Judaism

Shavuot

"Feast of Weeks", marks the delivery of the Torah from the God of Israel to his people on Mount Sinai, comes right after Passover

What does "Israel" refer to, and what is this word's literal meaning?

Derived from the Hebrew term Yisra'el, meaning "he who struggles with God." Originated in the book of Genesis with the patriarch, Jacob who renamed Israel after he wrestled all night with an angel, then Jacob's descendants were called the Israelites So Jews are those who wrestle with God—arguing with God, one another, and even themselves To be a Jew is not to agree on a common creed, but rather to participate in an ongoing conversation

Different names for God and what they mean

Elohim: plural to El, meaning "gods" Adonai: "my lords", also a plural noun Yahweh: another name for divine, traditionally not written down or spoken aloud, "above all gods"

Why is studying Judaism important?

Head of the table in the study of Western religions: Islam and Christianity, started a monotheistic revolution Gave the world the prophetic voice, encouraging MLK Jr. and continues to demand justice for the poor and oppressed Produces some of the great stories in world literature: Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Noah's ark and the flood, David and Goliath, Daniel in the lion's den, Jonah and the whale Also produces Judaism's Exodus narrative of slavery and freedom, exile and return

Abraham

Hebrew Bible patriarch and father of the so-called Abrahamic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam

How have different interpretations of gender roles within Judaism led to controversy at the Western Wall?

Men and women are separated at the Western Wall

Moses

Most important figure in the history of Judaism, led the Exodus of the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt and received the Torah on Mount Sinai

Do most Jews belong to a synagogue?

Only about half of Jews living in U.S. belong to synagogues, and in Israel and the U.S. many identify as secular Jewish atheist is not an oxymoron

Is scripture straight forward or up for interpretation

Scriptures are holey. There is always more than one way to fill the gaps.

What are the two forms of the Torah? Why is the Torah important

Torah means "teaching" or "instruction", one of the most important ways the God of Israel acted in human history was delivering the Torah to his people on Mount Sinai One form of the Torah is the written law of Tanakh The other form is the oral scripture of Talmud ("learning") which is the authoritative collection of Torah interpretations

Kosher

kashrut=kosher dietary laws

Ark of the Covenant

A sacred chest that housed the tablets of the Ten Commandments. It was placed within the sanctuary where God would come and dwell.

Covenant

A solemn agreement between human beings or between God and a human being in which mutual commitments are made.

Shema

A prayer from the book of Deuteronomy, a Jewish creed, beginning, "Hear (Shema), O Israel! The lord is our God. The lord is one"

Monotheistic or Polytheistic?

For those who locate the Jewish tradition at or near the birth of monotheism, the Hebrew Bible is shot through with fascinating hints of polytheism. Not necessarily monotheistic or polytheistic, but henotheistic (worshipping one high god among many) Overtime, Judaism became more monotheistic in a worldwide view that underscored the unity and uniqueness of god Commitment to oneness of god and monotheism has become very strict nowadays more than the commitment to God's existence, also reject incarnation of the divine in human form God is above and beyond human comprehension, but commonly described as a merciful being who heeds our prayers, act in human history and maintain a relationship with his people Also described as ethical monotheism (form of single-god belief that describes God as lawgiver and judge and emphasizes religion's ethical dimension

How did it all begin, story of Adam and Eve, Noah's ark

God created heavens and earth and a man and women, Adam and Eve, and a garden home called Eden, in this garden God made a deal, covenant: they could live in the garden of delights and God would supply their every need as long as they did not go to the tree of knowledge of good and evil and eat the fruit, but Adam and Eve were seduced by a serpent and ate the fruit God's punishment was exiling them from the garden of Eden and letting the human race die out, but in addition to suffering and death, knowledge was released out into the world, moving human history to work towards wisdom God had later almost ended all life on earth with a flood, but then ended a covenant with Noah, his descendent, and two of each animal in his ark and God promised he would never destroy the world by flood

God's covenant with Abraham

God makes the covenant with Abraham (and Sarah) and his descendants God promises descendants and land (The Promised Land) Be fruitful and multiply Sign of the covenant = name change and circumcision

