining certain cultural traditions.
According to Rabbinic Judaism, a Jew is anyone who was either born of a Jewish mother or who converted to Judaism in accordance with halakha. Reconstructionist Judaism and the larger denominations of worldwide Progressive Judaism (also known as Liberal or Reform Judaism) accept the child as Jewish if one of the parents is Jewish, if the parents raise the child with a Jewish identity, but not the smaller regional branches. All mainstream forms of Judaism today are open to sincere converts, although conversion has traditionally been discouraged since the time of the Talmud. The conversion process is evaluated by an authority, and the convert is examined on his or her sincerity and knowledge. Converts are called "ben Abraham" or "bat Abraham", (son or daughter of Abraham). Conversions have on occasion been overturned. In 2008, Israel's highest religious court invalidated the conversion of 40,000 Jews, mostly from Russian immigrant families, even though they had been approved by an Orthodox rabbi.
Rabbinical Judaism maintains that a Jew, whether by birth or conversion, is a Jew forever. Thus a Jew who claims to be an atheist or converts to another religion is still considered by traditional Judaism to be Jewish. According to some sources, the Reform movement has maintained that a Jew who has converted to another religion is no longer a Jew, and the Israeli Government has also taken that stance after Supreme Court cases and statutes. However, the Reform movement has indicated that this is not so cut and dried, and different situations call for consideration and differing actions. For example, Jews who have converted under duress may be permitted to return to Judaism "without any action on their part but their desire to rejoin the Jewish community" and "A proselyte who has become an apostate remains, nevertheless, a Jew".
Karaite Judaism believes that Jewish identity can only be transmitted by patrilineal descent. Although a minority of modern Karaites believe that Jewish identity requires that both parents be Jewish, and not only the father. They argue that only patrilineal descent can transmit Jewish identity on the grounds that all descent in the Torah went according to the male line.
The question of what determines Jewish identity in the State of Israel 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 in order to settle citizenship questions. This is still not settled, and occasionally resurfaces in Israeli politics.
Historical definitions of Jewish identity have traditionally been based on halakhic definitions of matrilineal descent, and halakhic conversions. Historical definitions of who is a Jew date back to the codification of the Oral Torah into the Babylonian Talmud, around 200 CE. Interpretations of sections of the Tanakh, such as Deuteronomy 7:1–5, by Jewish sages, are used as a warning against intermarriage between Jews and Canaanites because " will cause your child to turn away from Me and they will worship the gods (i.e., idols) of others." Leviticus 24 says that the son in a marriage between a Hebrew woman and an Egyptian man is "of the community of Israel." This is complemented by Ezra 10, where Israelites returning from Babylon vow to put aside their gentile wives and their children. A popular theory is that the rape of Jewish women in captivity brought about the law of Jewish identity being inherited through the maternal line, although scholars challenge this theory citing the Talmudic establishment of the law from the pre-exile period. Since the anti-religious Haskalah movement of the late 18th and 19th centuries, halakhic interpretations of Jewish identity have been challenged.
The total number of Jews worldwide is difficult to assess because the definition of "who is a Jew" is problematic; not all Jews identify themselves as Jewish, and some who identify as Jewish are not considered so by other Jews. According to the Jewish Year Book (1901), the global Jewish population in 1900 was around 11 million. The latest available data is from the World Jewish Population Survey of 2002 and the Jewish Year Calendar (2005). In 2002, according to the Jewish Population Survey, there were 13.3 million Jews around the world. The Jewish Year Calendar cites 14.6 million. It is 0.25% of world population.
Jewish population growth is currently near zero percent, with 0.3% growth from 2000 to 2001. The overall growth rate of Jews in Israel is 1.7% annually, and is consistently growing through natural population growth and extensive immigration. The diaspora countries, by contrast, have low Jewish birth rates, an increasingly elderly age composition, high rates of interreligious marriage and a negative balance of people leaving Judaism versus those joining.
In 2022, the world Jewish population was estimated at 15.2 million, the majority live in one of only two countires: Israel and the United States. About 46.6% of all Jews resided in Israel (6.9 million) and another 6 million Jews resided in the United States, with most of the remainder living in Europe, and other groups spread throughout Canada, Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
An Ethiopian Jew prays during a break while on patrol on the outskirts of Bethlehem, Jan 1996
In Israel, the classification of Jewish observance into categories like Haredi, Dati, Masorti, and Hiloni was developed by sociologists and researchers studying the religious and cultural landscape of Israeli society. These distinctions emerged from surveys and studies conducted by the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics and scholars such as Shmuel Sandler, who explored how religious practices varied among different segments of the Jewish population. The categories were created to better understand the range of religious adherence, from the ultra-Orthodox Haredim to the secular Hilonim, with Dati and Masorti representing intermediary groups.
Rabbinic Judaism (or in some older sources, Rabbinism; Hebrew: "Yahadut Rabanit" – יהדות רבנית) has been the mainstream form of Judaism since the 6th century CE, after the codification of the Talmud. It is characterised by the belief that the Written Torah (Written Law) cannot be correctly interpreted without reference to the Oral Torah and the voluminous literature specifying what behavior is sanctioned by the Law.
The Jewish Enlightenment of the late 18th century resulted in the division of Western Jewry (primarily, the Ashkenazi, but also western part of Sephardim and Italian rite Jews, a.k.a. Italkim, and Greek Romaniote Jews—both last groups are considered distinct from Ashkenazim and Sephardim) into religious movements or denominations, especially in North America and Anglophone countries. The main denominations today outside Israel (where the situation is rather different) are Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform. The notion "traditional Judaism" includes the Orthodox with Conservative or solely the Orthodox Jews:
Two Haredi Jewish couples at a bus stop in JerusalemHasids at front of Belz Great Synagogue, Jerusalem
Orthodox Judaism holds that both the Written and Oral Torah were divinely revealed to Moses and that the laws within it are binding and unchanging. Orthodox Jews generally consider commentaries on the Shulchan Aruch (a condensed codification of halakha that largely favoured Sephardic traditions) to be the definitive codification of halakha. Orthodoxy places a high importance on Maimonides' 13 principles as a definition of Jewish faith.
Orthodoxy is often divided into Haredi Judaism and Modern Orthodox Judaism. Haredi is less accommodating to modernity and has less interest in non-Jewish disciplines, and it may be distinguished from Modern Orthodox Judaism in practice by its styles of dress and more stringent practices. Subsets of Haredi Judaism along both ethnic and ideological lines include Hardal ("Nationalist Haredi" within Religious Zionism); Hasidic Judaism, which is rooted in the Kabbalah and distinguished by reliance on a Rebbe or religious teacher; their traditionalist opponents the Misnagdim (also known as Lithuanian or Lita'im); and Sephardic Haredi Judaism, which emerged among Sephardic and Mizrahi (Asian and North African) Jews in Israel. "Centrist" Orthodoxy (Joseph B. Soloveitchik) is sometimes also distinguished.
Conservative women rabbis, Israel
Conservative Judaism (known as Masorti Judaism outside North America and Israel) is characterized by a commitment to traditional halakha and customs, including observance of Shabbat and kashrut, a deliberately non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith, 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 halakha 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 rejects the Orthodox position that it was dictated by God to Moses. Conservative Judaism holds that the Oral Law is divine and normative, but holds that both the Written and Oral Law may be interpreted by the rabbis to reflect modern sensibilities and suit modern conditions.
Reform Judaism, called Liberal or Progressive Judaism in many countries, defines Judaism in relatively universalist terms, rejects most of the ritual and ceremonial laws of the Torah while observing moral laws, and emphasizes the ethical call of the Prophets. Reform Judaism has developed an egalitarian prayer service in the vernacular (along with Hebrew in many cases) and emphasizes personal connection to Jewish tradition.
Reconstructionist Judaism, like Reform Judaism, does not hold that halakha, as such, requires observance, but unlike Reform, Reconstructionist thought emphasizes the role of the community in deciding what observances to follow. It is sometimes recognized as the fourth major stream of Judaism.
Jewish Renewal is a recent North American movement which focuses on spirituality and social justice but does not address issues of halakha. Men and women participate equally in prayer.
Humanistic Judaism is a small non-theistic movement centered in North America and Israel that emphasizes Jewish culture and history as the sources of Jewish identity.
Subbotniks (Sabbatarians) are a movement of Jews of Russian ethnic origin in the 18th–20th centuries, the majority of whom belonged to Rabbinic and Karaite Judaism. Many settled in the Holy Land as part of the Zionist First Aliyah in order to escape oppression in the Russian Empire and later mostly intermarried with other Jews, their descendants included Alexander Zaïd, Major-General Alik Ron, and the mother of Ariel Sharon.
While traditions and customs vary between discrete communities, it can be said that Sephardi (Iberian, for example, most Jews from France and the Netherlands) and Mizrahi (Oriental) Jewish communities do not generally adhere to the "movement" framework popular in and among Ashkenazi Jewry. Historically, Sephardi and Mizrahi communities have eschewed denominations in favour of a "big tent" approach. This is particularly the case in contemporary Israel, which is home to the largest communities of Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews in the world. (However, individual Sephardi and Mizrahi Jews or some their communities may be members of or attend synagogues that do adhere to one Ashkenazi-inflected movement or another.) Among the pioneers of Reform Judaism in the 1820s there was the Sephardic congregation Beth Elohim in Charleston, South Carolina. A part of the European Sephardim were also linked with the Judaic modernization.
