Judaism

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Orthodoxy

Back 1

Religious doctrine

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Orthopraxy

Back 2

Religious practice

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Moses

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 Wrote the Pentateuch (the first five books) or the Torah
 Called upon by God to lead the people of Israel out of slavery and back to Canaan (which was inherited by Abraham)
Made covenant with God at Mt. Sinai

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Covenant

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 Meaning “contract”
 God made a covenant with Jews on Mount Sinai
 God’s chosen people
Chosen to serve God and be an example for humankind

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 Why was the covenant made

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o The doctrine of the chosen people seems to be religious chauvism
o Jews were not chosen for privileges but to suffer, serve, and be an example for human kind

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Many covenants made

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Noah

Abraham (covenant of a multitude of nations)

Moses at Mt. Sinai

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Temple

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 The destruction of the first temple in Jerusalem by the Babylonians in 586 BCE
o Pentateuch (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy)

 The destruction of the second temple by the Romans in 70 CE
o Romans ruled the East including Israel; put down the Jewish rebellion and destroyed Jerusalem
o The second temple is where the Hebrew Scriptures were produced

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Israel

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 Four reasons for its establishment
o Security  the holocaust
o Psychology  Zionist argued that being a minority reinforced their subservience and self-hatred
o Culture  without Judaism as a dominant culture, the culture will die
o Utopian Society  needed to construct a society based on the teachings of prophets, to be a good example for all

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Orthodox Judaism

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o Biblical story of Israel’s closeness is affirmed in all respects; stress on Israel’s mission to share its moral insights with the non-Jewish communities

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o Conservative Judaism

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Israel is a historic civilization that links Jews together in a common community of faith

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Reform Judaism

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o People blessed with unique moral insights

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Judah

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586 B.C. E. Nebuchadnezzar conquered the southern kingdom of Judah and exiled the living, as prisoners, to Babylon

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Babylonian Exile (Lesson’s of exile)

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 No temple for sacrificial atonement
 Sacrifice becomes a personal choice
 Sanctify life = sacrifice each moment to God
 Rabbis become important
o Carriers of the Oral Torah
o Compile the Babylonian Talmud
o Taught how to sanctify life
o Follow the law
o Acts of loving kindness
Prophet
 Taught the redemptive value of the suffering of Jews

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Second Temple

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 70 C.E. the Romans destroyed the second temple
 Jews dispersed in the Diaspora

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Synagogue

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 A large hall for prayer

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Tefillin

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 Hand and head tefillin (leather boxes)
 Leather Straps
 Signs of the covenant: meaning love and reverence
 Very ancient item not worn on Sabbath but worn for prayer

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Tallit

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 The prayer shawl with horizontal blue strips and fringes

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Kashrut

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 Kosher (in English)
o Way of eating; pure; strict
 Set of Jewish dietary laws

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Kibbutz

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 Farm or business run in communal fashion in Israel
 Profits go to a central fund
 Pays for all (i.e. school, medical bills, etc)

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Shema

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Hear O Israel, the Lord Our God, the Lord is One” Deuteronomy 6:4

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Shiva

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 Week long mourning period for first degree relatives (mother, father, brother, sister, daughter, son, spouse)
 Rites of passage
 In Judaism, sitting on the Shiva, mourning, after the funeral helps us grieve as we say our goodbyes to those whom we loved

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Exodus (Lesson of Exodus)

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 The Nature of God revealed
o Yahweh was supremely powerful
o Yahweh was a God of goodness and love
o God was deeply involved in the lives of humans
o In Exodus, human life was so important God took decisive action to change their condition
Shows that revelations were not primarily verbal

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Rabbi

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Leader of the community

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Jerusalem

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Capital of Israel

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Kabala

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School of Jewish mysticism

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Sefirot

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 The ten emanations of God
 Include the ten divine attributes
Crown, wisdom, understanding, love, judgment, beauty, endurance, majesty, foundation, and presence

