JUDAISM

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JUDAISM

• DEFINITION, HISTORY, BELIEFS, SACRED TEXTS,
  SECTS-DENOMINATIONS, RITES AND OBSERVANCES,
  GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION, VOCABULARY

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DEFINITION

• The word Judaism has two meanings. It can mean
  the civilization of the Jews, the culture of
  those who claim to be Jews or whom others call
  Jewish. And it can also mean the religion of the
  Jews.

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HISTORY

• IMPORTANCE, HISTORICAL CONTEXT, BIBLICAL JUDAISM,
  THE PATRIARCHS, MOSES AND SINAI, CANAAN AND THE
  JUDGES, UNITED MONARCHY, DIVIDED MONARCHY, THE
  HASMONEAN KINGDOM, THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE,
  RABBINICAL JUDAISM, FALL OF ROME, EARLY MIDDLE
  AGES, THE CRUSADES, EXPULSION, ENLIGHTENMENT,
  HOLOCAUST

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IMPORTANCE

• History is of great importance in Judaism. It is
  significant that whereas the sacred texts of most
  ancient religions focus on myths and
  philosophical concepts, the Jewish sacred text is
  centered around historical narrative.

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• Judaism traces its history back to the creation
  of mankind, but the explicitly Jewish historical
  origins begin with Abraham and the Hebrews.
• According to the Torah, Abraham's home was the
  northern Mesopotamian town of Haran.

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HISTORICAL CONTEXT

• From there, he migrated to the region of Canaan,
  which is roughly equivalent to modern Israel and
  Lebanon.
• For a time the Hebrews lived in servitude in
  Egypt, then returned to Canaan.

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BIBLICAL JUDAISM

• The period of Jewish history designated by some
  historians as "Biblical Judaism" (as
  distinguished from Rabbinical Judaism).
• Biblical Judaism represents the centuries covered
  by the narratives of the Tanakh (sacred
  scriptures), from the creation and primitive
  history of mankind to the last of the prophets in
  the 4th century BCE.

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BIBLICAL JUDAISM

• The Tanakh follows the Hebrew nation as it
  experiences cycles of favor and discipline by
  God.
• God establishes successive covenants with
  humanity (Adam, Noah and Abraham) and issues an
  extensive set of laws (through Moses) by which
  the Hebrews are to be set apart as God's people.

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BIBLICAL JUDAISM

• When they stray, God sends prophets and invading
  armies to bring them back to himself.
• "It is this particular claim-to have experienced
  God's presence in human events-and its subsequent
  development that is the differentiating factor in
  Jewish thought."

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THE PATRIARCHS

• The biblical book of Genesis (from the Greek,
  meaning beginning) begins with a single,
  all-powerful God creating the world out of chaos
  in six days, with human beings created on the
  sixth day.
• Genesis goes on to chronicle an ancient history
  in which mankind repeatedly turns away from God
  and to immorality until God destroys the earth
  with a flood.

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THE PATRIARCHS

• God then makes a covenant with Noah, the one man
  saved from the flood (8 with wife, 3 sons, and
  their wives, that he will never destroy the earth
  again.

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PATRIARCHS

• The specifically Hebrew element of biblical
  history begins with Abraham (c. 2100 BCE), who is
  considered the founder of the Jewish religion.
• However, he does not discover God but is rather
  called by the God who is already known into a
  covenant, in which God promises to many
  descendents and the land of Canaan.

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HARAN
CANAAN
UR
Abraham's migration from Ur through Haran into
Canaan
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PATRIARCHS

• The religion of the patriarchs was simple, and
  centered on the agreement (unilateral covenant)
  between Abraham and God.
• Religious practice consisted of sacrifice and
  prayer.
• Circumcision was the defining mark of the
  religious community.
• Its eschatology (future things) was the promise
  of land and many descendents.

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MOSES AND SINAI

• According to biblical tradition, a famine caused
  the Hebrew tribes to migrate to Egypt, where they
  were enslaved.
• God rescued them from bondage by afflicting the
  Egyptians with successive plagues then drowning
  the Egyptian army in the Red Sea to allow the
  Hebrews to escape.

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MOSES AND SINAI

• At Mount Sinai, God established the nation of
  Israel (named for Abraham's grandson
  Jacob-Israel) as his own, and gave them the terms
  of his covenant with them.
• He then sustains the Israelites through 40 years
  of journeying in the wilderness before leading
  them into Canaan, the land promised to Abraham.
• Central to all these events is Moses who fulfills
  many leadership roles, including religious,
  political, legislative and military.

