JUDAISM What is Judaism?
Judaism is the religion, philosophy, and way of life of the Jewish people Who are the Jews?
There are several terms that are often used to describe the followers of Judaism. And for the most part, the terms Hebrew, Israelite and Jew can all be considered synonyms since they merely describe groups of people from different times in the history of Judaism. Today the term Jew is used more broadly to refer to a member of a religious or cultural group Someone who practices the religion of Judaism is a Jew. Someone who comes from a Jewish background and shares in Jewish culture is also a Jew. According to traditional Jewish law, a Jew is either a person whose mother is Jewish or who has converted to the faith under the supervision of a rabbi.
Judaism is one of the world s oldest and most influential religious traditions Though Judaism has always had a relatively small number of adherents, the tradition has played an extremely important role in the development of Western and Near Eastern civilizations. The two largest religious traditions (Christianity and Islam) are both rooted in and founded upon Judaism
The origin and development of Judaism Two major eras in the origin and development of Judaism Biblical Judaism - Judaism before the destruc4on of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. Rabbinical Judaism - Judaism that developed a@er the destruc4on of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. The destruc4on of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. marked an important turning point in the development of Judaism in the sense that it forced a primarily priestly, ritualis4c, temple based religion to evolve into a decentralized tradi4on focussed on the interpreta4on and applica4on of scripture.
The heart of Judaism is really the story of a family of people and their dealings with God It s a cyclical story of promises, faith, devotion, wandering, disbelief, struggle and persecution
The Hebrew scriptures provide a redemptive history of the Jewish people and their dealings with God The people of Judaism are a people of the book
The Law (Torah) Genesis Exodus Levi4cus Numbers Deuteronomy The Prophets (Nebiyim) The Wri6ngs (Ketubiyim) An overview of the Hebrew scriptures According to the biblical account early Judaism is a story of promises, faith, devotion, persecution, struggles, and wandering. God s early promises to the Jews formed the lasting core of their religion. Faith in God s plan for them and devotion to his Law held the Jews together through times of peace, war, slavery, and suffering.
A few major moments in the history of Biblical Judaism The calling of father Abraham and God s promise to build a great people
The LORD had said to Abram, Leave your country, your people and your father's household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nacon and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. The book of Genesis Chapter 12 According to the Bible the first patriarch, or father, of the Hebrews was Abraham. God made a covenant with Abraham, promising that a great nation with its home in Canaan would descend from him.
I shall keep my covenant between me and you and your descendants after you through their generations as a perpetual Covenant, to be God to you and your descendants after you. I shall give you and your descendants after you the land where you are an alien, the whole land of Canaan, as a perpetual possession: I shall be God to them... Genesis 17 Moses and the Exodus of the Israelites
Slavery and suffering of the Israelites in the land of Egypt God s commandments and the establishment of a conditional covenant
You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles wings, and broght you to myself. Now, therefore, if you will obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be my own possession among all peoples; for all the earth is mine, and you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation... (Exodus 19) You have declared this day that the LORD is your God and that you will walk in his ways, that you will keep his decrees, commands and laws, and that you will obey him. And the LORD has declared this day that you are his people, his treasured possession as he promised, and that you are to keep all his commands. He has declared that he will set you in praise, fame and honor high above all the nations he has made and that you will be a people holy to the LORD your God, as he promised
What are the primary teachings of Biblical Judaism? The Torah introduces the ideas of promise, choice, covenant and law that run through the entire Hebrew Bible and are the foundations of Judaism
God gave (or revealed) 613 commandments to Moses on Mt. Sinai that are traditionally understood as being universal and binding for all time... The ten commandments set out the basic requirements for both the divine-human relationship as well as the various human-human relationships
The so-called ten commandments of Biblical Judaism... (1) You shall have no other gods before (or besides) me. (2) You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. you shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the thirds and fourth genera4on of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand genera4ons of those who love me and keep my commandments. The so-called ten commandments of Biblical Judaism... (3) You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. (4) Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The so-called ten commandments of Biblical Judaism... (5) Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (6) You shall not murder. (7) You shall not commit adultery. (8) You shall not steal. (9) You shall not give false tes4mony against your neighbor. (10)You shall not covet your neighbor's house. You shall not covet your neighbor's wife, or his manservant or maidservant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor. Ten commandments or ten categories of commandments?