Tanakh

Hebrew Bible, the Jewish scriptures which consist of three divisions--the Torah, Neviim, and Ketuvim Torah definition given already Neviim includes 8 prophetic works divided into two sections: the Former Prophets, and the Latter Prophets Ketuvim includes 11 books spanning genres from apocalyptic literature (Daniel), to love poetry (Song of Songs), to songs (Psalms), to history (Chronicles), to wisdom (Proverbs and Ecclesiastes) to short stories (Ruth and Esther) influenced Christian Bible and the Quran emphasis on ritual laws like purity and impurity, enslavement, plagues and war

Exodus

Influential biblical story narrating the escape of Moses and the Israelites from slavery in Egypt to freedom in the promised land, on the trip Moses parted the Red Sea

What kind of religion is Judaism?

Judaism is an Exile Religion Also an ethnic, but non-homogeneous religion •Temple destroyed in 586 B.C.E. (rebuilt & destroyed again by Romans in 70 C.E.) •Loss of the Temple transformed Israelite religion into an exile (or diaspora) religion -synagogues are founded for prayer and study -no priests conducting animal sacrifices; instead, rabbis lead Torah study -the books of the written Torah are collected & the oral Torah is recorded in writing The religion we call JUDAISM is NOT what is depicted in the Hebrew Bible. The religion we call JUDAISM is the art of wrestling with the Hebrew Bible.("Israel" can mean "wrestle") SYNAGOGUES, RABBIS, TORAH STUDY

About what percentage of people in the world today are Jewish? In which countries do most of them currently live?

Judaism is the leading religion in only one country being Israel which has about 6.2 million Jews In the U.S. there are 5.6 million Jews U.S. and Israel are home to 80% of all Jews Other notable Jewish populations in France, Canada, United Kingdom, Argentina, Russia, Germany and Australia 675,000 Jews living under the rule of the Palestinian Authority. Makes up 0.2% of religions worldwide behind Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Atheists and Agnostics, Chinese-folk religions and Sikhs Types of Judaism in Israel: 49% secular 29% conservative 13% modern orthodox 9% strictly orthodox Only about 15 million Jews worldwide 35% of American jews are reform 18% are conservative 10% practice orthodoxy 30% are secular 6% identify with other groups

King David

King who united Israel's northern and southern kingdom Killed Goliath Wrote the psalms Lusted over Bathsheba Ruled a nation centered in Jerusalem

Do Jews believe a messiah will come

Many Jews do not hope for a coming messiah (literally, "the anointed," which is to say the king), but even those who do hope, recognize that he has not yet come to reign over a new era of justice and peace.

Three main types of Judaism and interpretation of the commandments

Orthodox, Conservative, Reform, differ over interpretation of the 613 Jewish commandments, but all have emphasis in Judaism on orthopraxy (right action) over orthodoxy (right belief) Orthodox: View all 613 commandments as divine revelation and work to follow them without asking why, insist on kosher diet Reform: View commandments more symbolically and emphasize ethical over ritual laws, men and women seated together in service which narrows gender gap Conservative: insist on kosher diet, men and women seated together in service which narrows gender gap

How many temples have there been in Jewish history, and which one is standing now?

The First temple built by King Solomon, the Second temple built by Harod the Great, and now Temple Mount

10 commandments

The laws given by God to Moses on Mount Sinai and inscribed on two stone tablets are known as the Ten Commandments, the Decalogue, or the Ten Words. The Jewish tradition actually speaks of 613 commandments, and the Hebrew Bible, which contains two of these lists, never numbers them. Jews, Catholics, and Protestants use different versions of the Ten Commandments. This one is widely used in Jewish circles: 1. I the Lord am your God who brought you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage. 2. You shall have no other gods besides me 3. You shall not swear falsely by the name of the Lord your God 4. Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy 5. Honor your father and your mother 6. You shall not murder 7. You shall not commit adulatory 8. You shall not steal 9. You shall not bear false witness among your neighbor 10. You shall not covet your neighbor's house, wife, or anything that is your neighbors

Ancient Israelite Religion

The religion described in the Hebrew scriptures is defined by: •rituals of prayer, sacrifice, and offering •centered at the Temple in Jerusalem •performed by hereditary priests TEMPLE, PRIESTS, SACRIFICES proto-Jewish religious tradition focused on priestly sacrifice in the Jerusalem temple, kingdoms of Israel and Judah , later developments referred to as Second-Temple Judaism Described in the Tanakh and the temple which it revolved Integrated into the surrounding rural and agricultural economy Sacrifice had to do with repairing a covenant of a people with their God

Circumcision (Bris)

The ritual cutting of the male foreskin; sign of the covenant between God and Abraham.

