JUDAISM

The crawl contains the names of Jews well-known in their fields. Many of them are not or were not observant, Marx and Freud for instance. Einstein made it clear that he didn’t believe in a personal God. Mendelssohn’s family had converted to Christianity. But most of these men and women acknowledged their Jewishness and were proud of their heritage. Jews have always made up a miniscule proportion of the citizens of the earth, but their contribution to human civilization has been enormous. They make up 0.2 percent of the world population, but 54 percent of the world chess champions, 27 percent of the Nobel physics laureates, 31 percent of the medicine laureates and 51 percent of the Pulitzer Prize winners for nonfiction. -- Note: to hear the Hebrew folks song, Hava Nagila, "Let us rejoice", played by a klezmer band, it may be necessary to click in yellow line at screen top and "Allow Blocked Content".

This document is the source of a brief talk given to the Nauset Fellowship Unitarian Universalist. I’m not Jewish. The members of the Nauset Fellowship hold many views but tend towards secular humanism. I put together the document for our mutual enlightenment. It is based on the books listed in the Bibliography and text taken from the web. Text is used without attribution and is in some cases quoted verbatim. The material is selected, edited, and organized in an attempt to produce a readable and informative account. Its only claim to accuracy is that much of the information is repeated in more than one source and advice from a few people who know more about it than I. This document is still in progress. There are many brief histories of the Jewish people on the web. See, for instance from Wikipedia, Jewish History or History of Judaism -- The text of the Brief Talk is also available.

JUDAISM

Judaism is the religious culture of the Jews, the people of Israel, one of the world’s oldest religious traditions. There’s no one way to understand Judaism and no one way to live the Jewish life. Each Jew has a different experience of God, the ultimate reality, and speaks little of Him directly. There’s a saying in Jewish oral tradition, “make yourself a heart of many rooms,” so that your heart can contain a variety of conflicting opinions.

The terms Judaism and religion didn’t exist in pre-modern Hebrew. The Jews spoke of Torah, God’s instructions to Israel, a world view and a way of life, and of Halakhah (Hebrew for “the way”), which included Jewish law, custom, and practice.

Both pre-modern Judaism and traditional Judaism today are cultural systems which are meant to guide all individual and communal existence. Everything is under God’s rule, a divinely revealed model of cosmic order. Judaism is defined by its history, but it tries not to be limited by it.

HOW DOES JUDAISM DIFFER FROM CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM?

Humanists tend to see every religion as well-meaning and as having some members we could all look up to. We could make a comparison chart, but there would be much overlap and many exceptions. For me, Islam represents top down authority. Christianity is largely about personal salvation through Jesus Christ. Judaism is about a people, the people perhaps, and by extension all people. Love for God has to lead to a love for others. The revelation of the Torah shows God’s belief in the human capacity to know Him and to obey His Laws without divine intermediaries. And God's plan is to bring redemption to both Jews and the non-Jewish world.

“It is not because you were greater than any people that the Lord set His love upon you and chose you, for you were the smallest of peoples.” Deut. vii. The idea of the chosen people is universal. It invokes duties rather than bestows privileges.

Jews find joy in serving God in an incomplete world with imperfect human minds. The God they know is the God mediated in the temporal world. They make religous choices and decisions as finite and imperfect beings.

THE ORIGIN OF JUDAISM

The first religion was animism, acknowledging the spirits in the woods and the stones. Hindusim elevated the spirits to Gods, but the Vedic hymns were intended to promote beauty and wonder, not doctrines. The religion of ancient Israel was much like that of its Middle Eastern neighbors. Abraham worshiped Elohim ('the holy one') or Yahweh, a High God of Canaan. Temples associated with the patriarchs existed on various hilltops, and Moses’s Ark of the Covenant was carried from one place to another. The Israelites weren’t monotheists until the 6th century. They worshipped a chief god, Yahweh, who ruled over lesser gods. The Mosaic Commandment says, “You shall have no other Gods before me.” A modern preacher might say this means money or power, but for Moses it meant Gods.

Judaism originated in Palestine, but for the past 2000 years there have been Jewish communities in may parts of the world as a result of voluntary migration and forced exile. According to the American Jewish Yearbook, the estimated world Jewish population in the year 2000 was 13.2 million, of whom 5.7 million lived in the United States and 4.8 million in Israel.

None of the great religions was ever monolithic. Some of the most brutal religious wars and persecutions have been between Catholics and Protestants, individual Protestant denominations, and Sunni and Shiite Muslims. Judaism has been less divided and, in historical times, less violent than Christianity and Judaism. Its nature, as primarily a religion of practice rather than of beliefs, and the constant pressure of persecution, have helped keep it relatively united.

Persecution of the Jews has been almost unrelieved for the past 2000 years. There have been evil actions everywhere throughout history but nothing as sustained and irrational as the persecution of the Jews from the beginning of the Common Era to the Nazi Holocaust, the Shoah. It’s impossible to understand Judaism without understanding anti-Semitism. The best source for the Christian persecution of the Jews is Constantine’s Sword, by the Roman Catholic author James Carroll.

THE BIBLICAL LEGEND

The Orthodox rabbi, scholar, and novelist, Chaim Potok, in the Introduction to his book Wanderings, Chaim Potok’s History of the Jews, summarizes Jewish history in a single packed paragraph:

“In the schools that served me as daytime homes during the early decades of my life, I was taught my father’s Judaism and Jewish history: the taken-for-granted obligation to observe the commandments of God; the story of the creation and the eating of the apple and the first murder and the Flood;

I learned of Abraham and the covenant with God; a son was nearly sacrificed by a father in a gesture of ultimate faith (I remember how I trembled the first time I read that chilling story); patriarchs roamed a promised land; strong-willed women loved, quarreled, and connived; brothers fought, and one was sold into slavery and became second in command to the great pharaoh of Egypt;

then the long enslavement and the coming of Moses; plagues; freedom; the crossing of a miraculously parted sea and the Revelation of the Law on a desolate mountaintop; the wandering in the wilderness; the deaths of Aaron and Moses;

the conquest of Canaan by Joshua; tribal military chieftains called “Judges”; aged Samuel; tragic Saul; heroic David conquering Jerusalem; wise Solomon building the first Temple; evil Israelite kings and fearless spokesmen for God called prophets; the destruction of Jerusalem because of our own sins; exile to Babylon; return;

Ezra and a new covenant with God; Nehemiah and a new Jerusalem; the age of Alexander and the Hellenizing Syrians; the brave Maccabee rebels; then Rome and rabbis and blood and death and the long exile in which my father and mother and sisters and brother and I were now a link in the chain of generations leading to the Messiah.”

Let’s consider the first part of this story in more detail. Abraham and his tribe came from Ur in Mesopotamia. Their tribal God, Yahweh, made a covenant with Abraham that if he and his descendants would worship Him only, they’d be given the land of Canaan. After a lot of effort on their own part, they were able to settle in Canaan early in the second millennium BCE. Abraham’s grandson Joseph fled to Egypt when his brothers tried to sell him into slavery. Joseph became prominent in Egypt, and, during a famine, his brother Jacob, called “Israel”, migrated to Egypt with his twelve sons. There all of the Jews were enslaved.

God appeared to Moses at Horeb in a burning bush and appointed him to lead the Israelites from Egypt into a land of milk and honey. He told Moses on Mt. Sinai, "If you obey my covenant, then out of all nations you will be my treasured possession. You will be for me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation." Moses received the Law or Torah, and the Israelites accepted the terms of this new covenant. 

The covenant (or berith) between God and the Jewish people is a major concept in Judaism. After His failure to establish a covenant with all of rebellious humanity (Eden, the flood, and the tower of Babel) God turned to Israel. They must acknowledge Him as their sole king and legislator and agree to obey His laws. God, in turn, would make Israel His particular people, and this agreement would be a model for the entire human race. Israel would stand between God and humanity, representing each to the other. God can’t be the God of history unless humans share responsibility in a living covenant.

At Mt. Horeb (or Mt. Sinai), the Israelites became not a tribe held together by faith but a nation living under a Law, the Torah, given through Moses as the word of the Creator. The Torah contained law, folk history, and prophecy.

After the conquest of Canaan and a brilliant monarchy, the Kingdom of Solomon and David, the nation lost hold of their religion and slid into idolatry, political collapse, defeat, and finally destruction. They were severely scolded by the prophets. A remnant would survive exile and never die out and would hope eventually to return to Israel to live by the Law of Moses and be a light to the nations.

HISTORY

Many suggested dates have been assigned to these sacred events, but archaeological research supports none of this story. It finds no indication of a change in the population of Canaan during the second millennium BCE or the remains of even a modest kingdom. The archaeological consensus is that the biblical story is not historical although it does accurately represent conditions of seventh century BCE Palestine and later, the period during which the Torah began to be written down. It undoubtedly contains oral tales and traditions that are much older.

There was, in this view, no historical Abraham, no David, no Solomon, no Temple, no Egyptian captivity, no Exodus, no wandering in the desert or encounter with God on Mount Sinai. The bible story is not history or a miraculous revelation but a brilliant product of the human imagination, conceived from around 600 to 200 B.C.E. in the Kingdom of Judah, a rural area in the hill country of southern Palestine. It’s an epic saga compounded of history, memory, legend, folk tale, anecdote, propaganda, prophecy, and poetry, and was meant to be devotional and to create a national identity. Karen Armstrong writes that in pre-modern religions, 'religious discourse was not intended to be understood literally because it was only possible to speak about a reality that transcended language in symbolic terms.' People were not expected to 'believe' it in the abstract. It was part of worship, of ritual. Only in contemporary fundamentalism has the mythic been understood literally.

But whether the Biblical narrative to this point is accurate history, merely reflects some historical events, or is purely mythological, its religious value is unaffected. This is the Judeo-Christian story, and it has meaning and value for Jews, Christians, and Muslims, for theists and humanists.

THE BABYLONIAN EXILE

By the 6th century BCE we begin to enter recorded history. When King Zedekiah of Judah rebelled against Babylon in 587 BCE, Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem and the Temple and carried off much of its population, leaving Jerusalem desolate. We never again hear of the Ark of the Covenant, except in the movies.

The exile of the Israelites to Babylon in 586 BCE was a major turning point in their religion which lay the foundation for the traditional biblical Pentateuch, the prophets, and the historical books.

In Babylon, the prophet Jeremiah told the captives that Yahweh would make a new covenant with them, writing the Law in their hearts, and that each individual must take personal responsibility for its obedience. Israel was no longer a people because it lived in a particular country. As a substitute for serving the divine presence in the Temple, the Israelites created a community in which God would be present whereever they lived according to His Law. The exiles would create a sense of the divine presence as if they were priests serving in the Jerusalem temple. The exiles must become holy.

The Book of Second Isaiah, written around this time, contains the first clear assertion of monotheism, the belief that only the God of Israel exists and rules universal history and the destiny of all nations.

From now on, the majority of Jews lived outside of Palestine. With no state, they turned to their writings, the laws and records from the past. The individual must know the Law to obey it. During the exile, ordinary Jews first practiced the chief elements of their religion: circumcision set them apart, the Sabbath became the focus of their week, regular feasts were held through the year, and the rules of purity, diet, and cleanliness were followed. The Jews became a nomocracy, ruled by laws which were enforced by consent.

After their return from exile, the biblical “canon” (from the Sumarian for “reed”, i.e. upright, and therefore a rule or standard) was established. Each book had to have a prophet as its accredited author. The canon included: 1) the Torah (“learning,” “instruction,” “law”, from the Hebrew verb for “to teach”) and also called the Pentateuch (meaning “five scrolls”); 2) the writings of Prophets; and 3) the other Writings, which included the Psalms, Proverbs, Job, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Chronicles.

The Hebrew bible is often referred to by Jews as the Tanach, an acronym for its three sections: Torah, or Pentateuch; Nebiim, the prophetic literature; and Ketubim, the other writings.

The Torah was canonized as early as 600 BCE, with the other books were added until about 200 BCE. They survive today as the official Hebrew Bible, the Masoretic text (meaning “transmission of a tradition”) which complied from the 7th to 10th century of the Common Era. The Torah is not intended as a heavenly law for perfect beings but as a response to what humans truly are.