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MOSES AND SINAI

• Mosaic religion centers on the covenant
  (bilateral) between God and the people of Israel.
  
• The covenant required exclusive loyalty to
  Yahweh, who rescued them from bondage in Egypt.
• Worship of other gods, veneration of idols (even
  of Yahweh), and magical practices are prohibited.
  
• Rituals and festivals are established to
  celebrate God's historical and continuing
  provision.

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CANAAN AND THE JUDGES

• The conquest of Canaan is narrated in the
  biblical book of Joshua, with miraculous events
  (city walls fell at a shout, the sun stood still)
  rivaling those of the Exodus.
• After the conquest of Canaan, Israel was led by
  leaders called "judges," during which time the
  Israelites are described as repeatedly falling
  into idolatry and apostasy.

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CANAAN AND THE JUDGES

• At the same time, numerous altars to the God of
  Israel sprung up, and the Levites rose to the
  priesthood to conduct sacrifices at many of them.
  
• The ark of the covenant was housed and carefully
  protected at the Shiloh sanctuary, which was
  staffed by priests of the family of Eli.

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UNITED MONARCHY

• To maintain occupation of the Promised Land, it
  became necessary to have centralized authority
  and organized armies that could hold off external
  enemies.
• Two diverging views of the prospect of a monarchy
  arose a rejection of God's kingship (1 Sam.
  8-12) or a God-given way to defend Israel (1 Sam.
  916).
• The former view is represented by the
  prophet-judge Samuel, who reluctantly crowned the
  first king.

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UNITED MONARCHY

• Saul, of the tribe of Benjamin, was made king (in
  c. 1020 BCE) after defeating the Ammonites. He
  ruled from his hometown of Gibeah, a few miles
  north of Jerusalem.
• Saul's reign was marred by conflicts with the
  prophet Samuel, who held ongoing authority over
  the kingship.

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UNITED MONARCHY

• King David, Saul's successor, solved these
  problems by combining religious and political
  authority in one person (David and his
  descendents) and in one place (the city of
  Jerusalem).
• NBNathan (another prophet) was the instrument of
  divine justice when David disobeyed God.

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UNITED MONARCHY

• David was succeeded by his son Solomon.
• During Solomon's long reign of 40 years the
  Hebrew monarchy gained its highest splendor.
• The first half of his reign was, however, by far
  the brighter and more prosperous the latter half
  was clouded by the idolatries into which he fell,
  mainly, according to the scribes, from his
  intermarriages.

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SOLOMON'S TEMPLE
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DIVIDED MONARCHY

• After Solomon's reign the nation split into two
  kingdoms, Israel (in the north) and Judah (in the
  south).
• Israel was conquered by the Assyrian ruler
  Shalmaneser V in the 8th century BCE.
• The kingdom of Judah was conquered by a
  Babylonian army in the early 6th century BCE.

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DIVIDED MONARCHY

• The elite of Judah were exiled to Babylon, but
  later at least a part of them returned to their
  homeland, led by prophets Ezra and Nehemiah,
  after the subsequent conquest of Babylonia by the
  Persians.
• Already at this point the extreme fragmentation
  among the Israelites was apparent, with the
  formation of political-religious factions, the
  most important of which would later be called
  Sadducees and Pharisees.

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THE HASMONEAN KINGDOM

• After the Persians were defeated by Alexander the
  Great, his demise, and the division of
  Alexander's empire among his generals, the
  Seleucid Kingdom was formed.
• A deterioration of relations between Hellenized
  Jews and religious Jews led the Seleucid king
  Antiochus IV Epiphanes to impose decrees banning
  certain Jewish religious rites and traditions.

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HASMONEAN KINGDOM

• Consequently, the orthodox Jews revolted under
  the leadership of the Hasmonean family, (also
  known as the Maccabees).
• This revolt eventually led to the formation of an
  independent Jewish kingdom, known as the
  Hasmonaean Dynasty, which lasted from 165 BC to
  63 BC.

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HASMONEAN KINGDOM

• The Hasmonean Dynasty eventually disintegrated as
  a result of civil war between the sons of Salome
  Alexandra, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II.
• The people, who did not want to be governed by a
  king but by theocratic clergy, made appeals in
  this spirit to the Roman authorities.
• A Roman campaign of conquest and annexation, led
  by Pompey, soon followed.

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THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

• Judea under Roman rule was at first an
  independent Jewish kingdom, but gradually the
  rule over Judea became less and less Jewish,
  until it became under the direct rule of Roman
  administration, which was often callous and
  brutal in its treatment of its Judean subjects.
• In AD 66, Judeans began to revolt against the
  Roman rulers of Judea.