How does Prothero describe humanity's "ultimate problem" and "ultimate goal" according to Judaism?

Ultimate Problem: exile-distance from God and from one's true home problem is "us" not "me" Ultimate goal: return-return to God and one's home it is the job of Jewish people to make things right and "repair the world"(Tikkun Olam) and put an end to exile Until they complete that task (or the messiah returns to do it for them), Jews abide in that awkward middle space of almost and not yet. They are a people of both exile and return—a pattern that provides, according to the Jewish studies scholar Jacob Neusner, "the structure of all Judaism(s)," not to mention the central turn of much Jewish literature and film.

Kippa

Worn on the head of Orthodox and many conservative Jewish men plus some observant women Not a biblical commandment, but the Talmud describes men covering their heads including Rabbi Huna who would not walk anywhere bare-headed The mystical text the Zohar is stricter and warns that a man walking with a bare head could be struck dead Today it is a matter of personal choice

Passover

a holiday in which Jews remember the Exodus and their freedom from slavery when Moses led the Israelites out of bondage in Egypt, then they made their way to Mount Sinai where Moses became lawgiver

Second Temple Judaism

a religious tradition that followed Israelite religion and developed while the Second Temple was standing between 505 BC-70 CE, helped produce rabbinic Judaism shift from sacrifice at a single site to texts that could be studied and taught anywhere saw development of the Hebrew Bible and emergence of the synagogue as a place of prayer and worship end of period saw an increased interest in the fate of an individual human being in the afterlife and belief of bodily resurrection Many religious groups grew out of Second Temple Judaism, including Pharisees who helped produce rabbinic Judaism

Rabbinic Judaism

a religious tradition that followed Second Temple Judaism, textually oriented, developed around the time of the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE became textual rather than sacrificial religion, key site shifted from Jewish temple to the synagogue and its exemplars from priests and prophets to rabbis emerged around the time of the Jesus movement

Hebrew Bible

also known as Mikra ("what is read"). The founding document of the people of Israel, describing its origins, history and visions of a just society. collection of sacred texts roughly equivalent to the Christian Bible Old Testament

Halacha

an authoritative formulation of traditional Jewish law, part of oral Torah which is law, really means "way" or "path"

Bar Mitzvah and bat Mitzvah

an initiation ceremony marking the 13th birthday of a Jewish boy/girl and signifying the beginning of religious responsibility "son of the commandment" or "daughter of commandment"

Ethnic or missionary religion

ethnic religion, rabbis historically discouraged conversion emphasized behavior over belief, orthopraxy over orthodoxy see themselves as a people as well as a religious community, always under threat, central goal to keep community together

Examples of midrash

example: two creation stories •Story #1: God creates... •1. light and dark •2. water and sky •3. sea, dry land, plants •4. sun moon, and stars •5. animals of sky and water •6. animals of the earth and humans (in God's image) •Story #2: God creates... •1.human being ("Adam," made out of earth "Adamah") •2. garden •3. animals

Torah

the revealed scripture of Judaism •"Torah" literally means "direction" •Often referred to as the "Law" (which is liberation, not burden) •There is a written Torah and an oral Torah: •written Torah = Hebrew Bible = also called the "Tanakh" •oral Torah = teachings spoken to Moses = collected in the Mishnah •each is needed to understand the other •"Without an Oral Law, blind adherence to the plain text of certain Torah commandments would lead to unethical acts." Refers to the five books of Moses (Pentateuch): Genesis, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy

Midrash

wrestling with scripture Midrash means "interpretation." Midrash addresses the gaps, questions, and contradictions in the Torah. There are always multiple correct & valid midrashim.