The Jews were the first society to create a linear and interpretive history for the explanation of themselves and their destiny and of God’s intentions and wishes for them. They were historians, and the bible is presented as history with characters and a plot. They didn’t believe in the impersonal forces of nature except as a part of the divine-human drama. God is the sole cause of all things.

The Jews were among the first people to find words for the deepest human emotions, for suffering, spiritual despair, and anxiety. They were observant of human nature and ethically consistent. The Book of Job is an example of wisdom gained not by understanding but by obedience, which they saw as the true foundation of the moral order. “The fear of the Lord: that is the beginning of wisdom.” We must overthrow the existing world order and replace it with a moral order.

THE PERSIAN PERIOD

The period of Persian rule, from 500 to 300 BCE was without great events or calamities for the Jews. Many Jews returned to Palestine. They were generally free to practice their religion. This period saw the emergence of the Jewish scriptures in almost its modern form, a new covenant based not on revelation or preaching but on study of the written texts.

THE GREEKS

From 320-168 BCE, the Jews were under the reign of the Greek Ptolemies & Seleucids. A Jewish Greek culture developed particularly in Alexandria in Egypt. Around 250 BCE the Torah was translated into Greek as the "Septuagint," or “the seventy,” from the tradition that the work was completed by seventy scholars. Many minor writings were added to the biblical canon in the Septuagint.

The Greeks offered a universal culture. An individual was a Greek, a “Helene”, not by inheritance but by choice. Some Jews wanted to eliminate from the Jewish Law any elements that kept them from participation in Greek culture, such as the food laws and the prohibition against nudity. As the influence of Greek culture increased in Judah, other Jews wished to keep or recapture the Mosaic tradition.

THE HASMONIANS

The Selucid King Antiochus Epiphanes banned certain Jewish rites and traditions in order to reduce conflict. The Maccabean revolt of 165 to 142 BC began as a civil war between Jewish Hellenizers and nativists; it resulted in 80 years of Judean political independence from Syria.

Members of the Hasmonaean priestly family that led the revolt proclaimed themselves hereditary kings and high priests although they were not properly of the ancient high priestly lineage. This, together with their Hellenistic monarchical trappings, prompted fierce opposition from more conservative Jews.

The Saducees were allies of the new Hasmoneon high priests and of the rich. The Hasmoneons ended up as religious oppressors. John Hyrcanus believed that the whole of Palestine was the divine inheritance of Jewish nation, and his duty was to conquer it with the help of mercenaries. Later Hasmoneons, such as Alexander Jannaeus, became true despots.

Between the isolationists and the Hellenizers there was a broad group of pious Jews, the Perushim or Pharisees (“those who separated themselves”), who in the tradition of Josiah, Ezekiel, and Ezra, hadn’t objected to the Persians, and thought religion flourished best when pagans ran the government. – An early version of the separation of church and state. -- These Pharisees repudiated the royal religious establishment, learned Greek, translated scripture into Greek, and made converts. They developed the Oral Torah, traditionally revealed to Moses at Sinai. The more conservative Sadducees stuck to the written law. They eventually died out.

The synagogue appeared during this period as a place to study the Torah. It was the prototype of the church, the mosque, and the Protestant chapel. Judaism was far more homogeneous now, with a puritanical and fundamentalist flavor. The synagogue idea spread. All Jewish boys were taught the Torah. Phariscism was based on popular education.

THE ROMANS

The Jewish kingdom of the Hasmonians forcibly converted neighbors to their demanding and intolerant faith. This was not acceptable to the Romans. In 63 BCE, Rome made Judea a client state. King Herod ruled in Palestine under Roman authority from 37 BCE until his death in 4 BCE.

There were various responses to Roman rule, rangin from armed revolt (the Zealots), to withdrawal from the world (the Essenes), integration with Greek society (the Sadduccees), and preserving tradition in a new situation (the Pharisees).

Herod exterminated the Hasmoneons, separated church and state, and reduced the power of rigorist Judaism and the Sanhedron. He spent and built generously. He saw himself as a reformer who would show the world that the Jews were a gifted and civilized people. He supported Jews already out in the Diaspora. He built a new and bigger Temple. He downgraded the Saduceean high priest. The death of his grandson Herod Agrippa, known as Herod the Great, in 44 AD ended the last phase of stable Jewish rule in Palestine until the founding of the State of Israel in the mid-twentieth century.

Many Jews in the Diaspora and in Palestine accepted Roman rule, but there were protests. The Jewish revolts against Rome, ending in the revolts of 63 CE and 134 CE, were clashes between Roman/Greek and Jewish culture, seen especially through Hebrew apocalyptic writings like Daniel, which predicted the end of the empire and the rise of the Son of Man and preached xenophobia and martyrdom, and the Book of Enoch, which discussed the last days, the last judgment, the elect, and the Kingdom of God. These ideas were embryonic in Isaiah and seized on by the Pharisees because of their sense of ethical justice.

The Zealots, taught that Jewish society was to be a theocracy ruled by God. Violence was approved. A millenarian sect of the desert fringe, the Essenes included the militant Qumran monks.

THE MESSIAH

Other groups, like John the Baptist and his followers, were more peaceful. The Baptist believed in the coming of the Messiah, which he had leaned from the books of Isaiah and Enoch. He preached that the day of reckoning was coming, all must confess their sins, be baptized with water as atonement, and prepare for the last Judgment and the coming of the Son of Man.

King David was anointed by the Lord to reign over Israel until the end of time and over all alien peoples. After the fall of the Kingdom of David there was continued hope of its restoration. The future king would be the dispenser of justice. The Book of Isaiah was widely read. Most assumed the Messiah would be a political leader.

THE PHARISEES

The Pharisees (Heb, “separatists”) had their own traditions of biblical law which were disputed by the Sadducees, the aristocratic priestly group. The Pharisees were the forerunners of the rabbinic movement after AD 70. All the religious factions of this period, particularly those opposed to the Temple administration, appealed to the authority of Scripture, to which each gave its own distinctive interpretation.

The Pharisees were the most progressive Jews of the first century BCE and had developed an advanced spirituality. They believed that the whole of Israel was called to be a holy nation of priests and that God could be experienced in the humblest home as well as in the Temple. He was present in the smallest details of daily life and could be approached without elaborate ritual. Worshippers could atone for their sins by acts of loving kindness rather than animal sacrifice. Charity was the most important commandment of the law.

The Pharisaic Rabbi Hillel (80 BCE – 30 CE) said the essence of the Torah was not its letter but its spirit, which was summed up in the Golden Rule: “What is hateful to yourself, do not do to your fellow man. That is the whole of the Torah,” he said, “and the remainder is but commentary. Go learn it.”

This political and cultural turmoil of the times had a major impact on religion. The earliest apocalyptic writings were composed during this period. These cryptic revelations interpreted the wars as part of a cosmic conflict between the forces of good and evil that would end with the ultimate victory of God’s legions. Bodily resurrection at the time of God’s Last Judgment was promised for the first time to those righteous Jews who had been slain in the conflict. -- In earlier Judaism, immortality consisted in the survival of the individual’s children and people and in a shadowy afterlife in the netherworld, Sheol.

REVOLT, DEFEAT, DIASPORA

The Romans had been allies of the Jews and had allowed them priveleges such as not working on the Sabbath. Roman hostility began towards the end of the first millennium BCE and had to do largely with the Jews’ refusal to practice state worship. Relations deteriorated rapidly from the death of Nero onward.

There were other points of contention. The Greco-Roman world thought circumcision was barbarous. The diet and cleanliness laws prevented social relations with non-Jews. Jews kept to themselves and were felt by the Romans to be enemies of their multi-racial, multi-national society. Many libels were spread about them, such as that they were wanderers and had no home in Palestine and that they worshipped asses and made secret human sacrifices.

The Romans’ destruction of Herod’s Temple in CE 70 and their suppression of a second messianic revolt from 132 to 135 CE led by Simon Bar Kokhba were catastrophes for Judaism. The priestly leadership was decisively discredited and, in this context, the rabbinic movement emerged.

Because the Jewish people had lost political control, the rabbis emphasized community and spiritual life. They taught that by conformity to the Torah in daily life through study, prayer, and observance, the individual Jew could improve the world while waiting for God to bring about the messianic redemption of all Israel. Some rabbis held that if all Jews conformed to the Torah, the Messiah would be compelled to come. Institutionally, the synagogue and the rabbinic study house replaced the Temple that had been destroyed.

The first century CE Jewish Revolt against Roman occupation ended with the destruction of Herod’s Temple and the fall of Jerusalem. During the three-year Roman siege of Jerusalem, the inhabitants of the Holy City were divided. Some were wearied from the hopelessness of the situation. Others, although refusing to surrender, fought among themselves. The Pharisees wanted only to live peacefully so they could study and transmit the Torah.

Tradition says that Hillel’s student, the Pharisaic rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai, deputy head of Sanhedrin, had himself smuggled out of Jerusalem in a coffin during the rebellion with the connivance of the Romans. He had opposed the revolt. He believed God and faith were better served under a secular state. He set up a center for the regulation of Jewish religion in a vinyard at Javna around 66-70 CE. Here Rabbinic Judaism truly began.

The rabbi and the synagogue became the principle institutions of Judaism, which was now, in effect, a congregationalist faith. Ben Zakkai established the calendar, the standard prayers, and the rules for fasting and ceremonies. The details of daily worship counted for him. He said, “If you are planting trees, and someone tells you the Messiah has come, put the saplings in first, then go and welcome the Messiah.” He also said, “Grieve not, we have an atonement equal to the Temple, the doing of loving deeds, as it is said, ‘I desire love and not sacrifice.” Jews must turn away from violence and create a united community. When two or three Jews studied harmoniously together, the divine presence was with them. To show disrespect to any human being who had been created in God’s image was seen by the rabbis as a denial of God. Destroying one human life was equivalent to annihilating the world, while to save a life redeemed the whole of humanity. To humiliate anyone was equivalent to murder.

Yavneh became a major center of Torah learning, the first of several such cities where Torah was the focus of Jewish life. Here Jewish spiritual leaders prepared for a long and difficult exile. The precedent of moving the Torah center from Jerusalem to Yavneh, and then to other cities in the Diaspora (lands outside of Eretz Israel) sustained the Jewish people in the centuries that followed.

THE RABBINIC TRADITION

Rabbinical Judaism developed out of the Pharasiac movement and in response to the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 C.E. Concepts and practices were reinterpreted for a people in exile.

All forms of Judaism have been rooted in the Hebrew Bible, but Judaism is not simply the religion of the “Old Testament.” Modern Judaism is ultimately derived from the rabbinic movement of the first centuries of the Christian era in Palestine and Babylonia and can be called called rabbinic Judaism.

Rabbi, in Aramaic and Hebrew, means “my teacher.” The rabbis were experts in studying Jewish Scripture and tradition. Rabbinic Judaism maintained that God had revealed a two-fold Torah to Moses on Sinai. In addition to the written Torah, he revealed an Oral Torah which was then faithfully transmitted by word of mouth in an unbroken chain from master to disciple and preserved now among the rabbis themselves.

For the rabbis, the oral Torah was contained in the Mishnah (“that which is learned”). This was the earliest document of rabbinic literature, edited in Palestine at the turn of the 3rd century C.E. Subsequent rabbinic study of the Mishnah in Palestine and Babylonia generated the Palestinian and Babylonian Talmuds (“that which is studied”), which are wide-ranging commentaries on the Mishnah. The Babylonian Talmud, edited about the 6th century C.E., became the foundation document of rabbinic Judaism.

Early rabbinic writings included exegetical and homiletical commentaries on Scripture (the Midrash).

Later Medieval rabbinic writings include codifications of Talmudic law, such as the 16th-century Shulchan Arukh by Joseph Caro. In Judaism, the study of Torah refers to the study of all this literature, not simply of the Pentateuch or “the Torah,” in the narrow sense.