The two tablets: duties to God and duties to people Judaism teaches that the first tablet, containing the first five declara4ons, iden4fies du6es regarding our rela6onship with God, while the second tablet, containing the last five declara4ons, iden4fies du6es regarding our rela6onship with other people. Although there is a kind of logical ordering, the two tablets are for the most part parallel and equal: du4es to God are not more important than du4es to people, nor are du4es to people more important than du4es to God. The two tablets: duties to God and duties to people (1) Belief in God (2) Prohibi4on of Improper Worship (3) Prohibi4on of False Oaths (4) Observance of Sacred Times (5) Respect for Parents and Teachers (6) Prohibi4on of Physically Harming a Person (7) Prohibi4on of Sexual Immorality (8) Prohibi4on on the@ (9) Prohibi4on of Harming a Person through Speech (10)Prohibi4on of Cove4ng
God s commandments are the written expression of his will for his people and provides a framework for the continued corporate covenant relationship between God and his people The overarching goal of all the commandments is the recognition of God s presence among his people and the sanctification of human life
Ultimately, what does God require of his people? To act justly, to love mercy and to walk humbly before your God... (Mic. 6:8)
Living with God dwelling among his people The Israelites enter the promised land of Canaan
Israel establishes a king and becomes a kingdom of nations God s permanent dwelling among his people
A few important practices of Biblical Judaism Sacrifice, atonement, prayer and repentance in God s presence
Sarcifice, atonement, prayer and repentance in God s presence About one hundred of the 613 commandments of the Torah concern animal sacrifices To offer all sacrifices in the Temple (Deuteronomy 12:11) Carry out the procedure of the burnt offering as prescribed in the Torah (Levi4cus 1:3) To offer only unblemished animals (Levi4cus 22:21) Every person must bring a sin offering for his transgression (Levi4cus 4:27) Worship was centered around the temple and its practice of animal sacrifice
How exactly are animal sacrifices supposed to play a role in atonement and forgiveness of sin? Sarcifice, atonement, prayer and repentance in God s presence Many books of the prophets in the Hebrew Bible, such as the Book of Isaiah and Book of Jeremiah, spoke out against those Israelites who brought forth sacrifices but did not act in accord with the precepts of the Torah The Prophets disparaged sacrifices that were offered without genuine repentance and a regenera4on of the heart- - that is, a determined turning from sin and returning to God by striving a@er righteousness
Return, Israel, to the LORD your God. Your sins have been your downfall! Take words with you and return to the LORD. Say to him: Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer our lips as sacrifices of bulls. The book of Hosea Chapter 14 With what shall I come before the LORD and bow down before the exalted God? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousand rivers of olive oil? Shall I offer my firstborn for my transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God. The book of Micah Chapter 6
The destruction of the second temple of Jerusalem by the Romans in AD 70 The Roman Empire assumed direct poli4cal control of much of Israel in 6 CE and ruled it with severity. A major revolt broke out in 66 CE, but Roman legions crushed it brutally in 70 CE, when they destroyed the temple and much of Jerusalem. The end of the Second Temple was a turning point for the Jewish faith, producing two major effects It ended the power of the priesthood, whose sacrificial rituals were no longer possible. It also forced the religion to develop in a new direc4on away from temple ritual, moving Judaism toward a central focus on scripture and scriptural interpreta4on.
Judaistic worship could no longer revolve round the Temple services and sacrifices. The destruction of the Temple led to a development of Judaism in the direction of text study, prayer, and personal observance. The development of rabbinical Judaism
A new focus and a few new interpretations The cannon of and interpreta6on of sacred scripture Once the temple- based worship had ben destroyed, it was necessary to clearly define which religious books cons4tuted sacraed canon Once the Hebrew scriptures were declared complete, the next logical development was their protec4on and explana4on Interpreta4on, called midrash ( seeking out ) became a central focus of Rabbinic Judaism Besides the Hebrew Bible, the Talmudic commentary is the second most important piece of Jewish literature
Maimonides rational interpretation of the sacrificial system An important interpretation about need for sacrifice Maimonides, a medieval Jewish scholar, drew on the early cri4ques of the need for sacrifice, taking the view that God always held sacrifice inferior to prayer and philosophical medita5on. God understood that the Israelites were used to the animal sacrifices that the surrounding pagan tribes used as the primary way to commune with their gods. As such, in Maimonides' view, it was only natural that Israelites would believe that sacrifice would be a necessary part of the rela4onship between God and man. Maimonides concludes that God's decision to allow sacrifices was a concession to human psychological limita4ons. It would have been too much to have expected the Israelites to leap from pagan worship to prayer and medita4on in one step.
But the custom which was in those days general among men, and the general mode of worship in which the Israelites were brought up consisted in sacrificing animals... It was in accordance with the wisdom and plan of God...that God did not command us to give up and to disconcnue all these manners of service. For to obey such a commandment would have been contrary to the nature of man, who generally cleaves to that to which he is used; it would in those days have made the same impression as a prophet would make at present [the 12th Century] if he called us to the service of God and told us in His name, that we should not pray to God nor fast, nor seek His help in Cme of trouble; that we should serve Him in thought, and not by any accon. Maimonides The Guide for the Perplexed For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and [I desire] acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings (Hosea 6:6)
The conserva6ve trend A few interpretative trends of rabbinical Judaism One interpre4ve trend understood the scriptures fairly strictly, using them primarily as a guide for ethical living. (e.g. the Talmudic tradi4on) The specula6ve trend Another trend interpreted the scriptures more specula4vely and mys4cally, understanding them as a way to learn more about the nature of God and the universe. (e.g. the Kabbalis4c tradi4on) The persecution, suffering, and national redemption of the Jews
Throughout history, the Jews were persecuted regularly Hitler and the holocaust ( complete burning ) of the Jews
Hitler and the holocaust of the Jews Once World War II was declared, Hitler began plans to exterminate all European Jews. Jews in countries under Nazi control were officially iden4fied, made to wear yellow stars in public, and eventually deported via train to concentra4on camps. Upon arrival at the camps, Jews were o@en divided into two groups: (1) those who were strong enough to work and (2) the rest mostly women, children, the sick, and the elderly who were to be killed immediately. The holocaust has left a shadow on civilization and a great scar on Judaism. About a third of the world s Jews were killed during the Holocaust. Their deaths, under such painful circumstances, raised haunting questions about the faith and future of Judaism.
Creation of the State of Israel in 1948 There is no official creed of rabbinical Judaism, but there are a set of central beliefs first formulated by Maimonides.
The central tenets of rabbinic Judaism Belief in God. God is one, formless, all- knowing, and eternal. God is master of the universe as its creator and judge. God is both loving and just. Belief in the words of the prophets. Belief that God gave the law to Moses. Belief that the Messiah, the savior to be sent by God, will come someday. Belief that there will be a resurrec4on of the good in the world to come.