Sephardi and Mizrahi observance of Judaism tends toward the traditional (Orthodox) and prayer rites are reflective of this, with the text of each rite being largely unchanged since their respective inception. Observant Sephardim may follow the teachings of a particular rabbi or school of thought; for example, the Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel.
In Israel, as in the West, Judaism is also divided into major Orthodox, Conservative and Reform traditions. At the same time, for statistical and practical purposes, a different division of society is used there on the basis of a person's attitude to religion.
Most Jewish Israelis classify themselves as "secular" (hiloni), "traditional" (masorti), "religious" (dati) or "ultra-religious" (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 Conservative Judaism, which also names itself "Masorti" outside North America. Only a few authors, like Elliot Nelson Dorff, consider the American Conservative (masorti) movement and Israeli masorti sector to be one and the same. 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 worldview and practical religious observance. The term "Orthodox" is not popular in Israeli discourse, although the percentage of Jews who come under that category is far greater than in the Jewish diaspora. What would be called "Orthodox" in the diaspora includes what is commonly called dati (religious, including religious zionist) or haredi (ultra-Orthodox) in Israel. The former term includes what is called "religious Zionism" or the "National Orthodox" community, as well as what has become known over the past decade or so as haredi-leumi (nationalistharedi), or "Hardal", which combines a largely haredi lifestyle with nationalist ideology. (Some people, in Yiddish, also refer to observant Orthodox Jews as frum, as opposed to frei (more liberal Jews)).
Karaites and Samaritans
Karaite Judaism defines itself as the remnants of the non-Rabbinic Jewish sects of the Second Temple period, such as the Sadducees. The Karaites ("Scripturalists") accept only the Hebrew Bible and what they view as the Peshat ("simple" meaning); they do not accept non-biblical writings as authoritative. Some European Karaites do not see themselves as part of the Jewish community at all, although most do.
The Samaritans, a very small community located entirely around Mount Gerizim in the Nablus/Shechem region of the West Bank and in Holon, near Tel Aviv in Israel, regard themselves as the descendants of the Israelites of the Iron Age kingdom of Israel. Their religious practices are based on the literal text of the written Torah (Five Books of Moses), which they view as the only authoritative scripture (with a special regard also for the Samaritan Book of Joshua).
Haymanot (meaning "religion" in Ge'ez and Amharic) refers the Judaism practiced by Ethiopian Jews. This version of Judaism differs substantially from Rabbinic, Karaite, and Samaritan Judaisms, Ethiopian Jews having diverged from their coreligionists earlier. Sacred scriptures (the Orit) are written in Ge'ez, not Hebrew, and dietary laws are based strictly on the text of the Orit, without explication from ancillary commentaries. Holidays also differ, with some Rabbinic holidays not observed in Ethiopian Jewish communities, and some additional holidays, like Sigd.
Noahidism is a Jewishreligious movement based on the Seven Laws of Noah and their traditional interpretations within Rabbinic Judaism. According to the halakha, non-Jews (gentiles) are not obligated to convert to Judaism, but they are required to observe the Seven Laws of Noah to be assured of a place in the World to Come (Olam Ha-Ba), the final reward of the righteous. The divinely ordained penalty for violating any of the Laws of Noah is discussed in the Talmud, but in practical terms it is subject to the working legal system which is established by the society at large. Those who subscribe to the observance of the Noahic Covenant are referred to as B'nei Noach (Hebrew: בני נח, 'Children of Noah') or Noahides (/ˈnoʊ.ə.haɪdɪs/). Supporting organizations have been established around the world over the past decades by both Noahides and Orthodox Jews.
Historically, the Hebrew term B'nei Noach has applied to all non-Jews as descendants of Noah. However, nowadays it's primarily used to refer specifically to those non-Jews who observe the Seven Laws of Noah.
Jewish ethics may be guided by halakhic traditions, by other moral principles, or by central Jewish virtues. Jewish ethical practice is typically understood to be marked by values such as justice, truth, peace, loving-kindness (chesed), compassion, humility, and self-respect. Specific Jewish ethical practices include practices of charity (tzedakah) and refraining from negative speech (lashon hara). Proper ethical practices regarding sexuality and many other issues are subjects of dispute among Jews.
Prayers
Main article: Jewish prayerA Yemenite Jew at morning prayers, wearing a kippah skullcap, prayer shawl and tefillin
Traditionally, Jews recite prayers three times daily, Shacharit, Mincha, and Ma'ariv with a fourth prayer, Mussaf added on Shabbat and holidays. At the heart of each service is the Amidah or Shemoneh Esrei. Another key prayer in many services is the declaration of faith, the Shema Yisrael (or Shema). The Shema is the recitation of a verse from the Torah (Deuteronomy 6:4): Shema Yisrael Adonai Eloheinu Adonai Echad—"Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God! The Lord is One!"
An Israeli female soldier prays at the Western Wall
Most of the prayers in a traditional Jewish service can be recited in solitary prayer, although communal prayer is preferred. Communal prayer requires a quorum of ten adult Jews, called a minyan. In nearly all Orthodox and a few Conservative circles, only male Jews are counted toward a minyan; most Conservative Jews and members of other Jewish denominations count female Jews as well.
The approach to prayer varies among the Jewish denominations. Differences can include the texts of prayers, the frequency of prayer, the number of prayers recited at various religious events, the use of musical instruments and choral music, and whether prayers are recited in the traditional liturgical languages or the vernacular. In general, Orthodox and Conservative congregations adhere most closely to tradition, and Reform and Reconstructionist synagogues are more likely to incorporate translations and contemporary writings in their services. Also, in most Conservative synagogues, and all Reform and Reconstructionist congregations, women participate in prayer services on an equal basis with men, including roles traditionally filled only by men, such as reading from the Torah. In addition, many Reform temples use musical accompaniment such as organs and mixed choirs.
A kippah (Hebrew: כִּפָּה, plural kippot; Yiddish: יאַרמלקע, yarmulke) is a slightly rounded brimless skullcap worn by many Jews while praying, eating, reciting blessings, or studying Jewish religious texts, and at all times by some Jewish men. In Orthodox communities, only men wear kippot; in non-Orthodox communities, some women also wear kippot. Kippot range in size from a small round beanie that covers only the back of the head to a large, snug cap that covers the whole crown.
Tzitzit (Hebrew: צִיציִת) (Ashkenazi pronunciation: tzitzis) are special knotted "fringes" or "tassels" found on the four corners of the tallit (Hebrew: טַלִּית) (Ashkenazi pronunciation: tallis), or prayer shawl. The tallit is worn by Jewish men and some Jewish women during the prayer service. Customs vary regarding when a Jew begins wearing a tallit. In the Sephardi community, boys wear a tallit from bar mitzvah age. In some Ashkenazi communities, it is customary to wear one only after marriage. A tallit katan (small tallit) is a fringed garment worn under the clothing throughout the day. In some Orthodox circles, the fringes are allowed to hang freely outside the clothing.
Tefillin (Hebrew: תְפִלִּין), known in English as phylacteries (from the Greek word φυλακτήριον, meaning safeguard or amulet), are two square leather boxes containing biblical verses, attached to the forehead and wound around the left arm by leather straps. They are worn during weekday morning prayer by observant Jewish men and some Jewish women.
A kittel (Yiddish: קיטל), a white knee-length overgarment, is worn by prayer leaders and some observant traditional Jews on the High Holidays. It is traditional for the head of the household to wear a kittel at the Passover seder in some communities, and some grooms wear one under the wedding canopy. Jewish males are buried in a tallit and sometimes also a kittel which are part of the tachrichim (burial garments).
Jewish holidays are special days in the Jewish calendar, which celebrate moments in Jewish history, as well as central themes in the relationship between God and the world, such as creation, revelation, and redemption.
Shabbat
Main article: ShabbatTwo braided Shabbat challot placed under an embroidered challah cover at the start of the Shabbat meal
Shabbat, the weekly day of rest lasting from shortly before sundown on Friday night to nightfall on Saturday night, commemorates God's day of rest after six days of creation. It plays a pivotal role in Jewish practice and is governed by a large corpus of religious law. At sundown on Friday, the woman of the house welcomes the Shabbat by lighting two or more candles and reciting a blessing. The evening meal begins with the Kiddush, a blessing recited aloud over a cup of wine, and the Mohtzi, a blessing recited over the bread. It is customary to have challah, two braided loaves of bread, on the table. During Shabbat, Jews are forbidden to engage in any activity that falls under 39 categories of melakhah, translated literally as "work". In fact, the activities banned on the Sabbath are not "work" in the usual sense: They include such actions as lighting a fire, writing, using money and carrying in the public domain. The prohibition of lighting a fire has been extended in the modern era to driving a car, which involves burning fuel and using electricity.