In Rabbinic Judaism, study was as important as meditation in other traditions. It was a spiritual quest, not so much for intellectual grasp as in pursuit of new insights. This can be seen particularly well in the novels of Chaim Potok about contemporary hasidic Judaism. Rabbinic exegesis (midrash) could go even further than the original text. It was said, “Matters that were not disclosed to Moses, were disclosed to Rabbi Akiba and his generation.” The full truth of the Golden Rule, for instance, could be found only by putting it into practice in daily life.

Study was a dynamic encounter with God. Revelation was renewed every time a Jew confronted the text and applied it to his own situation. There were no orthodox beliefs, only orthodox practices. Not even the voice of God could tell a Jew what to think. The teaching of God had been given on Mt. Sinai and was the possession of every Jew. Ultimate reality was transcendent and ineffable. Jews spoke little of God directly. Each Jew had a different experience of God.

It was also said that rabbis do not teach; they learn with their students. One says of a master of the Talmud, “He knows how to learn.”

The Mishnah (Jewish oral law written down) was compiled and edited around 200 C.E., under the sage Judah ha Nasi (the Prince).

TALMUDIC TIMES

The first millenium of the Common Era might be called Talmudic times. Conditions were harsh. Rabbinic Judaism was the product of defeat and exile. It was said that there is no reward in the world for observing the commandments. Natural events did not reflect the moral relationship between humans and God. The only reward for performing a mitzvah is the performance of the mitzvah itself. The Talmud, the principal sacred Jewish text besides the Torah was composed and written.

The years 220–500 CE were the period of the Amoraim, the rabbis who compiled the Talmud, Jewish scholars who "said" or "told over" the teachings of the Oral law in Babylonia and Palestine. Their legal discussions and debates were eventually codified in the Gemara. The Tannaim were direct transmitters of uncodified oral tradition; the Amoraim expounded upon and clarified the oral law after its initial codification. The commentary of the Amoraim, along with the Mishna itself, comprise the Talmud.

JUDAISM IN THE MIDDLE AGES (7th – 14th CENTURY)

Rabbinical Judaism is essentially a method whereby ancient laws are adapted to changing conditions. During the Middle Ages most Jews were forced to be town dwellers. They became in effect the first Europeans. The social influence of Jews in the Middle ages was more important than their numbers. They were a major link between cities and towns. Most Rabbis had professions as business men and traders. Barred from owning land, Jews were forced into trade and finance. Usury or money lending, forbidden for Christians during the Middle Ages, was both a solution and a problem for Jews.

The relative absence of dogma in Judaism helped them get along. Jews had many prohibitions but no positive dogmas. They concentrated on life and put death into the background. The Torah acted as a timeless and coherent guide to every aspect of human conduct. After belief in monotheism, the Torah was the essence of Jewish faith.

During the Middle Ages Jews were often protected by the state, and by the popes, because they were useful citizens. Trouble came when they were seen as rivals to non-Jews and when waves of Christian or Islamic religious enthusiasm overrode the state.

Currents which rivaled tradition arose in Medieval Jewry. There was supersition among the poor and rationalism or mystic kaballah among the rich. But the Jews had too many external enemies not to seek internal harmony. They needed a system to hold communities together in face of many perils.

Keeping extended families together was essential. Marriage was compulsory. Polygamy was rejected. The educational system was the cement. Most teachers were men, but there were also all-female classes, and female teachers. The community revolved around the school or synagogue.

The Sabbath and the dietary laws were strictly kept. There were many “fences” set up around the law. For instance, the law said not to mix meat and milk, therefore pious Jews keep two sets of dishes. Poor jews could always eat because of compulsory charity. The rule was, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need,” long before the time of christ. Charity became a substitute for temple worship. But work and independence were urged.

In the Arab-Muslim territories in the early Middle Ages, Spain, North Africa, and the Near East south of Anatolia, the condition of the Jews was easier. They were treated fairly well much of the time as second class citizens. They were dhimmi (“protected”) and could live and practice their religion in return for paying special taxes. Jews and Muslims had more in common than Jews and Christians. Jews had long been traders in the Arab world. But they were always at risk of a sudden change of heart.

THE CRUSADES

During the Christian Crusades, in the years from 1095 to 1291, hundreds of thousands of Jews were killed throughout Europe and in the Middle East.

THE 14TH AND 15TH CENTURIES

Sephardic Jews were from Spain and North Africa. They spoke Ladino, were learned, literary, rich, proud, worldly-wise, pleasure loving, not overly strict, and followed the liberal codification of Joseph Caro. They were a link between the Arab and the Latin world, transmitters of classical science and philosophy, and were now dispersed all over mediterranean and Moslem.

Ashkenazi Jews descended from the medieval Jewish communities of the Rhineland valley (in the west of Germany) and northern France. Many Ashkenazi Jews later migrated eastward, forming communities in non German-speaking areas, including Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Russia, Eastern Europe, and elsewhere between the 10th and 19th centuries. They took with them Yiddish, a Germanic Jewish language that had since medieval times been the lingua franca of European Jews. Today Ashkenazis make up more than 80% of Jews worldwide.

Jews were driven out of England in 1290, France 1394 Germany and Italy between 1350 and 1450 and went mainly to the Slavic kingdoms in the East. Jews were expelled from most European countries by the 15th century. Sephardic Jews had lived successfully in Spain for hundreds of years, but in 1492 70,000 Jews were forced to convert to Christianity, 80,000 went to Portugal, and 50,000 to the Ottoman Empire. Others drifted east into Poland and Russia.

The Sephardi diaspora from Spain in 1492 set all European Jews in motion. Many took to peddling, inspiring the legend of the Wandering Jew. Jews were attacked in part because they came into communities as strangers. In Venice, in the 13th century they were coralled onto one island, the Ghetto, and made to wear a yellow badge and red hat.

Jews were eliminated from large scale trade and industry by 1500, and many moved to Eastern Europe. Poland was the safest place for Jews and became the Ashkenazi heartland.

KABBALAH

Kabbalah is the theory and practice of Jewish mysticism which involves the inner, secret meaning of the Jewish religious writings and culture. The main texts are the Zohar and the Teachings of Isaac Luria (1534-1572). Kaballah is studied by many Jews today and is of particular importance to Hasidic Jews.

SIXTEENTH CENTURY

At the end of the 16th century, many refugee Jews migrated to Venice, Hamburg, London, and Amsterdam to practice their faith. The Netherlands was the most tolerant country in Europe. Jews were citizens here after 1757. Many Marranos, Jews who had converted to Christianity and then left Spain, had lost their faith. It was impossible to be loyal to a confessional religion such as Judaism by relying solely on reason, and without a prayer life, a cult, and a mythical underpinning.

Secular Jews did not yet exist in the 16th century. Spinoza, a Marrano, born in Amsterdam, rejected all formal religion, but he experienced the world as divine. He was a pantheist. He read the bible like any other text, studied it scientifically, promoted a secular democratic state, and was a harbinger of the modern spirit and a hero to later secular Jews. He was well ahead of his time and was expelled from the Jewish community

In Europe, Jews were increasingly forced to live in ghettos, a state within a state, enclosed in a wall. Anti-Semitism increased. Jews in the ghetto studied only Torah and Talmud. They lived more freely in the Islamic world but as second class citizens.

SEVENTEENTH TO THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

In the 17th century many Jews in Poland were massacred, and many turned to Kabbalah. Many Jews moved back to Western Europe.

HASIDIC JUDAISM

Hasidism arose from kabala, magic, mystery and poetry. Rabbi Israel ben Eliezer (1698 -1760), the Baal Shem Tov or BESHT, "master of a good name", a term usually applied to a saintly Jew who was also a wonder-worker, was a man of great learning. He sparked a romantic revival within Judaism, an approach to God through meditation and fervent joy. He taught that man's relationship with God depended on immediate religious experience in addition to knowledge and observance of the details of the Torah and Talmud. Everyone could please god with the offering of love, a service of the heart, joy, song, and fervid worship in company, under a beloved and holy leader with cabalistic powers. It spread in the ghettos, emphasizing angels, miracles, and secret incantations. Men rose to fill the role of Rebbe all throught the pales of East Europe. The rebbes founded dynasties. Features included: ecstatic worship, odd dress, changes in prayers, superhuman powers, and amulets, the superstition and magic dating to ancient Egypt. The study of the law pleased God less than fervor. To this day, Hasids maintain the dress and manners of the 18th century polish upper-classes. They were committed to learning. They came to the US in force from Nazi germany. But Hasidism has yet to meet the shock of the Enlightenment which much of Judaism has met and moved beyond.

The Ba'al Shem Tov and his disciples attracted many followers, and established numerous Hasidic sects. The rapid spread of Hasidism in the second half of the eighteenth century greatly troubled many traditional Jewish rabbis. They feared that it was another case like the false-messiah movement of Sabbatai Zevi (1626 - 1676) that had led many Jews away from mainstream Judaism. Shabbetai Zevi had been believed by many to be the Messiah and Jews expected the end of time. But in 1666 Shabbati converted to Islam under threat. He died in 1676, although his sect continued for some time.

The European Jewish opponents of the Hasidim, known as Mitnagdim (“opponents”), argued that one should follow a more scholarly approach to Judaism. Rabbi Elijah ben Shlomo Zalman of Vilna (1720 - 1797), commonly known as the Vilna Gaon or GRA, was a prominent Misnaged opponent.

Some of the more well-known Hasidic sects today include the Bobover, Breslover, Gerer, Lubavitch (Chabad) and Satmar Hasidim.

By the mid-1800s most of non-Hasidic Judaism had discontinued its struggle with Hasidism and had reconciled itself to the establishment of the latter as a fact.

Modern Hasidism can be rigidly traditional (see the novels of Chaim Potok) or joyous as with Martin Buber’s neo-Hasidism

THE HASKALAH (ENLIGHTENMENT) MOVEMENT

The Haskalah was largely the creation of Moses Mendelssohn (1729-86), a brilliant scholar and a friend of Emanuel Kant. He believed in reason before faith, the separation of church and state, and the privatization of religion. Besides joining in the intellectual life of the Enlightenment, some of the Jewish Maskilim (“the enlightened ones”) began to study their own heritage from a secular point of view.

Mendelsohn tried to end the isolation of the Jews so that they could take part the culture of the Western world and be accepted by gentiles as equals. The Haskalah opened the door for the development of all the modern Jewish denominations and the revival of Hebrew as a spoken language, but it also paved the way for some who wished to be fully accepted into Christian society to convert to Christianity.

Through the dark ages, the ghetto was bright with literacy but only in the Jewish Law. With Copernicus, Bacon, Galileo, and Descartes, Newton, and Voltaire, there was light outside the ghetto. The Jews’ first reaction was to seal it out. Emancipation and the end of the Ghetto caused a swift rebellion against this repression. Germany became a center of apostacy. Emancipation was delayed in Poland and Russia, because tyrants kept Jews in the “pale.”

From 70 CE to the 18th century, nearly all Jews lived in separate enclaves in Europe, N. Africa, and the Middle East. In 19th century Europe they had to learn to operate inside society and become a religious denomination among the many.

SECULAR ANTI-SEMITISM

With Jewish emancipation in Europe and the gradual loss of political power by the Christian churches, secular, "race-based" anti-Semitism arose. There are 4 million entries in Google for Judaism; there are 2 million for anit-Semitism.

JEWISH DENOMINATIONS

ORTHODOX JUDAISM

Most Jewish practice could be called “orthodox” before the European Enlightenment of the 18th and 19th centuries inspired the Reform, Conservative, and other Jewish movements. The Orthodox label seems to have begun in the United States in the journal The Occident, whose audience was traditional Jews. The word "orthodox" itself is derived from the Greek orthos meaning "straight" and doxos meaning "opinion".

Like all other modern denominations of Judaism, Orthodoxy is not identical to the Judaism that existed in the times of Moses or of the Mishnah and Talmud. However, many Orthodox Jews believe that contemporary Orthodox Judaism maintains the same basic philosophy and legal framework as existed throughout Jewish history.

The Orthodox Judaism of today is considered by historians to have begun as a response to the European Enlightenment in the late 1700s and early 1800s. It is characterized by a strict adherence to Halakha (Jewish Law). It is this commitment to Jewish tradition which distinguished Orthodox Judaism from other Jewish groupings at the time.