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The Ten Sefirot of Kabalah

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If arranged in a body: the crown is the head; judgment and understanding are the left arm; wisdom and love are the right arm; beauty is the center of the body; majesty is the left leg and endurance is the right leg; and at the bottom is foundation and presence

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721 B.C.E

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Assyria destroyed the Northern part of the Jewish realm called Israel (10 tribes)

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586 B.C.E

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 Nebuchadnezzar conquered the southern kingdom of Judah and exiled the living, as prisoners, to Babylon
 Babylonians destroyed the first temple
 Dispersed the southern kingdom of Judah

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70 B.C.E

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Assyria destroys Israel

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1967

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 6th day of war; East Jerusalem; West bank; Gaza; Israel gains control

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1948

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 United Nations created state of Israel

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Diaspora

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 Jewish communities

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Sephardic Jews

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Muslim lands

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Ashkenzai Jews

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region of the Rhine: Germany, Poland, Russia, Europe

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Torah

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 It is also called the Ta-na-kh by the Hebrews
 Means “teaching”, “instruction”, or “law”

 Refers to the first five books of Tanakh (the Pentateuch)

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Torah

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 Consists of two parts (1) Written Torah and (2) Oral Torah

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Orthodox Judaism

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unchangeable record of divine revelation; modern historical research in the Bible is rejected as the result of the loss of faith

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Conservative Judaism

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Torah is the record of Israel’s growing awareness of what it means to live in relation to God

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Reform Judaism

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historical record of Israel’s discovery of universal morality; revelation is a moral experience rather than a historic event

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Midrash

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 Torah Commentary
 Early Century CE
 Two Parts:
o Halakah  legalistic explanation of the Law for correct conduct
o Haggadha  explanation of the narrative passages of the Torah like expository sermons

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Halakah

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o legalistic explanation of the Law for correct conduct

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Haggadha

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o explanation of the narrative passages of the Torah like expository sermons rather than exegesis

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Mishnah

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 Means repetition in Hebrew
 Collection of material from Midrash sources or legal material on
o Seeds = agricultural law
o Festivals
o Women = marriage laws
o Damages = civil and criminal laws
o Holy things = rituals
o Purifications

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Talmud

Back 45

 Aramaic
 A comprehensive commentary on the Mishna
o Main text of Rabbinic Judaism
o Palestinian (Jerusalem) Talmud  end of 4th century CE
o Babylonian Talmud (considered more authorative)  end of 5th century CE
o The Talmud has been added to over the centuries and there is still room for addition

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Zohar

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 Composed of three parts
o Theological Elements
o Personal Morality
o Social Ethics
 A sacred text in Kabbalah
 Written by Moses de Leon
 Central character in the book is Rabbi Shim’on
 Moses de Leon claimed the he discovered the ancient text and that Rabbi shim’on had written it himself
 The teachings of the Zohar center around the Sefirot

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Amida

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 The Standing Prayer

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Mount Sinai

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 Were God made a covenant with Jews

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Zionism

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 Movement that redefined the Jewish people into a nation and revived the Jews ancient political status
 Movement back to Israel to reestablish homeland
 Nationalistic movement to create a state in Palestine

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Zadik

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 Holy and pious leader who embodies an ideal of wisdom

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Elie Wiesel

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 Survivor of the Holocaust

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Hassidism

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 = pious one
 Tzaddiq = righteous one
 Ba’al Shem Tov = Master of the Good Name
o Born Israel ben Eliezer 1700
o Founder of the Hassidism movement
 Movement in Judaism that began in the 18th century in Poland and Ukraine
o Reaction against orthodox religious system which had become more legalistic and less spiritual
o Hassidism appealed to the heart; the joy of knowing God in humility

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Sabbath

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 Memorial of creation and exodus from Egypt; day of rest for man and beast; all labor, striving, anxiety put away
 Eat Challah (bread)