Jewish holy days (chaggim), celebrate landmark events in Jewish history, such as the Exodus from Egypt and the giving of the Torah, and sometimes mark the change of seasons and transitions in the agricultural cycle. The three major festivals, Sukkot, Passover and Shavuot, are called "regalim" (derived from the Hebrew word "regel", or foot). On the three regalim, it was customary for the Israelites to make pilgrimages to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the Temple:
A haggadah used by the Jewish community of Cairo in ArabicPassover (Pesach) is a week-long holiday beginning on the evening of the 14th day of Nisan (the first month in the Hebrew calendar), that commemorates the Exodus from Egypt. Outside Israel, Passover is celebrated for eight days. In ancient times, it coincided with the barley harvest. It is the only holiday that centers on home-service, the Seder. Leavened products (chametz) are removed from the house prior to the holiday and are not consumed throughout the week. Homes are thoroughly cleaned to ensure no bread or bread by-products remain, and a symbolic burning of the last vestiges of chametz is conducted on the morning of the Seder. Matzo is eaten instead of bread.
Shavuot ("Pentecost" or "Feast of Weeks") celebrates the revelation of the Torah to the Israelites on Mount Sinai. Also known as the Festival of Bikurim, or first fruits, it coincided in biblical times with the wheat harvest. Shavuot customs include all-night study marathons known as Tikkun Leil Shavuot, eating dairy foods (cheesecake and blintzes are special favorites), reading the Book of Ruth, decorating homes and synagogues with greenery, and wearing white clothing, symbolizing purity.
A sukkahSukkot ("Tabernacles" or "The Festival of Booths") commemorates the Israelites' forty years of wandering through the desert on their way to the Promised Land. It is celebrated through the construction of temporary booths called sukkot (sing. sukkah) that represent the temporary shelters of the Israelites during their wandering. It coincides with the fruit harvest and marks the end of the agricultural cycle. Jews around the world eat in sukkot for seven days and nights. Sukkot concludes with Shemini Atzeret, where Jews begin to pray for rain and Simchat Torah, "Rejoicing of the Torah", a holiday which marks reaching the end of the Torah reading cycle and beginning all over again. The occasion is celebrated with singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls. Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah are technically considered to be a separate holiday and not a part of Sukkot.
Jews in Mumbai break the Yom Kippur fast with roti and samosas
The High Holidays (Yamim Noraim or "Days of Awe") revolve around judgment and forgiveness:
Rosh Hashanah, (also Yom Ha-Zikkaron or "Day of Remembrance", and Yom Teruah, or "Day of the Sounding of the Shofar"). Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year (literally, "head of the year"), although it falls on the first day of the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, Tishri. Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the 10-day period of atonement leading up to Yom Kippur, during which Jews are commanded to search their souls and make amends for sins committed, intentionally or not, throughout the year. Holiday customs include blowing the shofar, or ram's horn, in the synagogue, eating apples and honey, and saying blessings over a variety of symbolic foods, such as pomegranates.
Yom Kippur, ("Day of Atonement") is the holiest day of the Jewish year. It is a day of communal fasting and praying for forgiveness for one's sins. Observant Jews spend the entire day in the synagogue, sometimes with a short break in the afternoon, reciting prayers from a special holiday prayerbook called a "Machzor". Many non-religious Jews make a point of attending synagogue services and fasting on Yom Kippur. On the eve of Yom Kippur, before candles are lit, a prefast meal, the "seuda mafseket", is eaten. Synagogue services on the eve of Yom Kippur begin with the Kol Nidre prayer. It is customary to wear white on Yom Kippur, especially for Kol Nidre, and leather shoes are not worn. The following day, prayers are held from morning to evening. The final prayer service, called "Ne'ilah", ends with a long blast of the shofar.
Purim
Main article: PurimPurim street scene in JerusalemJewish personnel of the US Navy light candles on Hanukkah
Purim (Hebrew: פוריםPûrîm "lots") is a joyous Jewish holiday that commemorates the deliverance of the Persian Jews from the plot of the evil Haman, who sought to exterminate them, as recorded in the biblical Book of Esther. It is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, mutual gifts of food and drink, charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal (Esther 9:22). Other customs include drinking wine, eating special pastries called hamantashen, dressing up in masks and costumes, and organizing carnivals and parties.
Purim has celebrated annually on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar, which occurs in February or March of the Gregorian calendar.
Hanukkah (Hebrew: חֲנֻכָּה, "dedication") also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday that starts on the 25th day of Kislev (Hebrew calendar). The festival is observed in Jewish homes by the kindling of lights on each of the festival's eight nights, one on the first night, two on the second night and so on.
The holiday was called Hanukkah (meaning "dedication") because it marks the re-dedication of the Temple after its desecration by Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Spiritually, Hanukkah commemorates the "Miracle of the Oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days—which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate new oil.
Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Bible and was never considered a major holiday in Judaism, but it has become much more visible and widely celebrated in modern times, mainly because it falls around the same time as Christmas and has national Jewish overtones that have been emphasized since the establishment of the State of Israel.
There are three more minor Jewish fast days that commemorate various stages of the destruction of the Temples. They are the 17th Tamuz, the 10th of Tevet and Tzom Gedaliah (the 3rd of Tishrei).
The modern holidays of Yom Ha-shoah (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Memorial Day) and Yom Ha'atzmaut (Israeli Independence Day) commemorate the horrors of the Holocaust, the fallen soldiers of Israel and victims of terrorism, and Israeli independence, respectively.
There are some who prefer to commemorate those who were killed in the Holocaust on the 10th of Tevet.
The core of festival and Shabbat prayer services is the public reading of the Torah, along with connected readings from the other books of the Tanakh, called Haftarah. Over the course of a year, the whole Torah is read, with the cycle starting over in the autumn, on Simchat Torah.
Synagogues are Jewish houses of prayer and study. They usually contain separate rooms for prayer (the main sanctuary), smaller rooms for study, and often an area for community or educational use. There is no set blueprint for synagogues and the architectural shapes and interior designs of synagogues vary greatly. The Reform movement mostly refer to their synagogues as temples. Some traditional features of a synagogue are:
The ark (called aron ha-kodesh by Ashkenazim and hekhal by Sephardim) where the Torah scrolls are kept (the ark is often closed with an ornate curtain (parochet) outside or inside the ark doors);
The elevated reader's platform (called bimah by Ashkenazim and tebah by Sephardim), where the Torah is read (and services are conducted in Sephardi synagogues);
The pulpit, or amud, a lectern facing the Ark where the hazzan or prayer leader stands while praying.
In addition to synagogues, other buildings of significance in Judaism include yeshivas, or institutions of Jewish learning, and mikvahs, which are ritual baths.
The Jewish dietary laws are known as kashrut. Food prepared in accordance with them is termed kosher, and food that is not kosher is also known as treifah or treif. People who observe these laws are colloquially said to be "keeping kosher".
Many of the laws apply to animal-based foods. For example, in order to be considered kosher, mammals must have split hooves and chew their cud. The pig is arguably the most well-known example of a non-kosher animal. Although it has split hooves, it does not chew its cud. For seafood to be kosher, the animal must have fins and scales. Certain types of seafood, such as shellfish, crustaceans, and eels, are therefore considered non-kosher. Concerning birds, a list of non-kosher species is given in the Torah. The exact translations of many of the species have not survived, and some non-kosher birds' identities are no longer certain. However, traditions exist about the kashrut status of a few birds. For example, both chickens and turkeys are permitted in most communities. Other types of animals, such as amphibians, reptiles, and most insects, are prohibited altogether.
In addition to the requirement that the species be considered kosher, meat and poultry (but not fish) must come from a healthy animal slaughtered in a process known as shechitah. Without the proper slaughtering practices even an otherwise kosher animal will be rendered treif. The slaughtering process is intended to be quick and relatively painless to the animal. Forbidden parts of animals include the blood, some fats, and the area in and around the sciatic nerve.
Halakha also forbids the consumption of meat and dairy products together. The waiting period between eating meat and eating dairy varies by the order in which they are consumed and by community and can extend for up to six hours. Based on the Biblical injunction against cooking a kid in its mother's milk, this rule is mostly derived from the Oral Torah, the Talmud and Rabbinic law. Chicken and other kosher birds are considered the same as meat under the laws of kashrut, but the prohibition is rabbinic, not biblical.
The use of dishes, serving utensils, and ovens may make food treif that would otherwise be kosher. Utensils that have been used to prepare non-kosher food, or dishes that have held meat and are now used for dairy products, render the food treif under certain conditions.
Furthermore, all Orthodox and some Conservative authorities forbid the consumption of processed grape products made by non-Jews, due to ancient pagan practices of using wine in rituals. Some Conservative authorities permit wine and grape juice made without rabbinic supervision.
The Torah does not give specific reasons for most of the laws of kashrut. However, a number of explanations have been offered, including maintaining ritual purity, teaching impulse control, encouraging obedience to God, improving health, reducing cruelty to animals and preserving the distinctness of the Jewish community. The various categories of dietary laws may have developed for different reasons, and some may exist for multiple reasons. For example, people are forbidden from consuming the blood of birds and mammals because, according to the Torah, this is where animal souls are contained. In contrast, the Torah forbids Israelites from eating non-kosher species because "they are unclean". The Kabbalah describes sparks of holiness that are released by the act of eating kosher foods but are too tightly bound in non-kosher foods to be released by eating.
Survival concerns supersede all the laws of kashrut, as they do for most halakhot.