American Orthodoxy is not so much a movement as a spectrum of traditionalist groups, ranging from the Modern Orthodox, who try to integrate traditional observance with modern life, to some Hasidic sects that attempt to shut out the modern world. The immigration to America of many traditionalist and Hasidic survivors of the Holocaust has strengthened American Orthodoxy. No single national institution represents all Orthodox groups.

REFORM JUDAISM

Reformed Judaism arose in Germany in the early 1800’s in response to Europe's increasingly liberal political climate and the rigidity of Orthodox Judaism. Among the changes made in 19th-century Reform congregations were: 1) a de-emphasis on Jews as a united people; 2) no prayers for a return to Palestine; 3) prayers and sermons in German instead of Hebrew; 4) the addition of organ music to the synagogue service; 5) no observance of the dietary laws.

Some Reform rabbis advocated the abolition of circumcision. The Reform congregation in Berlin shifted the Sabbath to Sunday to be more like their Christian neighbors. Early Reform Judaism retained traditional Jewish monotheism but emphasized ethical behavior almost to the exclusion of ritual. The Talmud was mostly rejected, with Reform rabbis preferring the ethical teachings of the Prophets.

Modern Reform Judaism has restored some of the aspects of Judaism, including the sense of Jewish people-hood and the practice of religious rituals. Today, Reform Jews affirm the central tenets of Judaism - God, Torah, and Israel - while acknowledging a great diversity in Jewish beliefs and practices. Reform Jews are in general more inclusive than other Jewish movements: women may be rabbis, cantors, and synagogue presidents; interfaith families are accepted; children of a Jewish man are considered to be Jews, and Reform Jews are committed to the full participation of gays and lesbians in synagogue life and society at large.

In America, Reform was influenced by liberal Protestantism and particularly by the Social Gospel movement.

Kauffmann Kohler (1843-1926) a leading figure of American Reform Judaism, identified religion with moral progress. Contemporary Reform Judaism is a very progressive faith, constantly reforming and purifying itself. Revelation is progrssive. The election of Israel is a divine call through the ages. Judaism differs from other religions in that it is not the creation of a single teacher. Judaism doesn’t separate religion from life. All of common life and national existence is holy. The entire people and its national existence must bear the stamp of holiness.

CONSERVATIVE JUDAISM

Conservative Judaism includes most of the elements of contemporary Judaism and occupies a middle ground in its concern for preserving tradition and meeting the challenges of the modern world. -- Modern Orthodoxy does the same in a more traditional way, and contemporary Reformed Judaism has become more traditional than it once was.

Like Reform Judaism, the Conservative movement developed in Europe and the United States in the early 1800's as Jews reacted to the changes brought about by the Enlightenment and Jewish emancipation. Conservative Judaism arose out of intellectual currents in Germany in the mid-19th century and took institutional form in the United States in the early 1900s.

More Conservative Jews favored keeping Hebrew and more traditional customs. Their interest in historical research as a way of justifying and moderating the modernizing changes in Judaism led to the movement known as Positive-Historical Judaism and in America as Conservative Judaism.

Positive-Historical Judaism, the intellectual forerunner to Conservative Judaism, was developed as a school of thought in the 1840s and 1850s in Germany. Its principal founder was Rabbi Zecharias Frankel (1801-1875), who had broken with the German Reform Judaism in 1845 over its rejection of the primacy of the Hebrew language in Jewish prayer.

Frankel rejected Reform Judaism as insufficiently based in Jewish history and communal practice. However, Frankel's use of modern methods of historical scholarship in analyzing Jewish texts and developing Jewish law set him apart from neo-Orthodox Judaism, which was concurrently developing under the leadership of Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch (1808-1888).

The principles of Conservative Judaism include: a non-fundamentalist teaching of Jewish principles of faith; a positive attitude toward modern culture; and an acceptance of both traditional rabbinic modes of study and modern scholarship; and critical text study when considering Jewish religious texts.

In 1973, the Committee on Jewish Law and Standards voted to permit synagogues to count women toward a minyan but left the choice to individual congregations. In 1983, after a further decade of debate, the JTS voted to admit women for ordination as Conservative rabbis, with the choice left to the congregation.

In 2006, the Committee approved the ordination of gay and lesbian rabbis and permitted commitment ceremonies for lesbian and gay Jews (but not same-sex marriage). An opposing opinion that maintained the traditional prohibition against ordinations and commitment ceremonies for gays was also approved. Both were enacted as majority opinions, with some members of the Committee voting for both. This creative result gave individual synagogues, rabbis, and rabbinical schools discretion to adopt either approach.

At the time of the 1990 National Jewish Population Survey, Conservative Judaism remained the largest denomination in America, with 43 percent of Jewish households affiliated with a synagogue belonging to Conservative synagogues, compared to 35 percent for Reform and 16 percent for Orthodox.

In 2000, the NJPS showed that only 33 percent of synagogue-affiliated American Jews belonged to a Conservative synagogue. For the first time in nearly a century, Conservative Judaism was no longer the largest denomination in America. At the same time, however, certain Conservative institutions, particular day schools, have shown significant growth.

Conservative Belief and Practice

In 1988, the leadership council of Conservative Judaism issued an official statement of belief, Statement of Principles of Conservative Judaism. The Statement affirms belief in God and in the divine inspiration of the Torah; however, it also accepts the legitimacy of other interpretations of these issues. -- Atheism, Trinitarian views of God, and polytheism are ruled out, and Conservative Judaism rejects both relativism and fundamentalism.

Monotheism

Other than monotheism, no single understanding of the nature of God is required. Among the acceptable beliefs are: Maimonidean rationalism; Kabbalistic mysticism; Hasidic panentheism (God is in all of nature and also beyond), neo-Hasidism, Jewish Renewal; limited theism (as in Harold Kushner's When Bad Things Happen to Good People); and organic thinking in the fashion of Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne, also known as process theology. Judaism tries to avoid the extremes of anthropmorphism and de-personalization. God is more than personality, not less. Solomon Schechter says, “Judaism never objected to ascribing human qualities to God, only to ascribing divine qualities to man.” The experience of God's presence is sufficient. Obedience to moral law is obedience to God. Working for social justice is doing God's work. God wants man to cooperate with him and be a partner in the work of creation.

Revelation

There is no 'official version of the exact manner in which God wpeaks to man. Conservative Judaism allows members to hold to a wide array of views on revelation, including the traditional Jewish belief that God inspired Moses and the prophets to write the the Tanakh: (the Torah, Prophets, and Writings.)

Conservative Judaism accepts modern biblical criticism, including the documentary hypothesis, the theory that the Torah was compiled from numerous earlier sources. It rejects the Orthodox position of a direct verbal revelation of the Torah and also the Reform view that the Torah was not revealed but merely inspired. Most Conservative positions affirm the divine but nonverbal revelation of written Torah as the authentic, historically correct Jewish view.

Conservative Judaism views Halakha (Jewish religious law) as binding. Examining Jewish history and rabbinic literature through the lens of academic criticism, Conservative Judaism believes that Halakha has always evolved to meet the changing realities of Jewish life, and that it must continue to do so in the modern age.

This view, together with Conservative Judaism's diversity of opinion concerning divine revelation, accounts for some of the disagreement within the Conservative movement. When considering changes to halakha, Conservative Judaism's rabbinical authorities may rely on historical analysis as well as religious considerations. As Solomon Schechter noted, "the literary value of a code, does not invest it with infallibility, nor does it exempt it from the student or the Rabbi who makes use of it from the duty of examining each paragraph on its own merits, and subjecting it to the same rules of interpretation that were always applied to Tradition".

Because of Judaism's legal tradition, the fundamental differences between modern Jewish denominations involve the relevance, interpretation, and application of Jewish law and tradition. Conservative Judaism believes that its approach is the most authentic expression of Judaism as it was traditionally practiced. Conservative Jews believe that movements to its left, such as Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism, have erred by rejecting the traditional authority of Jewish law and tradition. They believe that Orthodox Jewish movements, on the theological right, err by slowing down, or stopping, the historical development of Jewish law: "Conservative Judaism believes that scholarly study of Jewish texts indicates that Judaism has constantly been evolving to meet the needs of the Jewish people in varying circumstances, and that a central halakhic authority can continue the halakhic evolution today."

The Conservative movement makes a conscious effort to use historical sources to determine what kind of changes to Jewish tradition have occurred, how and why they occurred, and in what historical context. With this information they believe that can better understand the proper way for rabbis to interpret and apply Jewish law to our conditions today.

Mordecai Waxman, a leading figure in the (Conservative) Rabbinical Assembly, writes that "Reform has asserted the right of interpretation, but it rejected the authority of legal tradition. Orthodoxy has clung fast to the principle of authority, but has in our own and recent generations rejected the right to any but minor interpretations. The Conservative view is that both are necessary for a living Judaism. Accordingly, Conservative Judaism holds itself bound by the Jewish legal tradition, but asserts the right of its rabbinical body, acting as a whole, to interpret and to apply Jewish law." (Mordecai Waxman Tradition and Change: The Development of Conservative Judaism)

Conservative Judaism views the process by which Reform and Reconstructionist Judaism make changes to Jewish tradition as potentially invalid. For example, Conservative Judaism rejects patrilineal descent, and holds that a child of a non-Jewish mother who was raised as a Reform or Reconstructionist Jew is not legally Jewish and would have to undergo conversion to become a Jew. The Conservative movement is committed to Jewish pluralism and respects the religious practices of Reform and Reconstructionist Jews. For example, the Conservative movement recognizes their clergy as rabbis, even if it does not necessarily accept their specific decisions.

Conservative Judaism accepts that the Orthodox approach to halakhah is generally valid. Accordingly, a Conservative Jew could satisfy their halakhic obligations by participation in Orthodox rituals.

Jewish Identity

Conservative Judaism maintains the Rabbinic understanding of Jewish identity: A Jew is someone who was born to a Jewish mother, or who converts to Judaism in accordance with Jewish law and tradition.

Conservative Rabbis will not perform marriages between Jews and non-Jews, but the Conservative community now reaches out to couples in mixed marriages in the hope that the non-Jewish partner will move closer to Judaism and ultimately convert. Over 70 percent of children of intermarried couples are not being raised as Jews.

HARIDI JUDAISM or “ultra-Orthodox”

Haredi is derived from charada, meaning fear or anxiety, here interpreted as "one who trembles in awe of God." (Isaiah 66:2,5). Haredi Judaism is the most theologically conservative form of Judaism. Haredi is often translated as “ultra-orthodox”, although Haredi Jews themselves object to this translation. They simply refer to themselves as Jews, and they consider more liberal forms of Judaism to be unauthentic, not Judaism at all.

Haredi Judaism intends to safeguard the Orthodox worldview by maximum separation from the external culture; resisting general knowledge except as a neutral tool; distancing itself from cultural currents such as democracy and equality; avoiding the media which transmit the cultural values of the non-Haredi world; and generally maintaining an attitude of spiritual superiority.

MODERN ORTHODOX JUDAISM

Modern Orthodox Judaism, championed by Samson R. Hirsch, is a movement within Orthodox Judaism to attempt to synthesize traditional observance and values with the modern secular world and preserve the medieval forms of practice. Modern Orthodoxy comprises a broad spectrum of movements, each drawing on distinct, though related, philosophies. In Israel, Modern Orthodoxy is dominated by Religious Zionism.

Modern Orthodoxy holds that Jewish law is binding, while simultaneously attaching a positive value to interaction with the modern world. Orthodox Judaism can “be enriched” by its intersection with modernity. Modern society creates opportunities to be productive citizens engaged in the Divine work of transforming the world to benefit humanity, but at the same time, in order to preserve the integrity of halakha, any area of inconsistency and conflict between Torah and modern culture must be filtered out.

RELIGIOUS ZIONISM

In Israel, the Religious Zionism dominates Modern Orthodoxy. Broadly defined, Religious Zionism is a movement which embraces the idea of Jewish national sovereignty, often in connection with the belief in the ability of the Jewish people to bring about a redemptive state through natural means and attributing religious significance to the modern State of Israel. This attitude is rejected by most Haredim. Religious Zionism encompasses a wide spectrum of religious views including Modern Orthodoxy.

