Judaism: Core Beliefs, History, and Practices
Judaism
Two significant events in ancient Israel’s history between the 6th and 5th centuries BCE:
- Babylonian Exile
- Restoration of the Jews to Judah
Voluntarist and Non-Voluntarist Views
Voluntarist understanding of divine law positions the will to love God over intellect. This means that God commands you to do things, and you do them because you love Him and have faith, not because of any other interest or reason.
Non-voluntarist understanding of divine law positions intellect above the will to love God. You love God because of interest.
The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments in Deuteronomy begin with: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery.” Why?
To know who God is and why you should pay attention to Him. He sent Moses as a prophet, who, after seeing God in a burning bush, went back to Egypt to request the release of the Israelites. He then led the Israelites through the Red Sea to Mount Sinai, where God gave him the Ten Commandments. The enumeration starts this way.
Key Definitions
- Mishna: Expansion and development of the law given in the Tanakh.
- Purim: Festival celebrating the story of Esther and its “hidden miracle.”
- Torah: The divine law, especially that given to Moses.
- Yom Kippur: The “day of atonement.”
- Mitzvot: There are 613 of these divine commandments.
- Tanakh: The most sacred Jewish writing, what Christians call the “Old Testament.”
- Haggadah: Ritualized retelling of the Exodus story.
- Gemara: Commentary, expansion, and analysis of the Mishna.
- Halakha: The divine law taken as a whole.
- Talmud: There are two of these, compilations including both Mishna and Gemara.
- Avodah: Ritualized retelling of the temple sacrifices prescribed in the Tanakh.
The Amidah in Jewish Worship
How does the Amidah function in Jewish worship? What are some aspects of its practice?
The Amidah functions to concentrate on God rather than on oneself. It is a liturgical prayer that is recited in a standing position at each of the three daily services and consists of three opening blessings, three closing blessings, and one intermediate blessing on the Sabbath and holy days, and 13 intermediate blessings on other days.
Adaptation After the Temple’s Destruction
How did Judaism change and adapt after the destruction of the temple and of Jerusalem in the early Common Era?
Judaism changed from a location-based religion with animal sacrifices to a portable religion based on prayer, study, and acts of loving-kindness.
Denominations of Judaism
Orthodox Judaism
The approach to religious Judaism that adheres to the interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin (“Oral Torah”).
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism is a phrase that refers to various beliefs, practices, and organizations associated with it in North America, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. In general, Reform Judaism maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and compatible with participation in the surrounding culture. This means many branches of Reform Judaism hold that Jewish law should undergo a process of critical evaluation and renewal.
Conservative Judaism
A branch of Judaism that adheres to most traditional beliefs and practices but permits some adaptation to the contemporary world. The branch of Judaism that allows for modifications in Jewish law when authorized by the Conservative rabbinate.