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THE DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE

• The revolt was defeated by the Roman emperors
  Vesesapian and Titus Flavius.
• The Romans destroyed much of the Temple in
  Jerusalem and, according to some accounts, stole
  artifacts from the temple, such as the Menorah.

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RABBINICAL JUDAISM

• Rabbinical Judaism developed out of the Pharisaic
  movement and in response to the destruction of
  the Second Temple in 70 CE.
• The rabbis sought to reinterpret Jewish concepts
  and practices in the absence of the Temple and
  for a people in exile.

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RABBINICAL JUDAISM

• Rabbinical Judaism was the dominant form of the
  Jewish religion for nearly 18 centuries.
• It produced the Talmud, the Midrash, and the
  great figures of medieval Jewish philosophy.

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THE FALL OF ROME

• The Eastern Roman Empire, under assault from
  barbarian invasion, passed a number of laws in
  the early Middle Ages, including the legislation
  of Justinian which culminated in the principle of
  taking away civil rights from heretics and
  unbelievers and of making their existence as
  difficult as possible.
• The public observance of their religion was
  forbidden the Jews. The loss of their civil
  rights was followed by disregard for their
  personal freedom.

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THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

• The general condition of the Jews in Western
  lands depended on the changing political
  conditions in their respective countries.
• Those Jews who still wished to remain true to the
  faith of their fathers were protected by the
  Church herself from compulsory conversion.

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THE EARLY MIDDLE AGES

• Charlemagne, moreover, was glad to use the Church
  for the purpose of welding together the loosely
  connected elements of his kingdom when he
  transformed the old Roman empire into a Christian
  one, and united under the imperial crown all the
  German races at that time firmly settled.

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EARLY MIDDLE AGES

• When, a few decades after his death, his world
  empire fell apart (843), the rulers of Italy,
  France, and Germany left the Church free scope in
  her dealings with the Jews, and under the
  influence of religious zeal hatred toward the
  unbelievers ripened into deeds of horror.

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THE CRUSADES

• The trials which the Jews endured from time to
  time in the different kingdoms of the Christian
  West were only indications of the catastrophe
  which broke over them at the time of the
  Crusades.
• A wild, unrestrained throng, for which the
  crusade was only an excuse to indulge its
  rapacity, fell upon the peaceful Jews and
  sacrificed them to its fanaticism.

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EXPLUSIONS

• Jews were held responsible for numerous crimes
  imputed to them
• a false charge was circulated that they wished to
  dishonor the host which was supposed to represent
  Jesus' body
• being the cause of every calamity
• the plundering raids of the Mongols
• the Black Death

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EXPULSIONS

• The Jews, who were driven out of England in 1290,
  out of France in 1394, and out of Numerous
  districts of Germany, Italy, and the Balkan
  peninsula between 1350 and 1450, were scattered
  in all directions, and fled preferably to the new
  Slavic kingdoms, where for the time being other
  confessions were still tolerated.

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ENLIGHTENMENT

• During the period of the European Renaissance and
  Enlightenment, significant changes were happening
  within the Jewish community.
• Jews began in the 1700s to campaign for
  emancipation from restrictive laws and
  integration into the wider European society.
• Reform and Conservative movements and planted the
  seeds of Zionism while at the same time
  encouraging cultural assimilation into the
  countries in which Jews resided.

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ENLIGHTENMENT

• Hasidic Judaism began in the 1700s by Rabbi
  Israel Baal Shem Tov, and quickly gained a
  following with its more exuberant, mystical
  approach to religion.

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HOLOCAUST

• Anti-Semitism was common in Europe in the 1920s
  and 1930s.
• Adolf Hitler's fanatical anti-Semitism was laid
  out in his 1925 book Mein Kampf.

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HOLOCAUST

• Mein Kampf (German for "My Struggle") is a book
  written by Adolf Hitler, combining elements of
  autobiography with an exposition of Hitler's
  political ideology of National Socialism.

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HOLOCAUST

• Mein Kampf makes clear Hitler's racist worldview,
  dividing humans up based on ancestry. Hitler
  stated that German "Aryans" with blond hair and
  blue eyes were at the top of the hierarchy
  (Hitler himself had brown hair and blue eyes),
  and assigned the bottom of the order to Jews and
  Gypsies. Hitler went on to say that dominated
  peoples benefit by learning from the superior
  Aryans.