Rabbi Abraham Kook (1865-1935) was a religious Zionist who migrated to Palestine in 1904. He was Orthodox and was horrified by the then purely secular nature of the Zionist movement. He recognized that European nationalism could become dehumanizing and lethal and that a purely Jewish state was necessary, but not without God. He believed the Orthodox who opposed Zionism were enemies of material change and had made the Jews weak. Both were needed. He found that the young secularists in Palestine had their own sort of spirituality, brazen and insolent but kind and honest. Kook said, “There are times when the laws of the Torah must be overridden.”

In 1912, a new party, Agudat Israel (The Union of Israel) was founded. They were fully orthodox but thought the creation of a Jewish homeland in Palestine was a practical solution. They saw that they needed their own schools.

A small group, the Gahelet (“glowing embers”) linked Haridi rigor with intense nationalism. The found a leader in the aging son of Rabbi Abraham Kook, Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, who said, “The state of Israel is a divine entity.” Unless Jews settled on the whole land of Israel there could be no redemption. This was a supreme religious duty. He was filled with hatred for both Christians and Muslims. For Kookists the ’67 war was proof that God was pushing history to its consumation. The Messiah was a process, not a person.

In 1968 Moshe Levinger led a group of Kookists to Hebron where they refused to leave. Reluctantly the Israeli government established an enclave for the settlers outside of Hebron, Kiryat Arba. By 1972 it had a population of 5,000, by 2007, it was 7000. The 1973 Yom Kippur War was considered by Haridi Zionists as God’s punishment for for not taking over all of Palestine. It was to warn the Jews to return to themselves

Anti-zionism

Prior to the foundation of Israel, for many conservative Jews seeking autonomous political power was tantamount to rebellion, because Israel would then cease being the transparent symbol of God’s lordship in history.

Israel was not a natural community but a metahistorical, covenental people, meant to bear witness to God’s rule.

The political message of exile was clear: “Do not seek to end your exile by military means or any other human initiative.”

Zionists were sinning, undermining the foundation of the Jewish people’s historical destiny. The story of the Jews was not an ordinary human history. Their weakness was thier strength. The book not the gun was the instrument of our survival. The two perceptions of modern Israel are submission or assertion, faith or rebellion.

Liberal Jews believed Zionism undermined efforts to xxx

RECONSTRUCTIONIST JUDAISM

An offshoot of Conservative Judaism, the Reconstructionist movement was introduced by Rabbi Mordecai M. Kaplan (1881 – 1983) in the 1930s. Kaplan had been a leading figure at the Conservative Jewish Theological Seminary for 54 years and had pressed for liturgical reform and innovations in ritual practice from inside Conservative Judaism. Frustrated by the more traditionalist voices at JTS, Kaplan's followers created a separate denomination in 1963. In 1968, they established the Reconstructionist Rabbinical College in Philadelphia.

Reconstructionist Judaism is a progressive, contemporary approach to Jewish life which combines a deep respect for traditional Judaism with the insights and ideas of contemporary social, intellectual and spiritual life. Judaism is more than Jewish religion. Judaism is the entire cultural legacy of the Jewish people. Jewish spiritual insights and religious teachings give meaning and purpose to our lives. Yet our creativity as expressed through art, music and drama, languages and literature, and our relationship with the land of Israel itself are also integral parts of Jewish culture.

Reconstructionist communities are characterized by their respect for the core values of democratic process, pluralism, and accessibility. The study of Torah, is a life-long obligation and opportunity. Reconstructionists are committed to a serious engagement with the texts and teachings, as well as the art, literature and music of tradition. As Rabbi Kaplan taught, tradition has "a vote, but not a veto." Unlike Orthodox and Conservative Judaism, Reconstructionism does not view inherited Jewish law (halakhah) as binding. Reconstructionist Jews recognize that in the contemporary world, individuals and communities make their own choices with regard to religious practice and ritual observance.

Many Reconstructionist Jews, like Humanist Jews, do not believe in a personal God. Mordecai Kaplan said that modern man cannot conceive of God as a person, but belief in God can still function as an affirmation that life has value.

HUMANIST JUDAISM

Secularism and non-theism became widespread among Jews only in the 19th century during the Haskalah, or Jewish Enlightenment, many of whose leaders rejected all traditional religious practice and belief in favor of reason and the scientific method. For humanist Jews, humans are the source of meaning and value.

Humanistic Judaism embraces a non-theistic, human-centered philosophy that combines the celebration of Jewish history, culture, and identity with an adherence to humanistic values and ideas rather than a belief in God. It was established by Rabbi Sherwin Wine in 1963 in Detroit, Michigan, to provide a home for humanistic, secular, and cultural Jews.

HAVURAH

A havurah or chavurah (Hebrew for: "fellowship") is a small group of like-minded Jews who assemble for the purposes of facilitating Shabbat and holiday prayer services, sharing communal experiences such as life cycle events, and Jewish learning. Chavuroth provide an alternative to established Jewish institutions and Jewish denominations. Am ha Yam of Cape Cod is a havurah.

Most chavurot place an emphasis on egalitarianism (including gender egalitarianism), and depend on participation by the entire community rather than top-down direction by clergy.

CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN JEWISH COMMUNITY

There have been Jews in America since the beginning of its settlement, but the contemporary American Jewish community is largely descended from central European Jews who immigrated in the mid-19th century and from eastern European Jews who arrived between 1881 and 1924, as well as more recent refugees from, and survivors of, the Holocaust. The multiple forms of Judaism in America — Reform, Conservative, Orthodox, and others — have resulted from the adaptation of these Jewish immigrant groups to American life and their accommodation to one another. Institutionally, Judaism in America has adopted the strongly congregationalist structure of American Christianity. Although affiliated with national movements, most congregations retain considerable autonomy.

CONTEMPORARY JEWISH WORSHIP AND PRACTICE

For the religious Jew, the entirety of life is an act of divine worship. “I keep the Lord always before me,” (Psalms 16:8) is inscribed on the front wall of many synagogues and characterizes Judaic piety.

The Synagogue

Synagogues are not consecrated spaces, nor is a synagogue necessary for collective worship. Jewish worship can be carried out wherever ten Jews (a minyan) gather. A synagogue does not replace the long-since destroyed Temple in Jerusalem although Reform and some Conservative congregations in the U.S. use the word "temple."

Prayer

We want to praise God for the marvels of life and to ask to be spared its terrors if possible and to give thanks for what he had in hand, in health, family, and work. In Judaism praying for benefits is a very small part of the liturgy.

Certain prayers and blessings are generally required at Jewish worship. A fringed prayer shawl and kippah (or yarmulke) are often worn as a sign of devotion to God by observant adult male Jews.

Study and Torah Readings

The study of Torah is considered an act of worship in rabbinic Judaism. The major liturgical Torah readings take place on Sabbath and festival mornings. In the course of a year, the entire Torah will be read on Sabbaths. The public reading of Scripture constitutes a significant part of synagogue worship. This appears originally to have been the primary function of the synagogue as an institution. The word Torah is often used to include all of Jewish religious teaching.

Dietary Laws

Since ancient times, Jews have been known among non-Jewish observers through their distinctive dietary observances. Many of these dietary laws relate to the ancient Temple cult. They are kept because God has required them.

The Sabbath (Hebrew: Shabbat)

The Jewish liturgical calendar reflects the divisions of time prescribed in the Torah and observed in the Temple cult. Every seventh day is the Sabbath, when no work is performed. The Jew returns the world to God, acknowledging that humans live in it only on His sufferance. In Exodus the Sabbath is described as a reenactment of God’s rest from the six days of creation. In Deuteronomy the Sabbath is explained as a commemoration of the liberation from Egyptian enslavement. In either explanation the Sabbath is the most distinctive holy day of Judaism. It is spent in prayer, study, rest, and family Festivals.

The Sabbath opens with blessings over light and wine. The observance has its solemnities, but the main effect is release, peace, gaiety, and lifted spirits, the rules of life rather than a religious discipline. The Sabbath is not just a day off, it’s a separate time. It is the anchor of a practicing Jew’s existance, a source of strength and cheer.

The observance of the Sabbath is based on the fourth of the Ten Commandments, ‘remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy. Six days shall you labour and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the Lord your God’. (Exodus 20:8-11) The Shabbat commemorates the fact that God created the world in six days and rested from His labours on the seventh day. The Shabbat is devoted to God and provides a weekly opportunity for physical rest and spiritual renewal.

The Sabbath begins at dusk on Friday and ends 25 hours later at nightfall on Saturday. For Orthodox Jews, all work is prohibited; this includes creative activity, writing, spending or handling money, operating equipment (even telephone and electricity), travelling (other than on foot), engaging in commercial transactions, and many other activities that may not be assumed to be “work” in ordinary parlance. Therefore all preparations must take place beforehand. The house is cleaned; shopping and cooking are all completed.

The Sabbath meal on Friday evening is a special occasion where the family eat together and catch up on the week’s events. The table is laid with a white tablecloth on which are placed two candlesticks, a cup of wine and two plaited loaves called challah (which represent the double portion of manna that God sent to the Israelites in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt). Usually the mother (or another female) lights the candles and then recites a blessing over them. One candle represents the command to ‘remember the Sabbath’, and the other represents the command to ‘keep the Sabbath’.

In some houses before the kiddush is recited the father places two hands on the head of each child and blesses each one in order of age. The blessing has its roots in the story of Jacob blessing his grandsons. (Genesis 48:8-21)

The father usually (but the mother can – in some families this is shared) recites a blessing of sanctification (kiddush) over the wine, which is shared by all those present. The father recites a blessing over the two challahs. The meal (which has been prepared earlier) is then eaten, followed by grace after meals in Hebrew.

On Saturday morning, the whole family attends the synagogue for prayer. As prohibition on work includes driving or travelling more observant Jewish people often live within walking distance of a local synagogue. After the service a kiddush is held. The family will then walk home, and eat a prepared lunch. Shabbat afternoon is a quiet time; families will sit and chat, read or sleep. Shabbat truly is a day of rest.

The end of Shabbat is celebrated by a special ceremony – Havdalah (which means separation). A prayer is recited and God is praised for making ‘distinctions’ – between light and darkness, between Israel and other nations, between the seventh day and the six workdays. A candle (twisted with 3 wicks) is lit to thank God for ‘fire’. It is customary for a spice box to be passed around, to welcome in a sweet new week and also to refresh the soul.

  HOLIDAYS

The Jewish year includes five major festivals and two minor ones. Three of the major festivals were originally agricultural and are tied to the seasons in the land of Israel. From an early date, these festivals came to be associated with events in Israel’s historical memory.

Significant events in the life cycle of the Jew also are observed in the community: Circumcision, Bar mitzvah, Bat mitzvah, Marriage, and death.

Passover or Pesach

Passover celebrates the Exodus from Egypt. This spring festival, marks the beginning of the barley harvest, and Shabuoth (Weeks or Pentecost) marks its conclusion 50 days later. Shabuoth is identified as the time of the giving of the Torah on Sinai. It is marked by the solemn reading of the Ten Commandments in the synagogue.

The Jews left Egypt at midnight on the spring equinox, the 14th of Nisan. Jews no longer ate the paschal lamb in celebration after the fall of the Temple. Moses and the prophets said God was interested in sacrifice only as a symbol of dedication and purification for men. The Talmud sets the order (“seder”) which becomes the name for the feast of Passover (Pesach). It is a retelling of the Exodus story with spoken parts for children and adults. The Jews must destroy the old yeast, and eat unleavened bread, key symbols of Passover. It is a passage from slavery to freedom, leavening the corruption of slave life.

Pesach begins on the 15th Nissan (March/April time). For Orthodox Jews it lasts for eight days. Pesach commemorates the exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt. The word ‘pesach’ means ‘missing out’ or ‘passing over’ and refers to the angel of death missing the Jewish homes out when smiting the first born of the Egyptians, - this was the last of the Ten Plagues that God sent to persuade Pharaoh to let the Jews leave Egypt. The Jews covered the doorposts of their houses with lamb’s blood to identify themselves so that the Angel of Death would pass over their houses.