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Rosh Hashanah

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 Jewish New Year

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Yom Kippur

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 Day of Atonement
 Fast from dusk to dusk where there is no partake in neither food nor drink in token of penitence, but through prayer and confession scrutinize their lives, abjure their evildoing, and seek regeneration, a returning to God and goodness

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Tabernacles

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 Sukkoth
 Nine days were the first eight celebrate the completion of the harvest, the dwelling of the Israelites in booths in the desert, and never interrupted sojourn of man under God’s sheltering wing

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Passover

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 Celebrates the fact that God’s angel of death passed over the homes of the Jews and celebrates the freedom from slavery that resulted
 Striking down of the first born in the land of Egypt
 Bearing of twofold reminder of the advent of springtide and of the liberation of Israel from Egypt
 Bright with promise of the deliverance
 Exit out of Egypt

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Pentecost’s

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 Shavuoth
 Agricultural festival in that it is the time of the grain harvest and of the in bringing of the first fruits
 Holiday commemorates the revelation at Sinai

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Hanukkah

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 The festival of lights
 Recollection of the victory won by the maccabees of old in the cause of freedom of conscience
 Symbol of the uncercibility of the human spirit

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Purim

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 The day of lots
 Israel relives its deliverance from the hands of Haman
 Takes renewed faith in its ability to outlive the Hamans of other times

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Tish’a B’Ab

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 The Ninth day of the Month of Ab
 The black fast
 Spent in mourning for the destruction of the first and second temples in Jerusalem

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Ten Commandments

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1) I am the Lord your God, you shall have no other gods besides me.
2) You shall not make for yourself a sculptured image nor bow down to them or serve them.
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 mother
6) You shall not murder
7) You shall not commit adultery
8) You shall not steal
9) You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor
10) You shall not covet anything of your neighbor

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Why Jews find meaning in history?

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o Ways determine how God acts
o Shows social action can cause change
Take advantage of opportunities

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God’s Qualities

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o Moral, Justice, Human life, Personal, Anthrophnmorphic

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Meaning in Eight Area

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1) In God
2) In Creation
3) In Human Existence
4) In History
5) In Morality
6) In Justice
7) In Suffering
8) In Messianism

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God

Back 66

 Was not prosaic (impersonal)
 Has one supreme will
 Is just and moral
 Is benevolent and loves us

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Creation

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 God is good, God created the world the world was good (on the 6th day) and God saw all things that he had made, and they were good (Gen 1:31); meaning life is good and worth living
 God had granted humans the right to be in control of the world and to work good deeds in it
 Matter becomes salvation
 Nature is the dwelling place of the divine

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Human Existence

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 Include the five human traits:
1) Limitations (we are frail)
2) Great, dust, divinity
3) Sinful
4) Free
5) God’s beloved children

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History

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 History is where God displays himself
 History is sacred and not an illusion
 History is important to Judaism for four reasons:
1) One’s historical context is related to one’s life
2) History shows social or collective actions can affect change
3) History is a book to learn from
4) Once an opportunity is lost, it’s gone

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Morality

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 The five ethical precepts of the Ten Commandments (Preservations of)
o Religion
o Life (force)
o Property (wealth)
o human dignity (speech)
o family lines (sex)

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Justice

Back 71

 Two deeply held in beliefs in Western World
o If a society is just is has a better chance of survival
o Well-functioning of the society as a whole must be the concern and responsibility of each member of that society
 The Three Stages of Prophecy
o Jewish rulers saw prophecy as a warning from God to either create a just society or be destroyed

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Suffering

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 From the 8th to the 6th century BCE the Jews were taught by God through their suffering
 All major events during this period: 586 BCE, 721 BCE
 Jewish had to learn two things:
1) Suffered so others would not have to
2) Lack of righteousness produces suffering and faith in affliction ultimately lifts suffering
 The Babylonian Exile

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Messianism

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 Messiah = the appointed one
 Messiah came to mean  the one who would bring Jews back to their homeland
 Messiah came to signify
1) Hope
2) Reestablishment of the nation
3) The spiritual and ethical improvement of the condition of the world

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How will the Messianic age begin?