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HOLOCAUST

• Hitler further claimed that the Jews were
  conspiring to keep this "master race" from
  rightfully ruling the world, by diluting its
  racial and cultural purity and by convincing the
  Aryan to believe in equality rather than
  superiority and inferiority. He described the
  struggle for world domination as an ongoing
  racial, cultural, and political battle between
  Aryans and Jews.

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HOLOCAUST

• On April 1, 1933 the recently elected Nazis
  organized a one-day boycott of all Jewish-owned
  businesses in Germany.
• This policy helped to usher-in a series of
  anti-Semitic acts that would eventually culminate
  in the Holocaust.
• The last remaining Jewish enterprises in Germany
  were closed on July 6, 1939.

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HOLOCAUST

• In many cities throughout Europe, Jews had been
  living in concentrated areas.
• During the first years of World War II, the Nazis
  formalized the borders of these areas and
  restricted movement, creating modern ghettos to
  which Jews were confined.

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HOLOCAUST

• The ghettos were, in effect, prisons in which
  many Jews died from hunger and disease others
  were executed by the Nazis and their
  collaborators.
• Concentration camps for Jews existed in Germany
  itself.
• During the invasion of the Soviet Union, over
  3,000 special killing units conducted mass
  killings of Communist officials and of the Jewish
  population that lived on Soviet territory.

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HOLOCAUST

• Entire communities were wiped out by being
  rounded up, robbed of their possessions and
  clothing, and shot at the edges of ditches.
• In December 1941, Hitler finally decided to
  exterminate European Jews. In January 1942,
  during the Wannsee conference, several Nazi
  leaders discussed the details of the "Final
  Solution of the Jewish question."

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HOLOCAUST

• They began to systematically deport Jewish
  populations from the ghettos and all occupied
  territories to the seven camps designated as
  Vernichtungslager, or extermination camps
  Auschwitz, Belzec, Chelmno, Majdanek, Maly
  Trostenets, Sobibór and Treblinka II.

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THE STATE OF ISRAEL

• The sudden rapid growth of Zionism and the
  post-Holocaust displacement resulted in the
  emigration of a great many Jews to what became
  the modern State of Israel on May 14, 1948.

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BELIEFS

• INTRODUCTION, THE FOUNDATIONS OF JEWISH BELIEF,
  GOD, HUMAN NATURE, THE WORLD TO COME, THE MESSIAH

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INTRODUCTION

• Unlike Christianity and Islam, Judaism has no
  official creed or universal doctrinal
  requirements for membership.
• In general, a person can be considered Jewish
  whether he adheres to a complete system of
  beliefs about God and the afterlife, holds only a
  few simple beliefs that give meaning to ritual,
  or even (at least in liberal Judaism) does not
  believe in God at all.

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INTRODUCTION

• This diversity in Jewish belief arises in part
  because actions (good deeds and the mitzvot), not
  beliefs, are the most important aspect of Jewish
  religious life.
• This is in marked contrast to Christianity and
  Islam, in which belief in at least in a few basic
  doctrines is of primary importance.

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INTRODUCTION

• Nevertheless, the Torah and Talmud have a great
  deal to say about God, humanity, and the meaning
  of life, and Jewish history features significant
  theological and mystical inquiry into religious
  concepts.
• And these beliefs are of great significance
  because of their strong influence on Christianity
  and Islam, the two largest world religions.

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THE FOUNDATIONS OF JEWISH BELIEF

• The Thirteen Foundations of the Ramba'm

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The Thirteen Foundations of the Ramba'm

• The thirteen foundations of Jewish belief were
  compiled by Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, also known as
  Maimonides, generally referred to by the acronym
  RaMBaM.

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The Thirteen Foundations

• THE FIRST FOUNDATION is to believe in the
  existence of the Creator.
• This means that there exists a Being that is
  complete in all ways and He is the cause of all
  else that exists. He is what sustains their
  existence and the existence of all that sustains
  them. He does not need the existence of anything
  else. All that exists apart from Him, the angels,
  the universe and all that is within it, all these
  things are dependent on Him for their existence.

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The Thirteen Foundations

• THE SECOND FOUNDATION is the unity of God, that
  this being, which is the cause of all, is one.
• This does not mean one as in one object that is
  made up of many elements, but a unity unlike any
  other possible unity.
• THE THIRD FOUNDATION is that He is not physical.
• This means to believe that the One whom we have
  mentioned is not a body and His powers are not
  physical. In all places where the Holy Scriptures
  speak of Him in physical terms, as walking,
  standing, sitting, speaking and anything similar,
  it is always metaphorical.