Many years earlier, owing to severe famine, Jacob and his family had settled in Egypt, where food was available. A generation or more later a new king came to the Egyptian throne. He enslaved Jacob’s descendants (known as the Children of Israel). Moses was chosen by God to persuade the Egyptian king to release the Children of Israel from slavery.

The story of the enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt is recorded in the first part of the book of Exodus. Here we find details of all the Ten Plagues and what happened when the Israelites left Egypt. Exodus recalls that the Israelites left Egypt in such a hurry that there was no time to let their dough rise, so they strapped it to their bags and it baked into flat unleavened biscuits. Since that time, Jewish people eat only unleavened bread at Pesach – this is called matzah and looks like a flat cracker.

Before Passover begins the house is cleaned and all leaven is removed. This includes products made from wheat, barley, rye and oats. This is because any food that contains such products is removed to maintain the separateness of Pesach. Consequently, all cupboards etc are searched for hidden crumbs. For the next seven/ eight days no leaven products should be eaten.

On the first and second night of Pesach, families and friends gather for the Seder ceremony and meal. Before the meal Jews tell the story of the Exodus from Egypt which is read in a special book called the Haggadah (telling). Seder means ‘order’ and refers to the order in which we recount the story of the Exodus and explain the food and the symbolic Seder plate.

The Seder table is laid in a special way. There is a large plate with six ritual elements, a special cover with three matzot, and a goblet full of wine for the Prophet Elijah - who is supposed to visit every family on these occasions - several bottles of wine and a goblet for the father. Everyone else has a small wine glass.

The Seder plate contains the following:

A roasted shank-bone of lamb – burned and scorched to represent the sacrifice of the lamb before the Israelites departed from Egypt.

Parsley, lettuce and green herbs – to remind Jews of spring time and new growth and hope. The greens are dipped in salt water (also placed on the seder plate) to represent the tears of the children of Israel during their years in slavery.

Hard-boiled egg (slightly roasted) – which represents the Temple offering.

Bitter herbs – represent the bitterness of the Egyptian slavery.

Charoset - represents the mortar used by the Israelites in Egypt to build bricks. It is made from ground nuts, grated apples, cinnamon and wine.

There are three pieces of matzah on the table, which remind us of the 3 groups in ancient Israel; the Cohenim (priests), the Levites (their assistant’s) and the ordinary people. The middle piece of matzah is broken early in the Seder service and half, known as the afikoman, is hidden somewhere in the house for the children to find at the end of the meal.

The youngest person at the table, be s/he 5 or 55, asks the traditional four questions introduced by “Why is this night different from all other nights?” The father then answers this by recounting the story of the Exodus from the Haggadah. Some families retell the whole service in Hebrew, and others say some of the service in English as well as Hebrew.

Once the service has been completed the meal commences with egg and salt water. To close the meal the children search for the afikoman. Once the afikoman has been found a small piece is distributed to everyone – this concludes the meal. The evening continues with prayers and concludes with special songs.

Shavuot

Shavuot or Shavu'ot, the Festival of Weeks, is the second of the three major festivals with both historical and agricultural significance (the other two are Passover and Sukkot). Agriculturally, it commemorates the time when the first fruits were harvested and brought to the Temple.

Shavuot means ‘weeks’ and occurs seven weeks after Pesach. Shavuot is celebrated for two days on the 6th and 7th day of Sivan, and falls in May or June. This festival commemorates the ‘Giving of the Torah’ to Moses on Mount Sinai. The period of seven weeks between these two festivals is known as the omer, which means a sheaf of barley (and refers to the offering taken each day to the Temple), and to this day Jews make a point of counting off each day of the omer until the festival of Shavuot begins.

In biblical times Shavuot was celebrated as a spring harvest festival, when thanksgiving offerings of two loaves (made from the wheat harvest) was taken to the Temple in Jerusalem.

Today, the two elements, i.e. the receiving of the Torah and the harvest, are combined in the celebration. In the synagogue, for instance, flowers and plant decorate the central platform (bimah), and in particular the steps leading to the Ark. This commemorates the legend that Mount Sinai burst into bloom when God gave the Torah to the Israelites. In the synagogue the Book of Ruth is read. This story takes place during the spring harvest time and is therefore relevant to the celebration of the spring harvest festival. Jews stay up all night studying and reading the Torah in the synagogue to commemorate the giving of the Torah.

It is traditional to eat only dairy foods at Shavuot. One explanation for this custom is that it recalls the time when the Israelites had not yet received the dietary laws. A further explanation is that it is a reminder that God brought Jews into a land flowing with ‘milk and honey’. It is also said to represent the purity of the Torah.

High Holy Days

The ten-day penitential period before Sukkot is inaugurated by Rosh Hashanah, the New Year, and concludes with Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. -- According to tradition, the world is judged each New Year and the decree sealed on the Day of Atonement. A ram’s horn (shofar) is blown on the New Year to call the people to repentance..

Rosh Hasana

Rosh Hasana (lit. “head of the year”) is the first of the High Holy Days (or the “Days of Awe” or “The Ten Days of Repentence”) the first day of Tishrei, the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar. These days set aside for repentence. Yom Kippur (“day of atonement” ) is the 10th and final day and ncludes a public communal confesion of sins (to god, not to a human).

“All Israel, living and dead, from Sinai to the present hour, stands in relation to God as a single immortal individual. “

The past can be cancelled by a true cry of the heart to God and a return to his law. Cancelling the past leaves it blank, a waste of spilled years. Return while you have to time live a life worth loving.

“God undertook to make of Abraham’s seed an eternal people, a light to the nations, provided they would hold to Abraham’s monotheism and his obedience of God’s Law. Now that the descendents of Abraham exist as a small new nation (after the Exodus), God inquires if they want to ratify this covenant. They do and God unfolds the 10 commandments and the oral law. It is still in force. An immortal corporate individual. To love God, observe his commandments, love your neighbors as yourselves, protect widows and orphans, feed and clothe the poor, and preserve the symbols and rites of the fathers.

“The whole notion of an improvable and improving world, of fate being in men’s hands, of a universe that holds steady, of the absence of whimsical gods, of possible progress towards a kinder and healthier day is Hebraic. The chief gift of Israel to civilization, after the idea of the God of Abraham. Disastes have never dissuaded the Jews of their vision at Sinai of an unseen God. He exists, is interested in men, wants them to become better, and gave them a law which points the way to a better world.

Ninth of Av 586 BCE sacked the Temple and 655 years later xxx C.E. Romans destroyed it. A fast and mouning songs.

Rosh Hashanah occurs on the first two days of the Hebrew month of Tishri, which falls between September and October, and marks the beginning of the new Jewish year. It lasts for two days. Rosh Hashanah literally means head of the year. According to Rabbinic tradition, the 1st of Tishri was the day the world was created and Jews believe that on this day each New Year God weighs each person’s good and bad deeds on scales and determines each person’s fate for the coming year. A person’s name is then inscribed in the Book of Life. Rosh Hashanah is therefore also known as the Day of Judgement. Thus, Rosh Hashanah is not merely a time for celebration, it is a time for reflection, and begins a ten day period of self-examination that continues until Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement (see page 28). These two festivals are known as the Days of Awe, and the entire period constitutes the Ten Days of Penitence, when Jews pray and reflect on their year.

The process of reflection is the focal point of synagogue services on Rosh Hashanah. The synagogue service usually lasts an hour longer than a Shabbat morning service and includes prayer, study and song. At this time Jews believe that congregational worship is especially important – for Jews have both individual and communal responsibilities. The central feature of the service is the sounding of the shofar (a ram’s horn).

The shofar is blown to remind Jews of what God expects of them. The story of Abraham, who was prepared to follow God’s orders and sacrifice his son Isaac, explains why a ram’s horn is used. Instead of sacrificing Isaac, God commanded Abraham to offer up a ram that was tangled in the bushes.

Today, the shofar sounded at points in the service reminds Jews to reflect on their past deeds and ask forgiveness from God. Hearing the shofar is so important that provisions are usually made so that those who cannot attend synagogue e.g. those in hospital, can still hear the shofar’s blast.

An important symbolic aspect of Rosh Hashanah is the Tashlich ceremony. This takes place on the afternoon of the first day of the festival and involves Jews throwing away small pieces of bread, representing their sins, into running water, such as a stream or the sea. This action is symbolic of casting away one’s sins for the year and therefore means that the new year is started afresh.

On Rosh Hashanah it is customary at each meal for Jewish people to dip a piece of apple into honey and bread into honey rather than salt. This symbolizes the hope that the coming year will be good and sweet.

Yom Kippur

The Day of Atonement, the holiest day in the Jewish year, is spent in fasting, prayer, and confession. Its liturgy begins with the plaintive chanting of the Kol Nidre formula and includes a remembrance of the day’s rites (avodah) in the Temple

The Talmudic tradition say that on the Day of Atonement man can find forgiveness from God for his sins through ritual, but for sins against men only by redressing the wrong. The emphasis of Jewish faith is on human action. Their religious calendar refers to history. Every man plays his role in the redemptive history of mankind, for man is God’s partner

The ten day period from Rosh Hashanah to Yom Kippur is known as the Ten Days of Repentance. During this time Jews continue their process of reflection, asking friends/colleagues for forgiveness during the 10 days, which culminate in the solemnity of Yom Kippur. On Yom Kippur the Book of Life is sealed for the year. It is the holiest day of the Jewish year.

Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) is a reflective and introspective day- a time when Jews devote themselves to self-examination. To help Jews in this process they fast from nightfall on the eve of Yom Kippur to nightfall the following day. Not only does this require total abstinence from food for 25 hours but drink is also prohibited.

Such a lengthy fast requires much self-discipline. Jews believe that fasting controls their physical needs; i.e. hunger, so they can concentrate on their spiritual needs. Fasting is also seen as an act of solidarity – as Jews across the world all fast on this day.

However, not everyone is expected to fast. Children below the age of Bar/ Bat Mitzvah (12/ 13 years) are exempt, although they often miss a meal or two in an attempt to get accustomed to fasting. Pregnant women and the sick and elderly are also expected to seek medical advice before fasting.

Most of Yom Kippur is spent in the synagogue. During the day there are five services, Kol Nidre (all the vows) on the eve of the fast, Shacharit (morning), Musaph (additional), Minchah (afternoon) and Neilah (the closing),

The final service ends with a single very long blast on the Shofar, and the congregants then go home to break the fast with a family meal.

Sukkot

Sukkot (Booths or Tabernacles) celebrates the autumn harvest and is preceded by a 10-day period of communal purification. Sukkot is still observed primarily as a harvest festival, but the harvest booths in which Jews eat during the festival’s seven days also are identified with the booths in which the Israelites dwelt on their journey to the Promised Land. –

The word Sukkot is the plural of the Hebrew word sukkah, meaning booth or hut. The sukkah is reminiscent of the type of thatched huts in which the ancient Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten in the sukkah, and some families sleep there. A blessing is recited every day over the Arba minim, or Four Species, consisting of the lulav, etrog, hadassim and aravot.

Simchat Torah

Immediately following Succot Jews celebrate Simchat Torah - ‘Rejoicing of the Law’. Although it is a separate festival to Succot it is seen as an extension of it. It is an especially joyous occasion as it celebrates the completion and re-commencement of the cycle of weekly Torah readings. This cycle takes the entire Jewish year, as the Torah is divided into portions (sedras) to be read weekly in the synagogue.

On Simchat Torah the final verses of the Book of Deuteronomy are read followed directly by the beginning of the first book, Genesis, in the same service. This continuity symbolises the Jewish community’s continuing obligation to the Torah.

During the service all the Torah scrolls are taken from the Ark and carried in a procession seven times around the synagogue.

As Jews believe that the Torah scrolls contain the word of God, they are treated with great reverence and respect. In fact, if a scroll is dropped at any time, it is said that the whole congregation should fast for three days. As a symbol of this significance the Torah scrolls are given special names, one of which is ‘callah’ – bride. As the bride is the most important person on her wedding day, so the scrolls are the most important element in the service.