The Tanakh describes circumstances in which a person who is tahor or ritually pure may become tamei or ritually impure. Some of these circumstances are contact with human corpses or graves, seminal flux, vaginal flux, menstruation, and contact with people who have become impure from any of these. In Rabbinic Judaism, Kohanim, members of the hereditary caste that served as priests in the time of the Temple, are mostly restricted from entering grave sites and touching dead bodies. During the Temple period, such priests (Kohanim) were required to eat their bread offering (Terumah) in a state of ritual purity, which laws eventually led to more rigid laws being enacted, such as hand-washing which became a requisite of all Jews before consuming ordinary bread.
An important subcategory of the ritual purity laws relates to the segregation of menstruating women. These laws are also known as niddah, literally "separation", or family purity. Vital aspects of halakha for traditionally observant Jews, they are not usually followed by Jews in liberal denominations.
Especially in Orthodox Judaism, the Biblical laws are augmented by Rabbinical injunctions. For example, the Torah mandates that a woman in her normal menstrual period must abstain from sexual intercourse for seven days. A woman whose menstruation is prolonged must continue to abstain for seven more days after bleeding has stopped. The Rabbis conflated ordinary niddah with this extended menstrual period, known in the Torah as zavah, and mandated that a woman may not have sexual intercourse with her husband from the time she begins her menstrual flow until seven days after it ends. In addition, Rabbinical law forbids the husband from touching or sharing a bed with his wife during this period. Afterwards, purification can occur in a ritual bath called a mikveh
Traditional Ethiopian Jews keep menstruating women in separate huts and, similar to Karaite practice, do not allow menstruating women into their temples because of a temple's special sanctity. Emigration to Israel and the influence of other Jewish denominations have led to Ethiopian Jews adopting more normative Jewish practices.
Two boys wearing tallit at a bar mitzvah. The torah is visible in the foreground.
Life-cycle events
Life-cycle events, or rites of passage, occur throughout a Jew's life that serves to strengthen Jewish identity and bind him/her to the entire community:
Brit milah – Welcoming male babies into the covenant through the rite of circumcision on their eighth day of life. The baby boy is also given his Hebrew name in the ceremony. A naming ceremony intended as a parallel ritual for girls, named zeved habat or brit bat, enjoys limited popularity.
Bar mitzvah and Bat mitzvah – This passage from childhood to adulthood takes place when a female Jew is twelve and a male Jew is thirteen years old among Orthodox and some Conservative congregations. In the Reform movement, both girls and boys have their bat/bar mitzvah at age thirteen. This is often commemorated by having the new adults, male only in the Orthodox tradition, lead the congregation in prayer and publicly read a "portion" of the Torah.
Marriage – Marriage is an extremely important lifecycle event and an ideal human state. A wedding takes place under a chuppah, or wedding canopy, which symbolizes a happy house. At the end of the ceremony, the groom breaks a glass with his foot, symbolizing the continuous mourning for the destruction of the Temple, and the scattering of the Jewish people. An intermarriage is prohibited, except as within Reform Judaism:
Divorce – Divorce is allowed in accordance with Halakha. The divorce ceremony involves the husband giving the short get document written in Aramaic into the hand of the wife in rabbinical court, that is all. But, since the 11th century among the Ashkenazim and many Sephardim a divorce became prohibited against will of a wife, than a man had way for polygamy. The get contains declaration: "You are hereby permitted to all men."
The Bereavement (Yahrtzeit) Hasidic tish, Bnei Brak, Israel
Death and Mourning (Avelut) – The Torah requires burial as soon as possible, even for executed criminals. Judaism has a multi-staged mourning practice. The first stage is called the shiva (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. A cremation within Orthodox Judaism permitted only by some leading rabbis in West Europe.
The role of the priesthood in Judaism has significantly diminished since 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 any but ceremonial duties, they are still honoured in many Jewish communities. Many Orthodox Jewish communities believe that they will be needed again for a future Third Temple and need to remain in readiness for future duty:
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 and ceremonies, including the ceremony of redemption of the first-born.
Levi (Levite) – Patrilineal descendant of Levi the son of Jacob. In the Temple in Jerusalem, the levites sang Psalms, performed construction, maintenance, janitorial, and guard duties, assisted the priests, and sometimes interpreted the law and Temple ritual to the public. Today, a Levite is called up second to the reading of the Torah.
From the time of the Mishnah and Talmud to the present, Judaism has required specialists or authorities for the practice of very few rituals or ceremonies. A Jew can fulfill 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 Jews.
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. This role requires ordination by the congregation's preferred authority (i.e., from a respected Orthodox rabbi or, if the congregation is Conservative or Reform, from academic seminaries). 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 kriyah (see below).
Hassidic Rebbe – rabbi who is the head of a Hasidic dynasty.
Hazzan (note: the "h" denotes voiceless pharyngeal fricative) (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 sometimes, but not always, filled by a rabbi or hazzan in many congregations. In other congregations these roles are filled on an ad-hoc basis by members of the congregation who lead portions of services on a rotating basis:
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 reciting the prayers clearly may act as shatz. In Orthodox congregations and some Conservative congregations, only men can be prayer leaders, but all Progressive communities now allow women to serve in this function.
The Baal kriyah or baal koreh (master of the reading) reads the weekly Torah portion. The requirements for being the baal kriyah are the same as those for the shatz. These roles are not mutually exclusive. The same person is often qualified to fill more than one role and often does. Often there are several people capable of filling these roles and different services (or parts of services) will be led by each.
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 honour. Since the Enlightenment large synagogues have often adopted the practice of hiring rabbis and hazzans to act as shatz and baal kriyah, and this is still typically the case in many Conservative and Reform congregations. However, in most Orthodox synagogues these positions are filled by laypeople on a rotating or ad-hoc basis. Although most congregations hire one or more Rabbis, the use of a professional hazzan is generally declining in American congregations, and the use of professionals for other offices is rarer still.
Dayan (judge) – An ordained rabbi with special legal training who belongs to a beth din (rabbinical court). In Israel, religious courts handle marriage and divorce cases, conversion and financial disputes in the Jewish community.
Mohel (circumciser) – An expert in the laws of circumcision who has received training from a previously qualified mohel and performs the brit milah (circumcision).
Shochet (ritual slaughterer) – In order for meat to be kosher, it must be slaughtered by a shochet who is an expert in the laws of kashrut and has been trained by another shochet.
Sofer (scribe) – Torah scrolls, tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot (scrolls put on doorposts), and gittin (bills of divorce) must be written by a sofer who is an expert in Hebrew calligraphy and has undergone rigorous training in the laws of writing sacred texts.
Mashgiach/Mashgicha of a yeshiva – Depending on which yeshiva, might either be the person responsible for ensuring attendance and proper conduct, or even supervise the emotional and spiritual welfare of the students and give lectures on mussar (Jewish ethics).
Mashgiach/Mashgicha – Supervises manufacturers of kosher food, importers, caterers and restaurants to ensure that the food is kosher. Must be an expert in the laws of kashrut and trained by a rabbi, if not a rabbi himself or herself.
Historical Jewish groupings (to 1700)
Around the 1st century CE, 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"). The Sadducees rejected the divine inspiration of the Prophets and the Writings, relying only on the Torah as divinely inspired. Consequently, a number of other core tenets of the Pharisees' belief system (which became the basis for modern Judaism), were also dismissed by the Sadducees. (The Samaritans practiced a similar religion, which is traditionally considered separate from Judaism.)
Like the Sadducees who relied only on the Torah, some Jews in the 8th and 9th centuries rejected the authority and divine inspiration of the oral law as recorded in the Mishnah (and developed by later rabbis in the two Talmuds), relying instead 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 Karaite 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 a long time, Jews formed distinct ethnic groups in several different geographic areas—amongst others, the Ashkenazi Jews (of central and Eastern Europe), the Sephardi Jews (of Spain, Portugal, and North Africa), the Beta Israel of Ethiopia, the Yemenite Jews from the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and the Malabari and Cochin Jews from Kerala . Many of these groups have developed differences in their prayers, traditions and accepted canons; however, these distinctions are mainly the result of their being formed at some cultural distance from normative (rabbinic) Judaism, rather than based on any doctrinal dispute.
This was different in quality from the repressions of Jews which had occurred in ancient times. Ancient repressions were politically motivated and Jews were treated the same as members of other ethnic groups. With the rise of the Churches, the main motive for attacks on Jews changed from politics to religion and the religious motive for such attacks was specifically derived from Christian views about Jews and Judaism. During the Middle Ages, Jewish people who lived under Muslim rule generally experienced tolerance and integration, but there were occasional outbreaks of violence like Almohad's persecutions.
Hasidic Judaism was founded by Yisroel ben Eliezer (1700–1760), also known as the Ba'al Shem Tov (or Besht). It originated in a time of persecution of the Jewish people when European Jews had turned inward to Talmud study; many felt that most expressions of Jewish life had become too "academic", and that they no longer had any emphasis on spirituality or joy. Its adherents favoured small and informal gatherings called Shtiebel, which, in contrast to a traditional synagogue, could be used both as a place of worship and for celebrations involving dancing, eating, and socializing. Ba'al Shem Tov's disciples attracted many followers; they themselves established numerous Hasidic sects across Europe. Unlike other religions, which typically expanded through word of mouth or by use of print, Hasidism spread largely owing to Tzadiks, who used their influence to encourage others to follow the movement. Hasidism appealed to many Europeans because it was easy to learn, did not require full immediate commitment, and presented a compelling spectacle. Hasidic Judaism eventually became the way of life for many Jews in Eastern Europe. Waves of Jewish immigration in the 1880s carried it to the United States. The movement itself claims to be nothing new, but a refreshment of original Judaism. As some have put it: "they merely re-emphasized that which the generations had lost". Nevertheless, 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 Misnagdim, (lit. "opponents"). Some of the reasons for the rejection of Hasidic Judaism were the exuberance of Hasidic worship, its deviation from tradition in ascribing infallibility and miracles to their leaders, and the concern that it might become a messianic sect. Over time differences between the Hasidim and their opponents have slowly diminished and both groups are now considered part of Haredi 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 and Western 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 through reason. With the promise of political emancipation, many Jews saw no reason to continue to observe halakha and increasing numbers of Jews assimilated into Christian Europe. Modern religious movements of Judaism all formed in reaction to this trend.