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The Thirteen Foundations

• THE FOURTH FOUNDATION is that He is first.
• This means to believe that the One was the
  absolute first and everything else in existence
  is not first relative to Him.
• THE FIFTH FOUNDATION is that it is proper to
  serve Him, blessed be He, to ascribe to Him
  greatness, to make known His greatness, and to
  fulfill His commandments.
• This fifth foundation is based in the prohibition
  against idolatry about which much of the Torah
  deals.

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The Thirteen Foundations

• THE SIXTH FOUNDATION is prophecy.
• That is, that a person must know that there
  exists amongst mankind individuals who have very
  lofty qualities and great perfection whose souls
  are prepared until their minds receive perfect
  intellect.

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The Thirteen Foundations

• THE SEVENTH FOUNDATION is the prophecy of Moshe
  (Moses) our Teacher.
• This means to believe that he is the father of
  all the prophets and that all of them were below
  his level. He was the chosen one from all of
  Mankind, for he attained a greater knowledge of
  the Blessed One, more than any other man ever
  attained or ever will attain. For he rose up from
  the level of man to the level of the angels and
  gained the exalted status of an angel. There did
  not remain any screen that he did not tear and
  penetrate nothing physical held him back. He was
  devoid of any flaw, big or small. His powers of
  imagination, the senses, and the perceptions were
  nullified the power of desire was separated from
  him leaving him with pure intellect.

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The Thirteen Foundations

• THE EIGHTH FOUNDATION is that the Torah is from
  Heaven.
• This means that we must believe that this entire
  Torah, which was given to us from Moshe Our
  Teacher, is entirely from the mouth of the
  Almighty. In other words, that it all was
  conveyed to him from God in the manner which is
  called, for lack of a better term, "dibur" -
  "speech". It is not known how it was conveyed to
  him, except to Moshe, to whom it was given, and
  he was like a scribe writing from dictation, and
  he wrote all the incidents, the stories, and the
  commandments.

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The Thirteen Foundations

1. THE NINTH FOUNDATION is the transcription,
   meaning that this Torah, and no other, was
   transcribed from the Creator and we may not add
   to it or remove from it, not in the Written Torah
   or in the Oral Torah.
2. THE TENTH FOUNDATION is that God, blessed be He,
   knows the actions of mankind and does not turn
   His eyes from them.

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The Thirteen Foundations

• The Eleventh Foundation is that God, blessed be
  He, gives reward to one who obeys the
  commandments of the Torah and punishes one who
  violates its prohibitions.
• The Twelfth Foundation is the time of the
  Moshiach (literally, the anointed).
• This means to believe and be certain that he will
  come, and not to think that he is late in coming.

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The Thirteen Foundations

1. THE THIRTEENTH FOUNDATION is the resurrection of
   the dead. The resurrection is only for the
   righteous.

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GOD

• In Judaism, ultimate reality is a single,
  all-powerful God. It is this belief that made the
  Jews unique among other ancient Semitic peoples
  and that became the legacy Judaism has passed on
  to the entire Western world.
• The sacred name of God, as revealed to Moses in
  the book of Exodus, is YHWH.

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GOD

• Since ancient Hebrew was written without vowels,
  we do not know the original pronunciation of this
  word.
• The common pronunciation "Jehovah," however, is
  incorrect.
• It is derived from combining the vowels for
  Adonai ("Lord") with the four consonants of YHWH.

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HUMAN NATURE

• A fundamental Jewish belief about human beings is
  that they are created in the image of God. This
  does not mean that we look like God, for God is
  incorporeal.
• The general rabbinical interpretation of this
  concept is that humans have the ability to reason.

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HUMAN NATURE

• When Genesis 27 says "God formed man," it uses
  the Hebrew word vayyitzer ("formed").
• The Talmud finds special meaning in the unique
  spelling of the word in this context, with two
  yods instead of one.
• The two yods, the rabbis explain, stand for the
  two impulses found in humans the yetzer tov and
  the yetzer ra.

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HUMAN NATURE

• According to this view, the yetzer tov is the
  moral conscience that reminds a person of God's
  law when one considers a specific action or
  choice.
• The yetzer ra is the impulse to satisfy one's own
  needs and desires.
• There is nothing intrinsically evil about the
  yetzer ra, as it was created by God and is
  natural to humankind.

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HUMAN NATURE

• It is also what drives us to good things such as
  eating, drinking, having a family, and making a
  living.
• However, it can easily lead to sin when not kept
  in check by the yetzer tov.
• The idea of human free will is Fundamental to
  Judaism.
• The concept of original sin is rejected, and
  every person has the ability to choose good or
  evil.