In fact, on Simchat Torah the person asked to read the last verses of Deuteronomy from the scrolls is called the ‘chatan torah’ (bridegroom of the Law), while the person who is called to read the first section of Genesis is called ‘chatan bereshit’ (bridegroom of the beginning). To be asked to do this is a great honour and it is usually bestowed on individuals who have made a great contribution to their congregation (in the form of time and effort).

Singing, dancing, music and much merriment often accompany the procession. It is especially a time for the youngsters in the congregation to become involved. Children bring flags with apples on the top of them and miniature scrolls with which to dance round the synagogue.

MINOR FESTIVALS

The two festivals Hanukkah and Purim are later in origin than the Pentateuchally prescribed festivals.

Hanukkah or Hanuka

Hanuka (Dedication), the Feast of Lights, commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian king Antiochus IV in 165 BC and the ensuing rededication of the Second Temple, the successful revolt of the Jews in the days of the Second Temple against the Selucid Greeks, inheritors of the Syrian chunk of Alexander’s collapsed empire. The 8th Seleucid king, Antiochus Epiphanes, tried to force Greek religion on the Jews of Judea. In 168 BC he installed an idol in the Temple in Jerusalem, made it a crime to teach the Bible or ciscumcise. The Hasmoneons revolted and led by Judas Maccabee recaptured the temple and began 8 days of rededicating. Hanuka means “dedication.” One flask of oil burned 8 days. Services resumed in the Temple until 70 CE. -- Hanuka is an epitome of the story of the Jews, a fantastic legend of a single day’s supply of oil lasting 8 days, a flaming bush that is not consumed, a national life that in the logic of events should nave flickered and gone out long ago is still burning on.

The festival of Chanukah is celebrated for eight days from the 25th day of the Hebrew month Kislev, which falls in December. It commemorates the victory of Judah Macabeus and his followers over the Greek King Antiochus and the subsequent rededication of the Temple, which the Greeks had desecrated (164 BCE).

According to Talmudic legend, when the Macabees recaptured and cleansed the Temple, they found only one little jug of oil to light the Temple menorah (seven branch candle stick). This was enough oil to light the Menorah for only one day, but miraculously the oil lasted for eight days. Thus, today Jewish families light a candle each day in a nine-branched candelabrum - chanukiah. One candle is used to light the other eight, this is called the shamash (servant). The candles are placed in from right to left and lit from left to right. On the first night one candle is lit, on the second night two candles are lit, with an additional candle being added each night. Therefore on the eighth night eight candles are lit.

It has become the custom to place the chanukiah in a window or somewhere it is visible from the outside. This is seen as a demonstration of a Jew’s pride in their religion.

Chanukah food is anything that is cooked in oil (in remembrance of the Chanukah story). A favourite dish is fried potatoes latkes and sufganiyot (doughnuts).

Chanukah is a time for games and presents. The most popular game is the driedel. A driedel is a four-sided spinning-top with the Hebrew letters num, gimmel, hey and shin inscribed on the sides. The letters stand for the Hebrew words ‘nes gadol haya sham’ – a great miracle happened here. Presents add a special appeal for young children, especially ‘chanukah gelt’ which nowadays is a gift of chocolate money, though an emphasis is placed on giving rather than receiving.

Purim

Purim (Lots) celebrates the tale of Persian Jewry’s deliverance from the Hitler-like Haman by Esther and Mordecai. It occurs a month before Passover and is marked by the festive reading in the synagogue of the Scroll of Esther (megillah). -- Four fast days commemorating events in the siege and destruction of the two Temples in 586 BC and AD 70 complete the liturgical year. The most important of these is Tishah b’Ab, or the Ninth of Ab, observed as the day on which both Temples were destroyed. Preceded by a fast. Closest to a Jewish Carnival. Deliverance of the Persian Jew from the Hitler-like Haman. Hear the scroll read, distribute to the poor, make a feast, exchange presents.

Purim is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the month of Adar. It commemorates when Queen Esther foiled an attempt by the King’s Chief Minister to annihilate all the Jewish people in Persia in the 5th century BCE.

According to the Book of Esther (which can be found in the Ketubim – the writings) the events are as follows: King Ahasuerus of Persia had removed his queen for disobeying him and chosen a new wife named Esther; unbeknown to him Esther was Jewish. Esther’s uncle, Mordechai, was also at court and caused controversy by refusing to bow down to Haman, Chief Minister to the King. Haman was furious and received permission from the king to have Mordechai hanged, along with his fellow Jews. The day was chosen by picking lots (“Purim” in Hebrew), and hence the festivals name.

Queen Esther heard this decree, and in despair she fasted and prayed to God for three days. She then invited both the King and Haman to a banquet and there she revealed to the King that she was Jewish and how Haman planned to kill her people. King Ahasuerus was enraged when he heard of Haman’s evil plan and ordered that Haman should be hanged instead of Mordechai and so the Jews were saved.

To celebrate this victory over evil, the festival is a happy occasion. Both adults and children attend fancy dress parties, where music and games are played and lots of wine is drunk! Drinking is encouraged during Purim, because it was at the banquet where there was plenty of wine that Esther revealed herself and caused Haman’s downfall. Jews dress up on Purim to remember how Esther masqueraded as a non-Jew before she revealed herself.

Even in synagogue the merriment continues. During the service the story of Esther is read from a scroll called the Megillat Esther – the scroll or book of Esther. Whenever the name of Haman is mentioned, the congregation shout, boo and hiss, to drown out the villain’s name. The Megillah is usually handwritten on parchment, but as it does not mention the name of God it is not considered sacred and therefore (unlike a Torah scroll, which has to be written by a trained Scribe), it can be written by anyone.

Popular foods eaten during Purim are Hamantaschen or Oznei Haman – three corned pastry parcels filled with poppy seeds and fruits. These are said to represent Haman’s hat or Haman’s ears.

SPECIAL OCCASIONS

Significant events in the life cycle of the Jew also are observed in the community.

Circumcision - At the age of eight days, a male child is publicly initiated into the covenant of Abraham through circumcision (berith).

Bar mitzvah - Boys reach legal maturity at the age of 13, when they assume responsibility for observing all the commandments and are called for the first time to read from the Torah in synagogue.

Bat mitzvah - Girls reach maturity at 12 years of age and, in modern Liberal synagogues, also read from the Torah. In the 19th century, the modernizing Reform movement instituted the practice of confirmation for both young men and women of secondary school age. The ceremony is held on Shabuoth and signifies acceptance of the faith revealed at Sinai.

Marriage - The next turning point in a Jew’s life is marriage (kiddushin, “sanctification”). Even at the hour of greatest personal joy, Jews recall the sorrows of their people. The seven wedding benedictions include petitionary prayers for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the return of the Jewish people to Zion.

Death - At a Jewish funeral the hope for resurrection of the deceased is included in a prayer for the redemption of the Jewish people as a whole. The pious Jewish male is buried in his tallith. Mourning is phased. Too much mourning could be considered a lack of faith in God.

Death is an evil because it cuts off light and life and because it is an enigma. That is what the common sense of men has always told them and it is pretty much what the Hebrew bible says. It is a part of the religion that there is a beyond, that God keeps faith with those who sleep in the dust, but no more. Judaism rejects both an extreme other-wordliness and an atheistic denial of an After-life.

JUDAISM

Jacobs, Louis. We have reason to believe. 5th., exp. ed. London, Vallentine Mitchell, 2004. 157p.

Wouk, Herman. This is My God. N.Y., Little, Brown, 1987, c.1959.

Potok, Chaim. Wanderings; Chaim Potok's History of the Jews. N.Y., Knopf, 1978. 431p. illus.

Johnson, Paul. A History of the Jews. N.Y., Harper and Row, 1987. 644p.

Mordecai Waxman. Tradition and Change: The Development of Conservative Judaism. (not read)

Hartman, David. A Heart of Many Rooms; celebrating the many voices within Judaism. Woodstock, Vt. Jewish Lights, 1999.

Ari L. Goldman. Being Jewish, the spiritual and cultural practice of Judaism today. NY, Simon and Schuster, 2000. Times reporter. He is Orthodox but believes Judaism can and should be variously celebrated. A rare pluralist Orthodox

Israel Finkelstein and Neil Asher Silberman. The Bible Unearthed; archaeology’s new vision of ancient Israel and the origin of its sacred texts. NY, Free Press, 2001. 383p.

Arthur Hertzberg ed., Judaism. NY, Braziller, 1962.

Karen Armstrong. The Battle for God. N.Y., Knopf, 2000. 442p.

Karen Armstrong. The great transformation; the beginning of our religious traditions. NY, Knopf, 2006. 469p.

Karen Armstrong. The Case for God. NyY., Knopf, 2009. 406p.

PALESTINE

Ross, Dennis. The Missing Peace: the inside story of the fight for Middle East Peace. N.Y. Farrar, 2004. 840p. Chief Mid-East negotiator under Bush I and Clinton. "There is little prospect of mediating any conflict if one does not understand the historical narratives of each side." 

Oren. Michael B. Power. Faith, and Fantasy; America in the Middle East 1776 to the Present. N.Y., Norton, 2007. 778p. An Israeli/American Historian. From the Barbary pirates and Protestant missionaries in 19th c. Palestine to Camp David. Fascinating and enjoyable reading.

O'Brien, Conor Cruise. The Siege; the Saga of Israel and Zionism. N.Y., Simon and Schuster, 1986. 798p. A well-known Irish writer and diplomat. -- Covers from the 19th century to land-for-peace in the mid 1980’s. Readable, clear, mildly pro-Israel, and favorably reviewed. The best account in my opinion.

Segev, Tom. One Palestine, complete; Jews and Arabs under the British Mandate. N.Y. Holt, 1999. 612p. An Israeli writer.-- British made incompatible promises to both Jews and Arabs. Many Arab missteps. British leaders were pro-Zionist out of a mistaken notion of Jewish world power. Entertaining, full of information. Reviews are strongly pro or anti, and accuracy is criticized.

Gilbert, Martin. Jerusalem in the Twentieth Century. N.Y., Wiley, 1996. 412p. – Noted Jewish/British historian. Solid history. Favorably reviewed.

Horovitz. David. Still Life with Bombers; Israel in the age of terrorism. N.Y., Knopf, 2004. 266p. Israeli journalist. -- He says the root problems are misinformation, Arab terrorism, and mutual mistrust after Arafat rejected the 2000 Camp David offer. Clear presentation by a realistic Israeli dove.

Carter, Jimmy. Palestine Peace not Apartheid. NY, Simon and Schuster, 2006. 265p. – Over 600 customer reviews on Amazon, most favorable, some anti-Semitic. Strongly critiqued by Alan Dershowitz

Khalidi, Rashid. The Iron Cage; the story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood. Boston, Beacon, 2006. Edward Said Chair of Arab Studies at Columbia. Failure to develop Palestinian state because of “Iron Cage” of British and failure of Palestinian leadership.

Peters, Joan. From time immemorial: the origins of the Arab-Jewish conflict over Palestine. N.Y., Harper, 1984. Whitehouse Advisor on the Middle East during the Carter Administration. Well reviewed and then trashed. Strongly pro-Zionist. Main points are that Jews were never treated well in Arab lands, and there was extensive Arab immigration into Palestine in the early 20th century.

Said, Edward. From Oslo to Iraq and the Road Map. Palestinian Christian Columbia Professor, died Sept 2003. Articles in Al-Ahram. Condemns Oslo and the Road Map as not proposing a viable Palestinian state. Supports bi-nationalism

Wright, Robin. Dreams and Shadows, the future of the Middle East. N.Y., The Penguin Press, 2008. 464p. Studies of contemporary Palestine, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Morocco, and Iraq.

Cohen, Jared. Children of Jihad; a young American's travels anong the youth of the Middle East. N.Y. Gotham Books, 2007. 278p.