In Central Europe, followed by Great Britain and the United States, Reform (or Liberal) Judaism developed, relaxing legal obligations (especially those that limited Jewish relations with non-Jews), emulating Protestant decorum in prayer, and emphasizing the ethical values of Judaism's Prophetic tradition. Modern Orthodox Judaism developed in reaction to Reform Judaism, by leaders who argued that Jews could participate in public life as citizens equal to Christians while maintaining the observance of halakha. Meanwhile, in the United States, wealthy Reform Jews helped European scholars, who were Orthodox in practice but critical (and skeptical) in their study of the Bible and Talmud, to establish a seminary to train rabbis for immigrants from Eastern Europe. These left-wing Orthodox rabbis were joined by right-wing Reform rabbis who felt that halakha should not be entirely abandoned, to form the Conservative movement. Orthodox Jews who opposed the Haskalah formed Haredi Orthodox Judaism. After massive movements of Jews following The Holocaust and the creation of the state of Israel, these movements have competed for followers from among traditional Jews in or from other countries.
Spectrum of observance
Judaism is practiced around the world. This is an 1889 siddur published in Hebrew and Marathi for use by the Bene Israel community
Jewish religious practice varies widely through all levels of observance. According to the 2001 edition of the National Jewish Population Survey, in the United States' Jewish community—the world's second largest—4.3 million Jews out of 5.1 million 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 congregation, and fewer than 16% attend regularly.
Christianity was originally a sect of Second Temple Judaism, but the two religions diverged in the first century. The differences between Christianity and Judaism originally centered on whether Jesus was the Jewish Messiah but eventually became irreconcilable. Major differences between the two faiths include the nature of the Messiah, of atonement and sin, the status of God's commandments to Israel, and perhaps most significantly of the nature of God himself. Due to these differences, Judaism traditionally regards Christianity as Shituf or worship of the God of Israel which is not monotheistic. Christianity has traditionally regarded Judaism as obsolete with the invention of Christianity and Jews as a people replaced by the Church, though a Christian belief in dual-covenant theology emerged as a phenomenon following Christian reflection on how their theology influenced the Nazi Holocaust.
We decree that no Christian shall use violence to force them to be baptized, so long as they are unwilling and refuse.…Without the judgment of the political authority of the land, no Christian shall presume to wound them or kill them or rob them of their money or change the good customs that they have thus far enjoyed in the place where they live."
Until their emancipation in the late 18th and the 19th century, Jews in Christian lands were subject to humiliating legal restrictions and limitations. They included provisions requiring Jews to wear specific and identifying clothing such as the Jewish hat and the yellow badge, restricting Jews to certain cities and towns or in certain parts of towns (ghettos), and forbidding Jews to enter certain trades (for example selling new clothes in medieval Sweden). Disabilities also included special taxes levied on Jews, exclusion from public life, restraints on the performance of religious ceremonies, and linguistic censorship. Some countries went even further and completely expelled Jews, for example, England in 1290 (Jews were readmitted in 1655) and Spain in 1492 (readmitted in 1868). The first Jewish settlers in North America arrived in the Dutch colony of New Amsterdam in 1654; they were forbidden to hold public office, open a retail shop, or establish a synagogue. When the colony was seized by the British in 1664 Jewish rights remained unchanged, but by 1671 Asser Levy was the first Jew to serve on a jury in North America. In 1791, Revolutionary France was the first country to abolish disabilities altogether, followed by Prussia in 1848. Emancipation of the Jews in the United Kingdom was achieved in 1858 after an almost 30-year struggle championed by Isaac Lyon Goldsmid with the ability of Jews to sit in parliament with the passing of the Jews Relief Act 1858. The newly created German Empire in 1871 abolished Jewish disabilities in Germany, which were reinstated in the Nuremberg Laws in 1935.
Jewish life in Christian lands was marked by frequent blood libels, expulsions, forced conversions and massacres. Religious prejudice was an underlying source against Jews in Europe. Christian rhetoric and antipathy towards Jews developed in the early years of Christianity and was reinforced by ever increasing anti-Jewish measures over the ensuing centuries. The action taken by Christians against Jews included acts of violence, and murder culminating in the Holocaust. These attitudes were reinforced by Christian preaching, in art and popular teaching for two millennia which expressed contempt for Jews, as well as statutes which were designed to humiliate and stigmatise Jews. The Nazi Party was known for its persecution of Christian Churches; many of them, such as the Protestant Confessing Church and the Catholic Church, as well as Quakers and Jehovah's Witnesses, aided and rescued Jews who were being targeted by the antireligious régime.
The attitude of Christians and Christian Churches toward the Jewish people and Judaism have changed in a mostly positive direction since World War II. Pope John Paul II and the Catholic Church have "upheld the Church's acceptance of the continuing and permanent election of the Jewish people" as well as a reaffirmation of the covenant between God and the Jews. In December 2015, the Vatican released a 10,000-word document that, among other things, stated that Catholics should work with Jews to fight antisemitism.
Both Judaism and Islam track their origins from the patriarch Abraham, and they are therefore considered Abrahamic religions. In both Jewish and Muslim tradition, the Jewish and Arab peoples are descended from the two sons of Abraham—Isaac and Ishmael, respectively. While both religions are monotheistic and share many commonalities, they differ based on the fact that Jews do not consider Jesus or Muhammad to be prophets. The religions' adherents have interacted with each other since the 7th century when Islam originated and spread in the Arabian peninsula. Indeed, the years 712 to 1066 CE under the Ummayad and the Abbasid rulers have been called the Golden age of Jewish culture in Spain. Non-Muslim monotheists living in these countries, including Jews, were known as dhimmis. Dhimmis were allowed to practice their own religions and administer their own internal affairs, but they were subject to certain restrictions that were not imposed on Muslims. For example, they had to pay the jizya, a per capita tax imposed on free adult non-Muslim males, and they were also forbidden to bear arms or testify in court cases involving Muslims. Many of the laws regarding dhimmis were highly symbolic. For example, dhimmis in some countries were required to wear distinctive clothing, a practice not found in either the Qur'an or the hadiths but invented in early medievalBaghdad and inconsistently enforced. Jews in Muslim countries were not entirely free from persecution—for example, many were killed, exiled or forcibly converted in the 12th century, in Persia, and by the rulers of the Almohad dynasty in North Africa and Al-Andalus, as well as by the Zaydi imams of Yemen in the 17th century (see: Mawza Exile). At times, Jews were also restricted in their choice of residence—in Morocco, for example, Jews were confined to walled quarters (mellahs) beginning in the 15th century and increasingly since the early 19th century.
In the mid-20th century, Jews were expelled from nearly all of the Arab countries. Most have chosen to live in Israel. Today, antisemitic themes including Holocaust denial have become commonplace in the propaganda of Islamic movements such as Hizbullah and Hamas, in the pronouncements of various agencies of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and even in the newspapers and other publications of Refah Partisi.
Syncretic movements incorporating Judaism
There are some movements in other religions that include elements of Judaism. Among Christianity these are a number of denominations of ancient and contemporary Judaizers. The most well-known of these is Messianic Judaism, a religious movement, which arose in the 1960s, In this, elements of the messianic traditions in Judaism, are incorporated in, and melded with the tenets of Christianity. The movement generally states that Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, that he is one of the Three Divine Persons, and that salvation is only achieved through acceptance of Jesus as one's savior. Some members of Messianic Judaism argue that it is a sect of Judaism. Jewish organizations of every denomination reject this, stating that Messianic Judaism is a Christian sect, because it teaches creeds which are identical to those of Pauline Christianity, and because the conditions for Messiah to have come accordingly within traditional Jewish thought have not yet been met. Another religious movement is the Black Hebrew Israelite group, which not to be confused with less syncretic Black Judaism (a constellation of movements which, depending on their adherence to normative Jewish tradition, receive varying degrees of recognition by the broader Jewish community).
On the other hand, proponents of classical Orthodox Judaism such as Neturei Karta and similar groups strongly oppose the growing accommodation to political Zionism by Haredi Jewish groups such as Agudat Yisrael; a previously anti-Zionist proponent of Orthodox Haredi Judaism whom the Neturei Karta see as betrayal by the Agudat Yisrael against the Orthodoxy, in the belief that Judaism should never be conflated with the politics of Zionism.
Fried, Yerachmiel (18 August 2011). "What is Torah?". Aish. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
"Bamidbar Rabah". sefaria.org. sefaria. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
Heribert Busse (1998). Islam, Judaism, and Christianity: Theological and Historical Affiliations. Markus Wiener Publishers. pp. 63–112. ISBN978-1-55876-144-5.