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THE WORLD TO COME

• Jewish sacred texts and literature have little to
  say about what happens after death. This may seem
  surprising to non-Jews, since the sacred texts of
  Christianity and Islam (both of which have their
  foundations in Judaism) elaborate rather fully
  about the afterlife.

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THE WORLD TO COME

• But we have already seen that Judaism is much
  more focused on actions than beliefs, so it is to
  be expected that its prophets and sages have not
  spent as much time on speculations about the
  world to come as elaborations on the mitzvot to
  be performed in this life.

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THE WORLD TO COME

• Despite the subject's general exclusion from the
  Jewish sacred texts, however, Judaism does
  incorporate views on the afterlife.
• Yet unlike the other monotheistic religions, no
  one view has ever been officially agreed upon,
  and there is much room for speculation.

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THE WORLD TO COME

• The Hebrew word Olam Ha-Ba ("the world to come")
  is used for both the messianic age (see below)
  and the afterlife (see Gan Eden, below).
• The world to come is important and something to
  look forward to. A Mishnah passage says, "This
  world is like a lobby before the Olam Ha-Ba.
  Prepare yourself in the lobby so that you may
  enter the banquet hall."

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THE WORLD TO COME

• For the most part, the Torah describes the
  afterlife in vague terms, many of which may
  simply be figurative ways of speaking about death
  as it is observed by the living.
• An early common theme is that death means
  rejoining one's ancestors.
• Another recurring biblical image of the afterlife
  is as a shadowy place called Sheol.

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THE WORLD TO COME

• Taken together, these early biblical descriptions
  of death seem to indicate that the soul continues
  to exist in some way after death, but not
  consciously.
• Later in the Torah, the concept of conscious life
  after death begins to develop.
• Daniel 122 declares, "And many of them that
  sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some
  to everlasting life and some to reproaches and
  everlasting abhorrence." Nehemiah 95

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THE WORLD TO COME

• Today, most traditional Jewish movements accept
  the concept of the resurrection of the dead.
• A notable exception is Reform Judaism, which
  official rejects the doctrine.
• Traditional Judaism includes belief in both
  heaven and hell.

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THE MESSIAH

• Many of the world's Religions have hope in a
  future heroic figure who will rescue the
  righteous, judge the wicked, and restore peace to
  the world (Krishna in Hinduism, Maitreya in
  Buddhism and the Second Coming in Christianity).
• In Judaism, this figure is the messiah.
  Christians believe the messiah has come in the
  form of Jesus of Nazareth Jews emphatically do
  not.

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THE MESSIAH

• Jews do not believe that the messiah will be
  divine.
• A fundamental difference between Judaism and
  Christianity is the Jewish conviction that God is
  so essentially different from and beyond humanity
  that he could never become a human.
• A wide variety of opinions have been given by
  Jewish scholars as to the circumstances that will
  prompt the messiah's arrival.

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THE MESSIAH

• Some say the messiah will come when the world is
  especially good others say when the world has
  become especially evil.
• When the messiah does come, he will inaugurate
  the messianic age (sometimes called the Olam
  Ha-Ba, World to Come).
• The Tanakh employs the following descriptions
  about this period

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THE MESSIAH

1. Peace among all nations
2. Perfect harmony and abundance in nature
3. All Jews return from exile to Israel
4. Universal acceptance of the Jewish God and Jewish
   religion
5. No sin or evil all Israel will obey the
   commandments
6. Reinstatement of the Temple

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SACRED TEXTS

• THE HEBREW BIBLE, ORAL TORAH AND RABBINICAL
  JUDAISM, TALMUD

110
THE HEBREW BIBLE

• TORAH (PENTATEUCH) 5 books
• PROPHETS FORMER AND LATTER
• WRITINGS

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Torah("Law"/Pentateuch/Books of Moses) Genesis,
Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers Deuteronomy
Kethuvim("Writings") Psalms Job Proverbs
Ruth Song of Solomon Ecclesiastes
Lamentations Esther Daniel Ezra Nehemiah 1
2 Chronicles
Nevi'im("Prophets") Former Prophets Joshua,
Judges, 1 2 Samuel, 1 2 Kings Latter
Prophets, Major Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel
Latter Prophets, Minor Amos, Hosea, Micah,
Zephaniah, Nahum Habakkuk, Obadiah, Haggai
Zechariah, Joel, Malachi Jonah
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TANAKH

• Tanakh ???? (also spelt Tanach or Tenach) is an
  acronym for the three parts of the Hebrew Bible,
  based upon the initial Hebrew letters of each
  part

