The brief history, core teachings, fundamental beliefs, practices, and related issues of Judaism
This article is formerly titled “Judaism 101: What You Need to Know about this Abrahamaic Religion“.
As a religion, Judaism refers to the monotheistic religion of the Jews.
The following information are important in studying Judaism as a religion:
1. Judaism refers to the monotheistic religion of the Jews. Judaism is the name of the religious faith and set of practices that are shared by the Jewish people.
2. Shas refers to the Jewish sacred text Talmud. Shas is a Hebrew abbreviation for the expression ‘Shishah Sedarim’ or the six orders or parts into which the Mishnah is divided.
3. In its most limited sense, ‘Torah’ refers to (1) the Five Books of Moses (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy). But the term ‘torah’ can also be used to refer to (2) the whole Jewish bible, the body of scripture known to non-Jews as the ‘Old Testament’ and to Jews as the ‘Tanakh’ or Written Torah. In its broadest sense, ‘torah’ refers to (3) the whole body of Jewish law and teachings.
4. Being a ‘prophet’ in Judaism refers not just to the ability to see the future. Far more than just a person with the gift of prophecy, a ‘prophet’ is fundamentally a “spokesman for God, a person chosen by God to speak to people on God’s behalf and convey a message or teaching. Prophets were role models of holiness, scholarship and closeness to God. They set the standards for the entire community” (“Prophet,” n.d.).
5. The Mishnah or Mishna (which etymologically means “study by repetition”) is the first major written ‘redaction’ of the Jewish oral traditions known as the “Oral Torah.” Redaction means the process of editing text for publication. Mishnah is the first major work of Rabbinic literature.
6. Talmud (literally, “study”) is the generic term for the documents that comment and expand upon the Mishnah. It is “the comprehensive written version of the Jewish oral law and the subsequent commentaries on it. It originates from the 2nd century CE (“Talmud,” n.d.).
7. Some Jews, especially the Orthodox ones, make it part of their practice to study a page of the Talmud every single day. This is known as ‘Daf Yomi’ which is the Hebrew expression for ‘page of the day.’ One of its aims is to bring Jewish people together.
8. The so-called ‘Ten Commandments’ refer to the first ten of the 613 commandments given by God to the Israelites. These form the basis of Jewish morality, conduct, and social and religious responsibilities. These commandments are stated in order twice in the Torah, once each in Exodus and Deuteronomy.
9. The tradition that 613 is the number of commandments or ‘mitzvot’ in the Torah started in the 3rd century CE, when Jewish Rabbi Simlai mentioned it in a sermon that is recorded in Talmud Makkot 23b. These 613 being referred to are principles of Biblical law sometimes called connections or commandments (‘mitzvot’) and recognized collectively as the “Law of Moses,” “Mosaic Law,” “Sinaitic Law,” or simply “the Law”. The word ‘mitzvot’ is plural for the singular term ‘mitzvah.’
10. ‘Orthodox Judaism’ refers to the approach to religious Judaism which is distinguished by its keeping of the traditional forms of worship in the Hebrew language, and of the traditional observances as recommended by the Torah. In Orthodox synagogues, men and women sit separately, and women do not participate in some of the rituals.
11. ‘Conservative Judaism,’ on the other hand, adopts the practice of traditional Judaism while espousing some modernity. Developed during the twentieth century in the United States, it comes midway between Orthodoxy and Reform
12. ‘Reform Judaism’ (also called ‘Liberal Judaism’ or ‘Progressive Judaism’) is another major Jewish denomination which “emphasizes the evolving nature of the religion, the superiority of its ethical aspects to the ceremonial ones, and a belief in a continuous revelation not centered on the theophany at Mount Sinai” (“Reform Judaism,: n.d.). It is marked by a lesser emphasis on ritual and personal observance, treating Jewish Law as of essentially non-binding nature, and pronounced openness to external influences and progressive values. Having its greatest center today is in North America, Reform Judaism started in Germany in the 19th-century. Its early principles were framed by Rabbi Abraham Geiger and his associates.
13. ‘Anti-Semitism’ refers to hostility toward or discrimination against Jews as a religious or racial group. It is the hostile belief or behavior toward Jews just because they are Jewish. It may take the form of a religious teaching that states the assumed inferiority of Jews, for instance, or a political campaign to isolate, oppress, or otherwise injure them. It may also consist of prejudiced or stereotyped views about Jews.
14. The ‘Holocaust,’ as this systematic mass extermination between 1941 to1945 has become known, resulted in the death of about six million Jews. The victims in this genocide perpetrated by Hitler’s Nazi Germany and its collaborators included 1.5 million children and represented about two-thirds of the nine million Jews in Europe that time. The killings happened throughout Nazi Germany, German-occupied territories, and territories held by allies of Nazi Germany.
15.‘Zionism,’ on the other hand, generally refers to the national movement for the return of the Jewish people to their homeland, ‘Eretz Yisrael,’ or Zion, the Jewish synonym for Jerusalem and the Land of Israel. In 1890, the term ‘Zionism’ was coined by Nathan Birnbaum. The name ‘Zionism’ comes from the hill Zion, the hill on which the Temple of Jerusalem was situated. Followers of the movement are called ‘Zionists.’ … continue reading
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