Cambridge University Historical Series, An Essay on Western Civilization in Its Economic Aspects, p.40: Hebraism, like Hellenism, has been an all-important factor in the development of Western Civilization; Judaism, as the precursor of Christianity, has indirectly had had much to do with shaping the ideals and morality of western nations since the christian era.
See, for example, Deborah Dash Moore, American Jewish Identity Politics, University of Michigan Press, 2008, p. 303; Ewa Morawska, Insecure Prosperity: Small-Town Jews in Industrial America, 1890–1940, Princeton University Press, 1999. p. 217; Peter Y. Medding, Values, interests and identity: Jews and politics in a changing world, Volume 11 of Studies in contemporary Jewry, Oxford University Press, 1995, p. 64; Ezra Mendelsohn, People of the city: Jews and the urban challenge, Volume 15 of Studies in contemporary Jewry, Oxford University Press, 1999, p. 55; L. Sandy Maisel, Ira Forman, eds., Jews in American politics: essays, Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, p. 158; Seymour Martin Lipset, American Exceptionalism: A Double-Edged Sword, W.W. Norton & Company, 1997, p. 169.
Shaye J.D. Cohen 1999 The Beginnings of Jewishness: Boundaries, Varieties, Uncertainties University of California Press. 105–106
"He anon renouncyd his Iudaisme or Moysen Lawe, And was cristenyd, and lyued after as a Cristen Man." (Robert Fabian, New Chronicles of England and France, reprint London 1811, p. 334.)
Robin, Christian Julien (2021). "Judaism in pre-Islamic Arabia". In Ackerman-Lieberman, Phillip Isaac (ed.). The Cambridge history of Judaism. Cambridge: Cambridge university press. ISBN978-0-521-51717-1.
Neusner, Jacob (2003). "Defining Judaism". In Neusner, Jacob; Avery-Peck, Alan (eds.). The Blackwell companion to Judaism. Blackwell. p. 3. ISBN978-1-57718-059-3. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 22 August 2010.
Gen. 17:3–8Genesis 17: 3–8: Abram fell facedown, and God said to him, "As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your God and the God of your descendants after you. The whole land of Canaan, where you are now an alien, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their God;" Gen. 22:17–18 Genesis 22: 17–18: I will surely bless you and make your descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore. Your descendants will take possession of the cities of their enemies, and through your offspring, all nations on earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed me."
Exodus 20:3 "You shall have no other gods before me; Deut. 6:5Deuteronomy 6:5 "Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength."
Lev. 19:18Leviticus 19:18: "'Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against one of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord"
Kadushin, Max, 1972 The Rabbinic Mind. New York: Bloch Publishing Company. p. 194
Kadushin, Max, 1972 The Rabbinic Mind. New York: Bloch Publishing Company. p. 203
The Books of Melachim (Kings) and Book of Yeshaiahu (Isaiah) in the Tanakh contain a few of the many Biblical accounts of Israelite kings and segments of ancient Israel's population worshiping other gods. For example: King Solomon's "wives turned away his heart after other gods… did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD, and went not fully after the LORD" (elaborated in 1 Melachim 11:4–10); King Ahab "went and served Baal, and worshiped him…And Ahab made the Asherah ; and Ahab did yet more to provoke the LORD, the God of Israel, than all the kings of Israel that were before him" (1 Melachim 16:31–33); the prophet Isaiah condemns the people who "prepare a table for Fortune, and that offer mingled wine in full measure unto Destiny" (Yeshaiahu 65:11–12). Translation: JPS (Jewish Publication Society) edition of the Tanakh, from 1917, available at Mechon MamreArchived 12 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
Septimus, Daniel. "Must a Jew Believe in God?". My Jewish Learning. 70 / Faces Media. Archived from the original on 25 April 2019. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
Steinberg, Milton 1947 Basic Judaism New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. p. 36
Queen II, Edward L.; Prothero, Stephen R.; Shattuck Jr., Gardiner H. (1996). The Encyclopedia of American Religious History. Vol. 2. New York: Proseworks. p. 485. ISBN0-8160-3545-8.
Rabbi S. of Montpelier, Yad Rama, Y. Alfacher, Rosh Amanah.
"Maimonides' 13 Foundations of Judaism". Mesora. Archived from the original on 23 April 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2009. However if he rejects one of these fundamentals he leaves the nation and is a denier of the fundamentals and is called a heretic, a denier, etc.
Rabbi Mordechai Blumenfeld (9 May 2009). "Maimonides, 13 Principles of Faith". Aish HaTorah. Archived from the original on 27 September 2019. Retrieved 13 August 2009. According to the Rambam, their acceptance defines the minimum requirement necessary for one to relate to the Almighty and His Torah as a member of the People of Israel
"What Do Jews Believe?". Mechon Mamre. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2009. The closest that anyone has ever come to creating a widely accepted list of Jewish beliefs is Maimonides' thirteen principles of faith.
The JPS guide to Jewish traditions, p. 510, "The one that eventually secured almost universal acceptance was the Thirteen Principles of faith"
Rietti, Rabbi Jonathan. "How Do You Know the Exodus Really Happened?". Archived from the original on 18 September 2004. The word "emunah" has been translated incorrectly by the King James Bible as merely "belief" or "faith", when in actuality, it means conviction, which is a much more emphatic knowledge of God based on experience.
The Prayer book: Weekday, Sabbath, and Festival translated and arranged by Ben Zion Bokser. New York: Hebrew Publishing Company. pp. 9–10
Kadushin, Max 1972 The Rabbinic Mind New York: Bloch Publishing. p. 213
Neusner, Jacob 2003 Invitation to the Talmud Stipf and Son, Oregon xvii–xxii
Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in Critical Inquiry, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), p. 151.
Neusner, Jacob 2003 Invitation to the Talmud Stipf and Son, Oregon xvii-vix; Steinsaltz, Adin 1976 The Essential Talmud New York: Basic Books. 3–9; Strack, Hermann 1980 Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud New York: Atheneum. 95; Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in Critical Inquiry, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), pp. 132–161
Stern, David "Midrash and Indeterminacy" in Critical Inquiry, Vol. 15, No. 1 (Autumn, 1988), p. 147.
Cohen, Abraham 1949 Everyman's Talmud New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. xxiv; Strack, Hermann 1980 Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud New York: Atheneum. 95
Cohen, Abraham 1949 Everyman's Talmud New York: E.P. Dutton & Co. xxiv; Steinsaltz, Adin 1976 The Essential Talmud New Yorki: Basic Books. 222; Strack, Hermann 1980 Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud New York: Atheneum. 95
Strack, Hermann 1980 Introduction to the Midrash and Talmud New York: Atheneum. p. 95
סדור רינת ישראל לבני חוײל Jerusalem: 1974, pp. 38–39
Chief Rabbi Sir Jonathan Sacks, 2006 The Koren Sacks Siddur: Hebrew/English Prayer Book: The Authorized Daily Prayer Book of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth London: Harper Collins Publishers pp. 54–55
Nosson Scherman 2003 The Complete Artscroll Siddur Third Edition Brooklyn, NY: Mesorah Publications pp. 49–53
Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, Nissen Mangel, 2003 Siddur Tehillat Hashem Kehot Publication Society. pp. 24–25
Boyarin, Daniel (1994). "Introduction". A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity. Berkeley: University of California Press. pp. 13–38. ISBN978-0-520-08592-3. LCCN93036269. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 15 June 2006. Paul was motivated by a Hellenistic desire for the One, which among other things produced an ideal of a universal human essence, beyond difference and hierarchy. This universal humanity, however, was predicated (and still is) on the dualism of the flesh and the spirit, such that while the body is particular, marked through practice as Jew or Greek, and through anatomy as male or female, the spirit is universal. Paul did not, however, reject the body—as did, for instance, the gnostics—but rather promoted a system whereby the body had its place, albeit subordinated to the spirit. Paul's anthropological dualism was matched by a hermeneutical dualism as well. Just as the human being is divided into a fleshy and a spiritual component, so also is language itself. It is composed of outer, material signs and inner, spiritual significations. When this is applied to the religious system that Paul inherited, the physical, fleshy signs of the Torah, of historical Judaism, are re-interpreted as symbols of that which Paul takes to be universal requirements and possibilities for humanity.
Boyarin, Daniel (1994). "Answering the Mail". A radical Jew: Paul and the politics of identity. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN978-0-520-08592-3. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2006. Jewishness disrupts the very categories of identity, because it is not national, not genealogical, not religious, but all of these, in dialectical tension with one another.
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"RABBI". www.jewishencyclopedia.com. Archived from the original on 10 October 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2023. After the foundation for a scientific treatment of Jewish history and religion had been laid by Leopold Zunz and his colaborers, a number of enthusiastic young rabbis, struggling against the most violent opposition, strove to bring about a reconciliation of rabbinism with the modern scientific spirit
Robert Gordis. "Torah MiSinai:Conservative Views". A Modern Approach to a Living Halachah. Masorti World. Archived from the original on 13 July 2007. The Torah is an emanation of God…This conception does not mean, for us, that the process of revelation consisted of dictation by God.