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TANAKH

1. Torah ???? ("The Law" also Teaching or
   Instruction), Chumash ???? ("The five", also
   Pentateuch or The five books of Moses)
2. Nevi'im ?????? ("The Prophets")
3. Ketuvim ?????? ("The Writings" or
   "Hagiographa")

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TORAH

• Gods instruction-revelation
• Can have 3 meanings
• (strictest) the first 5 books of the Bible
  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
• (broader) the whole Hebrew bible
• (broadest) all teaching that comes from God
  the oral torah

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TORAH

• Torah
• foundational stories
• primeval history
• the ancestors (Abraham-Sarah Isaac-Rebecca
  Jacob Israel-Leah Rachel the sons of Jacob)
• Exodus the formative event for Israels
  identity
• Slavery in Egypt freedom the hero, Moses
• Wandering on the brink of possessing the land
• Covenant and Law

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PROPHETS

• Prophets
• Former Joshua, Judges, Samuel, Kings
• the settlement of the land (Joshua), the rise
  (David), split (after Solomon), and fall of the
  nation (ends with Babylonian exile 586 BCE)
• Latter Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, the Book of
  the Twelve
• Israels conscience in living out Torah
  covenant faithfulness to God
• 8th century through the 5th century BCE

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WRITINGS

• The Writings a diverse collection of later
  literature
• Wisdom/worship Psalms, Job, Proverbs
• 5 scrolls for 5 festivals Song of Songs
  (Passover), Ruth (Weeks), Lamentations (ninth of
  Av), Ecclesiastes (Booths), Esther (Purim)
• An apocalyptic book Daniel (set in Babylon
  during exile, but dealing with Seleucid regime of
  2nd century)
• History Books Ezra-Nehemiah 1-2 Chronicles

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ORAL TORAH RABBINICAL JUDAISM

• After 70 c.e. ? a religion of Scripture
• Mishnah (ca. 200 c.e.) collation of biblical
  laws in 6 parts
• Gemara additional comments on the Mishnah
• Palestinian Talmud (ca. 400)
• Babylonian Talmud (ca. 600)
• Halakhah legal material/instructions
• Haggadah stories and tales for teaching

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TALMUD

• The Talmud (?????) is considered an authoritative
  record of rabbinic discussions on Jewish law,
  Jewish ethics, customs, legends and stories.
• It is a fundamental source of legislation,
  customs, case histories and moral exhortations.

121
TALMUD

• The Talmud comprises two components, the Mishnah,
  and the Gemara, a discussion of the Mishnah
  (though the terms Talmud and Gemara are generally
  used interchangeably).

122
TALMUD

• It expands on the earlier writings in the Torah
  in general and in the Mishnah in particular, and
  is the basis for all later codes of Jewish law,
  and much of Rabbinic literature.

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SECTS-DENOMINATIONS

• ANCIENT AND MODERN

124
ANCIENT SECTS

• PHARISEES, SADDUCCEES, ESSENCES, ZEALOTS

125
PHARISEES

• The Pharisees were a prominent sect of Jews in
  Christ's time. They opposed Jesus and His
  teachings. They plotted His death (Matt 1214).
  They were denounced by Him (Matt 23). Their
  characteristic teachings included belief in oral
  as well as written Law resurrection of the human
  body belief in the existence of a spirit world
  immortality of the soul predestination future
  rewards and punishments based upon works.

126
SADDUCEES

• Sadducee beliefs included
• acceptance only of the Law and rejection of oral
  tradition
• denial of bodily resurrection
• immortality of the soul existence of a spirit
  world
• They supported the Maccabeans.

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SADDUCEES

• The Sadducees were a relatively small group, but
  they generally held the high priesthood.
• They denounced John the Baptist (Matt 37-8) and
  Jesus (Matt 166,11,12).
• They actively opposed Christ (Matt 2112ff Mark
  1115ff Luke 1947) and the apostolic Church
  (Acts 517,33).

128
ESSENES

• The Essenes were a Jewish religious sect not
  actually mentioned in the Bible, but described by
  Josephus, Philo, and mentioned in the Dead Sea
  Scrolls.
• Most members lived communal, celibate lives. They
  observed Jewish Law very strictly.
• They practiced ceremonial baptisms.
• Essenes were apocalyptic, and they opposed Temple
  priesthood.

129
QUMRAN COMMUNITY

• Though there remains much disagreement among
  scholars, many now believe that the Dead Sea
  Scrolls were possibly written by the Essenes - a
  priestly Jewish sect who lived a very separate
  life, even keeping themselves apart from the
  Jewish religious officials in Jerusalem. They
  didn't want much to do with other people, and
  according to most accounts, most people didn't
  want much to do with them. What eventually
  happened to them is not known.