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o A person would act on God’s behalf and establish God’s perfect Kingdom on earth
o God, without any human agent , would establish God’s kingdom on earth

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Would the Messianic age be restorative or utopian?

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o Restorative and reestablish an idealized state from the past like the kingdom of David
o Utopian age, perfect in every way would be initiated on earth by the messiah

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How would the Messianic age be in relationship to the early ages in humans?

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o Cataclysmic break with normal human history would occur and the divine kingdom would be established
o There will be no radical break; but would be similar to other human societies, but it would be perfect and just

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Three Stages of Prophecy

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o Prophetic Guilds
 No prophet identified individually; engage in collective ecstatic dance; spiritual intoxication overcome by spirit; no ethical teaching involved; good is intuitive though spirit
o The Pre-Writing Prophets
 Ecstatic individuals emerge from the Guilds; no written works; two main differences from guilds; story of Naboth and King Ahab; holy revolt against injustice
o The Great Writing Prophets
 Amos, Micah, Jeremiah, Isiah, and others; ecstasy of an aspect of their experience; ethics of the pre-writing prophets also; the prophets however call attention to social problems as a whole, not just individual injustices; at this time two threats to social health

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Hallowing of Life

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o The importance of Rituals (2 ways)
 Rituals ease the tension of tense situations (i.e. rituals of introduction (hand shake) rituals of passage (birth, death, marriage, adulthood)
 Rituals intensify our joy on occasions of happiness

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Meanings of hallowing life:

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 Living all life as if it were a reflection of God
 Seeing God as a source of all piety
 The smallest thing can be a reflection of God
 Piety prepares the world for the coming of God
 Everything will be redeemed and the holiness of God’s creation will be seen

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How can one live a life of Piety?

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 Key to piety is not just to believe , but to put into practice the attitude that the whole world is a reflection of God’s grace
 Tradition mean Piety
 The torah is the manual for maintain sacredness of life

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Epistemology

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Revelation
WRITTEN TORAH and ORAL TORAH
TEXTUAL SOURCES (Rabbbinic Judaism)
Mishna
Talmud (study of the Talmud replaces revelation)
PROPHETS and PROPHECY
God’s message to humankind
HISTORY = GOD involved in the world
Reason & experience
Cultivated intuition (Hasidism)
Rebbe and Stories
Messiah (coming)

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Ontology

Back 82

God = Creator and Mover of the Universe
Personal (Man-like - anthropomorphic)
One supreme will, one plan
Moral (wants humankind to be moral)
Benevolent & Just
God’s attributes - Spiritual & Physic realms
The Ten Sefirot of the Kabalah
Creation
Where God dwells (star of David as a symbol)
Good to be enjoyed = a means of perfection
Where God’s plan becomes manifest

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Anthropology

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Human beings have 5 traits
Frail: limited physical beings (like dust)
Mortal like the animals
Great: a blend of the divine and dust
Created in the image of God (can communicate with God)
Sinful: miss the mark - can be misled
Free: God gave us choice, we need guidance
God’s beloved children: nourished in God’s home
God’s chosen people (The Covenant)
Chosen to serve God
Be a model for all humankind

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Teleology

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Hallowing Life
make each moment sacred = be pious
Live the Tradition = remember God’s acts in history
Conserve the community (do not loose your identity)
Remember the Covenant
Self-sacrifice & service (acts of loving kindness)
Be like God = reflect God (be moral and just)
Serve God
Atone for sin
Redeem humanity
Prepare the world for the Kingdom of God
Be one who “cleaves to God” (Hasidism)

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Methodology

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Study Torah & its commentaries
Follow the Law (listen to the Rabbi)
Live the tradition (protect your community)
Practices & ritual (orthopraxy)
Prayer
Festivals & celebration (remember who we are)
Live an ethical moral life in community
Practice loving kindness to all creation
Practice patience and talk to God
Efface yourself in God (Hasidism)
Listen to the Rebbi live the “Shema”