"Conservative Judaism". Jewlicious. 16 June 2005. Archived from the original on 3 December 2016. Retrieved 13 April 2009. We therefore understand this term as a metaphor to mean that the Torah is divine and that it reflects God's will.
^ Magid, Shaul (2005). "Jewish Renewal Movement" (PDF). In Jones, Lindsay (ed.). The Encyclopedia of Religion. Vol. 7 (2nd ed.). Farmington Hills, Mi: Macmillan Reference USA. pp. 4868–74. ISBN0-02-865740-3. Archived from the original on 7 April 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
Weiss, Ruchama; Brackman, Levi (9 December 2010). "Russia's Subbotnik Jews get rabbi". Israel Jewish Scene. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 22 August 2015.
Tabory, Ephraim (2004) . "Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel". In Goldscheider, Calvin; Neusner, Jacob (eds.). Social Foundations of Judaism (Reprint ed.). Eugene, Or: Wipf and Stock Publ. pp. 240–258. ISBN1-59244-943-3. Archived from the original on 24 June 2023. Retrieved 24 June 2023.
Chaya Shuchat (25 June 2015). "The Kosher Pig?". Archived from the original on 23 March 2010. Retrieved 1 November 2009. It is also the most quintessentially "treif" of animals, with its name being nearly synonymous with non-kosher…Although far from alone in the litany of non-kosher animals, the pig seems to stand in a class of its own.
Jewish life in WWII EnglandArchived 2 February 2010 at the Wayback Machine: "there was a…special dispensation…that allowed Jews serving in the armed services to eat "non-kosher" when no Jewish food was available; that deviation from halacha was allowed 'in order to save a human life including your own.'"
Y. Lichtenshtein M.A. "Weekly Pamphlet #805". Bar-Ilan University, Faculty of Jewish Studies, Rabbinical office. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2009. …certain prohibitions become allowed without a doubt because of lifethreatening circumstances, like for example eating non-kosher food
Sara E. Karesh; Mitchell M. Hurvitz (2005). Encyclopedia of Judaism. Infobase Publishing. pp. 444–. ISBN978-0-8160-6982-8. Archived from the original on 10 February 2023. Retrieved 5 April 2018. The Sadducees disappeared when the second Temple was destroyed in the year 70 C.E and Pharisaic Judaism became the preeminent Jewish sect.
Langmuir, Gavin (1993). History, religion, and antisemitism. University of California Press. ISBN978-0-520-07728-7.
R. Kendall Soulen, The God of Israel and Christian Theology, (Minneapolis: Fortress, 1996) ISBN978-0-8006-2883-3
Baskin, Judith R.; Seeskin, Kenneth (2010). The Cambridge Guide to Jewish History, Religion, and Culture. Cambridge University Press. p. 120. ISBN978-0-521-86960-7.
Gill, Anton (1994). An Honourable Defeat; A History of the German Resistance to Hitler. Heinemann Mandarin. 1995 paperback ISBN978-0-434-29276-9; p. 57
Gottfried, Ted (2001). Heroes of the Holocaust. Twenty-First Century Books. pp. 24–25. ISBN978-0-7613-1717-3. Retrieved 14 January 2017. Some groups that are known to have helped Jews were religious in nature. One of these was the Confessing Church, a Protestant denomination formed in May 1934, the year after Hitler became chancellor of Germany. One of its goals was to repeal the Nazi law "which required that the civil service would be purged of all those who were either Jewish or of partly Jewish descent." Another was to help those "who suffered through repressive laws, or violence." About 7,000 of the 17,000 Protestant clergy in Germany joined the Confessing Church. Much of their work has gone unrecognized, but two who will never forget them are Max Krakauer and his wife. Sheltered in sixty-six houses and helped by more than eighty individuals who belonged to the Confessing Church, they owe them their lives. German Catholic churches went out of their way to protect Catholics of Jewish ancestry. More inclusive was the principled stand taken by Catholic Bishop Clemens Count von Galen of Munster. He publicly denounced the Nazi slaughter of Jews and actually succeeded in having the problem halted for a short time.…Members of the Society of Friends—German Quakers working with organizations of Friends from other countries—were particularly successful in rescuing Jews.…Jehovah's Witnesses, themselves targeted for concentration camps, also provided help to Jews.
Bernard Lewis (June 1998). "Muslim Anti-Semitism". Middle East Quarterly: 43–49. Archived from the original on 25 June 2009. Retrieved 13 August 2009.
Feher, Shoshanah. Passing over Easter: Constructing the Boundaries of Messianic Judaism, Rowman Altamira, 1998, ISBN978-0-7619-8953-0, p. 140. "This interest in developing a Jewish ethnic identity may not be surprising when we consider the 1960s, when Messianic Judaism arose."
Ariel, Yaakov (2006). "Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism". In Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (eds.). Jewish and Christian Traditions. Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Vol. 2. Westport, CN: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 194. ISBN978-0-275-98714-5. LCCN2006022954. OCLC315689134. The Rise of Messianic Judaism. In the first phase of the movement, during the early and mid-1970s, Jewish converts to Christianity established several congregations at their own initiative. Unlike the previous communities of Jewish Christians, Messianic Jewish congregations were largely independent of control from missionary societies or Christian denominations, even though they still wanted the acceptance of the larger evangelical community.
^ Melton, J. Gordon, ed. (2005). "Messianic Judaism". Encyclopedia of Protestantism. Encyclopedia of World Religions. New York: Facts On File. p. 373. ISBN0-8160-5456-8. Messianic Judaism is a Protestant movement that emerged in the last half of the 20th century among believers who were ethnically Jewish but had adopted an Evangelical Christian faith.…By the 1960s, a new effort to create a culturally Jewish Protestant Christianity emerged among individuals who began to call themselves Messianic Jews.
Ariel, Yaakov (2006). "Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism". In Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (eds.). Jewish and Christian Traditions. Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Vol. 2. Westport, CN: Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 191. ISBN978-0-275-98714-5. LCCN2006022954. OCLC315689134. While Christianity started in the first century of the Common Era as a Jewish group, it quickly separated from Judaism and claimed to replace it; ever since the relationship between the two traditions has often been strained. But in the twentieth century groups of young Jews claimed that they had overcome the historical differences between the two religions and amalgamated Jewish identity and customs with the Christian faith.
Ariel, Yaakov (2006). "Judaism and Christianity Unite! The Unique Culture of Messianic Judaism". In Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (eds.). Jewish and Christian Traditions. Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Vol. 2. Westport, CN: Greenwood Publishing Group. pp. 194–195. ISBN978-0-275-98714-5. LCCN2006022954. OCLC315689134. When the term resurfaced in Israel in the 1940s and 1950s, it designated all Jews who accepted Christianity in its Protestant evangelical form. Missionaries such as the Southern Baptist Robert Lindsey noted that for Israeli Jews, the term nozrim, "Christians" in Hebrew, meant, almost automatically, an alien, hostile religion. Because such a term made it nearly impossible to convince Jews that Christianity was their religion, missionaries sought a more neutral term, one that did not arouse negative feelings. They chose Meshichyim, Messianic, to overcome the suspicion and antagonism of the term nozrim. Meshichyim as a term also had the advantage of emphasizing messianism as a major component of the Christian evangelical belief that the missions and communities of Jewish converts to Christianity propagated. It conveyed the sense of a new, innovative religion rather that [sic] an old, unfavorable one. The term was used in reference to those Jews who accepted Jesus as their personal savior, and did not apply to Jews accepting Roman Catholicism who in Israel have called themselves Hebrew Christians. The term Messianic Judaism was adopted in the United States in the early 1970s by those converts to evangelical Christianity who advocated a more assertive attitude on the part of converts towards their Jewish roots and heritage.
Ariel, Yaakov S. (2000). "Chapter 20: The Rise of Messianic Judaism". Evangelizing the chosen people: missions to the Jews in America, 1880–2000. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. p. 223. ISBN978-0-8078-4880-7. OCLC43708450. Retrieved 10 August 2010. Messianic Judaism, although it advocated the idea of an independent movement of Jewish converts, remained the offspring of the missionary movement, and the ties would never be broken. The rise of Messianic Judaism was, in many ways, a logical outcome of the ideology and rhetoric of the movement to evangelize the Jews as well as its early sponsorship of various forms of Hebrew Christian expressions. The missions have promoted the message that Jews who had embraced Christianity were not betraying their heritage or even their faith but were actually fulfilling their true Jewish selves by becoming Christians. The missions also promoted the dispensationalist idea that the Church equals the body of the true Christian believers and that Christians were defined by their acceptance of Jesus as their personal Savior and not by their affiliations with specific denominations and particular liturgies or modes of prayer. Missions had been using Jewish symbols in their buildings and literature and called their centers by Hebrew names such as Emanuel or Beth Sar Shalom. Similarly, the missions' publications featured Jewish religious symbols and practices such as the lighting of a menorah. Although missionaries to the Jews were alarmed when they first confronted the more assertive and independent movement of Messianic Judaism, it was they who were responsible for its conception and indirectly for its birth. The ideology, rhetoric, and symbols they had promoted for generations provided the background for the rise of a new movement that missionaries at first rejected as going too far but later accepted and even embraced.