130
QUMRAN COMMUNITY
131
MODERN SECTS

• ORTHODOX, REFORM, CONSERVATIVE AND HASSIDIC

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ORTHODOX JUDAISM

• Orthodox Judaism is the most traditional
  expression of modern Judaism.
• Orthodox Jews believe the entire Torah -
  including "Written," the Pentateuch, and "Oral,"
  the Talmud) was given to Moses by God at Sinai
  and remains authoritative for modern life in its
  entirety.
• According to a 1990 nationwide survey, 7 percent
  of American Jews are Orthodox.

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REFORM JUDAISM

• Reform Judaism is organized under the Union for
  Reform Judaism, whose mission is "to create and
  sustain vibrant Jewish congregations wherever
  Reform Jews live."
• About 1.5 million Jews in 900 synagogues are
  members of the Union for Reform Judaism.
• According to 1990 survey, 42 percent of American
  Jews regard themselves as Reform.

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CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM

• Conservative Judaism may be said to be a moderate
  position between Orthodox and Reform Judaism.
• It seeks to conserve the traditional elements of
  Judaism, while allowing for modernization to a
  less radical extent than Reform Judaism.

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HASIDIC JUDAISM

• Hasidic (or Chasidic) Judaism arose in
  12th-century Germany as a mystical movement
  emphasizing asceticism and experience born out of
  love and humility before God.
• The austere religious life of these early Hasids
  ("pious ones") is documented in the Sefer Hasidim
  ("Book of the Pious").
• The modern Hasidic movement was founded in Poland
  in the 18th century by Israel ben Eliezer.

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RITES AND OBSERVANCES

• MAJOR FESTIVALS AND IMPORTANT PRACTICES

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Major Festivals of Judaism

• SABBATH weekly (stop doing in order to enjoy
  being)
• DAYS OF AWE (the High Holy Days)
• ROSH HASHANA NEW YEAR autumn creation of the
  world
• YOM KIPPURDAY OF ATONEMENT 10 days later
• SUKKOT BOOTHS - Harvest festival autumn
• HANUKKAHFeast of Dedication (second temple)
  winter festival of lights. Special nine-branch
  menorah recalls the story of the Maccabees taking
  back the temple after desecration in 165 b.c.e.

144
Major Festivals of Judaism

• PURIM Story of Esther, a festival of joy and
  hope in late winter
• PESACHPASSOVER Spring festival remembering
  Exodus.
• Ritual meal of symbolic foods
• Blessings
• Haggadah telling our story
• YOM HASHOAH memorial of the Holocaust
• SHAVUOT Feast of Weeks or Pentecost (50 days
  after Passover)

145
Important Practices

• Circumcision / naming ceremony
• Bar / Bat mitvah
• Prayer
• Mezuzah,(literally, doorpost) containing the
  Shema and other scriptures, on the doorpost
• Kashrut / Keeping Kosher (for some)

146
Shema
147
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRIBUTION
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VOCABULARY
150
Abraham Considered to be the father of the Jewish people.
Monotheism The belief in one god, in opposition to polytheism or the belief in more than one god.
Canaan The original name of the land promised by God to the followers of Moses when they left Egypt in search of a new land.
Mount Sinai The mountain on which Moses received the complete code of ethics and laws, known as the Ten Commandments.
Torah The first five books of the Hebrew Bible. The word Torah comes from the Hebrew word for instruction.
Israelites The children of Israel and the name God gave to Jacob, the third patriarchal ancestor of the Jews.
Messiah The Expected One who will free and elevate the Jewish people to new levels of devotion in practicing Gods law.
Diaspora The Jews who live outside of Israel, originating during the time when Jews went from Palestine in exile into Bablonia.
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Synagogue The central place for congregational worship and fellowship for Jewish communities and the place where customs, religious practice and faith are maintained.
Talmud One of the major texts of Judaism, it contains three million words that instruct on codes of behavior for both religious and secular life.
Rabbi The respected teacher and leader of worship usually associated with a particular congregation at a specific synagogue.
Minion A necessary quorum of at least ten men so that the rabbi can conduct full religious services.
Sabbath The weekly holiday (sundown Friday to sundown Saturday) reserved for worship and attention to family and community.
Kosher Very specific dietary laws regarding food restrictions as well as proper animal slaughter.
Bar Mitzvah Bat Mitzvah Respectively means son and daughter of the Commandment and are the religious rites of passage for 13-year-old boys and 12-year-old girls. After the ceremony they are fully responsible in the eyes of God and are seen as adult members of the congregation.