Exile is a political, legal, and romantic thriller, by Richard North Paterson that presents a clear and even-handed picture contemporary Jewish and Arab suffering. As does The Lemon Tree: An Arab, A Jew and the Heart of the Middle East, non-fiction by Sandy Tolan

Agudat Israel – “The Union of Israel” – The umbrella political party, founded in 1912, representing almost all Haredi Jews in Israel, and before that in the British Mandate of Palestine. It originated in the Agudath Israel movement founded in Europe in the early part of the twentieth century.

Aggadah – The homiletic and non-legalistic exegetical texts in classical rabbinic literature - particularly as recorded in the Talmud and Midrash. In general, Aggadah is a compendium of rabbinic homilies that incorporates folklore, historical anecdotes, moral exhortations, and practical advice in various spheres, from business to medicine.

Amorain – Jewish scholars of the 3d to the 6th centuries CE, who produced the Gemara.

Ashkenazic Jews – Central and Eastern European Jewry, asssociated with German and Yiddish culture in contrast to Sephardic (Spanish) Jews.

Ba’al shem – “Master of the Name”; generally used in reference to Israel ben Eliezer, the Rabbi who founded Hasidic Judaism and was called the Baal Shem Tov. More generally, it refers to a rabbi who, due to his ability to perform good deeds that benefit others, is "given" the title by those who recognize or have benefited from his powers. It's a name that was given in the Middle Ages to a Jewish rabbi miracle worker who could bring about cures and healing. The "Name" referred to in "Master of the Name" is the most holy Four-Letter Name of God or Tetragrammaton. In Jewish tradition, this Name was pronounced only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur. With the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in the year 70 C.E., the true pronunciation was presumably lost. (Jews today do not pronounce the Name out loud, and substitute another Hebrew word, usually Adonai, in prayers and texts.)

Chesed -- “The world is built on chesed,” the Talmud says. There are two forms of chesed: tzedakah (charity), and gemilut hasadim (acts of kindness).

Chumash (Heb “five”) – Torah its in printed form, used in the Synogague to follow the service. Often with commentary. The 11th c. Rashi commentary is the most famous.

Diaspora – Communities of Jews outside Palestine. Also called Galut (Heb.) exile

Gahelet – (Heb: “glowing embers”) – young Orthodox students, a core group of Zionist religious fundamentalists who followed the teaching or R. Zvi Yehuda Kook.

Gaon – Jewish scholar and religious authority

Gemara - The Gemara (also transliterated Gemora or, less commonly, Gemorra) (from Aramaic gamar; literally, "[to] study" or "learning by tradition") is the part of the Talmud that contains rabbinical commentaries and analysis of the Mishnah. After the Mishnah was published by Rabbi Judah the Prince (c. 200 CE), the work was studied exhaustively by generation after generation of rabbis in Babylonia and the Land of Israel. Their discussions were written down in a series of books that became the Gemara, which when combined with the Mishnah constituted the Talmud. Gemara - part of Talmud, rulings of amoraim supplementing the Mishnah

There are two versions of the Gemara. One version was compiled by scholars of Israel, primarily of the academies of Tiberias and Caesarea, which was published between about 350-400 CE. The other version by scholars of Babylonia, primarily of the academies of Sura, Pumbedita, and Mata Mehasia, which was published about 500 CE. By convention, a reference to the "Gemara" or "Talmud," without further qualification, refers to the Babylonian version.

ghetto - A ghetto is described as a "portion of a city in which members of a minority group live; especially because of social, legal, or economic pressure." The word "ghetto" comes from the word "getto" or "gheto", which means slag in Venetian, and was used in this sense in a reference to a foundry where slag was stored located on the same island as the area of Jewish confinement. (Judengasse, Ger., Jewish Quarter). The term "ghetto" originated from the name of the Jewish quarter in Venice, established in 1516.

Halakhah – an accepted ruling in rabbinical law, part of Talmud dealing wiht legal matters. – Jewish legal system based on 613 divine commandments in Torah and compendium of the Talmud.

Hanukkah – feast commemorating victory of the Maccabees over the pagan Greeks.

Haredim – adj Haridi – The trembling ones, ultra-orthodox Jews.

Hasidim – Mustical movement founded in 18th c by the Baal Shem Tov. - Followers of devout form of Judaism with stong mystical element, origin in Eastern Europe.

Haskalah – “Enlightenment”; intellectual moment pioneered by Moses Mendelssohn in 18th c. to incorporate values of Euopean Enlightenment, integrate Jew in mainstream. Jewish form of 18th c. European enlightenment. One who believed in it was a maskil.

Kabbalah – Jewish mystical tradition. Practical kaballa is magic.

Kiddush – blessing over wine preceeding Sabbath or festival meal

Kookists – Followers of Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook

Kosher – food that is kashrut

Lubavitch Hasidim (Habad) - Russia 18th c.

Marrano – (Spanish: swine) – Spanish Jews forcibly converted, and descendants.

Maskilim – Enlightened ones, adherents of Haskalah.

Menorah - 7-branched lamp used at Hannakah

Midrash – Collection of exposition on scripture. Teasing things out of the text, looking for answers, bringing ancient teachings in line with contemporary thought and practice.

Mishna - The Mishnah or Mishna ("repetition", from the verb shanah "to study and review") is a major work of Rabbinic Judaism, and the first major redaction into written form of Jewish oral traditions, called the Oral Torah. The word "Mishnah" also means "Secondary" thus named for being both the one written authority (codex) secondary (only) to the Tanach as a basis for the passing of judgement, a source and a tool for creating laws, and the first of many books to complement the Bible in a certain aspect. The Mishnah does so by presenting actual cases being brought to judgement, usually presenting the debate on the matter as it was, and relaying the judgement which was given by a wise and notable rabbi, based on the rules, Mitzvot, and spirit of the "Torah" which guided his sentencing, thus bringing to every-day reality the rules and the practice or adherence of the "mitzvot" as presented in the Bible. In other words, the Mishnah teaches strictly by example and is case-based, though associative in structure, it aimed to cover all aspects of human living, set an example in its own for future judgements and, most importantly, demonstrate pragmatic exercise of the biblical laws, which was much needed at the time when the Second Temple was destroyed. The Mishnah reflects debates between 70-200 CE by the group of rabbinic sages known as the Tannaim and redacted about 200 CE by Judah ha Nasi when, according to the Talmud, the persecution of the Jews and the passage of time raised the possibility that the details of the oral traditions would be forgotten. The oral traditions that are the subject of the Mishnah go back to earlier, Pharisaic times. The Mishnah does not claim to be the development of new laws, but merely the collection of existing traditions. - The Mishnah is considered to be the first important work of Rabbinic Judaism and is a major source of later rabbinic religious thought. Rabbinic commentaries on the Mishnah over the next three centuries were redacted as the Gemara

Misnagim (Hebrew “opponents”) – The term "misnagdim" gained a common usage among European Jews as the term that referred to Ashkenazi religious Jews who opposed the rise and spread of early Hasidic Judaism, particularly as embodied by Hasidism's founder, Rabbi Yisroel (Israel) ben Eliezer (1698 -1760), known as the Baal Shem Tov or BESHT. The rapid spread of Hasidism in the second half of the eighteenth century greatly troubled many traditional Jewish rabbis; many saw it as a potentially dangerous enemy. They feared that it was another manifestation of the false-messiah movement of Sabbatai Zevi (1626 - 1676) that had led many Jews astray from mainstream Judaism. -- Rabbi Elijah (Eliyahu) ben Shlomo Zalman (1720 - 1797), commonly known as the Vilna Gaon or GRA. was a prominent Misnaged. Originally used by Hasidim to describe enemies. Now can refer to Ultra-Orthodox Jews of Lithuanian descent who base spirituality on Torah not mystical prayer.

“Name, the” - The "Name" referred to in "Master of the Name" is the most holy Four-Letter Name of God or Tetragrammaton. (YHWH or Yahweh) In Jewish tradition, this Name was pronounced only by the High Priest on Yom Kippur. With the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans in the year 70 C.E., the true pronunciation was presumably lost. Jews today do not pronounce the Name out loud, and substitute another Hebrew word, usually Adonai, in prayers and texts.

Neo-Orthodox – Jewish movement of 19th century and beyond. Rabbi Samuel Raphel Hirsch attempted to combine traditional Orthodoxy with insights of modernity.

Purim – Purim is a festival that commemorates the deliverance of the Jewish people of the ancient Persian Empire from Haman's plot to annihilate them, as recorded in the Biblical Book of Esther. According to the story, Haman cast lots to determine the day upon which to exterminate the Jews. Purim is characterized by public recitation of the Book of Esther, giving mutual gifts of food and drink, giving charity to the poor, and a celebratory meal.

Rabbi – “master” teacher

Rav – Hebrew for Rabbi

Rebbe – (Yiddish) the leader of a Hasidic (Chasidic) movement. A rebbe needs also to be a Tzaddik (“righteous one”, one who acts righteously, a spiritual master).

Rosh Ha-Shanah – “head of the year,” the Jewish new year holiday. Rosh Hashanah is the first of the High Holidays or “Days of Awe", “The Ten Days of Repentance” which are days specifically set aside to focus on repentance and that conclude with the holiday of Yom Kippur.

Sepahrdic Jews – originally exiled from Spain ca. 1492; later Jews of middle eastern descent, distinguished from Ashkenazi (European Jews).

Shekhinah – “dwelling,” the numinous presence of God in the world.

Shema – Judaic confession of faith (Deut 6:4) The first two words of a section of the Torah (Hebrew Bible) that is a centerpiece of the morning and evening Jewish prayer services. The first verse encapsulates the monotheistic essence of Judaism: "Hear, O Israel: the Lord is our God, the Lord is One." The Shema is considered the most important prayer in Judaism.

Simchat Torah --

Sukkot – “booths.” The festival of Tabernacles. A Biblical pilgrimage festival that occurs in the autumn. The word Sukkot is the plural of the Hebrew word sukkah, meaning booth or hut. The sukkah is reminiscent of the type of thatched huts in which the ancient Israelites dwelt during their 40 years of wandering in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt. Throughout the holiday, meals are eaten in the sukkah, and some families sleep there. A blessing is recited every day over the Arba minim, or Four Species, consisting of the lulav, etrog, hadassim, and aravot. The festival of Sukkot is immediately followed by Simchat Torah;

Talmud – (Hebrew “teaching”) Opinions and statements of rabbis of Palestine and Babylonia from 1st to 5th c. CE, and their interpreters. A record of rabbinic discussions pertaining to Jewish law, ethics, customs, and history. It is a central text of mainstream Judaism. The Talmud has two components: the Mishnah (c. 200 CE), the first written compendium of Judaism's Oral Law; and the Gemara (c. 500 CE), a discussion of the Mishnah and related Tannaitic writings that often ventures onto other subjects and expounds broadly on the Tanakh (the Hebrew bible). The terms Talmud and Gemara are often used interchangeably. The Gemara is the basis for all codes of rabbinic law and is much quoted in other rabbinic literature. The whole Talmud is also traditionally referred to as Shas, a Hebrew abbreviation of shisha sedarim, the "six orders" of the Mishnah. One third of Talmud is Aggadah (ethics, history, philosophy, tales, proverbs) the other two thirds are Halacha (legal matters).

Tannaim – Rabbinic scholars whose views are recorded in the Mishnah, from approximately 70-200 CE.

Tikkun – (Hebrew “restoration”) Tikkun olam is a Hebrew phrase that means, "repairing the world" or "perfecting the world." In Judaism, the concept of tikkun olam originated in the early rabbinic period. The concept was given new meanings in the kabbalah of the medieval period and further connotations in modern Judaism.

Torah – The Pentateuch, or the scroll thereof, or the entire body of Jewish law and teaching

Tosefta – (Hebrew “supplement”) collection of Tannaic teaching, a secondary compilation of the Jewish oral law from the period of the Mishnah (70-200 CE)

Yom Kippur – The “day of atonement” is the most solemn and important of the Jewish holidays. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. The tenth and final day of the Ten Days of Repentance which begin with Rosh Hashanah. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a "book" on Rosh Hashanah and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Ten Days of Repentance, a Jew tries to amend his behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God and against his fellow man.

Zohar – Principle work of kabbalah, a mystical commentary on the Pentateuch.