"What are the Standards of the UMJC?". Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations. June 1998. Archived from the original on 20 October 2015. Retrieved 3 May 2015. 1. We believe the Bible is the inspired, the only infallible, authoritative Word of G-d. 2. We believe that there is one G-d, eternally existent in three persons, Father, Son and Holy Spirit. 3. We believe in the deity of the L-RD Yeshua, the Messiah, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
Israel b. Betzalel (2009). "Trinitarianism". JerusalemCouncil.org. Archived from the original on 27 April 2009. Retrieved 3 July 2009. This then is who Yeshua is: He is not just a man, and as a man, he is not from Adam, but from God. He is the Word of HaShem, the Memra, the Davar, the Righteous One, he didn't become righteous, he is righteous. He is called God's Son, he is the agent of HaShem called HaShem, and he is "HaShem" who we interact with and not die.
"Do I need to be Circumcised?". JerusalemCouncil.org. 10 February 2009. Archived from the original on 6 August 2010. Retrieved 18 August 2010. To convert to the Jewish sect of HaDerech, accepting Yeshua as your King is the first act after one's heart turns toward HaShem and His Torah—as one can not obey a commandment of God if they first do not love God, and we love God by following his Messiah. Without first accepting Yeshua as the King and thus obeying Him, then getting circumcised for the purpose of Jewish conversion only gains you access to the Jewish community. It means nothing when it comes to inheriting a place in the World to Come....Getting circumcised apart from desiring to be obedient to HaShem, and apart from accepting Yeshua as your King, is nothing but a surgical procedure, or worse, could lead to you believe that Jewish identity grants you a portion in the World to Come—at which point, what good is Messiah Yeshua, the Word of HaShem to you? He would have died for nothing!...As a convert from the nations, part of your obligation in keeping the Covenant, if you are a male, is to get circumcised in fulfillment of the commandment regarding circumcision. Circumcision is not an absolute requirement of being a Covenant member (that is, being made righteous before HaShem, and thus obtaining eternal life), but it is a requirement of obedience to God's commandments, because circumcision is commanded for those who are of the seed of Abraham, whether born into the family, adopted, or converted....If after reading all of this you understand what circumcision is, and that is an act of obedience, rather than an act of gaining favor before HaShem for the purpose of receiving eternal life, then if you are male believer in Yeshua the Messiah for the redemption from death, the consequence of your sin of rebellion against Him, then pursue circumcision, and thus conversion into Judaism, as an act of obedience to the Messiah.
"Jewish Conversion – Giyur". JerusalemCouncil.org. 2009. Retrieved 5 February 2009. We recognize the desire of people from the nations to convert to Judaism, through HaDerech (The Way)(Messianic Judaism), a sect of Judaism.
Simmons, Shraga (9 May 2009). "Why Jews Don't Believe in Jesus". Aish HaTorah. Archived from the original on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2010. Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because: #Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies. #Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah. #Biblical verses "referring" to Jesus are mistranslations. #Jewish belief is based on national revelation.
Waxman, Jonathan (2006). "Messianic Jews Are Not Jews". United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism. Archived from the original on 28 June 2006. Retrieved 14 February 2007. Hebrew Christian, Jewish Christian, Jew for Jesus, Messianic Jew, Fulfilled Jew. The name may have changed over the course of time, but all of the names reflect the same phenomenon: one who asserts that s/he is straddling the theological fence between Christianity and Judaism, but in truth is firmly on the Christian side.…we must affirm as did the Israeli Supreme Court in the well-known Brother Daniel case that to adopt Christianity is to have crossed the line out of the Jewish community.
"Missionary Impossible". Hebrew Union College. 9 August 1999. Archived from the original on 28 September 2006. Retrieved 14 February 2007. Missionary Impossible, an imaginative video and curriculum guide for teachers, educators, and rabbis to teach Jewish youth how to recognize and respond to "Jews-for-Jesus," "Messianic Jews," and other Christian proselytizers, has been produced by six rabbinic students at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion's Cincinnati School. The students created the video as a tool for teaching why Jewish college and high school youth and Jews in intermarried couples are primary targets of Christian missionaries.
"FAQ's About Jewish Renewal". Aleph.org. 2007. Archived from the original on 23 October 2014. Retrieved 20 December 2007. What is ALEPH's position on so called messianic Judaism? ALEPH has a policy of respect for other spiritual traditions, but objects to deceptive practices and will not collaborate with denominations which actively target Jews for recruitment. Our position on so-called "Messianic Judaism" is that it is Christianity and its proponents would be more honest to call it that.
Seeman, Isadore. "Reconstructionist Judaism". Washington Post. Archived from the original on 24 April 2024. Retrieved 23 April 2024. In the 1930s Rabbi Mordecai Kaplan recognized that many Jews were losing interest in religious observance, except perhaps for the high holidays. As a cogent philosopher and the leader of a congregation in New York, Rabbi Kaplan began to evolve a fresh approach to Jewish belief and practice... The essence of Reconstructionism is that Judaism is not just a religion but an evolving religious civilization. Reconstructionists believe in the importance of music, art, dance, the Hebrew language, a dedication to the State of Israel and a sense of Jewish peoplehood...
"Neturei Karta". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Retrieved 8 April 2024. Neturei Karta (Aramaic: "Guardians of the City") is a group of Orthodox Jews which rejects Zionism and the establishment of the State of Israel. They believe that the true Israel can only be reestablished with the coming of the Messiah.
Harb, Ali. "'Anti-Zionism is antisemitism,' US House asserts in 'dangerous' resolution". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 8 April 2024. In the US, Palestinian rights supporters have long rejected conflations of Zionism with Judaism, noting that many Jewish Americans identify as anti-Zionist. "Opposing the policies of the government of Israel and Netanyahu's extremism is not antisemitic. Speaking up for human rights and a ceasefire to save lives should never be condemned," Palestinian American Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib said in a social media post on Tuesday, explaining her vote against the resolution.
Santos, Fernanda (15 January 2007). "New York Rabbi Finds Friends in Iran and Enemies at Home". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 8 April 2024. ... Rabbi Yisroel Dovid Weiss, spokesman and assistant director of a small anti-Zionist group with a foothold in this town in Rockland County, home to one of the nation's largest communities of Hasidic Jews... "we had to let the world know, especially the Arab world and the Muslim world, that we are not their enemies," he said in an interview, a Palestinian flag with the phrase "A Jew Not a Zionist," written in Hebrew, English and Arabic pinned to the lapel of his coat...
"Yeshayahu Leibowitz: Idol smasher or idol maker?". The Jerusalem Post | JPost.com. 22 June 2019. Retrieved 13 May 2024. Smashing idols was Leibowitz's mission. And there were many idols to smash: Reform Judaism, Jewish nationalism, Kabbalah, the mystical and messianic insights of Religious Zionism's Abraham Isaac Kook, the notion that the mitzvot are grounded in moral principles.
Greenberg, Joel (19 August 1994). "Yeshayahu Leibowitz, 91, Iconoclastic Israeli Thinker". The New York Times. ISSN0362-4331. Retrieved 13 May 2024. A staunch believer in the separation of state from religion, he argued that the blend of religion and politics in Israel corrupted the faith... He taught at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem for 36 years, lecturing in biochemistry, neurophysiology, philosophy and the history of science... A volume of his work was published in English under the title "Judaism, Human Values and the Jewish State" by Harvard University Press in 1992.
Finkelstein, Israel (1996). "Ethnicity and Origin of the Iron I Settlers in the Highlands of Canaan: Can the Real Israel Please Stand Up?" The Biblical Archaeologist, 59(4).
Lewis, Bernard (1999). Semites and Anti-Semites: An Inquiry into Conflict and Prejudice. W. W. Norton & Co. ISBN0-393-31839-7.
Mayer, Egon; Kosmin, Barry; Keysar, Ariela. "The American Jewish Identity Survey", a subset 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, 2 November 2001.
Nadler, Allan (1997). The Faith of the Mithnagdim: Rabbinic Responses to Hasidic Rapture. Johns Hopkins Jewish studies. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins University Press. ISBN978-0-8018-6182-6.
Neusner, Jacob (1993). Purity in Rabbinic Judaism. A Systematic Account of the Sources, Media, Effects, and Removal of Uncleanness. South Florida Studies in the History of Judaism, 95. Atlanta, Ga: Scholars Press. ISBN1-55540-929-6.
Simon, Reeva; Laskier, Michael; Reguer, Sara (eds.) (2002). The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa In Modern Times, New York: Columbia University Press.
Neusner, Jacob (2000). The Halakhah: An Encyclopaedia of the Law of Judaism. The Brill Reference Library of Judaism. Vol. 1–5. Leiden: Brill. ISBN90-04-11617-6.
Torah.org (also known as Project Genesis) – contains Torah commentaries and studies of Tanakh, along with Jewish ethics, philosophy, holidays and other classes.
The complete formatted Talmud online – audio files of lectures for each page from an Orthodox viewpoint are provided in French, English, Yiddish and Hebrew. Reload the page for an image of a page of the Talmud.
See also Torah database for links to more Judaism e-texts.
Wikimedia Torah study projects
Text study projects at Wikisource. In many instances, the Hebrew versions of these projects are more fully developed than the English.
Collection of Judaica (clockwise from top):
Sephardi style torah
Ashkenazi style torah
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Kohler, Kaufmann (1901–1906). "Judaism". In Singer, Isidore; et al. (eds.). The Jewish Encyclopedia. New York: Funk & Wagnalls.
